Act III, Scene III begins with Rozencrantz and Guildenstern reporting back to the King with no success on Hamlet. The King instructs the two to escort Hamlet to England as official business of the state, and in their traditional fashion of sucking up to royalty, they happily accept. The pair exit and Polonious enters to tell the King that he will hide in Gertrude's chamber to spy again on Hamlet.
After this, Claudius is alone in his prayers. He is trying hopelessly to pray to God to forgive his sins and help him get through Hamlet's retaliation. Hamlet sneaks up on Claudius with the mindset to kill him on the spot. Just as he approaches the King he backs down, again. He rationalizes that if he kills the King now, after confession, the king will go to heaven and his father's revenge has failed. He decides to wait to kill the King while his is committing an act of sin. It is interesting how this scene concludes with Claudius saying "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go. In other words, Claudius' prayers were not heard, and consequently was not free of sin. If Hamlet had killed Claudius at this point, he would go to hell.
It is interesting how this recurring issue of religion comes up. I believe Hamlet is still struggling to force himself to take action. He only uses this as another excuse not to take any action against Claudius.
- Tyler Scott
No comments:
Post a Comment