Hamlet Spying On Claudius

Importance of Espionage in Hamlet

Shakespeare’s iconic play Hamlet is about a crown prince named Hamlet who is distraught about the death of his father, King Hamlet. Hamlet is further driven deeper into his pit of despair by the quick remarriage of his mother, Gertrude, to his conniving uncle, Claudius. Not long after, Hamlet quickly learns the truth about his father’s death by the hands of Claudius from the ghost of King Hamlet. He is then determined to seek evidence to confirm that the words of the ghost were true and not simply a hallucination. This leads to Hamlet feigning insanity in order to spy on Claudius and uncover the truth. Therefore, espionage plays a pivotal role in the play as it drives the very plot of it. One way that spying heavily influences the story is the fact that it leads to the discovery of the truth about how events occurred. Another significant aspect that spying brings into the play is that it is used as a

This is evident when Hamlet and Horatio plan to spy on Claudius during the play to see “If his occulted guilt do not itself unkennel in one speech,” (3.2.78-79). The guilt ridden reaction of Claudius as he watches “The Murder of Gonzago” confirms the truth in the ghost’s words and allows Hamlet to plot his revenge on him accordingly. Another iteration of spying being a method of planning revenge is the event following the play where Claudius goes to pray to relieve his guilty mind. “Now might I do it pat, now’ a is a-praying. And now I’ll do’t,” (3.3.73-74), says Hamlet as he spies on Claudius, preparing to deal a lethal strike with his sword. In this situation, Hamlet uses eavesdropping techniques to determine if it is the ideal time to kill Claudius or to spare him, as he deduces that praying helps Claudius escape eternal punishment. Thus, espionage in Hamlet is a device used to plot and determine the ideal scenario to exact revenge on another