"What an ass am I!"

Hamlet believes himself to be pathetic, an ass if you will. Hamlet says, "what an ass am I!" then continues to dig himself into a deeper hole of self-pity. He rants about prompts from Heaven and Hell urging him to avenge his father, but recognizes himself as coward for not doing so. Also, he compares himself to kitchen slaves as Hamlet and the slaves both rant about their heartaches through melodramatic delivery of words. Hamlet's single line, "what an ass am I!" illustrates his inner turmoil very accurately. Claudius' alleged crime was only told to Hamlet recently by a manipulative ghost; reservations with murdering his uncle and king seem normal. But Hamlet doesn't see it that way. He considers his actions, or inaction, cowardice because he blindly believes in the ghost of his deceased father. Hamlet's hesitation to assassinate his kin manifests itself as weakness in Hamlet's mind. This weakness, or cowardice, provides fuel for Hamlet to bury his head in the sand and ignore logic and charge ahead with plans to murder his uncle.

This is how I picture Hamlet while he wallows in self-pity.