The Fantastic Hamlet

The killing of Polonius at the hands of hamlet seems to be a killing which is based on Hamlets suspicion of conspiracy against the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has already become distrustful of most everyone around him, even his closest friends have become the targets of his growing suspicion when he asks Guildenstern "do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?". Even the one person he holds with such esteem as to spare her life (his mother) Hamlet feels he cannot trust. With that in mind Hamlet believed that it was Polonius's meddlesome personality that put him at the end of his sword, even thouhg he wasn't searching for him, the fates seem to have guided his hand in the killing of a rat. And any man hiding behind a curtain listening in on your coversation of your fathers murder deserves a thorough interrogation. I believe it is safe to say that hamlet does see himself as an agent of justice. Now we can compare our not so friendly neighborhood sword slinger to our darker counterpart, Othello. When Othello kills Desdemona he believes that he is purging the world of desdemonas toxic nature. Hamlets killing of Polonius was simillar in that they both felt death was a fitting punishment. The main dfference was that Desdemona was actually in Othello's sights and he had long before that night of her death delivered her death sentence, whereas Hamlet simply accidentally killed a man which he felt was not fit for life anyways "I took thee for thy better, take thy fortune" 3.4.