How is hamlet a coward

Conscience does indeed make cowards of us all, but not cowards in the common context, in the natural sense. More than once during William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the title character reflects upon his own character and ponders the problem that he, of all people, is a coward.

In its usual context, a coward is one without courage. However, Hamlet lacks neither courage nor resoluteness. Instead, at the beginning of the play, he lacks the rashness for action that Fortinbras has, and more importantly, he lacks the balance between Horatio's moderation and Fortinbras' decisiveness.

Hamlet hints that he may be a coward because his conscience leads him to a state of inaction, and that inaction bothers him. Although it influences him to a slowness to action, Hamlet's conscience gradually guides him to a poised position in which he becomes both a man of thought and a man of action.

Hamlet's powerful conscience eventually enables him to achieve the harmonious middle ground of a wise and moral manthe ideal Shakespearean prince. Are all moral men doomed to inaction? At first, Hamlet's action, or lack thereof, appears to support the argument. Overwhelmed by the corruption in his kingdom, Hamlet, whose strong and unequivocal moral judgments underlie his character, does not know how to handle the moral disarray he sees, so he retreats to a state of deliberation, of inaction.

He approaches his problems by meditating on them and by attempting to reason them out. Hamlet - The Anti-Coward An extended question that arises in Hamlet is: why is there a delay in the actions of the Prince?

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Sorry, but only registered users have full access. How about getting full access immediately? Become a member. After they construct this plan they swiftly utilize the plan. Laertes did not wait for the perfect moment, at the perfect time, and at the perfect place. He created the place, time, and moment to carry out the dangerous task.

Hamlet, however, waited and waited for what he thought one day would be the perfect moment in which he could kill his uncle. Even when Hamlet had an opportunity to kill Claudius, he talked himself out of it. When compared to Laertes, Hamlet is a coward because of his inability to …show more content… Yes, Hamlet was very cautious throughout the whole play once he had figured out that Claudius had killed the King, his father.

A cautious man would have seized the opportunity when Claudius was on his knees alone and defenseless. He could have killed him there and then without having to worry about anything happening to himself. Standing over Claudius, Hamlet decides not to kill him and gives another excuse to let him live for a little bit longer. He was all alone with Claudius and had possibly the best opportunity to kill his uncle. Get Access.

Good Essays. Why Is Hamlet A Coward. Read More. William Shakespeare's Hamlet Words 2 Pages. William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Powerful Essays. Revenge in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Satisfactory Essays. The brave experience death only once. However, this concept applies to a character in another one of his plays; Hamlet. The theme of cowardliness versus death is heavily weighed upon throughout the performance, as Hamlet struggles with an inordinate. Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a tragedy about the life of Hamlet after his father, the King of Denmark, is killed.

Throughout the play, there are many objects that are important to the characters and the plot as a whole. One of the objects brought up multiple times in the text that is crucial to the story is poison. The use of poison as a means to kill in Hamlet shows that Claudius is a coward. In the beginning of the play, Claudius is introduced as a coward when it is revealed that he murdered. Perhaps the most famous soliloquy in literature, these words reflect the state of desperation in which Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, finds himself as he contemplates suicide.

His father, the King, has died. His mother, the Queen, has remarried within a month of the King's passing, an act which has disturbed young Hamlet in and of it. To make it worse, she has married the King's brother, Hamlet's uncle, who is now the King of Denmark. As Hamlet's despair deepens, he learns through the appearance. Shakespeare's Hamlet is filled with murder, revenge, and betrayal.