] I think it makes Hamlet nobler and shows him to be a better human being that he does not act precipitously, that he ponders for so long about committing something so foul -- even to avenge his father.

I agree. Killing should never be done lightly. (Though I know this is ironic when the play ends with five bodies strewn about the stage!) And as Hamlet says, how can he know the ghosts speaks the truth - that it is the ghost of his father and not a demon? He waits til he has the proof he needs before he acts. That's a good thing, I think. ;-)

Now Laertes (to bring this back to the topic for the week!) hesitates not a bit, though, of course, he has no doubt as to whether or not Hamlet killed his father. But I think the way he goes about the deed is supposed to lessen him in our eyes. He doesn't wish to trust to just his own skills to kill Hamlet in a "fair" match, but has two devious back up plans. And the fact that he returns from France with that unction shows that he can be quite underhanded.