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Mrs. P. Bradley
English 12AP-2
3 March 2017
We are used to thinking that the climax of a play will be the most openly dramatic
moment in the play; think of the final encounter between Inigo Montoya and the Six-Fingered
Man in The Princess Bride or the final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Act III
iv of Hamlet is the most dramatic moment of the play, but Act III Scene iii is arguably,
Scene
whether or not to kill someone, which is probably the most difficult decision to make in all of
history. While it is easy to criticize Hamlet for not having more gumption, he is a flawed
character. He is indecisive, a human trait to the very core, and this ultimately leads to his death.
The climax of Hamlet takes place at the end of Act III Scene iii. Immediately after
Claudius admits to the audience that he has killed Old Hamlet and the reasons why, Hamlet
comes across Claudius on the way to his mothers chambers. Claudius is in the middle of
Very early on in H
praying for forgiveness and is not aware that Hamlet is close by. amlet, we
know that Old Hamlets soul will only be put to rest until Hamlet kills Claudius. Hamlet has spent
the rest of the play until this scene formulating ways to ensure that Claudius is guilty and to
prepare ways to catch and/or kill him. However, with Claudius right in front of him, Hamlet still
refrains from killing. Ostensibly, he does this under the excuse that because Claudius is praying,
he would go to Heaven and not Hell if Hamlet had killed Claudius then. A contrast to this
situation is Laertes desire for revenge in the fourth act. Laertes says he would be willing to kill
Hamlet in a church simply to avenge Polonius. Laertes and Hamlet have likely grown up with
each other in the palace, but Laertes sense of pride and protection overcomes this connection.
Hamlet is beyond outraged with Claudius for all that he has done to ruin Hamlets life. However,
Claudius has been something of a second father to Hamlet all his life, and he cannot kill
Claudius.
Since Hamlet failed to kill Claudius, he now has more opportunity to investigate Hamlets
madness and punish him for the death of Polonius. Claudius was then able to arrange for
Hamlets departure and assassination. If Hamlet had killed Claudius, Hamlet wouldve been the
new leader of Denmark. Hamlet has not shown a developed leadership skill set and would likely
not have accomplished much as the leader of Denmark, especially with the threat of war from
Fortinbras. Additionally, if Hamlet had killed Claudius, Hamlet wouldve perhaps been
preoccupied with hiding Claudius body instead of meeting with his mother in Act III Scene iv.
Therefore, Polonius death couldve been avoided. If Polonius had not died, in addition to
causing Ophelia to go crazy and accidentally drown, Laertes would not have been so angry
with Hamlet and Claudius would not have arranged the rigged fencing match that would result in
Hamlet is stuck in a terrible moral dilemma: he must kill his beloved uncle in order to put
his father to rest. While he is outraged at Claudius for taking Gertrude, Old Hamlet, and the
crown away from Hamlet, he is not a two-dimensional hero. Much like most of the readers, he
has qualms about murdering someone who has lived with him his entire life. Hamlet is a real,
timeless, character who tried his best to be morally balanced and while he died because of his