A-Level English Literature

Hamlet assessment

A.) Discuss the passage above (from Act 3 Scene 3), exploring
Shakespeare’s use of language and its dramatic effects.

Already from the beginning of the extract, Shakespeare begins with an intense and anticipated
moment. Claudius is in his bedroom, on his knees, attempting to pray. And Hamlet looms behind
him, a sword held in his hand, about to plunge it down into his uncle and snu all life out of the
king. Shakespeare entered the crowd in medias res, right in the middle of things. This creates
such an apprehended and dramatic mood, bringing great tension to the air without as much as
too many words to start with. Shakespeare continues Hamlet’s momentous soliloquy, his use of
language and the literature of Hamlet’s thoughts establishing a scene that really holds the
audience on the edge of their seats.
In the following rst two lines, Hamlet’s thoughts are still hesitant; the audience can see this by
the way he repeats: “Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying, And now I’ll do’t — and so a
goes to heaven.” He does not know whether he should do it or not. Despite all of his planning and
plotting, and the wrath that festered within him during the play, Hamlet is shown to still be unable
to muster the full power to kill his Uncle without any reluctance. Additionally, it is clear to see
Hamlet is not in his typical speaking/(thinking) rhythm. His lines are uctuating and constantly
changing in pattern, showcasing his distress and chaos of indecisiveness.
Shakespeare’s use of sibilance with the letter “S” in the phrases. “I his sole son do this same
villain send To heaven,” might sound to the audience as if Hamlet is momentarily disgusted with
himself. The repetitive sibilance appears like a sort of low-hissing, as if Hamlet views himself as a
snake in those moments; untrustworthy and detestable. Or, perhaps he is disgusted with the
thought that his uncle will go to heaven if Hamlet kills him while praying.
Shakespeare’s use of the line, “Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge,” provokes Hamlet to a full
realisation—that if he does indeed plunge that blade into Claudius’ back, his uncle’s soul will go
to heaven, not hell. It was as if Claudius murdering Hamlet’s father in cold blood only to be sent to
heaven afterward is a favour, not the act of revenge.

A swift argument with himself ensues, in which Hamlet fully understands that to kill Claudius now
would not ful l his desire for revenge, as shown in the lines, “And am I then revenged To take him
in the purging of his soul, When he is t and seasoned for his passage?”—Hamlet nally comes to
a decisive choice. “No.” He will not kill Claudius now. He wants the king to su er for what’s he
done in hell after his death. Such as when Shakespeare enlightens the audience to Hamlet’s rage
in the phrases, “Up sword, and know thou a more horrid hent,” calling this opportunity to kill his
uncle “horrid.” Additionally, it is further shown that Hamlet still hasn’t gotten over Claudius
marrying his mother when he mentions their act of incest; “Or in th’incestuous pleasure of his
bed.”

In Hamlet’s nal lines in this extract, Shakespeare conveys the tragic prince’s rage in its entirety.
The phase, “Then trip him that his heels may kick at heaven,” shows how he wants to relish at
Claudius’ su ering in hell; taunting him with the idea of heaven being out of his kicking’s reach.
Hamlet nally curses Claudius through the line, “And that his soul may be as damned and black
As hell whereto it goes.” The mention of Claudius’ soul being black represents the sin of murder
that he committed, and how it corrupted him.
At last, Hamlet leaves the room, and Shakespeare shatters all of the audience’s expectations
through two single lines of Claudius… “My words y up, my thoughts remain below. Words
without thoughts never to heaven go.” He was never able to pray. He was just trying. This is a
dramatic reveal, that renders the opportunity that Hamlet had as signi cant indeed.
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 B.) ‘Hamlet is driven, above all, by a sense of Justice.”

I do not agree with this statement of the view of Hamlet.

Hamlet, the tragic prince and supposed hero of the story, is a very complex and individual
character. However, there are multiple instances throughout the whole play where Hamlet’s desire
to kill Claudius is not shown to be driven by a sense of justice… Rather, a sense for revenge.
Hamlet is, as stated above, a prince, and a son to the former king. While we can not put his titles
and priorities in a speci c order, both of these implicate a personal connection to the former king,
his father. There is a distinct di erence between justice, and revenge. While justice is a far broader
term to reference the desire to perform an act against somebody who committed a general
wrongdoing, revenge is the desire to perform an act against somebody who committed a personal
wrongdoing against the individual—or someone close to him. Hamlet is not driven to kill Claudius
by justice for his father, but by wanting revenge for his father who was murdered in his sleep, in
cold blood. This could be proven by the fact that, at the start of the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s
father is revealed to the prince, and privately asks him to kill Claudius. It is very unlikely that Old
Hamlet was thinking of justice for his role in those moments—but rather wanted his son to kill the
new king to nally provide the ghost a sense of peace; a personal matter.

Secondly, there is another reason that could be for why Hamlet might have wanted to kill
Claudius, which is not justice to his father, nor the desire for revenge. For the duration of the play
he audience can witness not few singular instances that Hamlet is shown to have a strong desire
for his mother’s a ection. This can be interpreted as a son wanting his parent’s motherly attention.
But it could also be interpreted as a son desiring his mother’s a ection in a more intimate and
incestuous manner; sexually. Olivier (1948) strengthens this thesis by stating that, “Hamlet had, in
years gone by, as a child, bitterly resented having had to share his mother’s a ection, even with
his own father, had regarded him as a rival and had secretly wished him out of the way so that he
might enjoy undisputed and undisturbed the monopoly of that a ection.” Hamlet was not driven
to kill Claudius by a sense of justice for his father, nor revenge—but rather that he wanted
Claudius out of the way so he could have his mother’s a ection for himself after all these years.

And nally, this statement is very open-ended. if we are considering ‘Hamlet’ as the play, rather
than the eponymous tragic hero, it is corruption that drives the play. Already in the beginning of
the story, it was said by Horatio—a good friend of Hamlet—“This bodes some strange eruption to
our state,” showing that something was festering in Denmark. Further on in the play, the audience
is fully able to see this continuation from the phrase, “Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark,” by Marcellus. It could be implied that Denmark was corrupted and reeked with rot and
decay from the very start—and that that is what drives the tragic play, “Hamlet.”
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