At the beginning of Act 1 of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Claudius conveys himself as a bad father to Hamlet because he only cares about himself and how to move up in the kingdom. Hamlet’s father has died less than two months ago and he is still grieving. His mother and Claudius on the other hand are getting married and celebrating his coronation. Claudius does not acknowledge Hamlet until after his celebrations. Hamlet does not show any emotion about the wedding or coronation which makes Claudius feel like he does not care about him or his mother.
In the Elizabethan life, this act by Hamlet who is supposed to become the new king as he is next in line since his father had been murdered, would pass over and no one would believe that he did it without any physical proof of him doing it. It could just be sign of jealousy from king Claudius and would backfire on him if he were to try and presume legal action for the death of Polonius. The motivation of King Claudius is to try and get Hamlet sent away so he can cover up the fact that he had murdered his own brother so he could marry his wife. The motivation of Hamlet is to get revenge on King Claudius for his father, but if he was sent away then thee would be no one to get revenge on him for his sins. I think Shakespeare portrayed King
Already you can see Hamlet start to battle with himself
The question of whether or not Hamlet was insane is of a never-ending debate. Was he always crazy? Was he always faking it? Or was he somewhere in between? In this paper I will share three different views and provide my own interpretation of Hamlet’s sanity.
Hamlet is jealous of Claudius because he was assumed to get the throne. Since Hamlet’s father passed away, Claudius got the throne instead of Hamlet. Because Claudius married Hamlet’s mother he got the throne instead of Hamlet. All throughout (1.2) Hamlet shows extreme jealousy toward Claudius because he had gotten the throne instead of him. Therefore,
It seems that Claudius was not happy with just taking his brothers throne, he also took his brother’s wife. Hamlet feels that the new king is full of greed and has taken over their lives. On top of his obsession with revenge Hamlet also appears to have sexual desire for his mother. The loss of his father along with his mother’s marriage to Claudius and his confusion to his feelings for his mother have set hamlet on a dangerous.
Looking at the overall story, Hamlet would be considered more villainous than his uncle. Yes, it is true that Claudius is corrupt and killed his brother for the throne. However, he tried to do his best as king and you could also say that Hamlet is making it difficult to do so. Claudius and Gertrude attempt to console him for the loss of his father and yet hamlet rejects everything to proceed on the path of revenge. Hamlet tries to blame his sanity, but what he doesn’t even realize is that he has created on his own sanity.
The Kingdom of Denmark had just suffered the death of a great King and leader. King Hamlet was a father to the people of Denmark. Some of the citizens fully believed that Hamlet Jr. should be king because it passed down the lineage. Others believed that Claudius should be king because he was the brother of Hamlet and now the husband of Queen Gertrude. King Claudius says, "This ough yet of Hamlet our dear brother 's death
Hamlet eventually kills Claudius like his father told him to, but only did it after his mother, Gertrude, drank the poison that Claudius meant to give Hamlet. This is a result of external action from all the sorrows that was building up in Hamlet’s life. This brings us to our next character, Gertrude, Claudius’s wife and Hamlets
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
Finally, by Hamlet controlling his psyche and destroying his core issue of
Sometimes it’s hard to fathom that abortion is legal in the United States of America, “land of the free” freedom to choose, freedom of speech, however it’s not as free as one might make it out to be. Every year millions of babies are aborted, thrown away like trash and yet is legal and has been since 1973. If one doesn’t know what abortion is, it is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. A baby’s heart starts to beat at around 6 weeks, and you can most likely hear it at around 8 weeks. With that being said, abortion is legal till around 16-18 weeks; in some states it is legal till 20 weeks!
He murdered the first King of Denmark in secrecy so he could usurp the throne and make the Queen his own. No one would suspect Claudius as the murderer due to his relation as the brother to the late King. Later on in the story, Claudius is suspecting Hamlet of not only being crazy, but possibly learning of the murder. With his words and power as King, he sent Hamlet to England to “get better” from his illness. Along with that he sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet’s old friends, to supervise Hamlet and confirm he would meet his doom.
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.
Firstly, according to Providentialism and the great chain of being, there is a hierarchy related on the understanding of the world. In the state’s sphere, the king is the figure of God on Earth; he is elected by God. However, Claudius is not an elected king, but an “imposed” one (he kills his brother in order to crown himself). Moreover, in some moments (IV, iii, 3-4 and IV, vii, 18-21), Claudius questions the idea that the king is not elected by God but by the crown, since Hamlet is supported by the people. Thus, the play presents an illegitimate crown.
