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At the end of Act 3, Scene 3, why didn't

Hamlet kill Claudius when he had the
chance?
Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius at this point because he believes that Claudius is praying.
He says that killing the king NOW would be "hire and salary, not revenge!" He
simply cannot send Claudius to heaven, where he would surely go were he killed just
after praying and purging his sins. He thinks that would not avenge his father's
murder, because Claudius killed Old Hamlet without giving him the opportunity to
pray, and therefore, Old Hamlet must spend time in hell. Hamlet thinks killing
Claudius when he is fit for heaven would be like paying Claudius for the murder of
his father. That simply would not do.

The real irony is that Hamlet does not realize that his revenge could have been
complete if he had actually killed the king then and there, because Claudius was not
really praying. Oh, sure, he was on his knees, but Claudius says that he knows he
cannot be forgiven for the murder unless he truly repents, and repentance would mean
giving up his crown and queen. So when Claudius says "My words fly up, my
thoughts remain below./ Words without thoughts never to heaven go," he is really
admitting that he knows he isn't forgiven. If only Hamlet had known, then Polonius,
Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Leartes, Gertrude and Hamlet all could have
survived.

But then, the story wouldn't be a tragedy :-)

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Hamlet tells himself that he can't kill the King while he is praying. But the real reason
is probably that Hamlet can never make up his mind. Coleridge said that Hamlet
"thinks too much." Hamlet sees too many sides to any question. When he does act, it
is always on impulse, before he has had a chance to think. For example, he acts very
courageously and decisively when his ship bound for England is attacked by pirates.
Coleridge's diagnosis of Hamlet's character is probably the best that has ever been
attempted. The answer by rishakespeare at this link below gives another perspective
on Hamlet's actions. See what he says about "a harsh reality of an immoral world
with his idealistic Christian reality.

He needs to "catch" Claudius in the throes of some sin, so that he will die with an
unclean soul, thereby sending him to Hell. He has just been absolved of (his brother's)
murder because of his prayer.

Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius at that moment because he thinks that Claudius is
praying. Hamlet says that killing Claudius now would, "send [this same villain] To
heaven” instead of Hell where he belongs. Hamlet vows to kill Cladius as Cladius had
killed his father, and not send him to heaven.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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Hamlet sees Claudius praying and assumes that Claudius is praying for forgiveness
and if he kills Claudius then and there he will go to Heaven.

Hamlet decided agianst killing claudius because he felt that it will grant him a chance
to gain heaven, due to the fact that he was praying at that time. he believed that his
prayers would have meant a free passgae to the heaven despite his crime. it is also
obvious that in a prayer mood, it could be that he was asking for forgiveness at that
instance. From another perspective, the weakness of Hamlet and his indecisiveness
may be the reaason behind the delay.

Hamlet does not kill Claudius because he is praying. According to the catholic beliefs
(which are referred to regularly in the play) Claudius may have been forgiven his sins
due to his repentance. And therefore have gone to heaven.

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Gentle Hamlet is conflicted throughout most of this play - should he avenge the death
of his father or be a coward and let it go? When he comes upon his traitorous,
incestuous uncle in what appears to be a posture of prayer, Hamlet makes what could
be construed as an excuse as to why he does not kill him: Claudius is kneeling in the
castle's chapel in what Hamlet believes to be parayer. For this execuiton to be truly
revengeful in Hamlet's eyes, Claudius must be caught in an act of sin, with the end
result eternal damnation. His conflict is further fueled by the suspicion in Act I that
the ghost of his father may have, in reality, been a demon tempting Hamlet to sin
by committing murder himself. Poor Hamlet is a hot mess trying to decide who he
really is and who is directing his path. He decides to wait for a more opportune time
to kill his uncle.

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Hamet doesn't kill Claudius because he is praying for forgiveness and it is belived
that in the act of praying if killed one is innocent and forgiven of all sin. meaning that
if hamlet had killed claudius he would have gone to heven.

Hamlet does not kill Claudius when he’s in the chapel as Claudius was praying to the
god. Hamlet is armed; he draws out his sword and is in the position and mood to kill
King Claudius, but does not kill him, as of the thought that if he kills Claudius while
he’s praying, confessing his sins, Claudius will have the chance to go to heaven. He
wants Claudius to end up in Hell and controls his emotions. He decides that he will
kill King Claudius when he’s involved in some indecent activity, like “drunk asleep,
or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed, or at a game swearing”.

