Cain and Abel

O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother's murder.   (III,iii)

( Sketch to illustrate the Passions -Murder.
Cain murders Abel by Richard Dadd, Oct. 24, 1854 watercolor)

The killing of the former King Hamlet by his brother, Claudius is intended to evoke images of the original murder of brother by brother -- Cain's slaying of Abel. For an Elizabethan audience, as for a contemporary one, the parallels are clear:

1.) A brother kills a brother out of envy. 2.) The murder takes place in a garden (symbolic of Eden in Hamlet). 3.) Cain is exiled from the presence of God. Claudius is distanced from God through his exclusion from prayer.            "Pray can I not, Though my inclination be as sharp as will." 4.) Caludius refers to his sin as having "the primal eldest curse upon't." God's curse upon Cain is the oldest in the Bible.

Here's the biblical test -Genesis Chapter 4 Verses 9-16

9: And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10: And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11: And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12: When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13: And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14: Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15: And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 16: And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

Count the corpses that result from Hamlet's process of taking revenge on Caludius. Is there a sevenfold retribution?

Polonius
Ophelia
Rosencrantz
Guildenstern
Getrude
Laertes
Hamlet