Have you ever been through a moment of severe indecision? Hamlet reproaches himself throughout the play for his inaction. Think about all the times he has mentioned it as well as his behavior at the play. Considering all he's been through, is Hamlet being too hard on himself?
It means men should be honorable and keep their word. In today's world the expression would be, "you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?"
ReplyDeleteAlex Verlage
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ReplyDeleteActually, I live in a permanent state of indecision. Should I wake up, or should I carry on sleeping? Black shoes or blue shoes? Cereal or egg? etc. etc. Add to that the more important decisions like: What am I going to study in college? Where am I gonna live? etc.
ReplyDeleteI can't do anything without thinking about the other possibilites. Really frustrating. jaja. But the worse part is that, in the end, I usually just give in to the concept of luck and hope that whatever I do turns out good.
Therefore, I think something similar will happen to Hamlet. Right now, he has pondered and pondered the question of killing the king. But, in the end, his momentary impulses will turn out to be more important than the hours he has spent thinking about what to do.
Although, in Hamlet's case, I don't think he is being to hard on himslef. His indecision isn't over cereal or eggs, it is over whether or not to kill a man. So yes, he should be thinking about it all the time.
I have gone through moments of indecision; as Maite said, we have them everyday. I have always believed that every single little decision, no matter how insignificant you think it is, will affect your life and the way you live it. I do not think Hamlet is overthinking what he was asked to do by his father. He has been given a mission which involves taking another person's life, and of course its not something he can do easily because he is not a psychopath, at least he wasn't before he found out what had happened in his absence. At the end of the day he is convinced that he WILL avenge his father, so I think its just a matter of time before he decides on the way to do it. Its understandable that he is nervous, the results could be catastrophic..
ReplyDeleteMaria Astrid Quirarte
I think he is to harsh on himself, I must agrees with maite and astrid that we fase indecision everyday, but I think it is only the truly important decisions you mak like which college to go to versus what to have for breakfastthat are worth thinking bout thus not regretting. in the moments of my indecision, i simply make up my mind and do somehting, im not saying i didnt think about it before and tried to take rational decion but im not saying either that i had the best desicion i oculd have had in the situation... but then again, how am i goona know!? and yes it is horrible to take one decision and regret the fact that you didnt take the other one, that u chose one versus the other, u hadpancakes instead of wafles, etc etc and it sucks to think about how it could have been better that what u decided, but what good is it to punish urself about it.thats why, no matter what u do in the moments of indecision, whats rlly important is not the decision u make but that u make the best of it. Everything happens for a reason right?¡!
ReplyDeleteI think he is being too harsh on himself. Overthinking is never good and it is definitely time consuming. He should get his act together and kill Claudius.
ReplyDeleteSevere indecision...SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT THE TIME I KILLED A RABBIT, OR ABOUT THE TIME I PLANTED A TREE? Aghhh. I cant decide! :(
Giselle
Agreeing with Maite's comment, I believe that indecision is one of the most recurrent states of mind that human beings experience.(btw it is clear to those who are in her first period that maite mostly chooses to stay asleep :) ) As a matter of fact, indecision is one of the aspects that make us humans and most importantly, one of the aspects that makes life fun. Can you imagine living without ever hesitating about anything?.... knowing what the right decision is always?..... Therefore like all humans I alaways experience severe indecision...
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, I believe indecision is always there, even when we make decisions that we feel pretty sure about, indecision hasn't been completely whipped out, she has just been opaqued by greater feelings of trust and confidence. Because of this reason when we give too much thought to options, we end up either making the wrong decision or feeling pretty confused, because the indecision was never gone, it was just hidden. For this reason, Hamlet, like all other human beings, should make decissions as soon as he feels instictively but overly sure about them, because otherwise he might lose his chance and never return to that state of confidence. I do not know if this was clear enough but overall what I mean is that HAMLET SHOULD MAKE HIS MIND AND STOP BEING SO FEARFUL! As one of my favorite quotes says "the worst thing that can happen is that you are wrong... which is actually the best that can happen..."
make up his mind... sorry
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with maite. We are constantly making decissions, whether to drink coffee or tea.. but it always happens that overthinking my decission makes it worse.. I start to think and overthink the situation.. and at the end.. i realize i wanted tea.. but i ordered coffee.. That is what is happening to hamlet. He is overthinking all of the situations and at the end it will end up worse. It has become such a trauma to overreact to situations, that he is almost believing his madness.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing to think! Your uncle killed your father, you kill your uncle.. you become king.. and there is NO PROBLEEEEEM. as easy as stabbing your uncle..
KARLA(:
Hamlet is being too hard on himself. He shouldnt worry about everything so much just kill Claudius and the big problem is solved. He needs to stop thinking and just do it and get it over with. I can't really think of a severe moment of indecision, just normal boring ones.
ReplyDelete-Evan Baker
-Evan Baker
Of course i have been through moments of indesicion in my life but i am not commonly indesisive, I like to think of myself as a girl that knows what she wants and goes for it, everything I do, is part of the ultimate goal and I think that is why i can decide quickly and motly correctly.
