Does Hamlet Make A Good King Essay

There are many things a king needs to be great. A king needs to be well-liked by his subjects to prevent being overthrown. Kings also need confidence, and substantial knowledge of the land and of the people he rules. Being well-liked and having conviction and knowledge are very important, but most of all, a king needs to be levelheaded. In order to call the important shots that impact an entire nation, a king needs a thorough thought process to reach the proper decision. This is where fault can be found with Hamlet. Fortinbras claims that Hamlet would make a good king, stating “For he was likely, had he been put on, / To have proved most royal” (5.2.413-415). While this quote may make Hamlet appear as a great future king, Fortinbras had never met Hamlet. Fortinbras was not able to get an accurate feel for what type of person Hamlet was day in and day out and therefore Fortinbras could not pick up on Hamlet’s key fault. That fault is Hamlet’s emotional instability. Hamlet certainly has support of the citizens of Denmark as told by Claudius when he expressed “The

Perhaps those who disagree with the notion that Hamlet would fail as a king would want more evidence as to why. If that is the case, then there is no shortage of Hamlet showing weakness other than contemplating suicide. Hamlet gets his chance to kill Claudius in Scene 3 of Act 3, but decides to pass up the opportunity because Claudius was praying at the time. Later on in Scene 4 of Act 4, Hamlet criticizes himself for failing to get revenge on Claudius voicing “And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, / If his chief good and market of his time / Be but to speed and feed”. Hamlet himself realizes his cowardly methods after speaking to a Captain whose men are risking their lives for such a minuscule