Hamlet has just recently confirmed that Claudius did in
fact kill King Hamlet, so he is very much ready to act -- and kill Claudius in order to
avenge his father's death. The problem is, Hamlet is observing Claudius in what he
thinks is a moment of prayer. We know that
Claudius can't give up what he has gained through his crimes, but Hamlet
doesn't.
Hamlet declines to act because he thinks that if
he kills Claudius in a moment of prayer, then Claudius's sins will have been forgiven
and he could go straight to heaven. That doesn't seem like "good justice" for a killer
-- especially in light of the fact that his own father is in purgatory because Claudius
killed him while he still had sins on his soul that he must now "burn and purge away"
until his soul is fit for heaven.
Hamlet then decides to
wait until a better moment to kill Claudius. He thinks maybe he can find Claudius in a
sinful act like drunk, or raging, or gaming, or swearing, or some other act "that has no
relish of salavation in't." He hopes to kill Claudius and have him go straight to hell
-- his comment that he wants Claudius's soul to go to hell as his heels kick at heaven
is actually a kind of funny image!
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