To be or not to be", is Hamlet's most famous quotation. Hamlet is the protagonist of Shakespeare's.

His father, king

Hamlet, killed by his own brother, Claudius, then Claudius marries king Hamlet's wife, Gertrude, and won the
kingship. Prince Hamlet who suffers from Oedipal Complex, felling in love with his own mother and considering father
as a rival to his love, can't make his mind whether to kill his uncle and take his father's revenge or not. And ask this
question from himself, because in one hand he knows that if he kill Claudius, his companions will kill him, in other
hand his father's ghost appears to him and ask him to kill Claudius. He was in a dilemma. Hamlet's tragic flaw is his
procrastination, Hamlet procrastinated only because of his fear of intimacy with his mother, he knows that Claudius
was the only person separating him and Gertrude. Now this question would come to our mind that why does
Shakespeare give so much prominence to the delay without clearly presenting the reason for it? James k. Lowers in
his Tragic Heroes argues that "Shakespeare's tragedy is a work of surpassing interest and genius, and the tragic hero
is universally attractive and fascinating" (12). We must keep two things in mind. First, Shakespeare makes it clear that
Hamlet is acutely aware of a delay. Second, Shakespeare also makes it clear that Hamlet himself is not sure why he
delays. At the end of the eighteenth century, Goethe in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship proposed that Shakespeare
means, in Hamlet, to "represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit for the performance of it"(152).
Hamlet is not sure about ghost?s says, he wants to reveal the fact, and prove his father's innocence, because his
ghost said to him that Claudius kill him to gain king ship and his queen.
From the religious point of view we can consider him as a religious man, we can disgust that he put off taking
revenge, because in Christianity taking revenge is forbidden. He put off killing his uncle 3times as Jesus was put off
3times for crucifixion.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, A. C. Bradley proposed another reason for the delay in his Shakespearean
Tragedy Bradley argued that ?Hamlet's delay is the result of a melancholic state of mind, brought on by the death of
his father and the hasty remarriage of his mother. While we may accept that a depressive state of mind causes
Hamlet's inaction, this idea becomes highly suspect when Bradley stated that Hamlet's melancholia accounts for his
energy as well?(29). Another reason offered for Hamlet's delay was the psychoanalytical one, first suggested by
Freud, the originator of psychoanalysis. According to this theory, Hamlet is rendered incapable of acting against
Claudius because of a repressed Oedipus complex, he restrains his actions because he has a subconscious desire to
replace his father and lie with his mother. However this issue in Elizabethan age was a prominent issue. Since Hamlet
himself is not aware of the reason for the delay, it is not conscience taken in its usual form that we are considering. It
is, instead, a more deeply inner voice that causes him to hesitate, a voice that Hamlet fails to bring clearly to the
surface of his consciousness. Shakespeare gives prominence to the delay because he wants to emphasize that
Hamlet's course of action is morally dubious. Also, Shakespeare does not try to conceal this meaning until the end,
He purposely didn?t wants to make the delay clear .He could not, however, allow Hamlet to state it clearly for a very
good reason. If Hamlet had recognized the cause of his delay, it would have altered the course of the action and
defeated Shakespeare's main purpose in the play. Procrastination is a significant theme in Hamlet.

Hamlet's procrastinating (also called his "delay") is what sustains, dramatizes, and prolongs

