* In these lines Hamlet is thinking about all the time he has wasted in not taking action. He sees how everything around him is taking shape, all except his own actions. He goes on to say "Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not that capability and god-like reason to fust in us unus'd "(36-39) Here Hamlet is saying that every man has reason, and that reason should be put to good use. He also expresses the thought that he has "......cause and will and strength and means to do't" (45-46) but still waits and thinks of taking action instead of taking action.

* After learning of Fortinbras' plan against Poland, Hamlet is disgusted with his inability to avenge his father's murder. He wonders how he has just "let all sleep" even after the killing of his father and the moral death of his mother, (56-59). He is even more ashamed when he thinks of the twenty-thousand men who are willing to go to their deaths for a valueless piece of land that's not even big enough for their gr

* After watching The Mousetrap, Claudius says, "Give me some light. Away" (3.2.247). This indicates that Denmark has become darker and bleaker throughout these acts. It will continue to get worse when Ophelia dies and the entire court will start to wear black clothing. In fact, the play goes from Gertrude in her presumably white wedding dress to black funeral robes, whereas Hamlet has the opposite progression, from black clothes to a white fencing uniform.

* Hamlet is a child of the Renaissance, so it is in his nature to analyze every aspect of a situation. He studies himself, and his own actions as well as those of Claudius and Gertrude. This addiction to though disables him from actually being able to take action in his purposes and leaves him just to scorn his own lack of motivation.

* Hamlet the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merriment and solemnity; with merriment that includes judicious and instructive observations, and solemnity, not strained by poetical violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various forms of life and particular modes of conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet causes much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from the apparition that in the first act chills the blood with horror, to the fop in the last, that exposes affectation to just contempt.

* It has been suggested that the prince's delayed revenge, as opposed to Fortinbras' decisiveness, is meant to contrast two universal individuals - the man of contemplation and the man of action. The university-bred Hamlet analyzes everything too deeply and is thus prevented from taking any clear course:

Some common words found in the essay are:
Rosencrantz Guildenstern, Act Hamlet, Act II, Poland Hamlet, IIIi Hamlet, Divine Law, Claudius Hamlet, Wilson Knight, Negation Cynicism, Mousetrap Claudius, * hamlet, * hamlet's, rosencrantz guildenstern, play hamlet, kill claudius, * play, taking action, tragic hero, flesh blood, killing claudius, * characters play, cause strength means, strength means do't,
Approximate Word count = 5080
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)