At other times, when he is most bound to act,
he remains puzzled, undecided, and sceptical, dallies with his
purposes, till the occasion is lost, and always finds some pretence
to relapse into indolence and thoughtfulness again. For this reason
he refuses to kill the King when he is at his prayers, and by a
refinement in malice, which is in truth only an excuse for his own
want of resolution, defers his revenge to some more fatal
opportunity, when he shall be engaged in some act 'that has no
relish of salvation in it':
He kneels and prays,
And now I'll do't, and so he goes to heaven,
And so am I reveng'd; THAT WOULD BE SCANN'D.
He kill'd my father, and for that,
I, his sole son, send him to heaven.
Why this is reward, not revenge.
Up sword and know thou a more horrid time,
When he is drunk, asleep, or in a rage.
He is the prince of philosophical speculators, and because he cannot
have his revenge perfect, according to the most refined idea his
wish can form, he misses it altogether. So he scruples to trust the
suggestions of the Ghost, contrives the scene of the play to have
surer proof of his uncle's guilt, and then rests satisfied with this
confirmation of his suspicions, and the success of his experiment,
instead of acting upon it. Yet he is sensible of his own weakness,
taxes himself with it, and tries to reason himself out of it:
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast; no more.
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