Claudius

I don’t like whatever Hamlet is up to, nor is it safe for me to let this madman run free. Get yourselves ready for a voyage; your orders are being drawn up right now. You’re going to England, and you’re taking him with you. Someone in my position can’t put up with this dangerous insanity, which grows worse by the minute.

Guildenstern

We’ll get ready for the trip. As God’s chosen ruler, it’s your sacred duty to protect the many people who depend on you.

Rosencrantz

Everyone tries to stay out of harm's way, but that’s more important for a king on whom the welfare of state and the lives of many people, depend. The death of a king is not just the end of one man’s life; but, like a whirlpool, it draws down with it anyone nearby. A king is like a huge wheel of Fortune at the summit of a high mountain, with ten thousand small attachments. When it comes tumbling down to its loud destruction, it drags with it all those smaller things. When a king sighs, the whole population groans.

Claudius

Get ready to leave at once. I intend to get this menace under control, which is currently running free.

Both

We’ll hurry up.

Polonius

My Lord, Hamlet’s on his way to his mother’s chambers. I’ll hide myself behind the curtain to listen in. I bet she’ll pressure him successfully. As you said – and it was wisely put – it’s good if someone else overhears the conversation, since a mother is naturally partial to her son. I’ll come see you before you go to bed to let you know what I find out.

Claudius

Thanks, my dear lord.

Oh, my crime stinks to high heaven, just like the first murder in the Bible, when Cain killed his brother Abel. I cannot pray, even though I have the desire and determination. My guilt is stronger than my good intentions. I’m like a man determined to perform two tasks, but not knowing which to do first, does neither one of them. So what if my guilty hands are covered with my brother’s blood? Isn’t there enough rain from a forgiving heaven to wash them white as snow? What’s the point of mercy if not to correct wrongdoing?

And what’s the point of prayers if not these two things: to stop us from committing a sin in the first place, or to pardon us afterwards? So I’ll cheer up and look to heaven even though I’ve already committed a grave sin. But what form of prayer will serve my purpose – “God, forgive me for my foul murder”? That can’t work, since I still have all the things I gained from committing the murder: the crown, the power, and the queen. Can you be pardoned and still keep all the stuff you stole? In today’s corrupt world, rich people break the laws, often using the spoils from their crimes to bribe the justice system. But not so in Heaven.

In Heaven, no deception is allowed. There, our actions are in plain view for all to see, and we are compelled to come face to face with our offenses and to give evidence against ourselves. What else is there for me to do? I can try repentance. Can’t it fix everything? But it’s worthless if I can’t bring myself to repent. Oh, what a horrible state I’m in. My soul is like a bird caught in a trap – the more it struggles to get free, the more it becomes entangled. Help me pray, angels. I must try. Bend, you stubborn knees. And you my hardened heart, become as soft as a newborn baby’s. Things may yet turn out okay.

Hamlet

Now’s my chance. Here he is praying, I’ll just kill him right now. [He draws his sword.] But then he would go to heaven – and that would be my revenge? Wait a minute. I need to think this through. This villain kills my father, and for that, I – the only one who can get justice – send him to heaven. That’s murder for hire, not revenge. My father died while living it up, before he had a chance to confess his sins and be absolved of them. Heaven only knows how his spiritual account stood with God. But my best guess is that things didn’t look too good for him. So, would I get revenge by killing Claudius just after he has confessed and been forgiven for his sins, allowing him a free passage to heaven? No!

Not now, my sword. You must wait for a wicked occasion when Claudius is passed out drunk, behaving violently, having incestuous sex with my mother, gambling, swearing, or doing anything which has not the slightest hint of good moral behavior. Then I’ll kill him, and his feet will point toward heaven as he descends to a hell which is just as black as his soul. Right now, my mother is waiting. Claudius, your praying only prolongs your ill days on earth.

Claudius

I mouth the words, but without any real feeling of repentance, this prayer will never reach heaven.