2 Page Research Paper Preview: Hamlet In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet takes up the entirety of the play to finally avenge his father’s death and kill King Claudius. The Ghost of King Hamlet appears in the play in the first scene, and yet Hamlet waits until the very last scene of the play to finally kill the new King, Claudius. “ The Spirit that I have seen May be the devil, and the devil hath power To assume a please shape” (II,ii, Shakespeare) . “Hamlet must remain on the alert” (126, Matthews) .In the second scene of the play Hamlet doubts the ghost, arguing with himself and the ghost to see if he should truly trust that the ghost is his father and not the devil trying to manipulate him. Hamlet’s doubt in the legitimacy of the Ghost being his actual father is one of the many reasons that Hamlet’s refrains from avenging his father for so long. Hamlet continues to doubt if the ghost is his father or evil in that if the ghost was truly coming back from purgatory, why would he entice his own son to commit a sin.. Unless of course the ghost is the devil himself trying to bring Hamlet over the dark side of hell. Hamlet’s doubtfulness isn’t only driven by the thought of being fooled by the devil but he is also doubtful of himself. Hamlet fights an internal conflict “He even becomes unsure of his own nature and can believe in his courage no more than his mother’s grief” (126, Matthews) “Who calls me villain?” (II,ii, Shakespeare) Hamlet is fearful of killing Claudius as he doesn’t want to become as bad as Claudius, . If he kills Claudius, in essence that would make Hamlet just as evil as Claudius. “My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites” (III,ii Shakespeare) says Hamlet in reference to his own want in acting violent, yet fearing the hypocrisy of his own actions. Hamlet is fearful of acting violent “because consciously behaving as a hypocrite would be to concede that he and his enemies at his uncle’s court are morally comparable” (105, Lewis). There are many aspects within the play that influenced Hamlets need to procrastinate the death of Claudius. Those reasons being his own internal conflict within himself as to whether or not he can trust the Ghost. Hamlet then contemplates killing HAmlet in that he would be doing God’s work, Hamlet fears killing Claudius will be hypocritical and make him just as bad as Claudius. Hamlet also wants to save his mother’s soul which causes him to yet again postpone killing Claudius. (III,iv, Shakespeare) Once Hamlet finally is determined to kill the new KIng he still waits and postpones as to not kill him while he is praying, and would then be sent to heaven. Works Cited Lewis, Rhodi “Huntings and The Nature of Things.” from Hamlet and the Vision of Darkness, by Rhodri Lewis, Princeton University Press, 2017, pp. 43–111. print Matthews, Honor “Justice, Mercy and False- Seeming.” from Character and Symbol in Shakespeare’s Plays a Study of Certain Christian and PreChristian Elements in Their Structure and Imagery, by Honor Matthews, Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 119–138. print Shakespeare, William Hamlet from The Norton Introduction to Literature. Mays, Kelly J., W.W. Norton & Company, 2017. Pp.1101-1210 Print