How Does Hamlet Purge His Guilt

Hamlet kills Polonius and Gertrude becomes scared as to what is going to happen with Hamlet. Claudius betrays her trust by taking advantage of it and takes matter into his own hands. Claudius solution to the problem is to have Hamlet sent to England, where he is going to be safe from the law and will not have to deal with any consequences for his actions. " O Gertrude, come away! The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch. But we will ship him hence, and this vile deed. We must, with all out majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse" (4.1.28-32). Claudius makes Gertrude believe he is setting this up because he wants to protect Hamlet. But even though the audience knows the real reason as to why he is doing this. He is sending Hamlet to England to be killed. " By letters congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet" (4.3.66-67).

Delaying, Hamlet continues to avoid murdering Claudius. After hesitating to kill Claudius, Hamlet flees to his mother’s room. Polonius hides in Gertrude’s room while Hamlet is speaking with his mother, but Hamlet soon catches on and murders Polonius. Shocked, Gertrude confronts Hamlet about the murder, but Hamlet retaliates by asserting, "A bloody deed! almost as bad, good

First they think that Hamlet is lovesick over Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, but after the king spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in conversation, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is mad, a threat to his rule, and must be sent to England to be executed.  This is a sign of the king's uneasiness over the mettle of Hamlet's anger which is directed towards him.  The last thing that Claudius wants is for Hamlet to be unhappy with him, in fear that Hamlet will overthrow him, discover the murder, or possibly kill him.  The king becomes increasingly nervous as time passes, making him a bit paranoid over Hamlet.

Hamlet's rant to persuade her that Claudius is a bad man and the murderer of his father depicts his disrespect to his mother. For instance, he tells her, "You go not till I set you up a glass / Where you may see the inmost part of you." (III.iv.20-21) He is threatening his own mother! Later, he addresses her as "thou wretched, rash, intruding fool" (III.iv.32) Even though Gertrude's lust for Claudius aggravates him, Hamlet fails to show even the most fundamental respect to his superior. The relationship is full of disloyalty and distrust from Gertrude's part. First, she appeases, "Be thou assured... I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me." (III.iv.201-203) It is assumed that she will listen to Hamlet and stay away from Claudius. However, in the next act, she displays her true loyalty to her husband, telling him that Hamlet is "in this brainish apprehension kills / The unseen good old man." (IV.I.12-13) This is partially contributed by her observations of her son talking to a ghost that she doesn't see. Polonius' death causes her to think Hamlet is dangerous, further driving the two apart. Her distrust to her son harms him by further solidifying Claudius' plan to execute him in England because the king sees him as a threat to the throne who is capable of killing. In the end, Hamlet and Gertrude's relationship take a bittersweet ending.

Polonius seemly hear all these vulgar and misogynistic rants and becomes ever more convinced that Hamlet is mad. He never rests easily until he ends up behind yet another arras, scheming, yet this time in Gertrude’s room and gets himself killed. The act of betrayal, by both Polonius and Gertrude has far-reaching consequences; Polonius is killed by Hamlet, Ophelia becomes mad and Laertes demands vengeance. Polonius’s betrayal disgusts Hamlet and he can only but refer to him as ‘a foolish prating knave’ and his mistreatment of his body when he says he will ‘lug his guts in the neighbour room’ can equally be taken as his disgust towards him.

The present King, Claudius, is questioning Hamlet’s odd behaviour because he feels Hamlet’s new and strange behaviour could be harmful to him and his position. So he asks Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain, to spy on Hamlet to resolve the matter. While hiding behind an arras in Gertrude’s room to listen to the dialogue between Ophelia and Hamlet, he reveals his location by calling out for help, Hamlet realizing there is someone behind the tapestry and suspecting it to be Claudius withdraws his sword and stabs the hidden Polonius resulting in polonius’s death, which assisted in ophelia going mad, and also Laertes, Polonius’s son seeking revenge on hamlet, which makes Hamlet’s quest for honour and certainty even harder to complete.

Cleverly, Hamlet decides to feign madness before the King and the court as a way for others to ignore him, so he may construct his plan of revenge for his father’s death. What is interesting is that he initially does not set out to kill Claudius the current king, which suggests that he is troubled on whether or not the apparition he spoke with is truly his father telling the truth. He deceptively uses Ophelia as a messenger to the King to describe his initial count of being mad. This causes the King, Polonius, and Ophelia to spy on Hamlet. When putting on a production to see whether Claudius is truly guilty of being the murder Lord Hamlet states, “that he must be idle” which suggest that his madness is feigned. With Claudius being deemed guilty, Hamlet knows what he must do. Interestingly, Hamlet is unable to kill Claudius the first time when he gets a chance since he did not want to send Claudius to heaven. The level of distress of Hamlet is apparent when he sees his mother after passing Claudius praying to God. Getrude calls for help and a noise is heard behind a curtain. Without thinking Hamlet slays Polonius; the person behind the curtain. This is a very controversial moment for this

