Claudius’ prayer was very important in Hamlet because of the emotional language used and the biblical references with allegories tied into his prayer. This prayer is a very vital part of the play because it is when Claudius admits to killing his brother and the ghost’s insight is proven true. In act three scene three, we see Claudius finding it very difficult to pray because of his lack of guilt and overwhelming guilt which flip-flop back and forth for his brother’s murder. He utters a prayer where he verbally admits to all his crimes and also realizes that he is not ready to give up all that he’s gained from his brother’s death. At first he is reluctant to pray because he still bears the fruit of his crime and is not yet ready to give that …show more content…
Shakespeare opens the scene with “O my offence is rank, it smells to heaven.” This ties in with the inner corruption where in the first three lines of the soliloquy, Claudius admits to the murdering his brother and figures that he cannot bring himself to pray about it because he has limited regret and enjoyed the outcome of his sins. Shakespeare uses a biblical Allusion about Cain and Abel to reveal that the king really did kill his own brother out of jealousy. “Pray can I not.” With Shakespeare’s use of transposition, Claudius admits to not being able to pray even though he so desperately wants to. The line “…Though inclination be as sharp as will” (line 43) follows right after where he is faced with two contrasting decisions. With the use of alliteration and excessive emphasis on the line, Shakespeare stresses Claudius’ commitment to two courses of action. Like many characters in Hamlet, Claudius struggles with finding a balance between emotion and reason. He admits this to himself in lines 46 and 47 that he simply lost control of the situation and cannot figure out what to do. With the question on whether to follow his desires or give it all up for forgiveness and possible peace of mind. In line 50, he wonders whether there’s enough forgiveness to cleanse his soul and make it “white as snow” wanting …show more content…
Claudius finally realizes that what he did was bad and that he is the one at fault. Shakespeare shows the character trapped in his darkness but we the audience can see a small showing of his good soul peering through. Shakespeare also shows that even in his corruption of Claudius’ mind, he is still a God fearing Christian that knows right and wrong. This is obviously shown when Claudius knows that repentance is the right thing to do but because he is so messed up, that part of his evilness is holding him back from doing the right thing. In lines 71 and 72, Shakespeare uses 3 great examples of an apostrophe like “O bosom black as death!” which is also a simile to compare and also address his heart for being dark and lifeless like death. He goes on to finally and for help from the angels and pray for his heart to not only be white as snow but as soft as a new
Claudius feels much guilt about the death of his brother he also faces the desires of power. The guilt of his brother death drives Claudius to be on his toes around the kingdom. He remains very scared that someone like Hamlet Jr. might avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Jr. chooses to use a play to test Claudius’s guilt. He rewrites parts of the play to replicate the story voiced by the ghost. Hamlet Jr. watches Claudius carefully during the performance, and the king leaves during it (Gale). Claudius gets up and leaves because he cannot bear to see the reenactment of how he killed his own brother. The internal conflict of the guilt about his brother eats Claudius up and he goes to repent for the corrupt act he has done: “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ And like a man to double business bound,/ I stand in pause where I shall first begin,/ And neglect; what if this cursed hand,/Were thicker than itself with brothers blood” (3.3.40-45). Claudius repents but knows his words will mean nothing to the heavens because Claudius is an insincere being whom
Again Shakespeare wants to show the audience the character although it is weakened, does still have a conscience. This scene also creates dramatic irony, as he tries to pray but cannot because of the guilt he feels, Hamlet thinks he is praying so doesn’t kill him Shakespeare chose to have this build up and this soliloquy to show the dramatic irony and another more guilty more humane side to Claudius. Shakespeare shows the character of Claudius as been a villain, yet he shows other sides to him which have feeling of guilt showing that the character is not entirely bad. Claudius is shown as an ambitious and ruthless king but also as the main source and theme of evil throughout the play.
All of this shows that Claudius is introspective and honest with himself. It also does contradictory things to my opinion of him. Depending on how I look at it, this prayer can make me feel sympathetic towards Claudius as I learn about the inner torture he is going through and how awful he feels about killing Hamlet's father. On the other hand, it also makes me more angry with him because I realize he fully understood how terrible what he did was, but he chose to do it anyway, and now he knows he should repent, but refuses to. As terrible as his guilty feelings are, they obviously aren't bad enough to make him change.
Once Hamlet stumbles upon his uncle praying he says: “Now might I do it pat now a is praying. / And now I’ll do’t, / and so a goes to heaven, / And so I am revenged. That would be scanned. / A villain kills my father, and for that / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / to heaven” (3.4.73-77). Hamlet had the perfect opportunity to commit regicide here yet instead of going to Claudius and killing him Hamlet stays back and once again begins to ponder the possibilities of whether or not this is really a good time to do it. Hamlet’s religious beliefs surely play a strong role here because he starts to question what will happen if he kills his uncle while he is praying. Hamlet does, as the quote reveals come to the conclusion that if he were to kill his uncle now he would go to heaven, and not hell where the ghost claimed to have to return to “My hour is almost come. / When I sulph’rous and tormenting flames / Must render up myself” (1.5.4-6). Hamlet did prove that the ghost was his father so knowing that his father is suffering because of his uncle hamlet has no desire to kill Claudius while he is in a position to go to heaven. Normally religious arguments are based on pure speculation however this is not the case for Hamlet; because he has seen the spirit of his late father who did confess to Hamlet that there was in fact a hell to go to because he has to
One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it . His only proof was the ghost and even though others saw the ghost no one else heard it talk except Hamlet. Hamlet was also considering a lot of other things at this time, like how if he killed Claudius now Claudius would be free of sin and would go to heaven. He was also thinking if his father didn’t get to die free of sin it wouldn’t be fair for Claudius to die free of sin either, which shows how vengeful Hamlet’s character is. At the same time, Hamlet has morals and understands the consequences so that’s why it’s harder for him to perform the act . After a l...
