“I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound!” this means hamlet now believes the ghost of his father and can now take revenge on Claudius for murdering his father.
At the beginning of act three, scene three we learn of Claudius’s plot to send hamlet to England “And he to England shall along with you” Claudius now knows that Hamlet knows of his murder and must get rid of him before he can exact his revenge on him. Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet is going to speak to his mother and that he will eavesdrop on them and tell the king what Hamlet speaks to his mother about.
Claudius’s soliloquy reveals that he is sorry for what he has done and wants forgiveness but if he confesses he will loose his crown and his queen. “Forgive me my foul murder! --
That cannot be; since I am still possess'd
Of those effects for which I did the murder, --
My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen” this means he cannot be forgiven if he is still king and is still married to Gertrude.
“Try what repentance can: what can it not?
Yet what can it when one cannot repent?” Claudius cannot pray because he is not truly sorry because if he was he would confess and give up his crown and queen and then he could pray and repent.
As Claudius is trying to pray Hamlet comes in to kill him
“Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't;--and so he goes to heaven” this means that he cannot kill him while he is praying or Claudius shall go to heaven and Hamlet cannot let his father’s murderer go to heaven. Hamlet Soliloquy shows us that he really wants revenge on Claudius, because he doesn’t kill him while in prayer because he believes dying isn’t just enough, he wants Claudius to go to hell for what he has done. “When he is drunk asleep; or in his rage;
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed” this means that Hamlet will kill Claudius when he is drunk or is in bed with his wife, so “that his soul may be as damn'd and black” this means that when he kills Claudius his soul will be full of sin and Heaven shall not let him in and he shall go to hell.
In Act three, scene three we know that Claudius is not in prayer and that Hamlet could of killed him. This is Dramatic Irony. In act three, scene three we know what the ghost has told hamlet and therefore we understand the Claudius’s reaction to the play. We understand the reason for Claudius’s anguish and desperate need for forgiveness. But we can recognise his hypocrisy in not wanting to give up what he has gained from murdering his brother. When Hamlet enters the room we know that this is Hamlets perfect opportunity to avenge his fathers murder and kill Claudius. Hamlet hesitates because he thinks Claudius will go to heaven, but we know better, because Claudius has told us the truth in his soliloquy, yet again Hamlet is putting off action. Claudius’s final two lines in his soliloquy confirms our beliefs that this was the perfect moment for Hamlet to exact his revenge on Claudius and avenge his fathers death.
In conclusion Shakespeare makes act three, scene three very dramatic and the turning point in the play because of the suspense he builds up to Hamlet killing Claudius. And when we think he is going to kill him he doesn’t because he believes Claudius will go to heaven. Shakespeare uses Claudius and Hamlets soliloquy to build lots of suspense up and this makes it very dramatic and the turning point of the play.
