"This Thing's To Do" - Hamlet Patterns of Manhood

Hamlet has long been interpreted as a figure who is too paralyzed by moral self-consciousness to act in the way he feels it is his duty to act.  One way of understanding the root of that paralysis is by examining the character of Fortinbras, the warrior-prince, who in his resolute pursuit of military glory, stands in evident contrast with Hamlet's own indecisiveness.  The play makes us consider whether the moral bewilderment that is such a common affliction of modern man is in fact the result of his typical displacement from the battlefield, and the kind of indubitable duties to be found there.