Hamlet and Claudius Relationship Essay Sample

“Now I Might Do It Pat” is one of the essential soliloquies displayed in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Although it’s not the most renowned soliloquies in the play, it is important because it allows the audience to have a clear and consent understanding of what is happening. The soliloquy gives the audience insight into Hamlet’s thoughts during the process where he wants to kill Claudius. However, due to the relationship between religion and revenge, he is conflicted. Without this soliloquy, the audience would be confused about why Hamlet is so hesitant to kill Claudius.  

With the insight that this soliloquy provides, it adds critical knowledge to Shakesphere's play Hamlet. Building Hamlet's characters and traits, allowing the audience to have a deeper understanding of how Hamlet is as a character. The play is built off Hamlet’s desire for revenge on King Claudius, who killed his father King Hamlet. During this soliloquy, Hamlet is on his way to his mother’s room as he was heading there, he came upon Claudius kneeling and praying. Hamlet saw this as an opportunity to execute King Claudius easily. However, there was a conflicting problem he had to deal with, when he said “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven”() The soliloquy reveals the conflict that Hamlet had, which was although Hamlet wanted to retain his revenge, theologically he would send Claudius to heaven. Hamlet would kill Claudius while he is praying, cleansing Claudius of all his sins before dying. With this conflicting issue Hamlet, ultimately decided not to kill Claudius. He reveals that he would wait until Claudius is sinning, and then kill him gaining the revenged he wanted for his father when he said: “When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,” ()Hamlet decided to wait, once he kills Claudius while Claudius is sinning, Hamlet knows Claudius will go to hell. With all the information the soliloquy provides, it is essential because it walks the audience through Hamlet's thought process, building Hamlet’s character to a further extent and allowing the audience to understand why he was so hesitant to kill King Claudius when he had the perfect opportunity. 

Without including this soliloquy, the audience would not understand Hamlet's personality and thoughts on a deeper level. This soliloquy reveals how Hamlet is willing to go through with his plans no matter the difficulty. It shows how meticulous Hamlet is when he is planning. In the soliloquy where Hamlet says“ O, this is hire and salary, not revenge”() We could see that he thinks if he kills Hamlet now it is just rushed, and it isn’t truly revenge. It showed how he is very persistent and wants everything to be done correctly. Furthermore, without the information that the soliloquy provided, it would leave the audience in confusion. They would not have a valid explanation of why Hamlet decided not to kill Claudius when he had such an amazing opportunity. Removing this soliloquy could cause the audience to raise many different questions. This could make the play complex and hard to understand. Therefore it is essential to keep this soliloquy in the play, allowing the audience to have a clear and concise understanding of the play.

While I was reading this play, I noticed a few key points that stood out to me. Knowing this play was built entirely on Hamlet’s desire to get revenge for King Hamlet his father, I was able to make out how patient and persistent Hamlet was. When Hamlet said “Up sword, and know thou a more horrid hent.”() I could see how patient Hamlet is, he does not kill Claudius because he knows that it would just be an impulsive kill. I could also see how important family was to Hamlet when he said “He took my father grossly, full of bread, With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May; And how his audit stands who knows save heaven.”() When he said this it really showed that he put family about anything, willing to go through great lengths to get revenge for his father.  In conclusion, this soliloquy should not be removed from the play, because it is so essential to the play, it deserves more recognition if anything.