Hamlet, The Prince Of Death

Mel Gibson says that all of the deaths during the play result from Hamlet's decision to not kill Claudius while he is praying. Agree or disagree and explain why.

Hamlet, The Prince Of Denmark, one of the most well known plays written by William Shakespeare, it's a tale of tragedy, revenge, greed, and love. Surely one would think it to be disturbing, and perhaps even a little on the gory side, but why did William Shakespeare write suck a terrible and gloomy play? He could have been inspired by a certain event in his life, maybe he simply enjoyed leading on his audience, one thing is certain Shakespeare made every incident inside the play happen for a exact, and specific reason. Mel Gibson, a famous actor, once said that the reason that so many people die inside the play all leads back to Hamlet not killing Claudius, because Claudius was praying. This is much so an agreeable statement.

"To take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and season'd for his passage? No!" This is what Hamlet says when he finds his uncle kneeling in prayer, the man who killed his father, took over the kingdom, and corrupted his mother Gertrude. Hamlet can't find it inside himself to kill a man who is praying for forgiveness. When in reality Claudius isn't praying for forgiveness of his sins, for his murder, but he is asking to keep hold of the things he has gained from his murderous past. Hamlet not knowing of

the circumstance, lets his murderous uncle live another day in hopes to find his sinning again so he can take his revenge. This is where Mel Gibson makes his point. If Hamlet would have killed his uncle while in prayer, he could have saved many lives. Those lives include Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Laertes, Gertrude, and Hamlet himself. Seven lives could have been saved if Hamlet only had the courage and the rage needed to slay his uncle when he had the prime chance to.

Hamlet could have salvaged the life of Polonius, even though one could imagine that Polonius had death coming to him by the way he staged himself, his life still could've been spared. Polonius was a mole, a deceiver, and he was loyal to King Claudius, but even knowing all of this Hamlet wouldn't have killed him, if he would have known who was really behind all the curtains in the room of his mother Gertrude.