Turning Points in Hamlet Essay

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

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:

According to the bible, if you repent of your sins you will be forgiven and go to heaven when you die, Hamlet believes this and that is why he does not kill Claudius in this scene. Another reason he does not kill his Claudius based on the reason above, he will not give Claudius the glory of

The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare brilliantly recounts the tale of feigned and true madness as it delves into themes of betrayal, incest, revenge, moral corruption, and death. The play, set in the kingdom of Denmark, gives an account of how Prince Hamlet seeks exact revenge on his uncle Claudius, for murdering his own brother and Prince Hamlet’s father. After assassinating King Hamlet, Claudius succeeds the throne and becomes joined in holy matrimony to King Hamlet’s widow and Prince Hamlet’s mother, Queen

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

Hamlet realizes that he is dying and that he now has the excuse to kill Claudius

In scene one after Hamlet exits, and he’s taking Polonius’ dead body, Claudius asked Gertrude to tell him what happened with Hamlet. She tells him Hamlet killed Polonius and Claudius realizes that his life is in danger. Claudius asks where Hamlet went, and Gertrude says that he took the body away. The king orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet and discover where he has taken Polonius’ body. After that the scene ends and we are left wondering what Claudius will do now that he fears hamlet will kill him and wondering if hamlet is actually going mad or if he is just acting to be mad.

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

Hamlet soon resolves to take action. He sets up a play to trap Claudius so he can find out if the ghost was telling the truth. This is his intelligence and craft. He will not impulsively commit murder because of the word of a ghost who seemed to be his dead father. When he meets with his mother later, he is very angry and emotional and kills Polonius believing it was Claudius. Hamlet shows himself to be a man of action before thought in this case. He is rather cold that he is not terribly sorry about this accidental death but does show genuine concern for his mother which leads him to fits of intense emotion.

• 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.

Therefore, Hamlet really did miss a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, because Claudius would not have gone to heaven after all. This scene shows Hamlet’s indecisiveness, because after the players’ scene, he vows to take action in murdering Claudius. However, when the opportunity rises, Hamlet doesn’t take it. One might think that Hamlet is just making up excuses to avoid murdering Claudius. In forgoing this opportunity to kill Claudius, Hamlet allows Claudius time to act against him. Claudius attempts to rid himself of Hamlet and the possibility of his crime becoming discovered.

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.

One reason Hamlet is not going through with killing Claudius is that Claudius is praying. Hamlet believes that since Claudius is praying, he will go to heaven. Hamlet wants him to go to hell instead. According to Hamlet, allowing Claudius to go to heaven is not revenge for his father's death. Hamlet says,

In Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Hamlet is seeking revenge against claudius for the murder of his father. He is presented with many opportunities to achieve his goal, but he is constantly over analysing the situation, looking for the perfect moment. He has the perfect chance when Claudius iss praying alone in a corridor, Hamlet could have easily killed him but instead he