How Does Hamlet Not Kill Claudius

Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius he will not be avenging his father’s death. This is because Claudius was praying just before Hamlet was about to act in Scene 3. If Hamlet killed Claudius, Claudius would have gone to heaven and Hamlet does not want Claudius to go to heaven. Hamlet believed that Claudius was the one eavesdropping when really it was an innocent Polonius. Hamlet probably believed that Claudius was not praying at that time so he decided to kill him immediately.

After hearing the story of his father’s murder, he did not right away plan for revenge and instead, he goes away and prays (Hibbard 196). In addition, Hamlet’s character is very self-conflicting. He wants to take revenge, yet he walks around acting crazy, dreams about irreverent things yet wants someone to slap him out of his current pathetic state (Hibbard 234). Even though Hamlet swore to the ghost that he will take revenge, he still does not trust the ghost as he thinks it might be the devil, so he decides to arrange a play for Claudius and see if he will confess his crimes, this act of his furthermore illustrates his indecisiveness to trust other and himself (Hibbard 235). Most importantly, at the climax of the play when Claudius was confessing his sins, Hamlets decides not to kill his uncle when he was repenting his sins as he does not want to send him to heaven (Alsaif 134).

Furthermore, Hamlet might have rebelled against King Claudius through his words, but never act against him and after all actions speak louder than words. Hamlet is like the proletariat oppressed by the bourgeoisie or his uncle later turned into step-father Claudius. Hamlet is obligated to follow orders given by Claudius even though he is the murderer of his father and snatched the crown from Hamlet. For example, when Claudius forbids Hamlet from going to Wittenberg and puts a stop on Hamlet’s education, Hamlet silently abides by his orders. Hamlet also never applies his stature or power to fight against Claudius.

Hamlet’s main deficiencies are exemplified through his extreme desire for revenge, inability to act, and radical intelligence. Hamlet, having nothing to lose, decides to make avenging his main priority without caring what his flaws are or what effect they might have on him. Hamlet’s downfall arises as he decides to conspire on his own in order to kill Claudius: “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.68). Hamlet admits his own extremism and misjudgment, which proves his own incapability of being rational while interacting with his uncle. Moreover, he also condemns his own inability of taking action as he constantly fails to take neither moral nor immoral actions.

Hamlet 1. Hamlet is in an almost permanent state of confusion during the play, which makes him avenging his father’s death difficult. Hamlet does not understand Gertrude’s relationship with Claudius. Also, Hamlet does not receive proof that Claudius killed Old Hamlet until the play within the play. Hamlet does not take action against Claudius as soon as he discovers his guilt, because he does not want to send Claudius to heaven.

Hamlet’s biggest flaw was that he was so indecisive throughout the story. He makes it hard for himself to avenge his father’s death by passing up on numerous opportunities to kill Claudius. His hesitation would not only lead to his death, but the death of many others in the story. Hamlet was called upon a ghost which who he believed, was his dad, to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet finds out that his dad (King Hamlet) was poisoned by his uncle Claudius, so Claudius could rule Denmark.

In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare plants the plot of revenge into Hamlet's head. In Denmark, Hamlet's father is murdered by Claudius. Claudius is the new king and Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet does not like Claudius because he marries Gertrude, his mother, and because Hamlet's father dies. The ghost of Hamlet's father appears to Hamlet to tell him to seek revenge on his murderer. The ghost then tells Hamlet Claudius has murdered him by pouring poison into his ear. Hamlet loves his father and believes he needs to kill Claudius. The opportunity to kill Claudius appears when Claudius is in his room. Hamlet walks in on Claudius praying and is about to kill him. Hamlet refuses to murder Claudius in that moment. In Hamlet, Hamlet does not kill Claudius when he is given the opportunity because Claudius is praying, Hamlet is not ready to kill, and Hamlet is insane.

