Internal Conflict In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

William Shakespeare as a playwright is known for creating characters that exhibit great internal conflict. Usually, throughout his plays, characters face conundrums or puzzles within themselves. His famous early seventeenth-century play, Hamlet, is no different. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, loses his father to what he thinks is a poisonous snakebite. Shortly into the play, he finds out from a ghost claiming to be his father, King Hamlet, that he was murdered by his brother who has now taken over the throne and King Hamlet’s wife. The ghost encourages Hamlet to take revenge on his uncle. The act of seeking revenge is what drives Hamlet to his inner turmoil.
Collin McGinn, a British philosopher and author of Shakespeare Philosophy, states

Upon conversing with the ghost, Hamlet learns of his father’s murder by the hands of his now stepfather. The ghost tells Hamlet, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (1.5.39-40). The ghost urges Hamlet to take revenge on Claudius’ actions by murdering him. This puts Hamlet in a sticky situation. He could kill King Claudius to gain revenge for his father’s death, but he knows that morally it is wrong. In the setting of Hamlet, a response to kin murder is revenge (Corum, 60). This is clearly portrayed throughout the play by the use of Fortinbra’s, Pyrrhus’s, Laertes’ and Hamlet’s revenge after their fathers were murdered. Richard Corum writes in his book Understanding Hamlet “revenge is equally absolutely forbidden by the now dominant law of the new Christian/monarchial Father” (60). This law is what kept Hamlet paralyzed without the ability to accomplish his revenge. Also, why should he trust the ghost? He contemplates this is in act II scene II “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power t' assume a pleasing shape” (2.2.561-562). He doesn’t know whether this ghost is virtuous or wicked. He sees the potential that the ghost is just here to “abuses me to damn me”