Question

In act 4 scene 4, what conclusion does hamlet reach over the course of this speech

Answer 1

Hamlet is still wondering why he has been procrastinating about doing what he knows is his duty, which is to assassinate Claudius and avenge his father's murder. Shakespeare seems to be taking great pains to emphasize that this is the main problem of the play, but he does not offer any definite answer. Therefore, critics have been speculating and debating for centuries about the so-called Hamlet Problem. The fact that Hamlet ends his soliloquy in Act 4, Scene 4 with the words, "O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" is not convincing. He may have another opportunity to kill Claudius, as he had when he found the King alone and praying, and he may find some reason or reasons for failing to act. Characteristically, he only acts impulsively, when he doesn't have time to think. But thinking is his normal mode. It has been reinforced by many years of deep, solitary study at Wittenberg.