Remorse and Selfishness

Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven.

It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,

A brother’s murder. Pray can I not.

Though inclination be as sharp as will,

My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,

And, like a man to double business bound,

I stand in pause where I shall first begin,

And both neglect. What if this cursèd hand

Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood?

Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens

To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy

But to confront the visage of offence?

And what’s in prayer but this twofold force,

To be forestallèd ere we come to fall

Or pardoned being down? Then I’ll look up.

My fault is past. But oh, what form of prayer

Can serve my turn, “Forgive me my foul murder”?

That cannot be, since I am still possessed

Of those effects for which I did the murder:

My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.

May one be pardoned and retain th' offense?

... What then? What rests?

Try what repentance can. What can it not?

Yet what can it when one can not repent?

O wretched state! O bosom black as death!

O limèd soul that, struggling to be free,

Art more engaged! Help, angels. Make assay.

Bow, stubborn knees, and, heart with strings of steel,

Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe.

All may be well.

(page 165)

Until Claudius’s soliloquy, the King’s feelings on his murdering of his brother have not been revealed. We have only learned how seemingly unremorseful he felt by so suddenly marrying his sister-in-law and scolding Hamlet for mourning for so long. It looked as though Claudius had so far not given a second thought to his murder. Then, he sees the play and realises someone knows what he has done. Reminding him of his maliciousness, he begins to think over his actions. In his attempt at prayer, he shows that he does have some regrets, and he also maintains his selfish nature.

As far as Claudius regrets his actions, he seems to mostly fear the consequences that will occur in the afterlife. The passage begins with “It smells to heaven”, using the word smell to make it seem pungent and unblockable, showing he is aware of how terrible the murder was. However, though he feels worried about the afterlife, his guilt is stopping him from prayer. He finds himself wishing prayer would solve all of his misdeeds, yet he also is hesitant because of his selfish nature.

Even though Claudius is worried about the afterlife, he is more worried about his title and position gained from the murder. When lamenting what he could lose, he claims all of them as his “My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.” Though part of him wishes to pray to be forgiven, he worries that being forgiven would cause him to lose all of what he has gained from the murder. Also, the only reason he would pray is to protect himself in the afterlife, showing selfish reasoning. He only showed remorse after it was discovered that someone knew how the murder occurred.

For the first time in the play Claudius has shown more emotion toward his brother’s death, as well as flaws in his way of reaction. He regrets that his actions were so terrible, but he remains so materialistic and power-hungry that he fears forgiveness would cause him to lose his gains. As well as confessing to the murder in this passage, Claudius shows weaknesses not previously seen.