answersLogoWhite

0

He doesn't. He is, however, disgusted with the role she plays in the intrigue Claudius and Polonius put her up to. He treats her contemptuously after he discovers that she has been helping the king spy on him. Ophelia is the most truly tragic figure in the play as she is the only one that is utterly without guilt. What she does is at the request of her father and her king.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Movies & Television

In act iii hamlet has a chance to kill king Claudius why does he hesitate to kill the king at the time what are the implications of his failure to act?

Hamlet hesitates killing King Claudius, because at the time Claudius was praying for forgiveness and if Hamlet killed him then Claudius would go to heaven and Hamlet to Hell. But his chance to kill him without doing wrong was still there, he just didn't stick around long enough to hear the rest of the agony. Claudius amended "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." Hamlet missed his opportunity to save the lives of many and that would made for a short and heroic play without so much tragedy. Less entertaining too.


Why does the king send Hamlet to England?

Claudius is concerned that Hamlet knows the truth about how he killed King Hamlet and has been watching Hamlet since he killed the king. When Hamlet kills Polonius he sees how unstable Hamlet is and that he can not take the chance and let Hamlet stay, which would risk his own safety. Claudius sends Hamlet to England so that on the way he can have him killed and he would no longer have to worry about the problem that is Hamlet.


Is the climax of Hamlet is generally considered to occur when Hamlet does not take the opportunity to kill the praying Claudius?

No I was not. According to the text, killing someone while they are free of sin(like while praying) will allow them to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Hamlet Senior (the ghost) did not have this chance to pray before being killed. Because of this, he is stuck in purgatory. Hamlet wants Claudius to have the same result has Hamlet Senior had. The ironic thing about this scene is that after Hamlet leaves, Claudius says that he unable to truly confess his sins; therefore, if Hamlet would have killed him, Claudius still would have gone to purgatory.


Why does Hamlet not kill Claudius when he has the perfect time and opportunity?

Laertes states that he would be willing to cut Hamlet's throat in a church, a divine area. This contrasts with Hamlet's earlier actions in that he wants to avoid murdering Claudius in a holy setting, ensuring that Claudius will not have the opportunity to enter into heaven.


Was king Hamlet killed while he was sleeping?

The ghost says that he is stuck in purgatory because he did not have a chance to confess before he died. It would have been less cruel to have killed him as he stepped out of the confessional, but give Claudius some credit here--he's not going to kill Hamlet in such a way that Claudius was going to get caught. Claudius might have chosen a less nasty poison, one supposes. That would have been less cruel.

Related Questions

Did Hamlet's father want to kill Hamlet?

No, he wanted him to take revenge on Claudius for killing him when he didn't get a chance to confess his sins. Old Hamlet is angry at this because he is now in purgatory. He is also angry at the thought of Claudius sleeping with Gertrude and marrying her so soon after his death.


In act iii hamlet has a chance to kill king Claudius why does he hesitate to kill the king at the time what are the implications of his failure to act?

Hamlet hesitates killing King Claudius, because at the time Claudius was praying for forgiveness and if Hamlet killed him then Claudius would go to heaven and Hamlet to Hell. But his chance to kill him without doing wrong was still there, he just didn't stick around long enough to hear the rest of the agony. Claudius amended "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." Hamlet missed his opportunity to save the lives of many and that would made for a short and heroic play without so much tragedy. Less entertaining too.


What events led up to hamlet's death?

Laertes challenges Hamlet to a Fencing contest. Laertes treats his blade with poison and Claudius has a backup plan of poisoning Hamlet's wine.


Why doesn't Hamlet stab Claudius?

He has the chance to, just after the Mousetrap play. He decides not to because he worries for some reason that Claudius will go to heaven if he dies praying. Hamlet wants him to go to Hell.


Why is this the turning point of the drama when Hamlet didn't kill Claudius when he had the chance?

I would disagree, and suggest that the turning point is when Hamlet returns from sea.


What is the storyline to Hamlet?

