Claudius is ambitious man that craves power and unlike other characters of the play he gets and maintains his power in a very immoral way. Claudius, because of his obsession to get the power of his brother, poisons him and this ignites the start of the revenge going to take place by Hamlet, “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life…
American author, John Steinbeck once said “Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” The theme of corruption is demonstrated in Hamlet by a series of events that lead to devastating decay. The “beginning of the end” is caused by Claudius, the present king of Denmark, Gertrude’s new spouse, and Hamlet’s uncle. Claudius is an intelligent antagonist whose Machiavellian plan of fratricide and his thirst for power drives Shakespeare’s tragedy. His powerful ability to manipulate brings Hamlet to insanity, but also brings short-term peace to the kingdom of Denmark. Critics argue that this trait would not leads to Claudius’ demise if it were not for Hamlet. However, Claudius’ own fear of his corruption being exposed destroys his facade of a capable king and ultimately leads his downfall.…
Claudius’ subjects are not pleased with him and are in a revolt against him. He strays from Machiavelli’s path once again and failing to gain support from the people, proves Machiavelli right when Fortinbras destroys Claudius’ fortress, taking over Denmark. Even though Claudius did have his fair share of errors, he did manage to have a powerful influence. He had Old Fortinbras stop Young Fortinbras in pursuing his ambitions to overtake Denmark. Also, Claudius took the initiative to obtain a powerful alliance with the monarch of England. So much so that he asked him to execute Hamlet. All in all, Claudius used his infallible appearance to obscure his dark reality. The appearance gained him power, although the reality is what prevailed in the…
Corruption, noun, means dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power. When Hamlet is truly analyzed, along with the characters, you would see corruption is a similar trait going along. One could say corruption is the play itself. To quote William Shakespeare, ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ (1.4).…
Claudius is unique in many ways. When we first see claudius, we see him as an intelligent ruler. The crown on his head represents him being the new King of Denmark. He gives a speech that makes his country proud and in it, addresses his brothers death. The magic hat shows that although he seems innocent, he is not. Hamlet says “O villain, villain, smiling damned villain.”(I, v, 107) Hamlet is saying that although Claudius is smiling and happy, he is still a villain. He deceives characters into thinking he is one person, when in reality he is completely different. The string puppet shows Claudius’ manipulative ways. These sneaky and manipulative ways lead to the death of Polonius in Hamlet’s hands. In Act 4 Claudius tries to convince Laertes that he was not at all responsible for Polonius's death. Instead of punishing Hamlet for Polonius’ murder himself, he sent the prince to…
Prince Hamlet, having returned home from school in Germany arrives to an upsetting scene to say the least. His father, King Hamlet is dead and his mother Gertrude has already remarried. Not just to any man either, the king’s brother Claudius who has already taken possession of the throne. As the gravity of the situation continues to sink in for Prince Hamlet he begins to suspect correctly that his uncle Claudius was responsible for his father’s death.…
As Horatio is describing the conditions during the life of Julius Caesar analogy that the appearance of the ghost is a sign for denmark like the sick mom was the sign for change in rome…
Hamlet does not seem confused by the incomprehensibility of the world, nor does he have trouble making choices or deciding how to act. In fact, Hamlet has a lot of power within the play, as symbolized by his lantern. He lights the scene, then plunges the scene into darkness. His ability to control what viewers see signifies his immense power. He changes and affects people’s lives in ways that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot. For example, he kills Polonius, then disposes of the body. When Hamlet speaks, he frequently confuses other characters with riddles, another sign of his ability to have an effect on people.…
“Many critics have suggested Hamlet chronicles the perils of life within a largely false and dishonest world. To what extent has this been your experience of Shakespeare’s play?”…
Hamlet is in a situation where his sanity is turning into insanity. He is like one of those people who tell so many lies that they start believing their own lies. Hamlet's acting is so vivid to him that, unconsciously, his state of mind has become irrational. He is turning against everyone in order to follow the orders of revenge from his father's ghost. In order to do so, he is finding any possible way to bring out the guilt in everyone due to his father's murder. In Act III, scene ii, Hamlet has written parts for players to put on a show for Claudius in order for him to bring out the guilt within Claudius. The play doesn't affect Claudius until it is revealed that Lucianus, the kings nephew, is the one that kills the king. Claudius then cries out due to the fear of Hamlet killing him. Also, in this scene, Hamlet admired Horatio's level-headedness and calmness because those are some qualities that Hamlet lacks. Hamlet tries to break his mother down in Act III, scene iv, Hamlet comes to speak to his mother because she believes that he has offended Claudius. In return, Hamlet tries to break her down by putting her sins in front of her because she married the king's brother so soon after his death. When she cries for help, innocent Polonius enters and Hamlet says "How now! A rat?" and kills Polonius because he thought that it was Claudius. Hamlet's insanity is like a blind rage. He is so focused on revenge that he doesn't realize what he is doing. Hamlet is taking sick…
Hamlet’s conscious of corruption goes throughout the whole play in the kingdom of Denmark. After he advised Ophelia to go to a nunnery many times, for example, “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (III) Hamlet strived Ophelia to banish him and go to a nunnery thinking she’s gonna make a baby for no reason. He speaks to himself whenever no one is around and his true amoral proves the emotions.…
In Hamlet, King Claudius is shown to be an all-around evil, greedy man. This is first shown when Claudius kills his own brother just to gain power of the Kingdom of Denmark. Then Claudius plans to have another attempt in a selfish murder against his nephew-step-son Hamlet. When Claudius realizes that Hamlet suspects that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father, Claudius does whatever he can to get rid of Hamlet. First Claudius sends Hamlet to England to keep him from telling anyone in Denmark about his crime. The King says, “Do it, England, for like the hectic in my blood he rages, and thou must cure me. Till I know ’tis done” (Act 4. Scene 4). The King is relieved that Hamlet is gone, and can no longer tell his secret; but when Hamlet returns the King feels his secret is threatened. This threat causes the King to set up a plan to kill Hamlet, so that his secret is safe for good. He sets up the dual that is intended to kill Hamlet, and he comes up with a back-up plan in case the dual does not work. The King says, “And that he calls for drink, I’ll have prepared him A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, if he by chance escape your venomed stuck” (Act 4. Scene 7). This blindness of greed, and selfishness caused the King to create a plan to kill Hamlet, which backfired and killed everyone, including the…
Hamlet’s life is truly tragic. I cannot imagine finding out that my uncle killed my father. Personally, I have absolutely no idea how I would handle it. I am sure I would go insane, just like Hamlet did. In that sense, his behavior is justified because how could he act normal after knowing that sort of information? However, just because I empathize with his behavioral tendencies, does not mean I agree with his actions.…
Why Does Hamlet delay so long in achieving his revenge- what is really stopping him? There is an inner battle inside Hamlet that no one knows about, good versus evil, stuck between both worlds. Hamlet is the only one who can decided which world to want to be apart of. Hamlet, the story, reveals that the individual can only find meaning by looking inward and living according to his or her own beliefs and including values. Being and thinking independently is the key to purpose and inner peace. Unfortunately most human beings fail to find this inner peace because of the need conform to the group and act according to the desire of others. Why does is seem that it is taking Hamlet so long to go through with getting revenge? Hamlet agonizes over his inability to perform the deed and is relentlessly searching for reasons why is he acting the way he is.…
Claudius kills King Hamlet and that one murder is the cause of all of the other murders as well. The crime of murder is worse in this case because of the circumstances. Claudius not only murders his brother for personal gain, but also for his crown, and queen. This choice is morally wrong, because it displays flaws in Claudius.…