My Foul Murder In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

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. A scene occurred when the brother poisons the king. Immediately after seeing this, Claudius gets up and leaves the play and finds Guildenstern and Rosencrantz . He tells them that they should take Hamlet to England with them and make sure that the voyage is quick. Claudius is now aware of Hamlet knowing the truth behind King Hamlet’s death. Claudius then takes a moment to reflect on his actions. 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 In the corrupted currents of this world (3.3. 56-61).

Claudius calls his own murder “foul” meaning wicked or immoral. He recognizes
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It is “foul” that suggests Claudius was not completely heartless about the murder of his brother.”Foul” also infers that King Hamlet did not deserve to die, but Claudius felt that he had to acquire his brother’s power somehow. Claudius refuses to give up what he has “since I am …show more content…
To Claudius status is more important to him than seeking forgiveness. For being a self-centered character, it makes sense that Laertes would come into the palace seeking the unjust Claudius. Laertes demands the Claudius tell him what exactly happened to his father because he believes Claudius is the one who murdered his father. Claudius tells Laertes that it was Hamlet who murdered Polonius and that he had nothing to do with the death. Seeing that Laertes wants to get revenge for his father, Claudius gives permission for Laertes to enact his revenge on Hamlet. “No place indeed should murder sanctuarize/ Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Laertes/Will you do this? (4.7.145-151). “No place indeed should murder sanctuarize” reveals Claudius’s attitude about the idea of revenge. He believes that revenge should not have any location restraints on it. Which means revenge can happen in someone’s residence or a holy place such as a church. This heartless statement by Claudius might implement this idea into Laertes’mind to think that revenge should be taken to as far as it gets the job done, which in the process does conflict with the morality of an individual. “ It seems quite impracticable that Claudius

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