Hamlet is faced with an extraordinary conflict in this
scene. He must decide whether to kill Claudius when he has a huge opportunity
(as he’s repenting), or later (at a sinful moment). This enables him to send
the murderer to hell and make him suffer, as he deserves for murdering the
king, and more importantly, his beloved father.
He decides to wait, and I personally think that that his hesitation is
good. I mean, this is the King’s life at stake! He decided to wait so that
Claudius' soul would not go to Heaven, but rather plummet towards Hell. This is
the right decision, because Claudius had killed Hamlet's father, his own
brother, in order to attain power over the kingdom and Gertrude. This also
portrays that Hamlet has a lot of will power and can think critically even
during high tension moments. Perhaps he's not as impulsive as he insinuates.
Either way, however, Hamlet is now in harm’s
way. The entire kingdom thinks that he has gone mad. If word got out that he
had murdered the king, or even considered it, he would face great consequences.
Given the overwhelming effect of religion at that time, the people of the
kingdom would not have taken this killing lightly. Despite this, Hamlet would
continue with it due to the sense of an obligation to his father. This is the
necessary thing to do, as his death should not be ignored or forgotten.
By seeing
this scene, I observed a lot more about Hamlet and Claudius. I learned that Hamlet
isn’t such an impetuous person. Claudius is not afraid to pray, in vain
nonetheless, even after what he did to his brother. He wanted the power, the queen,
the throne, and he got it all. Claudius is aware that there’s no way for him to
be forgiven if he still contains all the clear evidence. I think that Hamlet’s internal dilemma, and in
turn a hesitation, is completely justified.
Well done. No one else has really discussed the consequences of Hamlet's madness or how murdering Claudius here might affect him. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your ideas and it was a really great analysis, except for the fact that I think that Hamlet should have killed Claudius sooner. Even though his soul was cleansed, and he wouldn't go to hell for his sins, that was the only chance Hamlet had to kill him that would've changed things. If he had decided to kill Claudius sooner he could have saved his mother and Laertes and even his own life. Although it would have been looked down upon, Claudius still got to kill King Hamlet and didn't suffer any consequences until the very end.
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