[Bradley: 121]. According to Beck (1997) depressive symptoms include consistently low mood, pessimistic thoughts, loss of excitement and decreased energy. These symptoms are found in Hamlet as well as he calls himself melancholic (II.ii.597) and confirms his condition further by saying:
But I have that within which passes show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (I.ii.85-6)
Hamlet also tells us that he has lost excitement for life and people in general as he confides in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, saying nothing really excites or delights him anymore. (II.ii.295-309).
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world! (I.ii.133-4)
His negativity is also apparent on numerous occasions. For example he refers to Demark as a prison (II.ii.243) and makes bitter comments about women (III.i.111-51). He talks about death and mortality frequently and make allusions to poor sleep when he says, "were it not that I have bad dreams."(II.ii.255) Hamlet is not interested in taking care of his appearance and often harbors suicidal thoughts such as "that the Everlasting had not fix'd his canon 'gainst self-slaughter." (I.ii.131-2)
Hamlet is fully aware of the enormity of the task and his own tardiness and inadequacy. He doesn't fail to allude to it even though he had wanted swift action at first.
The time is out of joint: O. cursed spite
That ever I was born to set it right. (I.v.196-7)
He often feels guilty for not acting swiftly: "Do you not come your tardy son to chide?" (III.iv.106-9) and "How all occasions do inform against me..."IV.iv.32). Hamlet...
A person during depression might want to do a lot but may fail to have the power to decide and take action. This depression was caused by the death of his father as some characters in the play attest to the transformation. Claudius says "what a noble mind is here o'erthrown" and Gertrude says, "my too much changed son." Hamlet is aware of his indecision and his lack of strength to take action as he says, "the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."(III.i.84-5).
This is the one plausible cause of delay but since so many others have already been offered, it is not easy to decide exactly what caused the delay. It can be a single factor or could be a combination of a variety of factors. However the truth remains that it was the inaction and the delay that created requisite amount of excitement for the climax. If it had happened too early in the play, there would have been no play to begin with. On the whole, we can say with some degree of certainty that Hamlet's obvious madness whether it was feigned or real had a great deal of influence on his actions.
References
Bradley AC. Shakespearean tragedy [2nd ed]. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1924
Beck P. Symptoms and assessment of depression. In: Paykel ES, ed. Handbook of affective disorders [2nd ed]. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1997
Samuel Johnson, On Shakespeare, Penguin, London. 1989.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Writings on Shakespeare, Capricorn, N.Y. 1959.
