In Shakespeare's Hamlet, in Act
Three, scene four, there seems a contradiction in Hamlet's previous hesitation in
killing Claudius, and his rash action in killing Polonius—who Hamlet believes is
Claudius.
One of the major reasons Hamlet procrastinates in
avenging his father's murder is because he does not know if the Ghost has given him
honest information. Elizabethans believed in the supernatural completely; regarding
ghosts, they believed that a ghost could not DO anything in the
world after death, but could persuade those who still lived to act for them. If the
Ghost is lying and Hamlet kills Claudius without good reason, Hamlet will lose his
immortal soul—for killing a king is a mortal sin.
However,
after the players reenact Old Hamlet's murder, and Claudius reacts so strongly at the
sight, Hamlet has his proof. Walking through the castle after the play, he passes
Claudius who appears to be bent in prayer. Hamlet contemplates
murdering the King then, but realizes that if he does so, Claudius' soul will go
straight to heaven with no sins weighing it down. This is one of Old Hamlet's greatest
regrets in the way he died: he had no chance to clean his soul of
his sins. Hamlet will not give Claudius this opportunity, and so he decides to
wait.
However, when Hamlet finally goes to his mother's
room, and there is a cry from behind the curtain (arras), Hamlet believes it is
Claudius, there to act upon his incestuous marriage with Gertrude. (To marry an in-law
after the death of one's spouse was considered incestuous at that time.) What better
time to kill Claudius when he has this sin on his soul, and so he stabs the person
behind the curtain. Unfortunately, it is Polonius, in a place where he does not belong—
spying on Hamlet and Gertrude.
Hamlet has finally found a
strength of purpose and the right circumstances to kill Claudius, but he kills the wrong
man.
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