In Acts III and IV of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the reader discovers an array of deception, manipulation, and emotionally driven behavior. Characters such as Hamlet, King Claudius and Laertes thus display unusual behavior. This behavior is driven by other factors and they complement their current situation, this behavior ultimately contributes to their downfall. One character who displays behavior leading to their downfall is Hamlet. Hamlet shows a range of behaviors that lead to his downfall, but some play a greater role than others, these being revenge and manipulation. Hamlet's quest for revenge is considered madness by everyone because of the way Hamlet goes about getting revenge. For Hamlet to avenge his vengeful behavior, his vengeful behavior forces Hamlet out of his norm, the part of him that is most affected are his beliefs. Hamlet is not sure if he wants to avenge his father's death because the information he receives comes from a ghost who appears to be his father but he is not sure if he should kill the king (II, ii, 585- 597 & III, ii, 66-75). Hamlet considers himself a coward because he has yet to commit anything for the murder of his father who surrounds him 24/7. Hamlet struggles to get comfortable with taking the life of someone else, even if it causes him discomfort, he is driven to avenge his father's death. Hamlet does not want to murder the man who murdered his father, and that is why he is going to hell, Hamlet's fierce struggle with his beliefs and feelings pushes him towards his demise (II, ii, 561 -567). By plotting to capture the consciousness of the king he has created for himself, the king is aware that Hamlet knows what he has done and he has now become a problem, so he plots to get rid of him leading to his demise (IV, vii, While Hamlet tries to avenge his father's death, Polonius is next on his list to get out of his way, Hamlet tries to get rid of Polonius because he knows he is spying for him king but this actually worries the king (II, ii, 40- 53 Hamlet may not be aware of this, but if he makes Polonius think he is mad, then he goes back and gives). information to the king, this will result in his disappearance With Hamlet running around, Polonius wants Queen Gertrude to speak to Hamlet, Polonius spies behind the curtain so he can report to the king (III, iv, 1-7), while speaking. to his mother Hamlet ends up killing Polonius (III, iv, 20-25) This act only gives King Claudius ammunition to get rid of Hamlet and he puts a target on his back for Laertes to shoot.