Procrastination is a problematic
issue, especially for students and young people. This was also the case for
Hamlet. Perhaps not in the same conditions or for the same reasons but Hamlet
is a master of procrastination.
Nowadays what drives us to procrastinate
are the many “better” things that we can do with our time. TV, facebook, PS3,
fifa, twitter, movies, sleeping, who would honestly choose to do homework? The
thing is that we as students have to do things, which a lot of times are,
boring and long, but that will eventually help us succeed later on in life. At
least that is what teachers say, and we believe them. But the issue is that
sometimes this amount of homework turns to procrastination. Any student who
knows has had a large amount of homework at any time knows this feeling. There
is so much to do that you decide to do it later and simply wait for the
deadline to force you to work. We as students face this and often lack the
willpower to do our duties. Hamlet faces this too during his part in the play.
The prince of Denmark might not
be faced with a “sea of homework”, his indecision might not be “To read or not
to read”. But he does face a problem, and just like a student he knows the
solution. His uncle has killed his father. The solution: to avenge his father
and achieve justice in the Kingdom of Denmark. However, just like any student
his task is so enormous that he puts it off as long as he can. The reasons are
different. Hamlet might not have the distractions of Facebook or FIFA, but he does
have a couple of events and characters who distract him. First he investigates
to assure what he already knows to be true. Then he is presented with a chance
to do it, but he wastes it because it would send Claudius to heaven. It is only
when he is motivated by Fontinbras that he decides to take action. Even then he
is reluctant and circumvents the task at hand. At the end he achieves his task
in the same way of a highschool student: pressured by deadlines. In his case
Deadlines are actually DEADLY. It is only in his dying moments that he takes
revenge in Claudius. And like any student working against the clock, he
achieves his task but gets a failing grade.
