Hamlet delays to help Shakespeare write his play
The main reason for Hamlet's delay: So that Shakespeare could write his play. Joking, of course. But absolutely serious. We can say we're impatient because we love quick and bloody revenge plots. ACTION FIGURE HAMLET! But if that's what we want, we're at the wrong play. Instead, we might choose not to be impatient because at least sometimes, we might prefer for princes to be careful to discern the truth about whether ghosts are honest, and whether kings are guilty, and whether princes who contemplate revenge are bound for heaven or “th’ other place”, as Hamlet calls it [4.3.38-9]. We might find that we like Hamlet humbly scolding himself for his own delay, and laugh at all the critics who take his impatient self-scolding too seriously, or too literally - as if Hamlet should act more quickly. Such critics may not notice how necessary it is for the play, to have Hamlet delay while Shakespeare explicates his character and that of others, and develops his plot. THE STORY:...