What's The Hurry?
             Hamlet could possibly be the most popular of William Shakespeare's series of tragedies. The main character, Hamlet, may be the most complex and controversial character any playwright has ever created. His erratic behavior poses multiple questions. Is he being rational in his acts and sacrificing himself for the greater good or is he simply insane? How and why does Hamlet continually move from one state of mind to the other? What significance does this have in this particular play of Shakespeare? Throughout the play Hamlet goes through several different stages of life, while constantly being in a angst-ridden and distressed mental state, caught between love, grief, and vengeance. His different states of mind are the result of his controversial personality and his ability to objectively analyze any situation. For many 20th century readers this causes great frustration while reading this play. They may continually ask themselves, "What is holding him back?" and "He has the chance, why not just kill him and be done with it?". Today we are so used to ruthless killing in movies, and violence without a second thought that Hamlet's agonizing mental struggle is something that we as readers are not used to. There is a need to take these ideas and circumstances into a deeper consideration.
             Over the years there have been many different explanations for Hamlet's behavior. One of the views is that Hamlet is simply a victim of circumstances; the other presents him as a beautiful but ineffectual soul who lacked the willpower to avenge his father. His character seems to be constantly confused. Hamlet can also be viewed as something close to a manic-depressive whose melancholy moods deepen him into self-contempt. His disturbing gift of laughing at his own grief as well as the grief of the people and controversies that surround him, greatly con...