Hamlet's Excellent Missed OpportunityFutures are not as malleable as most people might hope. Hamlet's pride is not that of his inability to act but of unfortunate circumstances that prevent him from doing his job and escaping alive. The first occurred when Hamlet chose not to kill Claudius because Claudius was praying at the time. This was unfortunate timing on Hamlet's part. Then Hamlet inadvertently killed Polonius thinking he was Claudius. Finally, Hamlet kills the king, but it was already too late. Usually, circumstances allow the hero to overcome all obstacles and defeat the enemy. In Hamlet, circumstances pit the hero against his goal. Hamlet finds himself in a dilemma when a great opportunity to avenge his late father presents itself. He finds Claudius kneeling and seems to be praying; yet he does not pray. Observing this, he restrains his murderous intentions because he believes that Claudius absolves his sins. Hamlet: Took my father roughly, full of bread, with all his crimes on a grand scale,/… But in our situation and in our course of thought, it is heavy with him, and am I then avenged, to take him in the purging of his soul, when he will be fit and seasoned to take the passage? No (III, iii 80-87) Hamlet could have killed the king but the circumstances did not make it feasible. Claudius had killed Hamlet's father while old Hamlet was still carrying his sin; thus Hamlet did not want to send to heaven the man who had sent his father to purgatory. Ghost: Revenge for his vile and most unnatural murder.…/ The snake that stole your father's life now wears his crown. (I, v, 25, 38-39) Hamlet has another chance to kill Claudius when Hamlet catches him spying behind the arras. Hamlet thinks he is engaging Claudius in a guilty act of espionage, so he kills him; however, it is not Claudius behind the arras but Polonius. Hamlet- "And now? a rat? Death for ducat, death! Polonius - "Oh, am I killed? “Hamlet – “Is this the king? " (sees Polonius) "I took the best for them." (III, iv, 25-33) Hamlet was foiled again, but this time because the right people were not in the right place. Ultimately, a favorable geometry comes together and Hamlet however kills Claudius, at this point his death is imminent;.