Claudius's Guilt In Hamlet

In this passage of Hamlet, Claudius feels regret and guilt for killing his brother after watching a play which revives the events that unfolded when he murdered his own brother. In this passage, Shakespeare characterizes Claudius as incapable of full remorse because he is motivated by his desires. In the first part of the passage Claudius makes it clear that he has killed his brother by stating “my offence is rank it smells to heaven” in which his “offence” that his killing his brother “smells to heaven” adding to the fact that his actions are extremely terrible and rotten. Although Claudius is able to acknowledge the fact that he has committed a horrible sin and made a huge mistake, he is still driven by his desires. In the first part of the passage his desire is to be forgiven drives him to feel guilty because he fears punishment stated as the “primal curse”. Claudius states “Pray can I not” which clearly shows that he feels inclined to pray in order to save himself from …show more content…
Claudius continues his desperate speech by asking even more questions. This time Claudius questions whether or not this feeling of “guilt” can help him, he asks “Yet what can it when one cannot repent?” in this way Claudius admits that he “cannot fully repent” from the bottom of his heart and is searching for a solution. He explains that he is in a “wretched state” and has a “black as death” heart, although he feels remorse he is still motivated by his desire to be forgiven as he quickly praises and prays to angels. “Help, angels! Make assay!” the punctuation provides us a glimpse of his desperation for forgiveness but he finishes his soliloquy by stating that he wants to be like a “ newborn babe!” which reveals that he longs for being completely innocent and to be in his former