Justice for Hamlet

Hamlet’s delay has troubled audiences and scholars for centuries. Psychological explanations abound but rarely recognize that Hamlet’s delay raises questions about justice. How do questions of crime and justice in Hamlet relate to the nascent system of criminal justice in Elizabethan England? This article contends that Hamlet’s delay dramatizes due process in criminal justice proceedings—making Hamlet less of a revenge tragedy and more of a tragedy of criminal justice. Showing the ethical tensions that arise when enacting a death penalty, the play provides a framework for thinking about delays associated with capital punishment in the modern United States.