In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, a compound plot is formed at the beginning of the play. Amongst these are the death of King Hamlet of Denmark, and the hasty marriage of Gertrude to the late king’s brother, Claudius. The main focus of the play, however, is the task of avenging the death of Hamlet’s father. Hamlet, eager to avenge his father, seems to delay the process throughout the play. Although no direct reasoning for this is stated, many assumptions can be made as to what delays Hamlet from avenging his father’s death. In Act 1, the ghost of Hamlet’s late father reveals himself to Hamlet and his friends. Although hesitant at first, Hamlet asks what the ghost wants. The ghost proceeds to tell Hamlet that he did not die; but was murdered. The ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius, his brother, poured poison into his ear while he slept. He demands, “If thou didst ever thy dear father love/.../Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (1.5.23-25). Hamlet then becomes anxious: “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift/As meditation or the thoughts of love,/May sweep to my revenge” (1.5.29-31). After this is said, at the end of the same act, Hamlet’s reluctance for revenge is made obvious, “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!” So, Bradley says, “...he mutters within an hour of the moment when he vowed to give his life to the duty of revenge; and the rest of the story exhibitshis vain efforts to fulfill his duty, his unconscious self-excuses and unvailing self-reproaches, and the tragic results of his delay” (11)One reason why Hamlet may be delaying his vengeance is possibly due to the fact that he is not sure that the ghost is really his late father, hence, making the idea of Claudius being the murderer not true. We know that, in Act I & II, Hamlet is not sure of the ghost’s identity....
