wn to his master. Hamlet accuses himself of his own cowardice. We can compare his constant analyzing to the manner of a slave. Hamlet is cowering to his own would to his master.
             Hamlet's weakness is also shown forth in his many puns and paradoxes. He attempts to hide his misery by making fun of others. Why does one often do this in a time of mourning? Usually, this is because he is not strong enough to look such things as death in the face and accept it. His first words in the play are toward Claudius. He says, "A little more than kin, and less than kind." These words state a paradox: Claudius is twice related to him, as uncle and stepfather, but not really his kin or kind at all. Hamlet is allowing Claudius to know that he is not fond of the new king of the marriage to Hamlet's mother. Though Hamlet makes it known that he does not like Claudius, he never acts upon his remarks.
             Another pun Hamlet states is, "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables." Hamlet bitterly jokes that the real reason his mother's remarriage came so soon after her husband's death was so that she could save money by serving the leftover funeral refreshments to the wedding gue
             ...