Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What features of the soliloquy of Claudius in Act 3 Scene 3 of Hamlet would have most attracted the Elizabethan audience?

This is an important soliloquy in the play for a number of
reasons, but principally because it gives us and Hamlet final proof that Claudius is
indeed guilty of what the Ghost accuses him of: a sin so old that it "hath the primal
eldest curse upon't." The murder of a brother would have been recognised as yet another
instance of Cain's murder of his brother, Abel, in the Book of Genesis in The Bible.
Claudius in this soliloquy is therefore shown to struggle with his tremendous guilt and
fear of punishment, but at the same time he is equally shown to struggle between his
desire to be forgiven for this terrible crime and his reluctance to give up what he
gained through committing it: the crown and Gertrude:


readability="17">

Forgive me my foul
murder:


That cannot be, since I am still
possess'd


Of those effects for which I did the
murder,


My crown, mine own ambition, and My
Queen.


May one be pardon'd and retain
th'offence?



This soliloquy
therefore presents us with a man who is sharply divided by his guilt on the one hand,
and yet his unwillingness to give up what he killed to gain on the other. Such an
internal conflict would have been interesting to an Elizabethan audience who were a
Christian people.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What accomplishments did Bill Clinton have as president?

Of course, Bill Clinton's presidency will be most clearly remembered for the fact that he was only the second president ever...