How Does Shakespeare Build Suspense In Act 3

”Thus conscience does not make cowards of us all;/ And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;/ And enterprises of great pith and moment,/ With this regard, their currents turn away,/ And lose the name of action.” Hamlet here combines some themes of this play: death and life, the connection between thought and action. In act five scene five, he goes into Claudius’ room to kill him. Like the last time he went to kill him, he was on his knees praying. Why send him to Heaven when he should go to Hell? His father wasn’t given a chance to repent his sins before he was murdered, so why should King Claudius? Hamlet thinks about this for a minute, and decides to wait for a more reasonable

          By the beginning of Act III, Hamlet is almost ready to kill Claudius, but he still needs more proof that Claudius killed his father, and he also wants to put off the murder because he is a bit of a coward.  Claudius is beginning to lose his composure.  Hamlet decides to set a trap for him in the form of a play.  The subject of the play is the murder of a king by his brother who, in turn, marries the king's wife.  The plot of the play is strikingly similar to the circumstances of King Hamlet's murder, which strikes a disharmonious chord in the conscience of Claudius.  In the middle of the play during the murder scene, Claudius gets up and begs for the play to stop so that he can get some air.  Hamlet is very angered by this because it confirms that Claudius did kill his father.  Later that night, Claudius prays to god to forgive him for his

It is ironic that Hamlet doesn’t kill the King whilst he is praying because before Hamlet enters Claudius reveals in his soliloquy how useless he feels that his prayer of repentance is:

Act III is a turning point of the whole play. Hamlet actually starts his revenge from ACTIII. Instead of just kill Claudius, Hamlet pretends to be crazy. The famous Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be…” expresses human’s weakness and all dark side in human’s natural. Hamlet wants to revenge, an eye for an eye, but his moral standard draws him back and makes him irresolution. Then, Hamlet set up the play to test if Claudius is the murderer of his father. This confirms Claudius's guilt to Hamlet, and Hamlet again sets out to avenge his father's death. Hamlet finds out Claudius praying in the church alone. Hamlet could just kill Claudius under such a good situation but he decides to wait. Hamlet actually thinks too much and that makes him irresolution. When Hamlet accidently killed Polonius without any hesitation, it seems hamlet is decisiveness. We can analysis that the reasons why Hamlet does not act in the church but he act in the queen’s room. Feudalism idea tells Hamlet he

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

This is due to the fact that the conflict is not resolved in this scene, nor are any steps taken towards resolving it. On the contrary, Hamlet has a chance to kill Claudius in this scene but decides to let him live for the moment: “No. Up, sword…” (3.3.88-89) Hamlet had a golden opportunity to kill Claudius, when his guard was down. However, he doesn’t do it, explaining his reasoning as that he doesn’t want him to go to heaven (as he would have had Hamlet killed him then, as he was in the middle of praying he could repent his sin of murder). This scene demonstrates Hamlet’s fatal flaw. He is indecisive, which means he would have been able to solve the conflict right then and there, but he decides against it. This will turn on him later on in the play and will likely lead to his downfall. To summarize, while some people think otherwise act 3 scene 3 of Hamlet is not the climax of the story because no steps are taken in terms of resolving the

In act 3 scene 3 Claudius performs his soliloquy which acts like a window into the true nature of Claudius’ guilt. This excerpt of the play is the first time we encounter Claudius confess blame for the crime against his brother. This self-confession further demonstrates the guilt that Claudius exhibits in act 3 scene 2 when Claudius flees the theater after Hamlet arranges a play reenacting the events of his father’s murder. As Claudius states on line 56, “May one be pardoned and retain th’offense?” This line depicts the true nature of Claudius’ guilt: He does not regret his actions, for his actions have granted him “My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.” (3.2.55) Claudius is content with his gains, his only guilt stems from the fact that he believes he will not go to heaven because of his actions. Zeffirelli as opposed to Branagh shortens this soliloquy which causes a loss of perception into the complex role that guilt plays throughout the story.

Hamlet’s plot to avenge his father’s death is ultimately driven by his passion and emotions, but his reasoning plays a role in the story as he considers the impact of certain actions. In scene three of act three, Hamlet finally receives an opportunity to carry out his plan. As Claudius is kneeling in prayer, the prince pulls out a sword and prepares to kill his father’s murderer. In this moment, he is driven by anger and bitterness, however, he suddenly has a realization and thinks logically. If he kills the man as he is praying, he will not suffer, but rather will go straight to heaven. Hamlet decides

he can kill Claudius in an act of sin and hence condemn his soul to an

• This scene of dramatic irony showcases Hamlet`s hatred for Claudius. He does not kill Claudius when he is praying because he doesn’t want him to go to heaven. Hamlet wants to wait until Claudius commits a sin to kill him, so that he will go to hell.

Once Hamlet is sure of Claudius’ guilt, it is Hamlet’s belief in his religion that leads him to inaction. In Hamlet’s mind, it is now his rightful duty to avenge his father’s murder. At the end of Act 3 Scene 3, Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, when he sees the King kneeling in prayer. Hamlet enters the King's private chapel with a sword in hand, ready to kill Claudius. As Hamlet enters he observes, "now he is a-praying, and now I’ll do 't"(3.3.77-78). But, Claudius is agonizing over his actions. He has committed

Pray can I not,/Though inclination be as sharp as will./My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/And like a man double business bound,/I stand in pause where i shall first begin,/And both neglect (Act III, III, 36).” This soliloquy also, like Hamlet, reveals another side to Claudius that clearly exposes remorse for what he had done. However, he further states in the soliloquy “May one be pardoned and retain th’offence? (Act III, III, 55).” This quote communicates to the audience an important side to his personality that portrays his greed and selfishness. Without the influential technique of soliloquies the audience would be oblivious to the important information they provided about the characters, this in result would leave the play lacking of any emotional development and deeper meaning. This would therefore reduce the reader’s reaction to significant character events such as death and would affect the overall impact of the play.

Here, Hamlet shows despite his need to revenge for his father, he is held back from his constant thought of his actions as well as his moral considerations. It’s been clearly stated that Hamlet has a strong sense of heaven and hell; that he won’t kill his uncle while praying, because he thinks he might go to heaven. Hamlet himself doesn’t want to kill his uncle without being assured that he is guilty. This is why, by the end of the play, Claudius' death is something we applaud, regretting only that he was not killed sooner. The reason of this delay is because of Hamlets’ moral triumph. His morality often keeps him from acting; it makes him mull around in his uncertainty and anxiety, instead of just acting and bringing his struggle to an end.

This is explicated within Act 3 Scene 3 where Hamlet is given the perfect opportunity to slay the praying king. However, Hamlet’s rhetorical question, “Am I to take in the purging of his soul when he is fit and seasoned for his passage?”, illustrates his envisagement of the moral ramifications, recognising that he would be condemned by god whilst Claudius would be permitted to heaven with a forgiven soul. Hamlet’s deferment of his enormous burden is therefore not a cowardice act, but rather the philosophical reasoning of a ‘new age’ man caught in a situation where archaic and barbaric conducts are required to accomplish his task. Additionally, Shakespeare’s juxtaposition of

if he will be forgiven. He wants to repent for his sin, but he knows