Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, can be seen as one about duty, in particular Hamlet's struggle with his duty to his father and the possible consequences involved. Hamlet's duty is revealed when he speaks with the ghost of his father who commands Hamlet to "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." The appearance of the supernatural and the suggestion of a "most unnatural murder" also presents the idea of corruption as it portrays the idea of death against the natural order. Hamlet clearly struggles with this command from his father's ghost, as avenging his father's death would mean that Hamlet himself would have to murder not just another person, but his uncle CLaudius, the new king of Denmark. Therefore, Hamlet struggles to take immediate action but instead he tells the ghost, "with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweep to my revenge." This simile suggests that Hamlet is eager to seek revenge quickly, however his response is paradoxical as "meditation" and "thoughts of love" suggest that he may have to think about the task ahead of him first. This highlights Hamlet's struggle with his duty as while he wants to avenge his father's death, he is also unsure and so cannot…
Claudius’s words and actions in Act IV further reveal the king’s duplicity and ruthlessness. In the act’s first scene, he tells Gertrude that he had hidden Hamlet’s madness from others because “so much was our love” for the prince. Two scenes later, alone on the stage, he reveals his plan to have Hamlet killed in England. The contrast calls to mind the lesson Hamlet drew from the Ghost back in Act I, that stated, “one may smile, and smile, and be a…
‘ [Hamlet] is a success, for he gets his man, but a failure, for he leaves eight bodies, including his own, where there was only meant to be one’- B.Nightingale…
In the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the two main characters are destined to die. This is given away in the title. In the beginning of the play, they wander through a forrest flipping a coin. While strolling though the woods, they run into a troupe of actors called the Tragedians. They put on a show for them and the scene changes. They watch a play about their lives and realize that they will soon be murdered. The story of Hamlet is told through Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s point of view. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, though minor characters in Hamlet, are given their own leading roles, which gives the reader a different side of the story. The characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, have very different personal…
Though Hamlet does not go through the stage of denial, it is evident starting in act one, scene two, that the royal family is very much in denial of how much they should be affected by the loss of their king. This is seen through the royal ‘we’ that Queen Gertrude uses to display her and her new husband’s feelings to Hamlet while covering up their sadness with royal duties. “QUEEN GERTRUDE…
¨Yeah mate, a sponge that soaks up the king’s approval, his rewards, and his decisions. Officers like that give the king the best service in the end. He keeps them in his mouth like an ape. First he moves them around, then he swallows them. When he needs what you have found out, he can just squeeze you like a sponge and you’ll be dry again.¨ Hamlet replied shaking his head in disgust at the two of…
They were childhood friends of Hamlet. King Claudius sends for them to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet soon learns their plans and later compares them to sponges. “Ay, sir, that soaks up the king’s countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end. He keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you shall be dry again”. (4.2) King Claudius writes a letter to England for Hamlet to be killed and has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go along to make sure it is carried out. During the trip to England Hamlet escapes and changes the letter to where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are killed. And, the rest is history. Hamlet, the protagonist in the play, is no stranger to corruption. He’s angry after he learns of Ophelia helping the king and queen spying, along with her rejection, so he taunts her with sexual banter. Telling her to “get thee to a nunnery, go.” (3.1) or “That’s a fair thought to lie between maids' legs.” (3.2) Later in the play, Hamlet “accidentally” kills Polonius (Ophelia’s father) while in Gertrude’s chambers. With her father gone, and Hamlets rejection, Ophelia goes insane. And later dies of apparent suicide. Lies, deceit, tricks, spying, and murder was all a part of this corruption stricken play. By minor characters, by main characters.…
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are told by Claudius to spy on Hamlet, they "..draw him on to pleasures and to gather...Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus" (II.ii.15). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray Hamlet by agreeing to spy on Hamlet to please their King, Claudius which allow deception to corrupt their friendship. Hamlet tells his mother "..my two schoolfellows,/Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd.." (III.iv.204-205). This shows that Hamlet is no longer fooled by their false friendship and also shows the corruptive force of deception. Hamlet describes them as, "a sponge that soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities."(IV,II,2) Hamlet knows that they are loyal to the king and for this reason he keeps his "antic disposition" when he is around them. Hamlet finds the letter ordering his own execution and switches the letter with one he forged telling England to execute Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet doesn’t feel guilty of this act because he believes they are guilty by association by working with Claudius, and leads them to their deaths which is caused by Hamlets deception towards…
Speaking of the King, Hamlet says this. Here, a "canker" is a cancerous lesion, and "our nature" means our common human nature. Thus Hamlet sees the King as a kind of disease who will make other people worse and destroy our faith in human…
1. Claudius realizes that he cannot just simply arrest Hamlet because the Danish people adore Hamlet, and doing so could reflect negatively on him.…
Tragedies, and in particular Hamlet, depend on, and are written around, those who deceive. In the beginning of the story, King Hamlet is killed by his treacherous brother Claudius, who then, in essence, fooled Denmark’s people by becoming the next king, and marrying Queen Gertrude. Claudius then uses deceit as a means of maintaining his newly acquired status and power, covering up his motives and…
In struggling between keepings his moral judgment and enacting revenge upon the King, Hamlet slowly loses his morality as he descends into madness. Through the use of garden imagery, “spreading the compost on the weeds/to make them ranker”, Hamlet suggests that Claudius is the source of society’s ills. This corruption within the society is paralleled in the nobles of Denmark – from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern willing to betray Hamlet, Polonius’ venality towards Claudius and Laertes willingness to kill Hamlet in cold blood, and is also raised in Rosencrantz’s use of dramatic irony, “the cess of majesty dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw what’s near it”, implying the fall of Denmark as King Hamlet…
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…
This is also in Hamlet as Claudius covets things held both by his brother; his wife, Gertrude, and the throne. While Claudius may have had wealth and power on his own, it was not enough for him. The one thing he truly desired was the throne, and it could be argued that Gertrude was merely the bonus that came with the crown. Although there is speculation that Claudius also killed his brother to marry Gertrude, it is more reasonable that he killed for the crown. This whole scenario is summarized in Act I, scene 5, as the ghost of King Hamlet details all that he has lost “Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched” (Shakespeare 189). The ghost is also now fully able to realize what happened to him and explain it all to Hamlet in rather compete detail. As Hamlet is the only person who distrusts Claudius, it is practically up to him to prove the sin that Claudius has committed. One should also follow the commandment of “Thou shall not steal”. This commandment also goes hand in hand with “Thou shall not covet”, as everything Claudius has coveted he has also stolen. Although this is not addressed directly, Claudius has managed to win over both the court and Gertrude; who supports Claudius in nearly everything he does. Aside from everything Claudius has stolen, it should also be noted that Hamlet was actually stolen as well by the pirates presented in Act IV. In Act IV, scene 6, Horatio receives letters from a sailor sent by Hamlet. The letter tells Horatio that pirates have overthrown the ship Hamlet was on, and in the ensuing battle, the pirates took Hamlet captive. In exchange for his life, he gave provided the pirates with something they needed much more, but it is not made clear what that is exactly. Hamlet also informs Horatio that the pirates are treating him well and will be bringing him back to Denmark. This is also one of the larger…
Hamlet refers to Claudius as “villain” and discusses how he can “smile, and smile” and act like he’s innocent after he committed an unnatural act. Hamlet’s dehumanizing of Claudius allows Hamlet to justify his plans to murder Claudius. Hamlet’s last line in the soliloquy cements his intentions of murdering Claudius in order to rectify his father’s…