Why Is Hamlet Impulsive

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William Shakespeare was a great writer and wrote many famous works including a well-known play called The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. This is a story about revenge and the hardships of life. Throughout the story, Hamlet struggles to deal with the murder of his father, the betrayal of his uncle, and the quick remarriage of his mother to the new King, his uncle. Hamlet is an enthralling character because he is very complicated. On one hand, he is very thoughtful when it comes to investigating and proving that Claudius murdered his father. However, at the same time, Hamlet is also impulsive when killing Polonius but hesitant when it to taking revenge against his uncle. Although Hamlet already suspected his uncle to be the cause of …show more content…
This is shown greatly in Act 3 when he discovers someone is spying on his conversation with his mother. Instead of just unmasking the culprit and letting them off with a warning, he draws his sword and stabs Polonius saying “how now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3.4. 2410). Hamlet starts to fit easily the role of a maniac this is shown through the wild speeches he gives and when he killed Polonius, he showed no remorse for the act. Another example of Hamlet’s impulsiveness is that he changed the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were carrying to hang them instead of him. “Their grand commission, where I found, Horatio… an exact command… That, on the supervise (no leisure bated, no, not to stay the grinding of the ax) my head should be struck off” (5.2. 3668-3675). Hamlet makes the rash decision to sentence his close friends to be hung without confirming that they were a part of the plan to kill …show more content…
Hamlet demonstrates this well as he is a complicated and has very contradictory characteristics. He is thoughtful and smart because he planned a detailed play to confirm his uncle’s guiltiness. However, he can become impulsive as how he killed Polonius without even checking to see who was behind the curtain and when he changed the letter to have his friends hanged. Lastly, Hamlet is also a hesitant character and tends to procrastinate seeking revenge against his uncle. Hamlet is a tragic character and struggles with his identity and his failure to resolve his emotions leads to his death in the
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