ReplyDeleteSorry to all you indesisive people but I think indesicion is a weakness, it gives time for the adversary to plan ahead, wether the adversary is yourself, school, someone else or life, the value of a quick and primordially good desicion is priceless. So even though I empathize with hamlet I think he is taking too much time to deside how to kill his uncle, he is taking into account many small details that only makthe desicion even harder.
I do think it is understandable what he is going through and that he takes time to excecute his plan but not take that much time thinking what the plan actually is.
I think Shakespeare saw indesicion like I do, as a weakness and that is why he has hamlet reproaching himslef so much about being indesicive. Hamlet would make up him mind easier if he concentrated more in the revenge than in indesicion
Some periods of my life have not been necesaryly pink so yes I have had moments of severe indecision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with alexa that indecision is a great weakness and that it is only an obstacle to get to your goal and get things done.
I think Hamlet is focussing to much in the honorable part and in doing what is correct. I think he is a coward and doesn't have the guts to kill his uncle. He is overthinking it too much. He has to focus more in his porpuse and to just do it than in how he is going to do it.
I understand that he has to have the courage to kill someone and that that takes more courage than most of the decisions we take everyday, but I still think he is thinking about it too much. He need to get the job done now!!!!
Macarena
Yeah i've had periods of severe indecision. I usually don't know what I want so it takes me awhile to figure it out. Yes Hamlet is being too hard on himself. He's had such indecision that he's made some terrible decisions like killing Polonius. I think he should just stop thinking too much. If he had just followed through with what his ghost dad said then things would have been much easier for him WIll
ReplyDeleteAs many just said, we experience indesicions every day. Life is about making choices and most of the time we spent too much time going through one. I personally have many mnay moments of indesicion but calmy come up with a solution afterwards. Hamlet is just crazy and he doesn't even now what he is doing. Yes, he as a plan, and a very good one. He has been very sneaky and not been caught, however he has no idea of what he really wants. He just doesnt think straight. I think he is being too hard on himself. He is the one suffering the most for his own actions.
ReplyDeleteMaria Jose Fernandez
I wish i could judge hamlet for overthinkiong so much and failing to actually do something.
ReplyDeleteBut who am i to judge him?? I do the same, I am doing the same.
Unlike Maite i can choose what shoes to wear fairly easily, but when it comes to the big decisions, like leaving mexico or not leaving, im definitely an overthinker.
I go over every little aspect of the potential consequences of my decision and i think it over and over again, afraid of making the incorrect decision.
And all im trying to figure out i were to live...
If i were hamlet, i would probably be thinking things over as much as he is.
Pilar Arechiga
maria jose celis
ReplyDeleteI have been in many situations of indecision, I mean who hasnt? Big decisions have both sides and I can't really blame or judge Hamlet for hasitating so many times about the actions that he will take. It is not a simple decision as to wear black or white on tuesday, it is a MURDER.
I have trouble making big decisions in my life that if I ended up in Hamlet's place I would last months figuring out what to do.
I can't blame Hamlet for his indecision. In this case, its a good thing. Consider that he is about to murder his own uncle/stepfather (I imagine there are still remnants of a family bond there). I would hope he faces some form of indecision because otherwise his character would not be as deep or interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt would basically become the Shakespeare version of "Sweeney Todd" (Sweeney didn't think twice about killing everybody, and while Johnny Depp is very fun to stare at for 2+ hours, his character was rather flat).
I too am very, very indecisive. I've spent about 10 minutes editing this post, trying to decide whether or not to share some of my indecision stories with the class.....
^^ The above post belongs to Lina Silva.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that aim would actually show my screen name instead of my real one.
I have been in a time of indecision. I usually decide fast if it doesn't affects other people (only me) but if it is somehow connected with another person whom i care about, then i do take time to think about it a lot.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the fact that Hamlet "overthinks." Look at what happened to Raskolnikov when he decided to murder the old lady without giving much thought. Dostoevsky did not only reflect his impulsiveness but the typical ignorant idiotic mind of normal people who somehow thinks they will get what they want by acting fast. Killing someone requires a lot of thinking.
Sun Young
Agreeing with Maite's comment, i alwasy live in indesicion. What should i wear? Should i call him or wait? I understand why and how Hamlet questions himslef and his actions, however the manner in which he cuts himself down and blames himself for everything is too severe. Yes he is to blame for not taking in the situation with dignity, but other wise he is not at fault. Throughout the whole play, Hamlet blames him self, only makin the situation worse and justifying his reasons for revenge. This could all turn against hamlet, as his ind continues to blame him and eventually, he could commit sucide.
ReplyDeletenicole
Closed.
ReplyDelete-Mr. Paul
alexaa did you just call me weakkkkk?
ReplyDeleteyou better get your act straight or i'll meet you after school in the park, missyyyy!!
BRING IT ONNN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
carolina barbosa ahddad