To Act or Not to Act

Are the consequences of acting hastily worse than those from acting too late? In so many things, a split-second hesitation and all is lost. But reckless action can have a devastating aftermath. When Hamlet kills Polonius in a thoughtless blunder, it leads to the insanity and death of Ophelia, and Laertes’ and Hamlet’s duel and subsequent deaths, which results in the queen’s poisoning. Thus Shakespeare seems to feel that mindless action is certainly the wrong path to take. But if Hamlet hadn’t hesitated, when before he holds his dagger above the praying king, none of those terrible events would ever have occurred. So does Shakespeare think deliberation is worse? The only problem with compulsively murdering Claudius for Hamlet was that his uncle would have gone to heaven. Yet afterwards Claudius says his prayers didn’t reach heaven anyway. Perhaps with this irony Shakespeare chooses wild action over thoughtful indecision, and just rubs in it Hamlet’s face.