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Character development in Shakespeare
Shakespeare's development as a playwright
Characters And Characterization In Shakespeares Works
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It has always been in human nature to hide feelings from others, but there is a point where the idea of having a healthy exterior becomes more important that what is actually happening internally. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the motif of a seemingly healthy exterior concealing inward sickness establishes the idea of characters and of the nation of Denmark as being corrupt through foreshadowing and irony.
Claudius is responsible for the death of King Hamlet, regardless of this, he wants to portray himself as someone that is worthy of running the nation of Denmark. Claudius connects to the people of Denmark by demonstrating that they are all participating in the grieving of King Hamlet, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief” (I.ii.1-3). King Hamlet’s death is very recent, but Claudius places himself as someone that is part of the kingdom that will be mourning the death of King Hamlet. This is demonstrated through irony since instead of mourning he is actually enjoying what King Hamlet has left behind; the nation of Denmark and his wife, Gertrude. Through this, Claudius also demonstrates that he wants others to believe that he has not done anything wrong. In order to convey the image of being healthy, Claudius and his court drink merrily within the castle; making the excesses that the court enjoys apparent. Hamlet is not fond of the drinking but then comes to the conclusion that “His virtues else, be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo, Shall in the general censure take corruption” (I.iv.33-35). Hamlet then foreshadows his own destiny. No matter how good a person may be, that person can become corrupt due to something that has ...
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...m to put his life in danger to find out more information about Hamlet, which ultimately leads to his death. Claudius also planted the idea of murdering Hamlet into Laertes’ mind, and this became the main goal of Laertes towards the end, which leads him to his death. Hamlet has hurt the women that he loves, both Ophelia and Gertrude die. Claudius and Hamlet also die, which is ultimately how the corruption of the nation of Denmark ends, through this it can once again be the great nation that it once was.
The motif of a seemingly healthy exterior concealing inward sickness establishes meaning through foreshadowing and irony by demonstrating that it spreads throughout and ultimately rids itself of everything that conceals inward sickness. Corrupted thoughts throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet are based on greediness and the act of avenging a family member’s death.
Early on in Hamlet, a guard slightly mentions that there is “something rotten in the state of Denmark” (Shakespeare, I.iv.90). The tranquility of Denmark is suddenly shattered by Claudius’s marriage to Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, only a short time following the death of King Hamlet. To Hamlet was revealed the murder of his father and becomes determined to avenge his father’s death no matter the cost. This sets off a trail of pretending, backstabbing, plotting, luring, and deadly accidents that ultimately lead to a clash of hatred between the characters and the doom of Denmark. Shakespeare animates the characters with these sinful deeds and vengeance to illustrate that these corruptions strips the innocence and sanity in human kind. Had Hamlet not gone on a tangent and lost his mind about the murder of his father, there might not have been a domino effect of madness knocking down everyone else in this royal chain. Hamlet pretends to have app...
In this quote from the play Claudius is simply saying that he wants action from Laertes, not just words. The action is simply to kill Hamlet. But why would Claudius have Laertes do the killing of Hamlet? Simply because he is weak and is scared of losing his life and his crown.
By killing the king, they put Denmark in better hands, and they saved both of their lives. Also, Ophelia and Hamlet could get married and take the throne. Just by changing Laertes decision, the ending of Hamlet completely changes. Everyone is alive and healthy, except for King Claudius, and Denmark is not taken over by Fortinbras, an officer of a foreign country. By using the decision-making process, creating alternatives, and choosing the best outcome, Laertes would have completely changed the play, Hamlet.
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, protagonist Hamlet, experiences many rises and falls throughout the play that have a major impact on his mentality decline. The way in which readers interpret the character, Hamlet, can vary in many ways. For instance, Hamlet delivers many soliloquies throughout the work, giving readers a better insight of his state of mind. Additionally, two significant soliloquies in both Acts II and III show a clear view of Hamlet’s mental and emotional state.
