Scene summary
Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he cannot tolerate the growing danger and decides to send Hamlet to England with them. The two accept, and Rosencrantz adds that when a majesty dies, it drags along with it everything near, like a great wheel fixed on the peak of a mountain to which a thousand lesser things are attached. Polonius warns that he will hide behind the tapestry in the queen's chamber to hear the conversation. Alone, the king confesses that his offense is rank and smells to heaven, the murder of a brother, and tries to pray, but cannot while he keeps the crown, the ambition, and the queen: can one be pardoned and keep the fruit of the offense? He kneels. Hamlet passes, sees him from behind, raises his sword and desists, because killing him at prayer would send him to heaven, and he wants to catch him drunk, enraged, or in an act without hope of salvation. He goes to his mother's chamber. The king, who has not truly prayed, says that words fly upward and thoughts remain below.
Analysis
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