Wilson Knight, in his "The Embassy of Death: An Essay on Hamlet"," from the book, "The Wheel of Fire", suggests that Hamlet, in his inability to choose a sure course of action, and remembering only one of the Ghost's commands, has made himself no better than the evil he sought to destroy. Hamlet tries to live up to two different ideals; one that calls for immediate action against the king (revenge) and the other necessitated by living in a structured society. This tug-of-war between two ideologies slowly tears Hamlet apart as the story progresses. He is unable to successfully accomplish what either ideal calls for because he is unwilling to entirely forsake the other, and he "lives in death" "(handout), attempting remain in limbo, waiting for fate to step in and end it all. .
"[Hamlet's] acts are a commentary on his negative consciousness" "(handout), bred by his contempt for the living in his new-found living death, loathing the life that introduces the inevitability of death to all, and the perceived lack of significance of all but himself. .
The last command of the Ghost was simply that Hamlet "Remember me "(1.5.96). From the start, it is apparent that Hamlet strongly dislikes Claudius, indicated by his excitement upon being told that his father had indeed been murdered by Claudius. In fact, the Ghost fulfills all of Hamlet's .
wildest dreams regarding a conspiracy against his father, a strange coincidence, lending weight to the idea that it may quite well have not been coincidental. Hamlet almost immediately interprets the Ghost's vague (perhaps intentionally so) requests for revenge to be a direct request to kill Claudius, and he assures himself that vengeance will soon be dealt to the King. .
Hamlet finds himself so dead-set on this plan, that when he orders his friends to "Never make known [tonight's occurrences] "(1.5.158), he fails to even consider that the Ghost's order to "swear "(1.
