] ] 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. ;-)