At once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously — I mean negative capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.
This is a quote from John Keats, writing to his brothers George and Thomas. It struck me when I first heard about it in college. And the quality he's talking about is as necessary as ever, as rare as ever. Fact and reason are important, of course, and too many make arguments bereft of them. But there's the sublime as well, which we're destitute without.
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A good example of this is the old question about why is it that Hamlet swears vengeance on Claudius for his father's death in the first act and doesn't get around to the actual business until the last act. It's something Hamlet himself worries about throughout the play and is the reason people have been entranced by it for hundreds of years.
That some critics have taken great pleasure in trying to analyze Hamlet's motivations (a psychological disorder?) ignores the possibility that his questioning might be nothing more than a sane response to an insane predicament.
That's a fascinating point. Hamlet is expected to avenge his father by killing Claudius. He expects it of himself certainly. But there's no way that doing so won't destroy his entire world. In a lot of ways simply walking away from the whole plan is the sane choice.
Of course this being Shakespeare, that choice isn't really open to him.
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