the plot of his revenge. Consider also that Hamlet delays or simply refuses to tell anyone of
his plan and strategy; he essentially procrastinates telling anyone what he plans to do and
why he behaves in a melancholy or crazy manner. Hamlet appeals to Horatio at the end of
Act One, Scene Five, to ignore any odd behavior. Hamlet is determined to keep his revenge
plot to himself. Hamlet remarks to the ghost that he will focus all of his efforts on revenge
("I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, / All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,"
(I.v.99-100). However, Hamlet begins to procrastinate and over-think things. Hamlet is
frustrated with himself about this, and yet he continues to delay: Am I a coward? (II.ii.54348) Just after criticizing himself for delaying, Hamlet decides to use the play to expose
Claudius' guilt, thus finding a way to drag out his revenge plan. Rather than covertly killing
Claudius, Hamlet feels it necessary to make this guilt a spectacle: "The play's the thing /
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." (II.ii.581-82) In Act Three, Scene Three,
Hamlet has an opportunity to kill Claudius and avenge his father. However, Hamlet, ever the
philosopher, can not bring himself to kill Claudius while he is praying: Now might I do it pat,
no a is praying,Hamlet is about to kill Claudius but he decides the situation needs to be
evaluated ("scanned"). He determines that it would not be true revenge because if he kills
Claudius while he is praying, Claudius might go to heaven. In Act Four, Scene Four, Hamlet
agrees to go to England, further delaying his revenge. Claudius also procrastinates in
dealing with Hamlet. Laertes calls Claudius on this, asking why he would not go after Hamlet
considering that Hamlet has killed Polonius (Laertes' father) and poses a threat to Claudius
himself: Claudius responds that he left Hamlet alone for the time being to avoid displeasing
Gertrude and because he needs to sway public support from Hamlet to himself before doing
anything drastic. At the end of Act Five, Scene Two, Laertes and Hamlet are about to fight,
perhaps to the death, but Claudius urges Laertes to wait (procrastinating) in order to follow
their previous plan: the duel. Hamlet accepts the challenge to duel despite advice from
Horatio to postpone (procrastinating again) the match because he thinks Hamlet will lose.
However, Hamlet finally feels like the time is right to act: If it be not now, yet it will come.
Critics differ on whether Hamlet was truly mad or not. In the wake of psychoanalysis, since
Freud, some have suggested Hamlet was "mad" on a subconscious level. But many critics
have found evidence that Hamlet's madness was feigned, all a part of his scheme to distract
the other characters while he exacts his revenge on Claudius in dramatic fashion. In Act 2,
Scene 2, Polonius, trying to determine Hamlet's state of mind, notes in a famous line
that: Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.- (II.ii.216-17) Polonius thinks that
Hamlet is mad for a reason which suggests something caused him to become mad or that
Hamlet is faking it for some reason. It is in Act 2, Scene 2 that Claudius and Gertrude send

for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so that they might talk to Hamlet and find the cause of his
"transformation." It is suggested (by Gertrude in this scene) that Hamlet might be suffering
from love sickness (for Ophelia). But Hamlet has developed a disdain for women in general,
following his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius. So, Hamlet's poor treatment of Ophelia
and Gertrude is a result of his anger at his mother.Hamlet's sulking is part grief, part
frustration, part "madness" as in anger rather than insanity, and finally his sulking is part
intellectual. In other words, Hamlet's constant delaying of killing Claudius is a result of his
over-thinking and philosophizing on how best to carry out his revenge. (Even prior to that,
Hamlet rationally thinks that he must first figure out if the ghost of his father is really his
father or a devil. This is not the strategy of an insane man - considering that the ghost is real
- it is the strategy of a man trying to understand the reason and motivation behind
seemingly insane circumstances.) The spirit that I have seenMay be the devil, and the devil
hath powerT'assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps,Since Hamlet carries on with his
revenge, it seems that he has decided that the ghost is of his father; in either case, Hamlet
determines that Claudius must pay for his sins. But perhaps the best evidence illustrating
that Hamlet's madness is feigned is that his constant sulking and odd behavior (which others
see as "madness") results from the fact that he is constantly thinking and philosophizing
about his situation. Thus, he makes it a point to ignore and shun (Ophelia) any other people
and relationships that would distract him from his plans for revenge. In his constant overthinking, he is drawn into his own mind, making it appear that he has lost his mind when in
fact he has, in a sense, gone into his mind to think deep thoughts. So, outwardly it only
appears that Hamlet is lost in another world.
By the time Hamlet was written, madness was already a well-established element in many
revenge tragedies. The most popular revenge tragedy of the Elizabethan period, The
Spanish Tragedy, also features a main character, Hieronymo, who goes mad in the build-up
to his revenge, as does the title character in Shakespeare's first revenge tragedy, Titus
Andronicus. But Hamlet is unique among revenge tragedies in its treatment of madness
because Hamlet's madness is deeply ambiguous. Whereas previous revenge tragedy
protagonists are unambiguously insane, Hamlet plays with the idea of insanity, putting on
"an antic disposition," as he says, for some not-perfectly-clear reason.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a tragedy, and that makes Hamlet a tragic hero; however, it
is important to identify the characteristics common to Shakespeare's tragic heroes before
writing your thesis statement.

