Involuntarily, Hamlet strikes the first blow with the poisoned sword on Laertes. Claudius then offers to drink from the poisoned cup to Hamlet who refuses, and without knowing Claudius' plan, the queen takes the cup and drinks the poison. Laertes, who has now injured Hamlet, informs him of Claudius' corrupt plan which led to his mother's death. This is where some scholars believe Hamlet made a mental transition that allows him to take revenge. Courtney Prince describes this transition by saying that Hamlet “lost contact with his original self; he moved from his hidden inner self to his outer personality, becoming his own ancient disposition (38). It is Hamlet's transition to corruption that allows him to avenge his father's death, a transition brought about almost entirely by Claudius.