"
Shakespeare is thinking of Herbert's betrayal; "here I am," he says,
"prompted to revenge by reason and custom, yet instead of acting I fall
a-cursing like a drab." But behind his irresolution is his hatred of
bloodshed: he could whip out his sword and on a sudden kill Polonius,
mistaking him for the king (Herbert), but he could not, in cold blood,
make up his mind to kill and proceed to execution. Like his own Hubert,
Shakespeare had to confess:
"Within this bosom never enter'd yet
The dreadful motion of a murderous thought."
He had none of the direct, passionate, conscienceless resolution of
Laertes. He whips himself to anger against the king by thinking of
Herbert in the king's place; but lackey-like has to admit that mere
regard for position and power gives him pause: Lord Herbert was too far
above him:
"There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason can but peep to what it would."
Shakespeare's personal feeling dominates and inspires the whole play.
One crucial instance will prove this.
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