In this scene the action reaches a crisis. Hamlet sees the king at prayer. He gets a
golden opportunity to avenge his father`s death.But he thinks that if he kills the
murderer at his prayer, his soul would go to heaven, and abstain from action.He thus
misses a golden opportunity,for he does not want a wicked soul to enjoy the pleasure
of heaven. Wishing for some other occasion when the king is indulging in some evil

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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deed, Hamlet leaves the place. So evil is evil.As it is said: Virtue is rewarded and vice
is punished.What he does in prayer? May be he is crying for mercy. Mercy comes
with repentance,but in him we dont find any repentance.

I agree with all of the above. To send Claudius to heaven when his father is obliged to
suffer in purgutory because his death was without absolution would indeed be unfair

'Praying' of his uncle in this case is just an excuse for Hamlet to escape away from
attempting to kill Claudius. Temperamentally he suffers from the flaw of 'indecision'
and 'uncertainty' which renders him impotent for any such action.

Why did Hamlet pretend to be crazy?

Hamlet pretended to be crazy for several closely related reasons. He pretended to be
crazy to have freedom to examine Claudius's guilt, to find a way to do what the Ghost
asked, to make people think he was no threat, to distract attention from his
investigation into his father's death, and so he could say (strange, odd) things without
striking a nerve (attracting attention) .

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Hamlet pretends to be mad to keep others from knowing what he is really planning.
He is trying to find a way to kill his Uncle Claudius. As mentioned above, regicide is
not to be taken lightly. Hamlet has to have a good reason for killing his Uncle
Claudius. He cannot confide in anyone about what his father's ghost demanded of
him. Who would believe him? Hamlet is in a difficult situation. He has to find proof
that Claudius has indeed killed his father. While pretending to be mad, Hamlet is
buying time. He is awaiting the right moment to avenge his father's death.

A melancholic who is not given to immediate action, Hamlet deliberates long on what
actions to take in order to expose his father's murderer. Regicide is not to be taken
lightly, anyway, as it upsets the natural order and is a serious offense if there is not
justification. So, in his thorough examinations of the Danish court, Hamlet feigns
madness, hoping that by acting in such a way others will become bolder around him
and reveal something in their actions and speech that he can employ as justification
for avenging King Hamlet's death.

__________________________________________________________________

When, for example, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern visit him, Hamlet's feigned
madness causes them to lose their guard against him and reveal information about
Claudius.

Examples Of Revenge In Hamlet

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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First of all, Hamlet is seeking revenge for his father's murder by Claudius. He spends
the entire play wavering between action and inaction. He does get revenge, but it is at
the price of his life and that of his mother and Ophelia. Laertes, in a parallel revenge,
seeks revenge against Hamlet for killing his father, Polonius, and the untimely death
of his sister, Ophelia. And like Hamlet, does get revenge, but it is also at the price of
his life. Young Fortinbras seeks revenge, politically, against Denmark for the defeat
of his father and against the Danish crown; he remains standing at the end of the play,
so he could be called a victor. Claudius seeks revenge upon Hamlet for being a
problem to his throne and his marriage; Claudius is killed in his attempt. There you
have the revenge motif, briefly!

Why does Hamlet tell Ophelia to go "to

a nunnery" and what does he give as his
reason?
Hamlet has turned against women because of his mother's behavior. He still loves
Ophelia but decides against marrying her. When he tells her to get to a nunnery, he is
revealing his love for her. He doesn't want to marry her, but he doesn't want her to
marry anybody else. His behavior at Ophelia's funeral in Act 5, Scene 1shows how
deeply he loved her--more than "forty thousand brothers" could love her.

Hamlet suspects Ophelia has betrayed him by being willing 'bait' for her father's spy
trap. .

Hamlet feels betrayed on all sides. When he knows Polonius and Claudius are
monitoring his conversation with Ophelia, he point blank asks her "Where is your
father?" To which Ophelia replies, "At home, my lord." Enraged, Hamlet now tells
her to get to a nunnery so as not to breed sin. The verbal irony here is that "nunnery"
in Elizabethan England was a slang term for a brothel. Hamlet may be protecting
Ophelia, wanting her to get away from all the sin in the rotten State of Denmark;
however, most critics agree that he is transferring his anger from his mother,
Gertrude, onto all women. ,None are to be trusted.

