Hamlet’s Hamartia In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare; Hamlet delay’s the revenge of his fathers death, because of his uncontrollable urge to stop and think about everything, which keeps him from acting on his desire to revenge his father’s murderer or take his own life. Hamlet’s hamartia is excessive thinking. He has a hard time being spontaneous; everything that he does has to be thought out a great deal before he will even consider acting upon it. By the end of the play he erupts and reacts in a way that is totally unexpected; he carries out he deed that he has been meaning to carry out throughout the entire play. He finally kills the king, King Claudius, who ki