ned to do something he does not wish to think about the consequences anymore.
             • The levity of Hamlet, his repetition of phrase, his puns, are not part of a deliberate plan of dissimulation, but a form of emotional relief.
             • Claudius is painted by the poet as bold, unscrupulous, keen-sighted and resourceful, and Hamlet would have been devoid of common-sense had he not realized, along with the loss of his hoped for career, the grave danger he would be in at his uncle's court should he evince a mutinous spirit towards the new king.
             • 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.
             • "Hamlet: The tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind". So begins the Olivier version of Shakespeare s classic story, and many others follow suit. From Elliott to Zeffirelli Hamlet is portrayed as a weak-minded individual, whose lack of purpose leads to seven unnecessary deaths. (Hamlet: Weakness or Justice?by Benjamin Scott-Hopkins)
             • The ghost accuses in Act I, but Hamlet is perceptive enough not to accept the being at its word. One thing that he realizes is that the Ghost is playing directly to his own emotions
             • Hamlet's first words are rhetorically complicated, and also challengin...