In the prayer scene, Hamlet misses his best opportunity to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death. With no guards around, Claudius is alone and he is unaware that Hamlet is lurking in the shadows. The scene is set for Hamlet to take vengeance for his father’s unsettled spirit. However, Hamlet does not kill him, because Claudius is repenting for his sins, allowing him to go to heaven when he is to die. As one’s religion often dictated the afterlife of one’s soul, King Hamlet is doomed to an eternity in purgatory. Hamlet does not feel it is fair for Claudius to go to heaven, while his father is at unrest, so he decides instead to kill Claudius while he is doing something sinful. This is ironic because Claudius says he is not really praying; he is just going through the ...
... of treachery and, luckily, Hamlet realizes the king’s subterfuge, crushing the plot and flipping it back on him. Claudius remains steadfast in his efforts to remove Hamlet, going so far as to set up a false fencing competition and foolishly pushing the poisoned wine without considering the suspiciousness of the action. In his short-sighted and rash decision making, Claudius shows that he allows his inflated sense of regality and self-worth to cloud his judgment.
That would be scann’d” (Act III: Scene iii, 74-76). After watching Claudius’ reaction to the play, Hamlet is convinced of Claudius’ guilt. Hamlet is on his way to Gertrude’s bedroom when he sees Claudius kneeling down. Because Claudius is kneeling, Hamlet mistakenly thinks that Claudius is praying for forgiveness and decides not to kill Claudius. This is the most important quote in the play that proves Hamlet’s tragic flaw is procrastination. One can argue that the cause of Hamlet’s downfall in the rest of the play results when he does not kill Claudius when given the perfect opportunity. The importance of the quote is extended with its dramatic irony. The audience knows that Claudius is not praying for
In Act 3, Scene 3 of Hamlet, Claudius’ soliloquy begins with a confession of killing his brother which then progresses into praying for the capability to feel deep remorse. This soliloquy portrays Claudius’ evolution from one who wants to be pardoned for his sin to one who is asking to gain true repentance.
Claudius feels guilty about killing his brother. We can see Claudius;s remorse when he is talking to God and gives his monologue about his his murder. Therefore, Claudius says, "My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent(pg.165)." This quote proves that Claudius realizes that he made a mistake and he also realizes that he cannot put everything behind him as mich as he wants to. Everything reminds him about his brother, the kingdom, the queen and the crown.
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
Once Hamlet is positive that King Claudius did kill his father after catching his guilty conscience during the “Murder of Garbanzo,” he decides to murder him. Upon following out his scheme, Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but he is in the middle of prayer, so Hamlet repents. Claudius is praying to ask forgiveness for murdering his brother, but he is not full-heartedly sorry. Claudius is Catholic and does not want to die with sins on his soul, so he tries to repent his sins but is not genuine. Hamlet decides not to kill him because it would not be fair for Claudius to get to go to Heaven for dying while praying because his father did not get the same chance; King Hamlet died sinful, and Hamlet believes he is now in Hell because of
...ilst he is praying is heavily ‘underpinned’ by religious reasons, as I have already mentioned religion was a very important part of people’s lives at the time. There are several other reasons why Hamlet didn’t kill Claudius in Act III Scene III, which Hamlet reveals himself in his soliloquies. I think it is fair to say that the most valid reason for Hamlet’s delay in avenging his father is the lack of the right situation. This is most apparent when Hamlet kills Polonius, showing that he has the ability and the courage to kill Claudius. However, the right situation took so long to arise because it must involve Hamlet being in the right, hot-blooded, passionate state of mind as well as Claudius being in the right situation.
In addition to this internal struggle, Hamlet feels it is his duty to dethrone Claudius and become the King of Denmark. This revenge, he believes, would settle the score for his mother’s incestuous relationship and would reinstate his family’s honor. These thoughts are solidified in Act I, Scene 5, when his father’s ghost appears and informs Hamlet that is was Claudius who murdered him, and that Claudius deprived him “of life, of crown, and queen” (line 75). This information leads to Hamlet’s promise to kill Claudius, while not punishing his mother for their incestuous marriage. His statement, “thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (lines 102-103), demonstrates his adamant decision to let nothing stand in the way of his promise for revenge.
... be overstepping the boundaries of morality. Not only does Hamlet want to kill Claudius, but he also wants to damn his soul. This contrasts greatly with Claudius’ act of murder, which is carried out with no preference for the victim’s afterlife. As a result of Hamlet’s tendency to over-think situations, his mission of vengeance is once again delayed.