First of all, Hamlet suffers from a fatal flaw, a weakness in his character which eventually
causes his downfall. Unlike the characters in an Aristotelian tragedy, Hamlet is aware of his
flaw virtually from the beginning of the story, adding to the sense of tragedy. We know that
Hamlet's character flaw is indecision, as we watch him waver and vacillate time after time
about whether to take action or not. In one sense we admire Hamlet for this, as he clearly
recognizes and values human life enough to be sure he is not killing the wrong person. In
another sense, we ask ourselves exactly how much evidence he needs before he will finally
take some action. It is a rather frustrating journey to see him so resolved at times and then
back away from his resolution.
Second of all, Hamlet is in a position of power, as the son (and nephew and stepson) of a
king, which again means his fall from nobility is more tragic than a fall from a lower social
position would be. Though it means nothing to Hamlet, he has been named as Claudius's
successor, establishing Hamlet's position as the Prince of Denmark.
Third, Like many of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, Hamlet succumbs to the pressures of other
people, not all human, who help advance his downfall. In Hamlet, those characters would
certainly be Claudius, Polonius, the Ghost and his so-called friends, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. Each of these characters is determined, well intentioned or not, to deter
Hamlet from his purpose. Polonius is a distraction both because of his infernal butting-in and
because he is Ophelia's father; though he pays for that, he contributes to Hamlet's inactions
and is in the wrong place when Hamlet finally does act. Hamlet's rather bumbling friends,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are another distraction; he is certainly willing to have them
killed because of their cumbersome and traitorous meddling. Claudius is an obvious nemesis
from the beginning; the Ghost certainly influences Hamlet.
Finally, Hamlet has opportunities to save himself but does not do so--or does not do so in
time--which leads directly to his death. How often did Hamlet think he was ready to kill
Claudius but then could not act, sometimes for good reason and sometimes just because of
his flawed indecision. His fatalistic view is part of this point.
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will. Possible thesis sentences: Hamlet is a tragic hero because he
demonstrates a fatal flaw which leads directly to his death. (basic) .In Hamlet, Shakespeare
gives us a character who knows his flaw but is unable to overcome it because of his own
indecision as well as the interference of others. Hamlet is a tragic hero whom we both pity

and admire as he falls from his high place due to his own inaction. Tragic heroes have been
used throughout literature. Some of the first examples of tragic heroes can be found in
Greek plays, were tragedies were first produced. A tragic hero always has potential for
greatness, but because of their own nature-and often their situation-they are doomed to
failure. The tragic hero will commit a tragic flaw, which in turn will cause their fall from
greatness. Often, although the tragic hero is vanquished, he has won some kind of moral
victory and lives on in spirit. Hamlets the Prince of Denmark and the son of Queen Gertrude
and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is
melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncles scheming and disgust for his
mothers sexuality. He is thoughtful and reflective young man who has studied at the
University of Wittenberg. He is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to
rash and impulsive acts. What truly makes Hamlet a tragic hero is the fact that he was of
noble birth, had a tragic flaw, and in the end was basically doomed by his tragic flaw.
One of the characteristic that define a tragic hero is that they are of noble birth. Hamlet was
born into nobility, he was King Hamlets heir and the direct descendant of the throne after
Claudius. Hamlet was loyal to his father and he was determined to set right the state of
Denmark. Haste me knowt, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of
love, may sweep to my revenge (Hamlet, Act 1. Scene 5, line 35-line 37) In this quote,
Hamlet is speaking to his fathers ghost and wants to know the details of the crime so that
he may avenge his father. Along with being loyal and trying to set right the state of his
kingdome, Hamlet was also extremely popular and well loved among peers, family, and
citizens alike. Hes loved of the distracted multitude. (Hamlet, Act 4. Scene 3, line 4) D
Besides Hamlet being of noble birth, his ...