Act 3 scene 3 Flashcards
(25 cards)
Claudius - “I like him not, nor stands it safe with us / To let his madness range.” “For we will fetters put about his fear”
Begins in media res as Hamlet is not identified, only use of pronouns “his” “he” which shows that a discussion has been taking place before. Claudius goes on to reveal his plans, which makes the audience wonder what else he is plotting as they do not witness what happens earlier in his conversation
Euphemistic language, he is then personified as “this fear” which needs to have “fetters” put about him
Fricative alliteration, Claudius reframes events to make it seem as though Hamlet is a danger, though in reality he has done nothing
Claudius - “And he to England shall along with you. / The terms of our estate may not endure / Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow / Out of his brows.”
Claudius’ shift from keeping Hamlet close to sending him away from Denmark. Hamlet has not taken any physically threatening action against Claudius, which suggests that Claudius has a motive for sending him away, and hints at his guilt to the audience
Claudius manipulates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by elevating their position and importance to achieve removing Hamlet from the court of Elsinore; he presents them as
Metaphor of hazard growing out of Hamlet’s brows solidifies the interpretation as the source of evil
Rosencrantz - “The single and peculiar life is bound, / With all the strength and armour of the mind, / To keep itself from noyance, but much more / That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest / The lives of many.”
Metaphor of the self as a fortified entry “strength and armour of the mind” almost weaponises reason to defend against internal or external threats
Noun “armour” indicates both protection but also preparedness for violence
Guildenstern - “To keep those many many bodies safe / That live and feed upon Your Majesty.”
Body politic imagery is corrupted through the almost parasitic connotations of the verbs “live and feed upon”. It implies consumption, perhaps even exploitation or burden, which may suggest that Claudius’ role as monarch is not a noble and moral service but instead an act of corruption
Repetition of the adjective “many” amplifies the weight and dependence of the populace upon the king, highlighting the mass of people who rely on Claudius
This could be an attempt on Guildenstern’s behalf to flatter Claudius or even justify morally questionable actions under the guise of loyalty and protection of the state
Rosencrantz - “The cess of majesty / Dies not alone; but, like a gulf, doth draw / What’s near it with it” “Never alone Did the king sigh, but with a general groan.”
Dramatic irony of the “gulf”. Claudius initiates corruption of the state which draws everyone into it as a result of his murder of his brother. This metaphor implies that Claudius’ death would create a vast abyss which affects everyone and everything
Royal collapse is presented as cataclysmic, reflecting the Elizabethan belief in the divine right of kings and the cosmic disorder which follows regicide or royal instability. Dramatic irony since Claudius himself is the reason there is disorder, since he has murdered the former king
Rosencrantz’s reverent tone flatters Claudius and rationalises his violence and surveillance against Hamlet
Polonius - “Behind the arras I’ll convey myself, / To hear the process; and warrant she’ll tax him home” “‘Tis meet that some more audience than a mother, / Since nature makes them partial”
Claudius’ lack of trust for women, even his own wife, is evident
Polonius’ mistrust of women and how he uses them for his own benefit. Noun “warrant” implies that he wants to guarantee Gertrude’s compliance, reflecting how even if not visible, the male influence is constantly asserted over women
Polonius - “Fare you well, my liege. / I’ll call upon you ere you go to bed, / And tell you what I know.”
Proleptic irony as Polonius is stabbed behind the arras in the following scene
All of Claudius’ spies visible at the start of this scene in quick succession. Claudius’ establishment of a plan contradicts Hamlet’s continuous lack of action
Indicates Polonius’ closeness to Claudius as he is able to visit him in his private chambers late in the evening
Claudius’ soliloquy - structure
Claudius’ confirmation of guilt comes quite late in the play, and by the time it does, the audience has witnessed Claudius’ actions and his success as king. Perhaps this diminishes the effect of Claudius’ soliloquy and the extent to which the audience judges him as they have seen that he is a politically adept ruler and seems to be bringing more stability than Old Hamlet had done. Claudius uses the language of repentance without any action to support it.
Claudius’ soliloquy - “O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven” “A brother’s murder”
Claudius’ first soliloquy and a definite admission of his guilt, which confirms that he is indeed the murderer of Old Hamlet
Only Hamlet and Claudius are offered soliloquies: parallels their characters and allows the audience to compare the two, especially since Hamlet’s soliloquy is directly after
Claudius acknowledges the detrimental impact he could have on Denmark, his offence is “rank” and “smells to heaven” (links to the rot of the court of Elsinore)
Claudius’ soliloquy - “Pray can I not, / Though inclination be as sharp as will. / My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent”
Comparative adjective “stronger” and adjective “strong”
The audience acts as a witness to Claudius’ confession/prayer in the absence of his ability to confess to God
Claudius is at an impasse: wants to beg forgiveness for his crime, but he isn’t truly sorry for it and unwilling to give up what he gained from it. These two acts are incompatible
Claudius’ soliloquy - “And, like a man to double business bound, / I stand in pause where I shall first begin, / And both neglect.”
“Double business” depicts Claudius’ duplicity
Similarity with Hamlet, who is also bound to “double business” as he cannot decide whether his true task is to take revenge or contemplate his predicament, and ends up neglecting both
Claudius’ soliloquy - “What if this cursed hand / Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood, / Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens / To wash it white as snow?”
