Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, revolves around the protagonist's inability to take decisive action. Hamlet's indecisiveness is the real tragedy in this play. Despite an apparition appearing to him and revealing that his uncle has murdered his mother, Hamlet remains reluctant to avenge his father's murder. amlet is consistent throughout the first half of the play in questioning and over-analyzing any and all potential scenarios he encounters. He is more committed to thinking about revenge than he is to actually following through on the promise he has avowed. In Hamlet, Shakespeare creates a psychological thriller where the audience struggles to understand the thought process of the protagonist. His inability to act and his random babbling outbursts beg the question of whether he is feigning insanity or whether the pressure of avenging his father has driven him crazy. If Hamlet had been impulsive, this Shakespearean play would have ended in the first act. The play is prolonged for five acts simply because Hamlet cannot decide upon a suitable time and place to exact revenge and more accurately, cannot ascertain whether he is capable of taking such action.
Hamlet is a tragic figure with a glaring character flaw; indecision. When his father's ghost appears in Act I and makes it abundantly clear that his father was murdered by his uncle, Hamlet is not moved to action. Instead, Hamlet questions whether or not the ghost is telling the truth and feels sorry for himself for having the onerous task of dealing with the crisis: "Oh cursed spite/That I was ever born to set it right" (Act I, Sc V). Most men would have impulsively confronted Claudius and felt vindicated in bringing justice against their uncle for the heinous deed he committed. However, Hamlet does nothing but wonder why he is forced to deal with this awkwardness. The longer Hamlet delays his initial vow to avenge his father, the weaker his character appears and the more cowardly he seems.
