Oscar Wilde once declared, “I can resist everything except temptation.” People have and will always be motivated by temptation. Whether it be something important such as a promotion or something as simple as a slice of cake. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the king’s effort to obtain his temptations, such as lust, power, and murder, reveals that individuals often do not resist their desires. Instead, they remain selfish and will perform anything to obtain these desires. Lust, or an extremely strong sexual desire, has an immense effect on Claudius. It has such an immeasurable effect on him that it drives him to kill his own brother. This occurs when the ghost says, “O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power so to seduce! —won to his shameful lust. The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!” (1.5.51-54). In this quote, Old Hamlet explains to Hamlet that …show more content…
The temptation of murder is thrown at Claudius towards the end of the play. This is revealed when he says “A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, if he by chance escape your venomed stuck, our purpose may hold there. —But stay, what noise” (4.7.155-159). In these lines, Claudius comes up with a plan to kill Hamlet when he returns. He is determined to keep the truth a secret as long as he lives. He tries this because he is very tempted to kill Hamlet to cover up his tracks. Another instance of this is when Hamlet tells Horatio, “That, on the supervise (no leisure bated, no, not to stay the grinding of the ax) my head should be struck off.” (5.2.24-26). The King not only plans to kill Hamlet at the duel, but had already planned to have him killed in England. The King at this point of the story is not only tempted to kill Hamlet, he is desperate to. He will do anything at this point to kill Hamlet, even if he sacrifices his own name. This once again proves that humans will do anything if they are tempted