Quote Analysis

Claudius compares his soul to a bird caught in lime (a sticky trap used to catch birds), recognizing that his efforts to free himself through prayer only trap him further.

The verb 'struggling' is active and ongoing, trapping the reader in the same helpless present tense Claudius inhabits—the more effort he expends, the worse it gets. The metaphor works because lime actually does stick harder when you fight it; Shakespeare makes Claudius's psychological paralysis feel like a physical law of nature rather than a moral failure.

Support a thesis that Shakespeare presents certain characters as structurally incapable of change—Claudius's trap isn't that he won't repent but that the very act of trying makes escape impossible, suggesting some sins create self-reinforcing cycles no amount of willpower can break.