MBTI Type: INFP

Hamlet finds himself at times incapable of acting on his whims—he wants to commit suicide but finds he cannot go against his conscience and do it, he intends to kill his uncle and then hesitates at the moment he is given the chance, then later kills another man, having mistaken him as a spy; he intellectualizes the idea of murder, becoming confused by a need both to avenge his father according to his wishes, and his own concerns about murder begetting murder. Hamlet starts off the play broody and full of judgmental resentment against his mother for so quickly having forgotten his father and remarrying his uncle – an event that bothers no one else, but that drives him into deep resentment and despondency. Ophelia says he was warm and tender to her, treating her well, before he “went mad,” but afterward, he becomes callous, withdrawn, caught up in his own feelings, and unable to articulate them. Most of the play is him ruminating in his own emotional state, as he tries to figure out who he is, what he believes, and measures the world against his value system and finds it wanting. Hamlet is very judgmental of others and their needs, including the sexuality of the women in his life (he dismisses them as “whores” and “strumpets”) out of a distaste for their carnal pleasures. He is somewhat suicidal and must be true to his feelings, such as when he storms out of court because he cannot tolerate his mother’s marriage. He becomes increasingly more self-absorbed and unkind to people as the play progresses. Hamlet becomes more needy, selfish, and reactive, showing callousness toward the people he tramples in his desire to avenge his father. He becomes aloof and disconnected from other characters, even banishing Ophelia from his life and sacrificing his love for her in the process. Hamlet manages to conceal and control his feelings at times, but then will have an angry and uncontrolled outburst, such as when he confronts his mother. He is deeply philosophical and internalizes everything, but is also highly witty and engaging, even in his feigned “madness” as a ploy to lure people into becoming less guarded around him, so he can learn the truth about his uncle’s deceit and murder of his father. He quickly catches onto other people’s motivations, once he gets an idea into his head (suspecting two people are spies for his uncle, which is true) but also can miscalculate situations; once his father’s ghost plants the idea in his head of murder, he quickly works out the big picture on the spot and then determines that he must obey the ghost and plot revenge. But Hamlet is “of two minds” throughout the play, constantly leaning one direction and then the other, and excessively procrastinating in favor of extensive abstraction and rumination—he over-thinks everything, sees it in a particular light, and immediately changes his mind, such as when given the chance to kill his uncle, setting out to do it, then deciding doing so might send him to heaven because he is in prayer (thus confessing his sins) and deciding against it, since he wants to ensure him “full of sin” so that he will go to hell for his misdeeds. He ponders endlessly about what life after death means in his “to be or not to be” speech. He sees both the end of what could be, and what is, dwelling so much in abstract themes that he waffles on his actions constantly. Rather than confront his uncle, he use a play (chosen very carefully by him) to “hint at” the truth in the hope of exposing his uncle’s devious sins. He changes his mind frequently and never settles on a single conclusion. When he encounters a skull in the graveyard, he ruminates on its meaning in a sensory sense, its implications about life and death and the afterlife, but also draws forth memories from his past to supplement his soliloquy. Hamlet feels a strong need to obey his father, but also to find proof before he does anything – he does not accept his uncle’s guilt without it and stages elaborate charades and even a play intended to provoke the truth out of others. He spends much of his time attempting to hatch a plan to expose the truth and avenge his father, and insists he see the ghost for himself, not believing his friends until he lays his eyes upon it. He becomes blunt and forceful rather than persuasive, and shows an uncommon amount of ruthlessness in the end. Hamlet can be impulsive at times, but also shows a reluctance to act—he speculates and debates far more often than he leaps into direct action, and when he does, it is his own undoing. The entire play is about his inability to mobilize himself into efficient action.

Enneagram: 6w7

Hamlet cannot make up his mind. He thinks, and then he sees the other side of his own argument, and he thinks some more… he thinks so much about everything, ruminating on it endlessly, that he cannot take action most of the time, procrastinating excessively even after he has evidence of wrongdoing, and sometimes lashing out in erratic episodes of ill-thought-out violence (when he has NOT had a chance to reflect). He is inconsistent and sporadic, sending people all kinds of mixed messages (he cares about them, he doesn’t care about them; he wants them around, he wants them to leave) and causing them to doubt his sanity, but the truth is, he’s lost in a vortex of continual rumination, uncertainty, and unable to find sufficient motivation to act. He bounces around like a ball on a tennis court, no sooner making up his mind than doubting it again, and is slow to accept anything as true.

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