THE theme conflict in the hamlet
Conflict is of two kinds: there is the outward conflict between the characters; and there is inner conflict which takes place the in the mind of the hero. In Hamlet the outward conflict takes place between Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet seeks to aven the murder of his father by killing Claudius, while Claudius seeks to get rid of Hamlet in order to ensure his own security and stability. The inner conflict is revealed in Hamlet's successive soliloquies. Almost every soliloquy by Hamlet contains a mental debate. The most famous of these soliloquies is the one which begins with"To be or not to be-that is the question". The debate here is perhaps the most agonizing which Hamlet goes through. An inner conflict appears also in the soliloquy which begins"How all occasions do inform against me". In this soliloquy, Hamlet asks himself whether his failure to avenge the murder of his father is due to an element of cowardice in his nature. He feels greatly distressed because he feels unable to put an end to the life of his father's murderer