Hands typically served as a symbol of guilt in Shakespeare’s plays, eg. Lady Macbeth instructs her husband to wash “this filthy witness from [his] hand”
“with brother’s blood” Claudius parallels Cain, the archetypal fratricide, which further deepens the moral gravity of his sin
Rhetorical question implies Claudius almost naive yearning for spiritual absolution, as he has not yet truly repented
Claudius’ soliloquy - “Whereto serves mercy / But to confront the visage of offence?”
Introspective question establishes the basic premise of the efficacy of prayer, according to which Claudius’ prayer fails. God’s “mercy” is not lenience and an acceptance of wrong, but rather a confrontation of it
Claudius’ soliloquy - “what form of prayer can serve my term? […] since I am still possess’d / Of those effects for which I did the murder: / My Crown, mine own ambition and my queen.”
Claudius repeats the noun “murder” three times within this soliloquy
Listing of Claudius’ “effects” reflects his priorities
“Mine own ambition” depicts a sense of selfishness and self-gain which contributed to Claudius’ motives for killing Old Hamlet
“My Crown” is a synecdoche for control over Denmark
Claudius - “In the corrupted currents of this world / Offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice, / And oft ‘tis seen the wicked prize itself / Buys out the law”
Another point of comparison between Claudius and Hamlet: they both share analogous view of the world, understanding how it is corrupt and morally decayed
Moral inversion of the court of Elsinore is highlighted, where evil is rewarded “the wicked prize” and justice is obstructed or bought “shove the justice”
Paradox in that the rewards of sin are used to protect the sinner from punishment. Reflects Shakespeare’s critique of social and legal corruption, where wealth and power take precedence over moral rectitude
Claudius’ soliloquy - “but ‘tis not so above: / There is no shuffling, there the action lies / In his true nature; and we ourselves compell’d, / Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, / To give in evidence”
Anger that he cannot buy or manipulate his way into heaven
Noun “shuffling” has connotations of card games, implying that Claudius acknowledges that he cannot play his way into heaven
In the world above, the power of seeming is broken, and we are “compell’d” to be what we truly are. Claudius recognises that although he can deceive people on Earth, he cannot deceive God into believing that he is a morally good character
Claudius’ soliloquy - “Try what repentance can. What can it not? / Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?”
Chiastic structure initially suggests Claudius’ hope to be morally absolved by repenting. However his second rhetorical question undermines this, as he realises with despair that he isn’t remorseful and so cannot be forgiven for his sin
Paradox created as Claudius believes in repentance but finds himself unable to genuinely repent
Repetitive use of questions are similar to the structure of Hamlet’s early soliloquies
Claudius’ soliloquy - “O limed soul, that, struggling to be free, / Art more engaged!” “Bow, stubborn knees”
“Limed” refers to disinfectant and thus used to clean, but if you got it on yourself it was corrosive
Idea of a burning soul reminds the audience of Old Hamlet, about whom it is assumed that he is in purgatory
Claudius kneels and tries to pray to communicate his sorrow and guilt, yet it is just an action without any real meaning behind it. Imperative verb “bow” depicts how Claudius feels physically unable to pray despite his wish to do so
Hamlet’s soliloquy - “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying”
Claudius’ soliloquy ends with a modal verb (“All may be well”) whereas Hamlet’s starts with one “might”
Dramatic irony as Claudius is not praying, but Hamlet believes that he is in a state of grace. Hamlet misses a seemingly perfect opportunity for revenge due to a mistaken moral calculation, which propels the play into further chaos and death
Repetition of “now” emphasises how Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius, yet he is halted by an immediate shift from instinct to introspection and moral analysis
Hamlet’s soliloquy - “And now I’ll do’t. / And so he goes to heaven, / And so am I revenged.”
Hamlet’s desire for action and “revenge” is prominent at the start of the soliloquy
Hamlet places conditions on revenge to talk himself out of it (yet more procrastination). Hamlet is looking for more reasons to kill Claudius, which creates yet more delay
Alternate interpretation of a new, merciless and Machiavellian Hamlet who wants to damn Claudius’ soul
Hamlet’s soliloquy - “With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May”
Hamlet acknowledges his father’s sin
Hamlet’s soliloquy - “Fit and seasoned for his passage”
Dramatic irony as the audience knows that Claudius has been unable to pray or repent
Hamlet’s soliloquy - O, this is hire and salary, not revenge” “No! / Up, sword; and know thou a more horrid hent.”
Many critics judge this as the point from which the audience begins to lose support for Hamlet, as he wants to not just kill Claudius but damn his soul. In the scenes after this, Hamlet’s cruel nature becomes more and more apparent
Hamlet’s thoughts once more hinder his actions
Imperative verb “up” echoes how Claudius tried to force his “stubborn knees” to “bow”
Hamlet’s soliloquy - “When he is […] 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, whereto it goes”
Hamlet lists many different hypothetical situations in which he will kill Claudius. Polysyndetic listing reinforces Hamlet’s belief of Claudius as a corrupt character because he believes it is certain that Claudius will commit these actions, evident through the use of the subordinating conjunction “when” instead of “if”