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Presumably, Hamlet might be referring to a convent, where Ophelia will be cleansed

of her sins and to be far away from the 'rotten' state of Denmark. On the other hand,
"nunnery" was a euphemism for "brothel" in Elizabethan time, probably Hamlet was
assure that, because beforehand, he calls Polonius a "fishmonger" which is de facto a
slang term for agent of prostitutes (pimp) .

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"Get thee to a nunnery" is a play on words. Although a nunnery is a place for pure
women who give themselves body and soles to God, a nunnery also means a whore
house. Nunnery has a double meaning. Essentially, Hamlet is telling Ophelia that she
is both pure and impure.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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____________________________________________________________

Hamlet is full on crazed by this time since he believes that all women in fact are
double faced including his mother. When he understands that he is being spied on, he
believes Ophelia is behind all this and turns from loving her into spurning her,
thinking she is just using him as another excuse as his mother did as well. Since he is
extremely angry at this he tells her to go to a nunnery.

What is the importance of the

gravedigger scene in the story of
Hamlet?
Comic Relief
Looking at the comic relief scene in Hamlet it is very clear that the scene we are looking for
is the scene with the gravediggers. Prior to the scene, Ophelia has died and Hamlet has
(almost) been declared mad by his uncle and mother and has been sent to England. Upon his
return he spots two gravediggers shovelling a grave for whom Hamlet doesn’t know to be
Ophelia. Hamlet speaks to one of the gravediggers, who does not recognize him as Hamlet,
and discovers that he was sent to England because he was mad. Furthermore the
gravedigger tells him that Ophelia is dead and thus advancing the play to Ophelia’s burial
and Hamlet’s return to Elsinore.
These gravediggers are so-called “clowns”. Shakespeare’s plays are known to all contain a
so-called “clown”, who acts and performs the scene of Comic Relief. The term “clown” does
not refer to a jester, but to a peasant – also known as a common citizen, who is not of noble
blood or similar. These “clowns” is suggested to appeal to the “groundlings” in
Shakespeare’s time: People that could not afford seats and had to stand and watch the play:
They discuss and talk to each other to make themselves feel superior to socially higher
placed people, like Hamlet.
This is very clearly shown in the conversation the gravediggers have before Hamlet enters:
They discuss in a lawyerly manner whether Ophelia’s death could be characterized as suicide
or not: If she jumped in the water it would be suicide, but if the water “jumped” onto her it
would’ve been murder.

The beginning of the grave digger scene is a comedic one. It is true that Shakespeare's plays,
even tragedies, have comedic moments to lighten the mood for the audience. It is a very
difficult thing to accomplish and shows once more what an excellent writer Shakespeare
was.

However, I think that the bigger importance of the scene is a revelation that Hamlet
experiences as he stares at the skull of a jester whom he grew up with. He suddenly realizes
the death is unavoidable and that death does not distinguish among people.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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Remember the lines where Hamlet speaks of Alexander the Great and how he concludes by
saying that Alexander could now be mud, used to fill in walls to keep the wind out?
Regardless of how great man is, he will taste death and he will turn to dust and become a
part of the soil, nothing more. It this great truth that Hamlet thinks deeply about in this
scene, pondering the strangeness of death.

The more impetuous Laertes is most often described as a foil to Hamlet in

Shakespeare's famous play:

 Foil: a foil is a secondary character who contrasts with the major character to
enhance the importance of the major character; the term foil ... is taken from
the practice of backing gems with foil so that they shine more brightly.
(Literary Devices, literarydevices.net)

 Foil: in literature, a character who is presented as a contrast to a second

character

Hamlet a patient person while Laertes rash and reckless and too hasty .

There are some similarities found between Hamlet and Laertes:

01. Both are brave.

02. Both are deprived (lose or forbid ) of their fathers.

03. Both are ready to take revenge of their father,

04. Both are the prey (victim ) of the conspiracy of Claudius.

05. Both die at the end of the play.

A possible answer may be that Hamlet did secretly love Ophelia the whole way through, but
hides this love (by insulting her etc) because he suspected spying and eventually found out
that polonius and claudius were trying to spy on him. So he insulted her on purpose to give
the king the thought that Ophelia was indeed not the cause of Hamlet's so called madness.
When she dies in the end, he regrets everything he did to her and says to Laertes that he
loved her more than her brother did

I believe that Hamlet truly did love Ophelia. Throughout the play he shows concern for her
well being and state of mind. In the final act of Hamlet when Hamlet finds out that Ophelia is
being buried he professes (confess ) that he loved Ophelia more than 40,000 brothers could
! do

Although he treated her badly and insult her.

