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The Natural Lust For Power In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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“ Considering the natural lust for power so inherit in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people.” - George Mason. In the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, prince Hamlet discovers that his uncle Claudius killed his brother which is prince Hamlet's father, in order to gain power. Claudius is the antagonist of the play which is the villain. He is cruel and he uses his charm when he is suspected into killing his own brother. With what he did, he turns people against each other, through his manipulative choices, his lies and deceit. Later Claudius decides that he will not make up for what he wrongfully did.

His actions caused many people to did. He craves power more than he values others even his family. One may think a man first priorities is to make sure their family is cared for. With his morals and family sacrificed, he continues to stay in power by any means necessary even if more people are killed just because of his devious decisions. In scene three Hamlet kills Polonius, things go from bad to worse in a matter of time because of Claudius. The play that Hamlet wrote was performed for the king and queen. …show more content…

Later, Hamlet choked his own mother for being with a man that murdered his powerful father. Then, Polonius made a noise to try and help her. Hamlet then stabbed him to death repeatedly. The ghost of king Hamlet reappeared and reminded him to leave his mom out of it and to focus on avenging his father's death and to stop getting distracted. They talked more and then Hamlet went to

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This first murder leads to the rest of the play because Hamlet gets in trouble and the king wants revenge, which is also the theme of the play. I feel like now he killed Polonius, it makes him even more hungry for revenge which will add to his motivation to kill

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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).

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In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Claudius made the decision to kill his brother,

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Hamlet, also, could not get over the death of his father. He found out when his father’s ghost came back that his brother, and Hamlet’s uncle, murdered him. He then was willing to do anything possible to get revenge on Claudius, his uncle. Both of

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Hamlet's uncle claudius killed king hamlet out of envy. It was envy for the throne and for the power to be the king of denmark. In act three scene three he clearly states that he murdered king hamlet for his own ambition, for the crown and for the queen of denmark, Gertrude. A lot of the deadly sin envy goes around throughout the story of hamlet. A lot of people want something someone else has.

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Claudius’ route to power is brutal and vicious which provides the shortest route. Unlike Papa, Claudius is a goal driven character whose first priority is himself and does not choose his actions to promote the people around him. Hamlet in the beginning of the play characterizes Claudius as a “serpent that did sting my father’s life / [and] Now wears his crown.” (I.IV, 39-40). Hamlet describes Claudius as a manipulative and tricky guy who will not let anything get in his way to power.

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The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.

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‘No place indeed should murder sanctuarize; Revenge should have no bounds” (IV, VII, 124-125). King Claudius has no boundaries for any such case of revenge to claiming a spot on the throne. King Claudius an antagonist is a cruel, unforceful, and neglect ant king who changes throughout the storyline. King Claudius shows his attitude and passion to be king through his character as well as his appearance. To begin with, King Claudius is a deviant, mistrustful, and shrewd character in the Tragedy Hamlet.

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Claudius schemes and manipulates many people for many different reasons whether for his personal protection, sparing someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. This motives affect other characters causing them to do things that

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However, Hamlet’s goes through a journey of different feelings towards this motivation. Hamlet is initially ardent to kill Claudius, driven by his anger and hate towards him. For example, Hamlet describes his hate for Claudius when he exclaims, “O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!... At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark (1.5.107–110). His description of Claudius as the villain shows that Hamlet seeks to commit justice for the corruption that Claudius has brought about.

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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

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This behavior caused disrespect and cruelness. While the king is sleeping like he is in heaven Claudius took that from him and sent him into purgatory. This made Hamlet feel even more angry against his uncle and wants to put him to an end. As a result,Hamlet wants to destroy Claudius for every wrong deed he did. Canales 3 Hamlet is severely motivated into killing for his actions.

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Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.

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The second reason is because, it was Claudius fault that his mother Gertrude got killed. The last thing that did not make him hesitate to kill Claudius was because he remembered what his father told him at the woods. He knew he was going to die soon by the poison and wanted to take advantage of the time he had left to avenge his father’s death, so both could rest in

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First of all, King Claudius’s ambition to become the next King of Denmark causes him to lose his conscience. As King Hamlet’s ghost reveals the truth of his death, he anguishes, “Thus was I [King Hamlet], sleeping, by a brother’s hand, Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched” (1.5.81-82). The throne of Denmark motivates King Claudius to slay his own biological brother to succeed King Hamlet’s “crown”. His desire to gain power has overwhelming covered up his moral values.

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