Claudius' Soliloquy in Hamlet
Claudius' soliloquy about his remorse over his murder of Hamlet's father is important to the play because it's the one place where we learn how Claudius feels about what he has done. The rest of the play is all about how Hamlet feels about what Claudius has done, and I think it rounds out the play to get it from a different perspective.
From the soliloquy I can see that Claudius feels sorry for the murder, but not sorry enough. He says, "Oh, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven." He wants to pray for forgiveness of his offense, but laments, "Pray can I not," because "I am still possessed of those effects for which I did the murder - My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen." He murdered Hamlet's father in order to get those things and he is not willing to give them up. He realizes that true repentance would be willing to give then up, and therefore, he is not really repentant. This is why at the end of his prayer, he says "Words without thoughts never to heaven go." There's no point in saying he is sorry because God knows he doesn't really mean it. So, the best he can do is pray that God will make him sorry, by pleading, "Heart with strings of steel, be as soft as the sinews of a new-born babe."
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.
Claudius still holds out some hope for himself, though, saying "All may be well." But he shows there really isn't much hope left, when, a few acts later, he plans Hamlet's murder to preserve the same things he killed Hamlet's father to get.
Jasmine describes her cousin Ruby’s eyes as being “a million miles away'; (p.7). But when Ruby’s mind is set on saving the pony, her determination comes shining brightly through.
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By most accounts, this passage would be taken to mean that he does not kill Claudius because at this time the King is praying, and when praying one's soul will ascend to heaven if one should die. Hamlet wants Claudius to burn in hell; for him to go to heaven would make his revenge void. He will avenge his father's death when Claudius is engaged in some other less holy act, in order to insure the King's place in hell.
In this essay I examine the soliloquy-approach which the hero uses. If Hamlet’s personality seems abnormally vague, if his different performer can award him with such widely differing characteristics, it is because his part is presented personally, much of it confided to us through soliloquies.
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 ...
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...he mothers who are capable to do so should at least try it for the baby’s well-being. Breast-feeding benefits the mother and child in many ways such as weight loss for the mother and the right supply of nutrients for the child. The mother can also reduce the likelihood of her developing cancer and diabetes. The child can gain a better immune system and will do better in academics. It creates a loving and supportive bond between the mother and child. Immune system, brain function, socialization, and overall long-term health is stabilized throughout the breast-feeding period (Godfrey 1307). Many organizations promote breastfeeding for atleast the first six months of the baby’s life and many studies show the increase in brain development and skills that breast-fed babies develop and formula fed babies lack. All mothers should breast-feed if she is capable of doing so.
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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
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