soliloquy 6

• act 3 scene 3
• Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while he is praying, claiming that this would send him to heaven, which would not be a fitting punishment for a man who killed his father unprepared for death and sent him to purgatory. For Hamlet revenge must involve justice. It begins with a hypothetical ‘might’, as if he has already decided to take no action, confirmed by the single categorical word ‘No’ in line 87, the most decisive utterance in the play. The usual diction is present: ‘heaven’ (4), ‘hell’, ‘black’, ‘villain’ (2), ‘sickly’, ‘soul’ (2), ‘heavy’, ‘thought’, ‘act’.
• Having spoken with the ghost of his Father and learned that his Father was in fact murdered by his uncle Claudius, Hamlet has been searching tirelessly for the right way to take revenge. First, he must ensure that Claudius is in fact guilty, just in case the ghost was a demon who has come to trick Hamlet.
• As well, Hamlet needs to get Claudius off the scent of his vengeance, so he’ll adopt an ‘antic disposition’ – feigning madness to distract the people around him of his true intentions. Ah! And finally – what better way to get someone to reveal their guilt than by depicting their actions in front of them in the form of a play?
• Hamlet has just staged ‘The Mousetrap’ – an adaptation of a classic play with an extra sequence added into it depicting a murder very similar to that of his Fathers. At this depiction Claudius stood up suddenly, called for light and stormed away. Bingo. “Gotcha”, Hamlet thought.
• Hamlet has the confirmation he needs to enact his revenge, now all that is needed is the perfect time. Hamlet has been called to visit his Mother Gertrude, but on the way he sees something very convenient: Claudius, kneeling along in a room, praying, unaware that Hamlet is behind him. Now is the perfect time for Hamlet to strike… or is it?
• "now might i do it pat now he is praying"
• hamlet wants to kill claudius but doesnt want to kill him when he is praying, only when he is sinning; needs to kill him when sinning so that he will go to hell not heaven