Search results
Hamlet enters and sees Claudius praying. He is grateful to at last be alone with the man, believing now is the chance to kill him and take his revenge. Hamlet, however, finds himself in a conundrum—if he kills Claudius while the king is praying, Claudius’s soul will go to heaven.
A summary of Act III: Scene i in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Hamlet and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
Hamlet slips quietly into the room and steels himself to kill the unseeing Claudius. But suddenly it occurs to him that if he kills Claudius while he is praying, he will end the king’s life at the moment when he was seeking forgiveness for his sins, sending Claudius’s soul to heaven.
Summary. Analysis. Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern gather in the hall of Elsinore. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Claudius that though they’ve tried to talk to Hamlet about the root of his madness, he’s unwilling to answer them and remains “aloof.”
A summary of Act III: Scene ii in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Hamlet and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
Summary: Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius in Act 3, Scene 3 because he finds Claudius praying. Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius while he is confessing his sins,...
Claudius wants to send Hamlet to England immediately, but Polonius tells him that he plans to spy on Hamlet’s conversation with Gertrude. He leaves to do just that. Left alone—or so he thinks—Claudius confesses to his crime and tries to pray for forgiveness.