Ear and hearing is an important motif throughout the play because of the huge contrast it reveals; the truth or the lies. One important challenge in Hamlet is the difficulty of attaining the truth, without any deception or manipulation involved. Although characters have a tendency to believe what they hear, hearing can in reality be a source of deception and lies. In Hamlet, Claudius uses words to manipulate people around him to exile Hamlet from Denmark; words are served as tools in order to gain power. He eventually treasures his power and his safety over his love for his wife, Gertrude. Although he says “Gertrude, do not drink” he does not prevent Gertrude from drinking the poisoned drink by loudly exclaiming it (V.ii.286). Even at the end he states, “It is the poisoned cup. It is too late” to himself rather than directly to Gertrude (V.ii.288). His comment to himself reveals his first priority: conquest of powers, and that he is willing to sacrifice his wife for his gain of power. His manipulation does not end there. Despite the fact that he is revealed to the whole palace that he put the …show more content…
Hamlet was able to proceed with his revenge: to kill King Claudius, because Laertes confesses that “The king, the king’s to blame” for the death of Gertrude (V.ii.316). Without Laertes’ truthful words, King Claudius would have continued to rule Denmark with his corrupt deceptiveness. The play ends with Hamlet’s last speech to Horatio: “Absent thee from felicity a while/And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain/To tell my story“ (V.ii.345-347). Although the play started with Claudius’ corruptive, deceitful deeds, Hamlet ends it with his desires to convey the truth to the kingdom, reflecting that in the end, truth prevails. Hamet portrayed the importance behind the double meaning of each character’s words, reflecting that although ear and hearing is needed to discover the truth, it could also be used as tools for
Hamlet encounters several problems when only relying on either the eye or ear alone. When he hears a noise behind a curtain in scene three he automatically assumes it is Claudius because the voice says he is going to help Gertrude. "What’s this, a rat? I’ll bet a buck he’s a dead rat now" (III.iv.24) and Hamlet stabs Polonius. Hamlet was calm and happy when he thought he killed Claudius but Gertrude discloses it is not Claudius he killed, it was Polonius. Hamlet felt great guilt after acting impulsively when hearing a voice that he assumed to be Claudius. Hamlet is so upset and then reveals to the Queen that Claudius is the one who killed his father. Claudius killed King Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear. This is very significant because King Hamlet’s actual ear was poisoned which goes alone with the notable motif.
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 ...
Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes have a lot in common when it comes to the situations that they find themselves in and how they initially intend to respond to those situations. Be that as it may, each of these “avenging” sons sees their situation in a different light and attempts to avenge their fathers in different fashions. The foils, similarities and differences are used by William Shakespeare to highlight the potential paths Hamlet could have taken on his crusade for revenge. Following the death of King Hamlet, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Queen of Denmark, marries Claudius, the younger brother of the departed King Hamlet. Claudius addresses the haste of the wedding and claims although he is still mourning the loss of his older brother, he is overjoyed to have a new wife....
The court of Denmark is full of hungry ears, listening for news of the king’s death, how he died, scandalous gossip of the newly wedded Claudius and Gertrude, eavesdropping on conversations, catching whispered secrets, and sometimes lies. Such open ears in the court offer easy access for words, truthful or not, to slither into the mind and sake seed inside unsuspecting listeners. In fact, spoken words in Hamlet are apt to find their way into unguarded ears and have great effects upon characters in the play. Shakespeare uses prominent imagery of ears to illustrate words’ powerful influence on the actions and emotions of a person.
While Prince Hamlet reflects, he contemplates life and death. Hamlet gives a verbalization that gives a sagacious foresight into how his grief overtook his thoughts. While Hamlet is giving this verbalizing there is a portrayal of darkness and solitude. In the play Hamlet is conspicuously verbalizing with himself he does not want the other to know the extent to his thoughts. This is only the commencement of how Hamlet is portrayed as being a perturbed person. Hamlet spend the whole play recollecting his father King Hamlet and then later in the play Ophelia.
The position of Gertrude’s character in the play raises numerous questions about her involvement with her former husband’s murder, along with her reasoning for marrying Claudius. Failing to question Claudius’ intentions with her son, Hamlet, Gertrude includes herself in the corruption. She is present at various meetings discussing her son’s whereabouts and plots to spy on him (83). Though she is conscious of the corruption in the court, she does not seek to resolve the matters. But rather, she involves herself in the conflict and schemes. Claudius’ ways definitely influence her judgment, which is seen when she allows Polonius to spy on her private conversation with Hamlet (169). Furthermore, when confronted by Hamlet, she admits, “Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, And there I see such black and grainèd spots, As will not leave their tinct” (175). Her response to Hamlet’s raging interrogative and accusatory speech insinuates that she too has in some fashion contributed to the corruption in Denmark, though the specific circumstance is never revealed. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Gertrude shows a woman who is more concerned about self-preservation and remaining in power so much so that she involves herself with the plots of a man, who murdered her
[4, 1, 40] These idiosyncrasies are observed in the play when Claudius becomes concerned he will lose power as King and the likelihood Hamlet will murder him to avenge his father’s death. This is apparent when Gertrude informs Claudius that Hamlet is, “Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend which is mightier”. [4,1,6] With these thoughts daunting Claudius, he approaches Laertes in a Machiavellian manner to convince him to murder Hamlet, for he knows Laertes is angry, deranged and “Vows to the blackest devil” [4,5,131] after the death of his father. In doing so, Claudius has the intent to use Machiavellian powers over Laertes who is currently mentally unstable, with the objective being that Laertes will murder Hamlet to avenge his own father’s (Polonius) death. Claudius is able to successfully persuade Laertes in a manipulative speech, especially with his snide comment, “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see a passage of proof.” [4,7,96] Claudius’ malicious comment indicates he is using his power over Laertes, so that the burden and repercussions do not rest on him, so that he may retain his authority as King. By utilizing his power over Laertes, Claudius is successful, as Hamlet is slain, however, as reflected in Claudius’
Claudius is the king of Denmark, who is a very powerful and assertive man. He is the type of person that will do anything to get what he wants and everything in his power to stay king. He will do what it takes to get his way, even if that means betraying the person he is supposed to be committed to and love, his wife Gertrude. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, who she deeply cares for and loves. She is convinced that Claudius does as well. In order for Claudius to stay as king he must keep Gertrude happy and pleased. He accomplishes this by pretending to love Hamlet in front of Gertrude when in reality he wants to kill Hamlet. Claudius faces the truth that his secret got out and Hamlet knows he killed King Hamlet. Not wanting to ruin his reputation and of course stay king he plans to have Hamlet killed. He lets Gertrude believe...
