Like many British rulers (e.g., Henry IV, Elizabeth I, Richard III), Claudius kills a family member, performing “an act of state” and following “a tradition which every English monarch had had to accept for two hundred years” (45). Once on the throne, he must begin the process of securing his position: praising the dead king, forming political alliances, marrying Gertrude, dealing with the threat of Fortinbras, conciliating ministers (e.g., Polonius), and attempting a reconciliation with his primary rival Hamlet. Because Hamlet refuses to embrace the new king, Claudius must engage in spying tactics to gain knowledge about his potential enemy and, ultimately, decide to terminate the threat. But in Shakespeare’s political tragedy (unlike the realities of British history), murderers are destined to fail. Aside from the fact that all of his supporters die (e.g., Polonius, Laertes), Claudius proves a weak leader because he “invariably prefers compromise to confrontation, placatory gestures to open defiance” (51-52).
Laertes also experience tragic loss: his father Polonius died at the hands of Hamlet. Contrasting with Hamlet’s indecisive delay, Laertes hears of his fathers death while overseas, and without hesitation, he returns to Denmark to seek his father’s murderer. An effective foil, Laertes embodies the rapid action apparent nowhere in Hamlet’s decision making. Hamlet bears the burdensome knowledge that Claudius slew his father for a lengthy period, yet procrastinates and wastes time. As Richard Levin says, “Hamlet is grieving for months…
Throughout the play Hamlet continues to act insane and even dies with the act continuing. Even after Hamlet gathers all the evidence that proves Claudius is the murder, Hamlet continues to behave in a strange way. When he mistakenly murders Polonius he does not react as a sane person would. This act enrages Laertes, who then wants to avenge his father’s death. Driven to madness by the murder of his father, Laertes, with the help of Claudius conspires to kill Hamlet.
Upon Hamlet's return, Laertes and Claudius devise a plan to murder Hamlet with poison and Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel. Hamlet's mother accidentally drinks the poison, Hamlet is cut with a poisoned sword and Laertes falls to his death. Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, dies of the poison and Claudius is revealed as the culprit, so Hamlet kills him with the poison to finally exact his revenge. Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, arrives to find everyone dead and decides to honor Hamlet as a fallen hero. Claudius planned everything to save the kingdom because he believed he was better suited to rule, he knew Hamlet couldn't rule the kingdom and because he didn't believe Hamlet's father could protect them from their
Contrasting his attitudes with the moments that the king walks in, his behavior towards Polonius while the play is preparing, and his actions to Ophelia during the play, Hamlet is sporadic, when alone with Horatio, he is calm and collected, then again the sudden resumption to his “antic disposition” when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. There is a long break in which we don’t sense any insanity from Hamlet, this is due to the fact that he has no need to assume his disguise. When we find Hamlet with the players, he is giving them directions for the play. With the players, Hamlet acts normal and of sound mind because the players are not likely to betray him, they don’t have the opportunity or the wish to do so.
In Hamlet, William Shakespeare focuses much of the play’s plot on Hamlet’s attempts to justify killing his uncle, Claudius, and the emotional turbulence that he experiences in doing so. Oftentimes throughout the play, the reader cannot truly be certain about Hamlet’s thought process when he makes his decisions, or whether he acts purely based on his emotions rather than rationality. Indeed, Polonius’ death—the first death of the play—seems at first glance to be due to Hamlet’s own emotional instability and the spur of the moment in which Hamlet believes Polonius to be Claudius. However, despite Polonius’ own misdoings by choosing to spy on Hamlet, he ultimately only means to serve the king and to derive pleasure while doing so. Polonius’
Although Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet was based on Hamlet and his hesitation, it could also be about Claudius, Laertes, and Polonius and their flaws that lead to a lot of people meeting their death. For starters, Claudius had many tragic flaws, they were lustfulness, arrogance, and jealousy which cause a lot of people to meet their death. For instance in act I,v 42 when the Ghost said to Hamlet, “Ay, that incestueous, that adulterate beast.” This lustfulness of Claudius
Marxist lens came from the theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, where they both believed that “the working class were deprived of fair share by the higher rank” (Willette, 2010). From the famous play Hamlet, of William Shakespeare, that was published in 1603, it focuses more on social barriers between ranks. Social ranks is so important during the time period Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, that the whole play is based on how higher ranks abuses their power and were treated a lot better than the lower ranks. Through the vision of Marxist critical lens in Hamlet, an observer were able to see the strong boundary between the different social classes in the story. In Act 2 scene 2 from the book, showcases one example of viewing through the lens of
His suicidal thought and his erratic behavior cause for the king, queen, Ophelia and his friends to begin to spy on him just pushes him over the edge. His action cause concern for King Claudius who shows in ways that he is not trusting of Hamlet because of this the King begins to plot with Laertes to kill hamlet in fencing dual. During this dual Hamlet is stabbed and dies from the poison that was on the blade. Gertrude is seems to be a shallow woman in some ways yet King Hamlet, Hamlet and King Claudius are all devoted to her.
This is what causes Hamlet to compromise his love for Ophelia, as she is stunned and disrespected by his attitude. Similarly, Claudius wanted to gain power, and uses his ambitious attitude to murder his brother, quickly marry his widow, and take the throne himself. Despite their similar nature the two men are driven by different goals. Claudius works to gain and keep power, while Hamlet is working to seek revenge for his father. However, Claudius continues to rule in his power, and dwell in his wronged achievements allowing himself to pursue his
Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is both intelligent and clever, two traits that, put together, complement his manipulative and dangerous nature. Due to his cunning nature he portrays the role of a very complex villain. The death of King Hamlet by Claudius results in Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which thus resulted in the tragic death of Polonius and Ophelia. While Hamlet and Gertrude were having conversation, Polonius was hiding behind the huge carpet that was hanging on the wall. Unknowingly, Hamlet stabs Polonius.
When he learns Claudius is responsible for the death of his father, he intends to reveal this newfound information to not only Gertrude, but the rest of the characters. He is smart enough to know that she will not believe him based solely on his encounter with the ghost, and must create a trap where Claudius will reveal his guilt on his own. When the players arrive at the castle, he alters their script to mimic the king’s murder and “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.567). During the performance, Claudius shows signs of guilt and worry, making Hamlet’s plan a success and proving his
His mournful disposition allowed him to be tolerated by many characters in Hamlet, but he failed to prolong his deception due to the unplanned interference of the supernatural world. Foiling Claudius’ plan,
However, Hamlet soon discovers that Claudius has been lying to him, and Claudius’ real motive is to kill Hamlet in order to exterminate all possible threats to his reign. Claudius’ role play affects the entire country of Denmark, and he convinces the people that he is the rightful king, when he is not, and has murdered his brother for the throne. Gertrude, too, takes on a role; throughout the play, she seems oblivious to her wrongdoings. She claims that she loves Claudius, and did not just marry him for political reasons.
Hamlet meets with his mother, who is in the room with Polonius. Polonius hides, Hamlet then kills him believing he was Claudius. Claudius notices that Hamlet is acting different and wants to send him England and will have him killed as soon as he get there. Polonius son Laertes hears the news and returns to Denmark from France, Laertes and Claudius meet and plan to kill Hamlet with poison. Laertes will challenge Hamlet to a duel and fight with a poisoned blade.
