Topic > Innocence in Hamlet - 1858

This can be seen when Hamlet speaks with the ghost of the deceased Hamlet who tells Hamlet of the turmoil of his position as a wanderer on earth after death. Late Hamlet is . “Condemned to walk at night for a time,… Till the crimes committed in my natural days/ Shall be burned and purged. (1.5 10-13) because he did not repent of his sins before dying. Consequently, this causes Hamlet to question the difference between right and wrong because his father was a good man. The ghost tells Hamlet that he must kill Claudius, the ghost's killer to be avenged and his soul to make peace. However, in the act of killing Claudius, Hamlet must gain experience and ultimately take his rightful place as king of Denmark. Hamlet does not feel ready for this responsibility and therefore procrastinates the act of killing Claudius. Procrastination can be seen as a way to deny experience because he will not have to become king and gain experience if he never becomes king. Hamlet uses overthinking as a manifestation of procrastination. He feels bogged down by this thought because with the act of killing Claudio is the point of no return to innocence. “He is sickly with the pale tinge of thought,” Hamlet says (3.1 86) to express his inability to choose whether or not to kill Claudius. He becomes so trapped in his thoughts that he passes up great opportunities to kill Claudius due to his procrastination. This is exemplified even further when Hamlet says “Now I might, now he's praying/And now I won't. And so it goes to heaven;” (3.3 74-75). Make up the excuse