Claudius is ultimately revealed as the antagonist of Hamlet because he removed the good from his life, becoming the prime opposition of Hamlet. He is then faced with the king’s direction to avenge his father’s death by doing anything it takes to reveal the crimes of Claudius. Although not the chief antagonist, another opposition to Hamlet is his mother, whose crime is also revealed by the deceased king Hamlet. The king tells Hamlet how his wife betrayed him when he comments, “whose love was of that dignity that it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor to those of mine” (I.vi.786-791). Queen Gertrude has also crushed Hamlet’s belief of his mother’s faithfulness by forgetting her vows and looking to Claudius’ gifts and love when she should be remembering king Hamlet. Both Claudius and Gertrude threw Hamlet’s integral foundations out the window, leaving Hamlet infuriated and ready to do what it takes to avenge his father’s death and accuse his opposing family of their crime against him.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character as well as many others have to make various decisions throughout the course of the play. The play is centered on Prince Hamlet whose father has recently been murdered by Claudius, the king’s brother. Now, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, is married to Claudius and is completely ignorant about the murder. Hamlet longs to prove Claudius guilty, but he gradually loses his sense of rationality in the meantime. Hamlet is faced with lies, betrayal, and secrecy, causing him to question taking his own life.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was

Hamlet faces challenges throughout the play that try his inner strengths and test his ability to handle the situation. He is torn between wanting to seek justice, and avenge his father’s death. Hamlet is also caught up in an intricate web of lies and deceit, he is considered mad by most characters when in all actuality it is just playing off of the actions of others to benefit himself. He puts on different acts trying to hide the truth, which makes him seem sincerely mad to the people around him. The truth of the matter is that Hamlet can’t decide whether or not his convictions are accurate. This dilemma ultimately leads to not only the deaths of the main characters, but the downfall of the kingdom.

In the book of Hamlet there were many opportunities to take his revenge but Hamlet found reasons not to. He always found ways to procrastinate until the end of the book. It came to a point where he was a danger to everyone around him. If he would have killed Claudius the first chance he got many lives could have been spared. Hamlet has proved throughout the story he had difficulty taking his revenge by killing King Claudius.

While he finally feels that his lust for revenge is one that is both justified and right, Hamlet also seems to open up to both Laertes and Horatio so that they will know of his guilt and noble quest. Moments before Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes die in a final confrontation, this sort of a confession from Hamlet also shows that there remains at least a fragment of the original ethical framework that he once possessed at the beginning of the play. Hamlet, an extremely dynamic character, seems to come full circle and returns to his old approach of being sensible and moral to those around him. This is important because this passage is almost like a small instance of a rising action, and it represents a quick turning point that happens minutes before the ending scene. By the end of the play, it becomes clear that Hamlet underwent very dynamic character changes and responded to different situations in very different ways.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses various characters to demonstrate the concept of passion versus reason. He uses his story to show the readers that passion and reason can both exist, but it is necessary to find a balance between the two. As evident in Prince Hamlet’s life, an overabundance of passion can be harmful to oneself and to others. Throughout the play, he faces an internal battle: he must choose between rationality and sentiment. This task becomes especially hard, however, when the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back from the grave to share the horrible story of his murder. The late King has been poisoned and replaced by his own brother, Claudius, and, driven by sorrow and agony, Prince Hamlet decides to get revenge. Hamlet’s plan is to kill Claudius. This idea seems extreme. However, it is reasonable that the Prince would act irrationally as a coping strategy. In times of loss, especially after the loss of a parent, it is normal to experience overwhelming thoughts and sometimes “emotional issues” arise (“Adult Death of a Parent).

Hamlet does not only value his own morality, but also the morality of others. Besides worrying about his own morality, his mother's morality has much significance to him. As Robert Luyster states, "Hamlet would have Gertrude, like himself, become purified, but this can only be done through the acceding to consciousness' claim to be hard"(Luyster 77). Hamlet contemplates his every action. This problem eventually overwhelms him while also causing his madness. The depth of his thought concerning the murder of Claudius following Hamlet's play reveals his madness. "Reason and action are not opposed in Hamlet, but for most of the play, they fail to coalesce as either we or the characters would like them to" (Kastan 48).