Hamlet is the son of King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude of Denmark, but his father has recently died and his uncle Claudius has become king and married Queen Gertrude. Hamlet is taken to a battlement where the ghost of his father appears and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius and commands Hamlet to revenge him by killing Claudius. Hamlet decides to act crazy while looking for a chance to get at the king. His crazy behaviour induces the king to set spies on him, first his school pals Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and later his girlfriend Ophelia. Hamlet, still unsure of the ghost's veracity, gets some travelling players to put on a play which mimics the murder. Claudius's reactions confirm he is the murderer all right. Hamlet then has a chance to kill him, but holds his hand because he is praying. He then visits his mother in her room and kills the king's advisor who is also his girlfriend's father and who was spying on him for the king. The king then sends him to England to get him out of the way with instructions to the English to kill him. The death of her father drives Ophelia crazy and she drowns. Her brother arrives, desperate for revenge. Hamlet's ship gets attacked by pirates and he ends up back in England. Ophelia's brother Laertes and the king plot to kill Hamlet by staging a fencing match in which Laertes will have a poisoned sharp sword, and Claudius will give Hamlet a poisoned drink. But it all backfires. Hamlet gets hold of the poisoned sword after Laertes cuts him with it and kills Laertes. Gertrude drinks the poisoned drink and dies. Hamlet stabs Claudius and gives him the remains of the poisoned drink and then dies himself in the arms of his best friend Horatio.


Why does Hamlet say he can not kill Claudius while Claudius is praying?

Because he believes that because King Claudius is praying, he soul will be cleansed. Because of this, he would not be damned to hell or purgatory when he dies. Instead, Hamlet decides to wait until King Claudius has slept with the Queen later that night before killing him (theoretically his soul would be sullied because of this). The reason this is such a big deal is because the ghost of old King Hamlet wanders trapped in purgatory since he didn't have a chance to confess his sins.


Why does the king send Hamlet to England?

Claudius is concerned that Hamlet knows the truth about how he killed King Hamlet and has been watching Hamlet since he killed the king. When Hamlet kills Polonius he sees how unstable Hamlet is and that he can not take the chance and let Hamlet stay, which would risk his own safety. Claudius sends Hamlet to England so that on the way he can have him killed and he would no longer have to worry about the problem that is Hamlet.


Is the climax of Hamlet is generally considered to occur when Hamlet does not take the opportunity to kill the praying Claudius?

No I was not. According to the text, killing someone while they are free of sin(like while praying) will allow them to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Hamlet Senior (the ghost) did not have this chance to pray before being killed. Because of this, he is stuck in purgatory. Hamlet wants Claudius to have the same result has Hamlet Senior had. The ironic thing about this scene is that after Hamlet leaves, Claudius says that he unable to truly confess his sins; therefore, if Hamlet would have killed him, Claudius still would have gone to purgatory.


Why does Hamlet not kill Claudius when he has the perfect time and opportunity?

Laertes states that he would be willing to cut Hamlet's throat in a church, a divine area. This contrasts with Hamlet's earlier actions in that he wants to avoid murdering Claudius in a holy setting, ensuring that Claudius will not have the opportunity to enter into heaven.


Why does Hamlet not kill the king in act 3?

Well, the basic reason is that they're not in the Chapel. The setting is Claudius's private room, the King's Room. That's stated in the play dialogue. Guildenstern says it: "(the king) is in his retirement..." It's reference to the place Claudius retires for the night, his private quarters. When Claudius left the 'Mousetrap' play, he went to his own room. Claudius prays during the scene, and apparently the idea of praying has led some people to think the scene is in the Chapel, however, the actual play dialogue tells us otherwise. People don't have to be in a chapel to pray, and many people pray in their own rooms, of course, which is what Claudius does. Hamlet is discouraged from killing Claudius because he finds Claudius praying. Hamlet is afraid that if he kills Claudius at prayer, Claudius's soul will go straight to Heaven. However, the Ghost said, or very strongly implied, that the soul of Hamlet's father was in Purgatory. Hamlet doesn't see it as fair, that he could send Claudius to Heaven, when his own father is in Purgatory. Hamlet decides to wait for another opportunity later, when there's less chance of sending Claudius's soul to Heaven.


Why does Hamlet stab through the curtains or arras in gertrude's room?

His mother Gertrude called for help and a voice came from behind the curtain repeating the call for help. Hamlet assumed that it was Claudius and his chance to kill him had come so he stabbed through the curtain. It was only after that he found that it wasn't Claudius after all.