Title: The Inner and Outer Hamlet. The inherent nature of drama consists… | by J.G.R. Penton | Literary Analyses | Medium
Headings: The Inner and Outer Hamlet
The Inner and Outer Hamlet
INTERNAL CONFLICT
OUTWARD CONFLICT
CONCLUSION
Works Cited

Content: INTERNAL CONFLICT
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The inward conflict in Hamlet lies in the psychological malcontent of the play’s titular character, Hamlet. At an internal level, Hamlet seems to be delaying his revenge because he is divided by his mother’s betrayal of his father, which is a constant preoccupation for him. This internal preoccupation is at odds with the ghost’s order for vengeance. Tabassum Javed in “Perfect Idealism in Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet” ascribes Hamlet’s internal conflict to a clash between his own grief and the ghost’s demand for vengeance. Javed states, “he can save himself and Denmark by killing Claudius, but to kill Claudius is to act out his father’s wish and the disaster for Hamlet is that this course of action perfectly coincides with the solution of his own problem. Hamlet is torn between two courses of action, both equally painful” (327). To this effect, Hamlet’s inner preoccupation lies chiefly with the relationship between his mother and uncle. The first line he utters is, “a little more kin and less than kind” (Shakespeare I.2.65). Hamlet struggles with the concept that his mother could betray his father. The betrayal of his father bothers Hamlet because he does not know how to deal with his repressed feelings about his mother and his own oedipal animosity towards his father.