Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hamlet act 3 scene 2 and 3

These two acts were watched and played in class so I understood very well what happened in this part of the play. Studying Hamlet this way is very fun and easier for me to remember it.
In scene 2, Hamlet prepares a play for the king and queen. The play is about a nephew murdering the king and taking the crown and Queen as a "price" which is similar to what Claudius did to the former king. The whole purpose of this play was to see King Claudius' reaction and determine if he was guilty or not. During the murder part of the play, Claudius reacted as if he was feeling extremely uncomfortable with it, suggesting to the whole audience including Hamlet that he was guilty for the murder of the King.

Knowing this in act 3 Hamlet is determined to assassinate Claudius to revenge his father. However, King Claudius was praying in the prefect opportunity, which made Hamlet change his made. In this play it is believed that when a person confesses his crimes before God before dying that person will be forgiven and allowed in Heaven. Of course, Hamlet did not wish to send Claudius to Heaven so decided to wait until he was doing something bad to kill him. Hamlet said to himself, "Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; and now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;
and so am I revenged. That would be scann'd: a villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge… When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed; at gaming, swearing, or about some act that has no relish of salvation in't; then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as damn'd and black as hell, where to it goes.” (Act III, Scene 3) Killing him when he is drunk or cheating on the queen will definitely send him to hell where he belongs, or so Hamlet believed.

In the next act it might be possible that Hamlet assassinates King Claudius. If he does then he will finally revenge his father and possibly feel better. However, this will cause many problems if he gets caught. It is possible that he will be punished for killing the King, despite if he is the prince. I also do not know how the queen will react to the death of her current husband. It is possible that she might experience what Lady Macbeth did before any of this happens. She could feel very guilty, specially after watching the play and commit suicide. That would be a really dramatic twist to this play but I would not be surprised because it is Shakespeare after all...

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