Justice In Hamlet

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In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, the audience is presented with the dramatic story of Prince Hamlet’s task to avenge the murder of his father (King Hamlet) through retribution towards the perpetrator, his uncle Claudius. However, even though the need to bring Claudius to justice is the central aspect of the play, it is not until Act 3, Scene 3 where Hamlet finally encounters his first opportunity to execute this duty. As Claudius kneels in prayer, Hamlet enters fully prepared to act upon his desire for vengeance, especially now that he is certain of Claudius’ guilt after watching The Mousetrap. Except, rather than immediately taking advantage of this perfect opportunity, Hamlet decides to not kill Claudius …show more content…

However, after paying attention to the following lines, we can understand the reasoning behind Hamlet’s abrupt stop. Within the quote, Hamlet comes upon the realization that if he were to kill his uncle while he is seeking forgiveness for his sins, then Claudius’ soul will be sent to heaven. Hamlet cannot allow for this to happen since it would not be sufficient revenge considering that Claudius killed King Hamlet before he even had the chance to seek forgiveness (thus forcing King Hamlet to languish in purgatory). So, to ensure that his father will get justice, Hamlet plans to kill Claudius at a later time. In fact, it is in the next scene (Act 3, Scene 4) where Hamlet finally kills someone – Polonius. During Hamlet and Queen Gertrude’s heated discussion, Gertrude cries out for help after believing that Hamlet was going to harm her. When Hamlet discovers that a person is hidden behind the arras, he draws his sword and stabs the unseen individual. Although Hamlet did not know the person’s identity, he fully believed that it was Claudius that he had just stabbed. We know this because right after Hamlet’s horrid act of murder, he

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