DRJ #3: Hamlet Act III

One situation that really stood out to me in this act was the set up of the play. Hamlets plan mirrors that of a modern day interrogation. The way that Hamlet presents the situation and watched Claudius’ reaction is ultimately the same thing as the integration tactic that detectives use to figure out whether or not a suspect is guilty. Of course Hamlets plan was more visual, Claudius actually saw the play, rather than having it described to him as a scenario or question, but ultimately the idea behind it is the same.   

Hamlet is of course the protagonist of the play, but, on a more centralized level, he is an important character in this particular act. It is in Act III that we find the famous “to be or not to be” speech. Having never read Hamlet before, I have to say that I was surprised to find the speech in such an obscure place. It seems almost like a mistake. However upon closer inspection it is easy to see the significance in its supposed randomness. Through the speech we get a clearer understanding of Hamlets inner though process. The speech seems to be about suicide, this is a slightly confusing concept to grasp at first. If Hamlet wanted to avenge his father’s death, then why would he even consider suicide? Both the subject matter of the speech and the placement of it within the act serve as a window into Hamlet’s character. We see just how often Hamlet contemplates death. I think that the obscurity in the placement of the speech is meant to lead the reader to believe that thoughts like this are a normal thing for Hamlet. In my opinion, the nature of the speech does not necessarily mean that Hamlet was suicidal, but rather that his thoughts of death were so deep  and frequent that they travel past murder and revenge to other forms of death such as the self-inflicted.

One theme that I found particularly prominent in this act was revenge/ forgiveness. This is evident in the scene where Claudius is praying. Essentially this scene has two parts to it. Forgiveness is displayed through Claudius. After the play Claudius is stricken with guilt, it is almost as if he realizes the severity of his actions for the very first time. Claudius acknowledges his feelings and tries desperately to get rid of them through prayer. The odd thing about this is Claudius’ attitude. He understands that he feels guilty and what he did wrong, but it seems as if he is not actually sorry. Claudius wants forgiveness, but he wants it not because he is sorry for what he did, but rather because he wants his feelings of guilt to go away. On the other side of the story we have Hamlet. He is the one that is responsible for the play that made Claudius feel guilty. Hamlet walks past as his uncle is praying. Having already witnessed Claudius’ reaction to the play, Hamlet knows that Claudius is guilty of murdering his father. For a brief second Hamlet considers walking over and killing Claudius but quickly dismisses this thought because if killed during prayer Claudius would go to heaven and Hamlet would not have actually taken revenge. The fact that Hamlet put that much thought into it, even if the thoughts only took a few seconds, shows just how serious he now is about taking revenge. Now that he knows for sure that it was Claudius who murdered his father, Hamlet is not only willing to carry out his father’s wish of taking revenge  he wants it to be perfect, true revenge.   The ironic thing about this scene is that through seeking forgiveness, Claudius is saved from death.