An Analytical Essay on the Double-edged Sword in Hamlet The tale of Hamlet is tragic because it presents a man who is at the center of a moral dilemma. It's hard enough for a man to deal with what makes him angry even under normal circumstances. Hamlet's circumstances are certainly not normal. Hamlet's dilemma of whether or not he should kill the king is compounded by three things. He is extremely angry and hurt over his father's murder. He cannot express that anger to others because in his position it would be political suicide. Finally, human nature requires that you express that anger in some way. Therefore Hamlet is faced with a double edged sword, he must express his anger somehow and this will lead to his downfall. Hamlet (correctly) blames his uncle, Claudius, for his father's death. Compounding the matter further is the fact that Claudius is now the king of Denmark and is married to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Hamlet feels robbed of both his father and his birthright. There is no doubt that Claudio is responsible for the crime, the next move would obviously be to kill him. But it's not that simple. Gertrude seems quite happy in her life with her new husband. Although Hamlet is also enraged at her for marrying Claudius so soon after her husband's death, he still loves her and wishes no harm to come to her. Furthermore, if Hamlet were to kill Claudius, especially at this point, the Danish people would undoubtedly suspect the truth. This would make Hamlet even more angry as he feels he would be caught for his "justifiable murder" and Claudius was not caught for his crime. All Hamlet can do is keep quiet, and this makes him even more frustrated. However, Hamlet cannot continue to hold his strong feelings within himself for a long time. Like shaking a soda bottle, the pressure builds and builds until, eventually, the bottle will explode. Hamlet begins to explode with his passive-aggressive behavior towards the king and queen. He stages a comedy that shows almost exactly before his eyes the crime of which Claudio is guilty. However, even knowing beyond a doubt that Claudius is guilty, Hamlet still cannot bring himself to kill him. The bottle doesn't fully explode until the duel at the show's climax.