Maybe he does.... Even though he treats her horridly, he may be reacting to his hatred of
what he sees his mother doing, which he makes a symbol of the weakness of all women

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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 I believe that Hamlets inner conflict, which in summary is his constant self
questioning about wether to avenge his father's death and kill Claudius, his
inability to act, and his resulting fury with himself about not acting, was the
result of all the external conflicts of the play, which include conflicts between
him and his mother, with Claudius, with Ophelia and with Laertes. All the
innocent deaths of the play are the consequences of Hamlets prolonged
decision to kill Claudius. The conflict between his action and delay all in all is
Hamlets main downfall and Because of his inaction and obfuscating nature i
criticize him. This conflict to me, is the main conflict of the whole play and is
the reason for the tragic ending that is 'Hamlet'.

Hamlet is very indecisive and rash at the same time. He cannot make decisions and
waits the whole play to finally get revenge. I'm also pretty sure he did not make it
clear why he murdered Claudius which is why he told Horatio to live so he can tell
them what is actually the truth. He can never make up his mind because one second
he wants to kill Claudius and the next second it is himself. Then he thinks death could
be a scary thing, to death is an honorable thing, to being indifferent.

) indecisive (

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To say the least, Hamlet is a complicated young man.

When we first meet Hamlet, he has returned from the Protestant University of
Wittenburg. It might be that the young prince prefers the academic world to the world
of the court. He is a man of thought rather than action.

It would appear that he loved his father deeply and is thus deeply affected by his death
. In Act I, scene 2, he says "So excellent a king, that was, to this / Hyperion to a
satyr,...." He despises his uncle. He can't understand why his mother married him
and so quickly after Old Hamlet's death. He is not called the melancholy Dane
without reason.

Once the ghost informs him of his murder and charges him with avenging his death,
Hamlet's life changes and his dilemma begins. If he were a man of action and not a
Protestant, believing revenge lays in God's hands, he would have taken his sword and
run Claudius through at the first opportunity. But Hamlet is not a man of action until
he is positive of the correctness of that action in his mind. He thinks before he
speaks, and he thinks before he acts.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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Hamlet lives in a Catholic world but is a Protestant, so he cannot just kill Claudius
without losing his soul, though cultural tradition makes his father and slain King hold
to revenge as justice. He must first test the information given to him by the Ghost that
looked and sounded like his father but may have been something else. Was it the
devil tempting him into committing a mortal sin?

If the Ghost's information proved to be true, then he needed to know just how to
accomplish his task without imperiling his own soul. He decides to feign madness in
order to gain information. It is a good plan, or is it? Does he actually become mad in
reality?

One of the major problems he has is that he doesn't know whom to trust. His only
confidant is Horatio. The world of the court is a very deceitful world, and Hamlet
must constantly watch his step. Perhaps the strain of all this leads him to real
madness.

Polonius dies when Hamlet, in a fit of blind fury, stabs him while Polonius is hiding
behind the arras. Was this the action of a sane man? He later changes the King's
letter to England and orders the execution of Rosecrantz and Guildenstern who have
been duped by Claudius into betraying Hamlet. Ask again if these are the actions of a
sane man. Then, in the final scene we have Laertes, Gertrude, Claudius, and, of
course, the Prince himself, all dead directly or indirectly as a result of Hamlet's
actions.

He is a man of intelligence, humor, and education. He is also a man with a strong

sense of duty. As a result of a number of things happening, he seems to become more
and more paranoid; whether it is real or feigned madness is an open question. The
answer to who Hamlet is, is a complicated answer.

Laertes is more admirable than Hamlet because, while Hamlet is indecisive about
following through on the promise to his father's ghost to seek revenge against
Claudius, Laertes is quick to action. When Laertes finds out about his father's death
at the hands of Hamlet in Act 4, sc. 5, he rallies supporters and threatens to harm
Claudius because Claudius hasn't done anything to punish Hamlet. Later, in Act 5, sc.
1, when Laertes sees Hamlet for the first time since both his father and sister died,
he attacks Hamlet. Throughout the play, one of the central problems is Hamlet's
inactivity. Hamlet is even frustrated with himself for his inactivity, which becomes
especially apparent in Act 4, sc. 4, when Hamlet discovers that Fortinbras is willing to
risk the lives of many of his soldiers in order to reclaim a small, useless piece of
land. Laertes is never slow to action and that makes him, at times, more admirable
than Hamlet. Another time that Laertes is shown in a positive light, though Hamlet is
also shown positively in this scene, is in the last scene of the play when Laertes says,
about the prospect of striking Hamlet with the poisoned sword, "And yet it is almost
against my conscience." This tells us that Laertes is beginning to see that Hamlet
alone may not be the cause of the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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What is Hamlet's tragic flaw?