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. Claudius’ first speech as King at the beginning of Scene 2, Act 1 introduces the themes of hierarchy, incest and appearance versus reality and plays the crucial role of revealing Claudius’ character as part of the exposition. The audience is left skeptical after Horatio’s questioning of King Hamlet’s ghost in the first scene of the play. By placing Claudius’ pompous speech immediately after the frightening appearance of Hamlet’s ghost, Shakespeare contrasts the mournful atmosphere in Denmark to the fanfare at the palace and makes a statement about Claudius’ hypocrisy. Through diction, doubling and figurative language, Shakespeare reveals Claudius to be a self centered, hypocritical, manipulative and commanding politician.
However, she is not alone in shielding her mind. It is noted throughout Hamlet that the “style and imagery suggests the strength of the emotional block people have in facing problems of insanity” (Lidz 27). It is an overwhelming trend in society to create a block from the many problems that approach. An individual can find it much easier to disregard something than to take it head on and face the problem. The characters in Hamlet are seen multiple times to do this exact same thing. If an individual feels threatened or awkward, he or she may often find it easiest to make a joke or to just ignore it completely, which leaves gaping holes that may grow into much larger problems in the future. As Gertrude continues to pretend that everything is okay, her passion for Hamlet becomes stronger. This can best be seen when Hamlet is fencing Laertes and she caters to him and states, “The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet” (V.ii.292). Although her love and loyalty towards Hamlet grows as the play comes to an end, her mask that blocked Creon’s lies begins to crack. With the poisoned cup in her hand, she goes against Claudius’s wishes for her to not drink and she responds with, “I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me” (V.ii.296). In this moment, she stands up to Creon and begins to do what she wants, for she realizes that the darkness that consumes Claudius cannot be masked with her maternal love, which is proven to only belong to Hamlet. It is then the mask that Claudius wears that prevents him from stopping her from drinking and leads to her death. As darkness begins to creep in, she realizes that she will now die because of Claudius. Because people try to hide from their problems, they are often left to rot in the hole they dug themselves into, just like the characters within
There is a scene in which the actor illustrating the late king is laying in a garden to rest. An evil relative to the king confronts the sleeping man, and pours poison into his ear (III. ii. 260-275). It was at this point that Claudius snaps, knowing that his nephew knows the truth behind his acts. Gertrude tried to calm him by asking him if he felt ill, but it was to no avail; Claudius cuts the play short, indirectly confessing to the audience that he indeed murdered the late King Hamlet. However, Gertrude still remains calm and undetected by Hamlet; he thinks of her as a harlot, but not that of a murderer. At least, that is what she thinks.
Hamlet’s sense of betrayal by Gertrude, although briefly taking him off course, ultimately infuriates and intensifies his urge for revenge. Because of Gertrude’s refusal to acknowledge her sins, Hamlet becomes even more personally motivated to kill Claudius for revenge. Queen Gertrude, though ignorant, has a huge impact on the play because her betrayal and abandonment motivates Hamlet to get revenge. When writing Hamlet, Shakespeare created a complex play that relies on the roles of two important women to aid the progression of the plot. Although Queen Gertrude and Ophelia rarely speak, they function as a way for the men to become informed about Hamlet’s mental state and motives for madness.
In addition to this internal struggle, Hamlet feels it is his duty to dethrone Claudius and become the King of Denmark. This revenge, he believes, would settle the score for his mother’s incestuous relationship and would reinstate his family’s honor. These thoughts are solidified in Act I, Scene 5, when his father’s ghost appears and informs Hamlet that is was Claudius who murdered him, and that Claudius deprived him “of life, of crown, and queen” (line 75). This information leads to Hamlet’s promise to kill Claudius, while not punishing his mother for their incestuous marriage. His statement, “thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (lines 102-103), demonstrates his adamant decision to let nothing stand in the way of his promise for revenge.
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.
With his thinking mind Hamlet does not become a typical vengeful character. Unlike most erratic behavior of individuals seeking revenge out of rage, Hamlet considers the consequences of his actions. What would the people think of their prince if he were to murder the king? What kind of effect would it have on his beloved mother? Hamlet considers questions of this type which in effect hasten his descision. After all, once his mother is dead and her feelings out of the picture , Hamlet is quick and aggressive in forcing poison into Claudius' mouth. Once Hamlet is certain that Claudius is the killer it is only after he himself is and and his empire falling that he can finally act.