Claudius's confession

[juliekim]

After the play, Claudius goes to a room and prays by himself. He says that he feels really guilty about killing his brother and taking his wife. He asks God to forgive his sins and all that but he doesn't really feel forgiven or accepted by God. Why do you think he still feels guilty about his deeds? Do you think that he was truly repenting of his sins?

I don't think he was really repenting because repentance leads to action. If you did something wrong to someone and repented, you woud want to make amends, no matter how hard it would be. You would admit that you did something wrong to that person and you would at least apologize. If Claudius truly repented from the bottom of his heart, I think he should've let go of all the things that he killed his brother for.

[sujeonggg]

I think he still feels guilty since he knows that he will still pretend that he didn't do anything or that he doesn't know anything. Even though he confesses his sins to god at that moment and wants to be forgiven by god, he still has no guts to confess his sins to Hamlet or any other people. So I think he feels guilty due to his acknowledgement of himself being coward. And I kinda think that he was somewhat truly repenting since I believe that he feels pity for himself.

[kiranshoaib]

I think that the guilt that he is feeling, is definitely not leaving his soul as he never felt like his sins have been forgiven. And he seems to be afraid of taking any action or repenting which is why he doesn't feels like accepted by God. The only way you can feel relaxed and satisfied is by apologizing and admitting your mistakes or sins, otherwise you would always feel some kind of guilt hidden inside you, which can be turned on and off throughout your life.

[cathysjun]

I agree with you. I don't think Claudius really regretted what he did. Rather I think Claudius was simply afraid of what might happen if people what Claudius did. If he really regretted what he did, he should at the very least apologize to Hamlet, which he did not do.

[minchoi0923]

I think Claudius is feeling guilty about what he has done. He feels terrible for having committed murder and he wants forgiveness from God. However, the fact that he is not telling anybody is the suspicious part, I think. In my opinion, I think Claudius thinks that his murder is justified because of some hidden reasons that the readers will never know. Maybe the formal King was doing terribly at politics that Claudius had no choice but to kill him? I mean, if the formal King was so great as Hamlet praises, shouldn't the whole kingdom be grieving over him? To me, everyone else seems to be welcoming Claudius as a new king which can mean that the formal king was not so great.

[Alam10kkfs]

Even a mercenaries would feel guilty after murdering a person because they kill for money. Every human being has that feel. One does not simply murder a person for no reason. His confession is nothing without action. He has to take some actions to clean his name by admitting that he has done something wrong.

[RegXD]

I think claudius will forever stay the same because he will never know when he is forgiven or not but his brother is not there to tell him. And neither will hamlet because if his father tells him that he forgive claudius than his acting and stuff will be a waste and he would actuallt go crazy instead of faking it.

[minjaeyang]

I think Claudius prayed just because he feared what would happen to him. Therefore, he prayed because he was scared of what people like Hamlet would do to him. He did not really feel sorry or repent about his actions. This is the reason why Claudius still felt guilty even after praying.

[ginayang]

I think Claudius only feels guilty about his sins because he fears what will occur when others find out that he killed his own brother. Claudius doesn't want to lose everything he obtained such as status, wealth, and Gertrude. So he wasn't truly repenting for his sins. He just wanted his sins to be washed away while still keeping his material possessions and king status.

[hanbikang]

I also think that Claudius is afraid of losing his position which is his wealth and everything else what he has achieved. He doesn't want that hamlet finds out that he killed his own brother in order to be in this position.

[hannahs]

I think Claudius does feel guilty but he loves what he gained from killing his brother too much to let go. Therefore I guess you can't say he repented for real for his sins. He likes being the king and having the queen to himself too much to truly repent. He even mentions in the last line that even though his words are going up towards heaven but his thoughts are staying on earth. He ends with saying that prayer without thoughts behind them won't reach heaven.

[michellelee]

I think Claudius does not really feel guilty but in fact, he is just scared that other people might know what he had done. He seemed to be afraid about what other people will think about him since he is a king now. Then he might lose his position as a king and be exiled. So I don't think he prayed because he felt guilty.

[franicaza95]

i think more than repent, he feels fear of getting caught. After the play, he feel like his plan is going down and that doing something to make himself feel less fear or "guilt" like praying. Maybe, since fear is one of the main feeling he has, he probably does feel some sadness, but i start to think...if he actually felt sadness then why would he kill his brother is the first place?

[yerin0727]

I dont think he was truly repenting. He prayed to the God because he was scared that he may lose his position once everyone finds out about his deeds. If he was the person to be truly repenting already, then he wouldnt have committed such murder in the first place. He has been feeling guilty from the beginning, and this feeling doesnt have to do with him repenting about the whole situation.

[jessicashim2013]

I agree with you. He already killed his brother and took over his place and his wife. He's not going to give up all of that anyways. And why did he start to pray for forgiveness after watching the play? I thought that he finally felt threatened and the need to pray because he was afraid. His main point of praying was because he was afraid, not because he suddenly felt guilty.