Shakespeare s Hamlet is a complex story of revenge, the lack of love, and

the madness of Hamlet. Hamlet is a victim of his own humanity. The decisions

he must make, make him human, and his indecisiveness makes him a man. His

father s ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death, and Hamlet s procrastination to do

so adds to his humanity.

What we have in Hamlet is the exploration and implicit criticism of a

particular state of mind or consciousness. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses a series of

encounters to reveal the complex state of the human mind, made up of reason,

emotion, and attitude towards the self, to allow the reader to make a judgment or

form an opinion about fundamental aspects of human life (L.C. Knight, 192).

Hamlet had many opportunities to kill Claudius but he decided not to and rested

the justification on his morals. Hamlet tries to logically think of a way to rid the

world of the treacherous King, and his logic, and intelligence were his downfall.

Like any tragic hero these were his tragic flaws.

Hamlet s primary dilemma is that of every human being... (Cahn 69).

Hamlet is presented by Shakespeare as the ideal man. He is described by Ophelia

in Act 3 Scene 1 lines 163-167 O, what a noble mind is here o erthrown! The

courtier s, soldiers, scholar s, eye, tongue, sword, (Th expectancy) and rose of the

fair state, The glass of fashion and the mold of form... . Hamlet is what every man

should be and as such an extreme , he is also presented with an extreme situation.

He is a superman among men (G.W. Knight 38).

Hamlet is a very smart individual, and he uses his intelligence to try to

solve the mystery of how to expose his uncle, and prove what the ghost said. In

trying to prove Claudius s guilt, Hamlet aroused suspicion. His uncle tried to get

rid of Hamlet by sending him to England on a diplomatic visit, which was really

a plea by Claudius for the King of England to execute Hamlet. Hamlet figured this

out, and came back to Denmark, only after sending his escorts to their death, For

in the war of logic it will be found that he (Hamlet) has all the guns (G.W. Knight

39).

Hamlet is the only character that is true to himself, his beliefs, and his

principles. This is why he procrastinates, it not his nature to kill, and he feels that

if he does murder Claudius he will be no better than Claudius. The play

dramatizes the perpetual struggle to which all civilization that is genuine is

doomed (Alexander 184). His principles make him human, and as such he must

suffer what all humanity suffers from, a conscience. This led to his ultimate, yet

victorious end.

Hamlet was a respected and loved man. Fortinbras said For he was

likely...To have proved most royal. Hamlet s humanity brought Hamlet to his

tragic death. Hamlet s humanity is also what helped make Hamlet a masterpiece,

T.S. Elliot I believe said it best when he proclaimed Hamlet to be the Mona Lisa

of literature .