William Shakespeare is widely known for his ability to take a sad story, illustrate it with words, and make it a tragedy. Usually human beings include certain discrepancies in their personalities that can at times find them in undesirable or difficult situations. However, those that are exemplified in Shakespeare’s tragedies include “character flaws” which are so destructive that they eventually cause their downfall. For example, Prince Hamlet, of Shakespeare’s tragedy play “Hamlet,” is seemingly horrified by what the ghost of his father clarifies concerning his death. Yet the actions executed by Hamlet following this revelation do not appear to coincide with the disgust he expresses immediately after the ghost alerts him of the true cause of his death. Thus, it is apparent that the instilled self doubt of Prince Hamlet is as the wand that Shakespeare uses to transform an otherwise sad story to an unfortunate tragedy.
Claudius expresses some guilt towards his horrifying deed when he mentions, "That cannot be, since I am still possess 'd/ Of those effects for which I did the murder/ My crown, mine own ambition and my queen" (3.3.54-56). King Hamlet shows his guilt at first but then he realizes he does not need to be forgiven, for he is the King now and his possession is of more importance than his morals.Claudius ' ambition for power only pushes the plot of the play further. Claudius’ greediness for power also foreshadows his downfall as his greed leads him to never think about the consequence of his actions .Therefore,the character Claudius shows the theme of greed throughout the play. Claudius even forgets his own morals as a king because of his selfishness for power and seen at the end of the play when he says, “Gertrude, do not drink” (5, 2, 286). After Gertrude drinks from Hamlet’s cup, he said “(aside) It is the poisoned cup. It is too late” (5.2,288). This quote illustrates that not only does the crown stops Claudius from doing the right, moral things, but also, he chooses the crown over his love for Gertrude. The example of Claudius in the play Hamlet is very similar to the character Macbeth in the play Macbeth because of the fact that Claudius and Macbeth share the same flaw which is their greed for power. The demise of both Claudius and Macbeth is very similar due
The preeminence of woe has the potential to devour the vivacity of oneself. This faring of one’s internal afflictions is embedded in Shakespeare’s illustrious tragedy of Hamlet, most notably through the ceaseless complexity of the protagonist. Through his timeless mastery over the intricacy of detail, Shakespeare propels Hamlet, inconsolably stricken with the matter of demise, through interminable depression thereby initiating his fabricated, subsequently candid, lunacy ultimately contributing to his utter ignorance and culmination of life in order to reveal the calamity bestowed in the excessive contemplation of decease.
Claudius greedy intentions take him to his murderous action. Claudius says, “The whole kingdom/to be contracted in one brow of woe”. (Shakespeare1.2.3-4) Claudius killing old king Hamlet knows that was the only way to have the kingdom. He gives the kingdom a new start under his new government and things that favors him but he still has those devious ways. He also gives the people a speech to represents how good of a ruler his is going to be and he even acknowledges his brother’s death. He gets to maintain the country affairs in his own way. The
The play is filled with corruption, lies and deception which result in tragic ends for most if not all of the main characters. It’s not just the one character though that creates all the corruptions and the deceits. For example Polonius pretends to be a loving and caring father but in reality he’s selfish, hypocritical and incredibly nosy. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act as if they have come to comfort their “friend” Hamlet but turns out they were just spying on him and planning on killing him. They are all just as villainous as Claudius. However, the difference between Claudius and the rest of them is that he is cunning, lack morals and manipulative with his language, and unlike Hamlet, he is quick to take action. Without Claudius, there wouldn’t of been such a tragic story. Throughout the play, Claudius’ manipulative speech has been referred to as being like poison being poured into the ear, which also relates to how Claudius killed King Hamlet. Claudius uses his manipulative speech to influence the other characters to do the dirty work for him. He manipulates them to become corrupt and deceiving. For example when Laertes found out about his father’s death, Claudius confronts him and tells him it was Hamlet who killed Polonius. Claudius knows Laertes is a rash man and plans to use that to finally kill Hamlet without doing it himself. He quickly told Laertes of his plans in the hope that Laertes’ feelings were still fresh and raw, and further manipulated him by saying that if he did not avenge his father and kill Hamlet, then that was proof enough that he didn’t love his father. In doing so Claudius easily convinces Laertes to duel Hamlet. “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see in passages of proof”(Act 4 Scene 7 lines
