Hamlet is a key text in Western culture because it concerns the freedom of the self. How is this concern manifested?

The first thing we notice is that Hamlet experiences Claudius's rule as a tyranny. As he says, ‘Denmark's a prison’. A viciously corrupt king sets his spies on the one dissident openly separating himself from the new order. But the play's exploration of freedom and slavery goes deeper. The greatest threat to Hamlet's autonomy comes from within.

After confronting the Ghost Hamlet feels compelled to work on his behalf, to embrace the project set him, to take up vengeance as his task. He must act. Many critics have agreed. (A feature of commentary on this play is how bloodthirsty otherwise mild-mannered scholars become when contemplating Hamlet's inaction.) But it is not only the critics who think Hamlet a failure for neglecting his task. He scolds himself: