Now might I do it pat, now he is praying. / And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven; / And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: / A villain kills my father, and for that / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / To heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
Act III, Scene 3 · Hamlet
Context
Hamlet enters and finds Claudius kneeling in prayer. He draws his sword but stops himself, reasoning that killing Claudius now would send him to heaven instead of hell.
Analysis
Hamlet's syntax enacts his paralysis: he decides twice in two lines ('Now might I do it,' 'And now I'll do't') but then interrupts himself with 'That would be scann'd'—the very act of pausing to think becomes another delay. The bitter phrase 'hire and salary' reduces revenge to wage labor, as if Hamlet resents being stuck in a job he doesn't want, which reframes his hesitation not as moral scruple but as a worker refusing to perform inadequately compensated work.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Hamlet's hesitation isn't philosophical depth but a pattern of self-sabotage—he generates intellectual objections the moment action becomes possible, and the mercenary language ('hire and salary') reveals he's already detached from his own stated mission.