The new king of Denmark, Claudius allows us to analyze this theme of appearance versus reality. As many do not know the actual way elder Hamlet died, King Claudius acts as though he seems to care deeply about his brother and grieves over his death. Claudius feigns sadness over the loss of his brother when speaking to others, “and that it us befitted/ To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom/ To be contracted in one brow of woe” (Shakespeare I.2.2-4 ), but to the audience his lies are obvious. We know Claudius killed his brother to take the throne, and he doesn’t actually care nor grieve for his brother. His goal has been achieved, but he pretends he grieves along with his new wife and the people. Claudius sees his brother’s murder as heavenly because it helped him achieve his goal to become King,“O, my offence is a rank, it smells to heaven/ It hath the primal eldest curse upn’t, A brother’s murder” (Shakespeare 3.3.36-38). He is proud of the deed, and he sees it as a necessary act. It is clear that Claudius has a dark interior that the audience can see clearly when other characters are not present. Claudius also fakes the love he feels towards his nephew and stepson,
Self-image plays a big role in how people act. Hamlet’s inability to know himself or to understand his own motives leads to the restless battles between right and wrong in his conscience, which is the reason for his unpredictable tragic actions, and behaviors. Hamlets’ confusion is clearly shown in his soliloquies. His confused mind can be broken into five categories. Hamlet suffers from his own moral standards, the desperate need to seek the truth, lack of confidence and trust in his own impulses, self-hatred, and melancholy. Each of these categories contribute to Hamlet’s troubled mind.
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
In Hamlet’s speech, Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience develop the theme of the frailty of man. Shakespeare conveys this underlying theme of the play by subt...
... the only way to honour his father Polonius is by killing Hamlet. In addition, as Claudius reads the letter from Hamlet to Laertes he says “'Tis Hamlet’s character. “Naked” And in a postscript here, he says “alone.” Can you advise me?” (IV, VII, 52-53). This shows that Claudius takes advantage of Hamlet’s return alone as an opportunity for Laertes to kill him. Through Claudius’s actions the readers observe how he deceives Laertes into killing Hamlet for his own benefit without getting blood on his hands. Furthermore, Claudius’ desperation to kill Hamlet leads to him losing sight of what is important, which is being the king of Denmark, what he originally wanted, instead the lies he told and the manipulation he spread is now taking over. To conclude, it is evident through the play that the words and actions of Claudius have only lead to the spread of deception.
Hamlet adopts an “antic disposition” in a desperate attempt to protect himself from Claudius’ constant scrutiny. However, ironically, Claudius’ Machiavellian scheming “there’s something in his soul,” leads to a more intense level of surveillance, “madness in great ones must not unwatched go.” Ophelia also distances herself from Hamlet as she fearfully recoils from his facade of insanity ”As if he had been loosened out of hell.” The dramatic suspense builds through the “get thee to thy nunnery” showing how irrational outbursts of emotion are both a response to the pressure exerted from the court and a contributing factor to it. The potential love of “words of so sweat breath composed” is fractured by bitter rhetoric, “Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?”. Hamlet’s regret regarding the loss of his love contributes to his isolation, reduced metaphorically to a pipe “to be played on”. The fundamental paradox lies in the fact that Hamlet evokes Ophelia’s compassionate concern that his “ noble and most sovereign reason” has become “like sweet bells jangled out of time and harsh”. However, Hamlet’s feigned madness contrasts to Ophelia real psychological degeneration, “Divided from herself and her fair judgement”, revealing that innocence is compromised by the intense psychological burden of navigating loss. In this manner, Shakespeare leaves his audiences with a sobering message about the breakdown of the human mind, rendered vulnerable by persistent pressure, isolation and