What is Hamlet's tragic flaw?

I would say that Hamlet's tragic flaw is his indecision (indecisiveness ) and that his
famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy is a perfect example of this. Hamlet spends so
much time thinking through whether or not he should act (avenge his father's death),
that he misses multiple ample oppertunities to do so. I believe he does this out of fear.
As a result, he ends up acting impulsively at inoppurtine times (when he accidently
stabs Polonius from behind the curtain, for example). It is rash events like this that
eventually lead to his tragic downfall. Hamlet is a hopeless case until it is way too late
to do anything about it. By that time, Claudius is on to him...Claudius is a man of
action. Hamlet is a thinker. Hamlet spends too much time thinking of what to do or
not to do, while Claudius makes a plan and works the plan. As a result, nearly
everyone Hamlet loves is dead by the end of Act V

What is Hamlet's tragic flaw?

Many believe that Hamlet's tragic flaw is his inability to make a decision, which leads
to his inability to act. His questioning of himself as well as others leads to not only
his demise but the demise of others involved.

____________________________________________________________________

The play deals with Hamlet’s suffering and tragic end. Hamlet, like the other tragic
heroes of Shakespeare, belongs to upper or royal class.
He follows Aristotle`s definition of tragic hero. He has exceptional qualities like
graceful personality and popularity among his country that is eminent. His tragic flaw
is his delay in action and irresolution that depends on the nature of self analysis.
Coleridge words: "His enormous intellectual activity prevents from instant action and
the result is delay and irresolution."

i think Hamlet's tragic flaw is hesitation. after performing the play,he became sure
that his uncle had murdered his father but why didn't he kill him in that point???that
is his weakness.

What is the significance of the play-within-a-

play, "The Murder of Gonzago," in Hamlet,
II.ii?

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠
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In Act 3, Scene 2 of Hamlet, Hamlet coaches the actors to produce a play that will
make the king, Claudius, feel guilty by showing the way in which Hamlet's father was
murdered. Hamlet tells Horatio about Claudius,

"If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that
we have seen" (III.2.75-77).

In other words, they will observe Claudius during this scene and see if he seems
guilty. If Claudius does not seem guilty, Hamlet will know that the ghost he saw was
not real, but was just a spirit. During the play, the actors first perform in pantomime.
They show a king and queen embracing. When the queen leaves, another man comes
in and takes the king's crown and pours poison into the king's ear. When the queen
returns to find the king dead, she is upset, but she eventually returns the other man's
love. The players then act out this play, which Hamlet says is called The Mousetrap,
using speech. The play reflects the situation in Denmark, where Claudius has
murdered Hamlet's father, who was married to Gertrude, by pouring poison into his
brother's ear. Claudius then becomes king and marries Gertrude.

After watching the play, Claudius gets up. He says, "Give me some light, away!"
(III.2.254). He asks for the lights to be turned on, and he leaves, which Hamlet feels
indicates that Claudius is guilty. Hamlet tells Horatio,

"O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound. Didst perceive?"
(III.2.260-262).

In other words, Hamlet believes the ghost was right and that Claudius murdered his
father.

In act III Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the protagonist Hamlet
devises a plan to find out if Claudius is actually guilty of murdering his father, the
king of Denmark. Hamlet feels he should not take the story of the ghost for real
without finding evidence for it. To do this, he directs a play similar to how the king
Hamlet was murdered according to the ghost. He believes that Claudius’ reaction...

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Does Hamlet display the Oedipus

complex?
I think it makes some sense. first, he starts to doubt about the worth of life and
Ophelia’s love that is indeed pure and deep, his mother’s remarry made him cast the
whole world into the shadow. It really makes people feel strange how his mother
could display such a big impact on him. Second , hamlet is a thinker rather than a
single minded revenger, he is always hesitated on action, but in his mother’s chamber,
In Act 3, sc. 4, he just killed Polonius without thinking, and the single minded blood
action is just against his characteristic. In a word, his unusual behavior towards his
mother shows, to some degree, the Oedipus complex in him.

By Ahmed Abdulkhaleq ♠