Hamlet is a slave to himself. His second soliloquy proves that he isn't held back by anything but his own cowardliness and self-condemnation. We do see him thinking more proactively by concocting a plan to catch Claudius in his guilt. But ultimately, we see that Hamlet is tied down by himself.
Hamlet is intent on avenging his father but he cannot seem to be cruel and indifferent enough to calculate a revenge plan. He has the mind to do it, and he has the desire, but he himself is not the kind of person to coldly plan the murder of his uncle. He is contemptuous toward himself because he knows he can't take action. This is evidenced by him crying to himself, "Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing. No, not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?" He insults himself and the others around him. He has to literally convince himself to carry out the revenge against his uncle because he keeps hesitating. I think that he hates himself for that, as shown by him calling himself an "ass," and "pigeon-livered." And that makes him even more inactive. Being the over-analyzer that he is, he can't stop his anxiety and apprehension and has to resort to ensuring that Claudius himself admits his guilt. This shows that Hamlet actually has some doubts about his father's ghost. He suspects that it may be "the devil" (606) tricking him. This leads him to think that he must "catch the conscience of the king" before taking any real action (excuses, excuses).
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