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"My stronger guilt"
Context and Language Videos
Act 3,
Scene 3
Lines 36-40

A discussion of Claudius's sin in Act 3, Scene 3 of myShakespeare's Hamlet. 

myShakespeare | Hamlet 3.3 Discussion: “my stronger guilt”

Claudius

Oh, my offense is rank! It smells to heaven. 
It has the primal eldest curse upon't -    
A brother's murder. Pray can I not.
Though inclination be as sharp as will, 
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent.
Video Transcript: 

SARAH: Claudius is saying here that his crime, the murder of Hamlet's father, smells rank, or nasty, and that the smell is noticeable even in heaven.

RALPH: When Claudius says the primal eldest curse, he's referring to the biblical account in Genesis, where God places a curse on Cain for having murdered his brother, Abel.

SARAH: Claudius's monologue is actually the origin of the expression that something stinks or smells to high heaven.