However, he doesn’t kill him because he would go to heaven if Claudius killed. He then decides to kill him later.
Scene 4: When Hamlet meets with his mother in the chamber, he pulls his mother in front of a mirror, but she thinks that he may want to kill her. Polonius knows the situation and cries out for help at the hidden place, yet Hamlet thinks that the hidden voice belongs to Claudius so he kills Polonius. When, he continues to berate her and describe Claudius in the most hurtful language, Old Hamlet’s ghost appears again. He tells Hamlet to stop torturing his mother and to remember his duty to kill Claudius. Then, Hamlet reiterates that she should repent her remarriage with Claudius, and reminds her mother that he will be going to England.
Act 4 scene 4 sees a much developed character of Hamlet following his introspective and self-loathing characterisation in the earlier scenes. The rash slaughter of Polonius and his reaction following that proved to be a turning point for Hamlet allowing him to embody the conventional trajic hero foreshadowing that his downfall would be partly related to his hubris. In this soliloquy, Shakespeare harnesses Hamlet's language to convey the character's pivotal position between the changing world and ideas about revenge and honour and his conflict within himself about carrying out revenge and complications surrounding taking lives to further one's cause. Religious implications are also mentioned as Hamlet's own Christianity plays a major role once
The soliloquy in Act 4 Scene 4 of Hamlet by Shakespeare is a crucial part of the play, as Hamlet decides to seek revenge for his father’s death. In this scene, the central theme of revenge is accompanied by themes of religion, decay, and corruption. Hamlet sees Fortinbras’ army and realizes how many men bravely faced death to defend their honor; this enables him to connect to his father’s murder and how he should seek vengeance. The sight of the army not only influences Hamlet’s actions, but also demonstrates the political discourse during the time of the play. These themes of decay and corruption are addressed in the political discourse in this scene along with Hamlet’s use of religion to justify seeking revenge.
This led to him mistreating his girlfriend and mother. While Hamlet dealt with the fact that his mother married Claudius he comes to the conclusion that she betrayed him and his father. His feelings come off very strongly and he goes on to express them to her, “Oh women! You are so weak!, even before she had broken in the shoes she wore to his funeral, crying like crazy—even an animal would have mourned its mate longer than she did!—there
The way I comprehend the significant aspects of Act IV for every scene are the following: Scene 1 - Gertrude admitted that her son accidentally killed Polonius, she did the right thing by telling Claudius what happened instead of covering Hamlet. Scene 2 – Hamlet decided to face the king rather than run and hide to get away from his misdeed. Scene 3 – Hamlet finally tell the truth where he hid Polonius’ body, after some heated argument with Claudius. Scene 4 – Hamlet came across Fortinbras’ army after Claudius exiled him to England, he learned and get inspiration from young Fortinbras’ courage. Then, thought that he should face his torment, which is to avenge the wrongful death of his father.
It seems that Claudius was not happy with just taking his brothers throne, he also took his brother’s wife. Hamlet feels that the new king is full of greed and has taken over their lives. On top of his obsession with revenge Hamlet also appears to have sexual desire for his mother. The loss of his father along with his mother’s marriage to Claudius and his confusion to his feelings for his mother have set hamlet on a dangerous.
Hamlet eventually kills Claudius like his father told him to, but only did it after his mother, Gertrude, drank the poison that Claudius meant to give Hamlet. This is a result of external action from all the sorrows that was building up in Hamlet’s life. This brings us to our next character, Gertrude, Claudius’s wife and Hamlets
Hamlet is presented with several opportunities to pursue his vengeance, but delays each time for multiple reasons in which reveal his true nature. There are many reasons Hamlet restrains from killing Claudius. Firstly, Hamlet does not know whether the ghost should be believed or if it is just the devil in disguise trying to trick him. This is a valid reason because if the ghost is the devil, then Hamlet’s soul will be damned to the Hell. Hamlet’s
The next night Hamlet was on lookout for the ghost. The ghost told him that Claudius killed him by putting poison in his ear. Hamlet accidentally killed Polonius thinking it was Claudius; he also killed Laertes (Polonius’s son). Did Hamlet have a reason for his actions? The treatment of Gertrude, treatment of Ophelia, delaying and killing of Claudius is yet to be determined.
Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is both intelligent and clever, two traits that, put together, complement his manipulative and dangerous nature. Due to his cunning nature he portrays the role of a very complex villain. The death of King Hamlet by Claudius results in Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which thus resulted in the tragic death of Polonius and Ophelia. While Hamlet and Gertrude were having conversation, Polonius was hiding behind the huge carpet that was hanging on the wall. Unknowingly, Hamlet stabs Polonius.
When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134).
Throughout the conversation and various parts of the play, Hamlet expresses his disgust for his mother 's actions. He insults her by comparing his father to Hyperion and Claudius to a satyr. He tells Gertrude not to sin by sleeping with him and tells her she is nothing but lustful for marrying a man like Claudius when he says, “That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,/ Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose/ From the fair forehead of an innocent love/ And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows/
However, Hamlet soon discovers that Claudius has been lying to him, and Claudius’ real motive is to kill Hamlet in order to exterminate all possible threats to his reign. Claudius’ role play affects the entire country of Denmark, and he convinces the people that he is the rightful king, when he is not, and has murdered his brother for the throne. Gertrude, too, takes on a role; throughout the play, she seems oblivious to her wrongdoings. She claims that she loves Claudius, and did not just marry him for political reasons.
As with the previous acts in this play, there are unusual words and phrases used in act four. At one point, while he seems to be in confused dismay, Laertes proclaims, “O heat, dry up my brains!” And at another point, as the king seems to be asking about Hamlet’s welfare or perhaps his sanity, he says, “How does Hamlet?” As one may anticipate, the cast still thinks Hamlet is insane, and the fact that he just killed a man doesn’t help his case.
Speaking with Gertrude, Claudius discovers that Hamlet killed Polonius who was hiding behind a tapestry thinking he was a rat. A mission that Claudius gives to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a mission to find Hamlet, be gentle with him, and to find Polonius’ body to give him a proper state funeral and bring it to a chapel. Claudius tells Gertrude that the matter will be handled delicately. After finding Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern demand the whereabouts of Polonius’ dead body. Hamlet is offended that the son of the king of England, must answer the king’s servants.
Hamlet meets with his mother, who is in the room with Polonius. Polonius hides, Hamlet then kills him believing he was Claudius. Claudius notices that Hamlet is acting different and wants to send him England and will have him killed as soon as he get there. Polonius son Laertes hears the news and returns to Denmark from France, Laertes and Claudius meet and plan to kill Hamlet with poison. Laertes will challenge Hamlet to a duel and fight with a poisoned blade.