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Hamlets Problematic Revenge Forging a Royal Mandate provides a new argument within Shakespearean studies that argues the oft-noted arrest of the plays dramaturgical momentum, especially evident in Hamlets much delayed enactment of his revenge, represents in fact a succinct emblem of the arrested development in the moral maturity of the entire cast, most notably, Hamlet himselfas the unifying disclosure and tragic problem in the play. Settling for unreflective and short-sighted personal gratifications and cold comforts, they truantly elbow aside a more considerable moral obligation. Again and again, all yield this dutys commanding priority to a childishly self-regarding fear of offending those in nominal positions of power and questionable positions of authorityfigures, like Ophelia and Hamlets fathers, for instance, demanding an unworthy deference.