Act 3, Scene 4, lines 30-40
Polonius (behind the arras): O, I am slain!
Queen: O me, what hast thou done?
Hamlet: Nay, I know not. Is it the King?
Queen: O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
Hamlet: A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king and marry with his brother.
Queen: As kill a king?
Hamlet: Ay lady, it was my word.
(He pulls Polonius' body from behind the arras.)
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell.
I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune.
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Hamlet thought Claudius was behind the curtain, not Polonius, and so acted accordingly. While he did not intentionally kill Polonius at first, Hamlet believes the pros outweigh the cons, that it is alright that Polonius is now out of the way. Although Hamlet's actions frighten the Queen, she is more concerned with deciphering Hamlet's motives and fearing for her own life.
Polonius represented a point of view in the court that Hamlet did not like- that even more devious than his stepfather's. Polonius was also quite full of himself, vain, and unknowingly long-winded, all of which contributed to Hamlet's, and the Queen as well for that matter, nonchalant response to killing the wrong person. Even with his last breath, Polonius overstates the obvious, declaring "O, I am slain!" (line 30) instead of simply falling dead. He felt the need to narrate his death while going into the light, which falls into his character quite perfectly.
Hamlet did not trust the queen to keep good company, seeing as her track record is none too great, marrying her deceased husband's brother and all. Although the Queen has done many a terrible deed at the absolute worst time, Hamlet cannot get himself to kill her because he believes she is innocent enough, even while he accuses her of killing his father. He insinuates that Polonius's blind murder is on the same level "as kill a king and marry with his brother" (line 35), which means she is not completely off the hook. Hamlet still beams some of the blame of his father's injustice onto his mother, but not enough blame to justify her murder. After all, she was King Hamlet's close companion for a while before she turned to the dark side.
Hamlet shows little remorse because he sees Polonius on the same level as Claudius, insipid and conniving. Even though Hamlet did not intentionally kill Polonius, Hamlet sees the death as a positive bump in the road to avenging his father. This murder is more self-serving than vengeful, however. Polonius was urging Ophelia to stay clear of Hamlet, which is the opposite of Hamlet's desires for the girl. Now with Polonius out of the way, there is one less person standing between Hamlet and whatever he wants with Ophelia. Polonius's death does wonders for Hamlet's livelihood and the storyline.
This is a really interesting point of view. Most of your claims were backed up with evidence, but I'm still not sure Hamlet puts Polonius on the same level as Claudius. He is definitely annoyed by Polonius and shows no remorse for his death, but he absolutely loathes Claudius. Also, I think that part of the reason he doesn't kill his mother is because the Ghost told him not to. Overall, nice job. This post is very well organized.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of very good points here, but I think there needs to be more connection between them. I am very intrigued by the analysis of three characters that are notoriously difficult to analyze, and I would love to have a better understanding of how all three analyses mesh together. Still and all, these are great analyses, and you did a good job!
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