The reluctant character Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has become one of the most cited characters in history. Throughout Shakespeare's play Hamlet knows what he must do, but avoids it in his mind. The problem is: why does hamlet delay in avenging his father's death? Hamlet is afraid. He is afraid of failure. Hamlet tries to play off his fear by blaming outside circumstances, like doubting the existence of the ghost when he knows in his …showed first 75 words of 1158 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1158 total…delay. Some critics may ask the question, What is delay? Delay is to put off to a future time. Hamlet definitely puts off the killing of Claudius until the end of the play. Even if he has valid reasons to delay, he delays non the less. So critics who ask the question of whether he delays or not are completely wrong because there is no doubt in whether he delays or not, because he does.