Understanding why he didn't might be but larger than what you would think, other than the whole "killing is wrong" "revenge is bad" how about the religious aspect? In the religion Claudius would not be dammed to hell, which obviously plays a major role, however, what everyone just seems to forget: Hamlets perception of death. In his "to be or not to be" soliloquy he makes his opinion on death very apparent, so on a deeper level, in Hamlet's eyes would he completely be doing Claudius a favor? The hardest part in killing yourself is the fear of what comes after, but if he is killed in repentance he is either resting eternally not having to face the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", or he is granted to heaven. This could honestly go either way, but I believe ultimately he should've just done it.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Hurry up Hamlet
Hamlet has had a plan, he's had a plan from the very beginning: kill Claudius. Whether or not he is insane for seeing the ghost, or considering murder isn't what I am going to be talking about today, but instead the thought process of Hamlet, and whether or not he should've just killed him in act 3. I believe yes; he should've. To quote Dylan Mee "20 seconds of courage." I feel like the root of Hamlets indecision is fear, the fear of taking someone else's life. Revenge is never the answer "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" but he wants to do this. He won't be stopped, so waiting till cladius is in sin is a magnificently stupid idea. They tell you not to procrastinate with the little things, what makes him think procrastinating murder is ever a good idea?
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I really like your take on Hamlet's dilemma because I didn't consider many of the points you brought up. I had thought that the factor of Claudius going to heaven opposed to hell was the main reason Hamlet decided not to kill him, but you're probably right, he could definitely be scared. Your point about Hamlet's perception of death is really interesting because death is such a complex concept so how he thinks about it could be different from how we would handle the situation. This made me reconsider the points I made about this scene, good job!
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