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"hire and salary, not revenge"
Context and Language Videos
Act 3,
Scene 3
Lines 76-82

A discussion of why it's the wrong time for Hamlet to seek revenge against Claudius in Act 3, Scene 3 of myShakespeare's Hamlet. 

myShakespeare | Hamlet 3.3 “hire and salary, not revenge”

Hamlet

A villain kills my father and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven.
Oh, this is hire and salary, not revenge.    
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?    
Video Transcript: 

RALPH: This is Hamlet's opportunity to kill Claudius, an act that he alone, as the sole son of the murdered king, would be morally justified in carrying out.

SARAH: But if Hamlet kills Claudius now, he'll go to heaven! Is that revenge?

RALPH: According to Christian doctrine of the time, sincere repentance from Claudius for his crime could lead to God's forgiveness, absolving him of his guilt. Therefore, if he were to die at this moment, he might be admitted into heaven, no matter how awful his previous sins.

SARAH: That would be "hire and salary", as Hamlet puts it, as if Claudius had been hired to kill the king, and his salary, or payment, would be getting sent to heaven.