This, in turn, exploits Hamlet’s similar flaw of ego and furthers the conflict, but what’s more, it illustrates Claudius’ sheer audacity and lack of repentance. He continues to try to cover up the sin and appease Hamlet into complacency rather than confess and ask for forgiveness. In a mark of pure arrogance, Claudius tells Hamlet to “throw to earth / This unprevailing woe and think of us / As of a father”, conceitedly requesting that Hamlet merely forget the murder and replace his father with the murderer himself (I, ii, 110-112). Similarly, instead of directly confronting Hamlet about his mental condition, the king more or less hires Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on the prince, again cementing his smug mindset. The king does not believe he can be caught or, rather, that Hamlet is competent enough to figure out his plan and foil him. Claudius, too, thinks only of himself after Hamlet’s inadvertent killing of Polonius, pondering “how shall this bloody deed be answered? / It will be laid to us” instead of considering the ramifications of the murder with respect to Hamlet (4.1.17-18). The other two paper-thin traps the king hatches only reinforce his failure to see beyond the apparent; his attempt to deport Hamlet to England and have him killed reeks 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

After killing Polonius, Hamlet feel no guilt at all, he acts indifferently. The audience can evidence how appearances and reality come back into play when Queen Gertrude cries out, “O, what a rash and bloody deed is this” (Act 3, scene 4, page 106). Hamlet, responds without repentance, “A bloody deed – almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother.” (Act 3, scene 4, page 106). After this statement made by Hamlet, there is a twist in the scene. Instead of the scene being centered towards the death of Polonius, it becomes centered towards Hamlet’s obsession and hatred towards his mother for betraying him and his father by the rapid and opportune marriage to

He exposes the plan, including Claudius’ role, and asks Hamlet to forgive the plots against him. Many people will say that he is merely trying to save his soul from damnation, but it does appear honest and sincere and if this is the case then it is redemptive. Queen Gertrude drinks from a poison cup knowing that it was supposed to be for the killing of Hamlet and therein redeems herself. She shows signs of guilt throughout the play as she marries her brother-in-law so quickly. Because Hamlet was the son of her and the husband she truly loved, she cries out “I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me.”

     In the closet scene, Hamlet kills Polonius, thinking it is Claudius behind the curtain. When Hamlet goes to his mother to talk, Polonius is hiding behind the curtain and eavesdropping on their conversation. Polonius wants to prove that Hamlet’s behavior is based on Ophelia’s rejection of Hamlet’s love. Hamlet hears him behind the curtain and stabs him, thinking he is Claudius. This is an important turning point in the play, because this is the first time that Hamlet has taken action towards avenging his father’s death. Even though he has killed the wrong person, he has finally done something other than philosophize about retribution and murder. This scene also shows how Hamlet has changed as a character. Logically, it isn’t possible that it is Claudius behind the curtain, because Hamlet has just seen Claudius repenting for his sins and praying in

Hamlet realizes he must avenge his fallen father, but also realizes he cannot just go hang a sword over his uncle’s throat; he proceeds to put up a facade with his different peers to ensure nobody will suspect that is his plan. Simone Augustine Blackmore writes in The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet, “Hence, at once confiding his purpose to his two trusted friends and swearing them to secrecy, he begins to play the part and to impress upon the court the notion of his lunacy.” With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he sweeps his mopey mood under the rug and makes jokes, such as vulgar remarks, to quote, “Ha, ha, so you’ve gotten into her private parts. Of course-- Lady Luck is such a slut.” (Act II, Scene 2 of The Tragedy of Hamlet). They hark about genitals and women, when not even five minutes beforehand, he was talking to Polonius, speaking in gibberish, calling him a fishmonger (perhaps a pimp), and replying with “words words words” when asked what he was reading. Polonius remarks that there is a method to his madness, noting that he is probably not actually insane but just manipulating

Promising to no longer be distracted, he positions his responsibility to his father foremost in his mind. Additionally, he regards his father’s wishes as a “commandment” , further showing his duty as a son to obey his father. To reiterate, Hamlet takes responsibility for his father when he kills Polonius believing him to be Claudius. Gertrude summons Hamlet to her room to tell him that the play which depicted Claudius’ hand in King Hamlets death offended King Claudius. While Hamlet tells Gertrude, she is offending his father by marring Claudius, he notices a disturbance behind the curtain. Believing that Claudius is behind the curtain, Hamlet blindly stabs the curtain, killing Polonius. Though Hamlet takes responsibility for his father by attempting to kill Claudius thus avenging King Hamlet, Hamlet’s judgement is evidently impaired, causing his actions to be rash and uncalculated as it had been previously.

And Hamlet responds by saying “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3.4.22) and killing him, essentially traumatizing Gertrude in the process. But unfortunately for Hamlet, he thought it was Claudius and didn’t know it was Polonius. “I took thee for thy better.”

A turning point in the play is Polonius death, both Hamlet and Gertrude are present to witness. As Polonius dies from the multiple stab wonders he receives from Hamlet whom then seemly lost interest and turns on Gertrude. Gertrude focused on the death of Polonius asks in horror if he understood the depth of what action he committed. Hamlet replies with a question of his own “Is it the king?” ( III.iiii. 32) He asks implying that Polonius does not compare to a king, King Hamlet specifically. “A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother.” (III.iiii.34-35) Hamlet tone throughout this conversation is strangely calm creating the scene with a mood that is eerie and high tension. “ A bloody deed?”(III.iiii.34) Hamlet again questions if Polonius death was truly tragic. He then to move on with a metaphor comparing Gertrude's marriage with Claudius to the death of Polonius.“ Almost as bad” these words show that Hamlet has no remorse for killing Polonius but rather he holds Gertrude's marriage as a worse sin. Here Hamlet is strongly