Tragedy is defined as “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror” (Marian webster). A series of multiple deaths would be considered to be a tragedy. This is what occurs in the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Polonius, Ophelia, Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s deaths are all caused by Prince Hamlet. One could consider that Polonius’s death was not entirely Hamlet’s fault. This may be the case, however, it overlooks the fact that Prince Hamlet in some way had something to do with all the deaths. In Act III, Scene IV of Hamlet, Polonius hides behind the curtains in Gertrude’s room when Hamlet arrives. Hamlet first kills Polonius with his sword, …show more content…
When he read Claudius’ letters to the King of England to kill him, he rewrites the letters, ordering the execution of his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, instead. “Folded the writ up in the form of th’other, Subscribed it, gave’t th’impression, placed it safely, The changeling never known.” (V,ii, 50-53). Hamlet kills Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by rewriting Claudius’ letter ordering The King of England to kill Hamlet. He wrote another one that said that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern should be executed. Just like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Claudius is not at fault for his own death. At the end of the play, Hamlet kills another person, Claudius, by stabbing him with a sword and then making him drink from a poisoned cup, “Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion” ( V, ii, 304-305). Before Laertes dies he tells Hamlet that Claudius is to blame for Gertrude’s death. Hamlet takes revenge on Claudius by stabbing his uncle/father and makes him drink the cup of poison. All these people appear to fall by the hands of Hamlet; however, some people would have other
It is too late though, the poisonous sword had cut Hamlet. In anger, Hamlet steals the poisoned sword and runs it into Laertes. He then charges Claudius and runs into him. He also takes the wine and forces Claudius to drink from it. Both Claudius and Laertes died before Hamlet.
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 ...
Whenever Hamlet denies his true nature, his actions are very harsh. During a heated discussion with his mother Gertrude, he accidentally slays Laertes’ father, Polonius, thinking it to be Claudius. Hamlet quickly brushes it aside. He also sends his friends , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to their deaths when he learns of Claudius’ plot to have him put to death when he arrived in England as a so called diplomat.
Both Hamlet’s and Laertes’ fathers were killed. When Laertes discovered that his father’s been murdered he immediately assumes that Claudius is the killer. As a result of his speculation he moves to avenge Polonius’ death. Laertes lines in Act IV Scene 5 provide insight into his mind displaying his desire for revenge at any cost. “To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand, that both worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my father.” (Act IV Scene 5 lines 136-141) In contrast to Laertes speculation of his father’s killer, Hamlet assumes the individual spying on his conversation with Gertrude is Claudius. “Nay, I know not. Is it the King?” (Act III Scene 4 line 28). Without thinking, Hamlet automatically thrusts out attempting to kill who he believed was Claudius and actually kills Polonius. Fury and frustration instigate Hamlet’s and Laertes’ indiscreet actions and causes them not to think of the consequences that may follow.
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
Claudius decieves everyone in different ways and at different times , always and only to protect himself from everyone else finding out that he killed the king. We can't truly say that he deceived Gertrude or not because we still don't know if she knows about Claudius killing the king or not because that is part of her own deception , but we know that he deceived the people and Hamlet himself (before he talks to the ghost). This next quote comes from the ghost of the king convicting Claudius of the murder ,"If thou didst ever thy dear father love- revenge his foul and most unnatural murder(p.57, act1,scene5 ,lines29-31). This quote proves that Claudius actually did commit the murder. This next quote is from Claudius himself after the funeral and the wedding giving a speach about the death of the king and the whole deal with Fortinbras,"To our most valiant brother-so much for him(p.21, act1 ,scene2 ,line25)." This quote shows that Claudius obviously doesn't have much remorse for his dead brother and might be covering up the fact that he killed him. And we all know what that means...What does it mean?! It means that he actually is the rat and is the evil one in the play.
He was going to England and discovers a letter from King Claudius ordering for Hamlet to be killed. So he substitutes his name for theirs. Although Rosencrantz and Guildensern had no clue that it was Hamlet’s name that was in the letter demanding to be killed and he thought they knew about the letter so because of Hamlet, they ended up dying. It was totally unfair for Hamlet to have let Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die. He went overboard with this.
Hamlet was told by the ghost of king hamlet to get back at Claudius for his death, or his soul will travel on earth forever. Even before hamlet knew about Claudius killing his father he had problems. It made hamlet mad that his mother would marry so fast and with his uncle. What Claudius did was an outrageous, back stabbing, and unbelievable thing. It was clearly an act of jealousy for his brother's throne and the wife. Claudius did pay back for his actions. Claudius lost his wife, his messenger, and died and even after his death kept loosing because he lost his castle to Fortinbras.
Claudius, the wise man, is not so wise anymore. His short amount of time being King, 9 people died, including King Hamlet, Hamlet, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Claudius, him self, all because of his selfish ways. First he wanted to become King, and have a gorgeous wife, because he was envious of his brother. He wanted it all, but no one gets it that easy. As soon as anyone got in his way of his brilliant plan, he wanted to destroy them. Claudius did everything in his power to save his ass. Although poison was a metaphor in this play it is also clear that poison was literally being used as well. Unfortunately for Claudius though, saving his own ass killed everyone around him, including the ones he loved, therefore left him with nothing and now he is the one who is truly dead.
Each one of these young men approach the desire for revenge and choose a different path towards gaining it based on the guidance of others at some point in the play. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet finds out from his father’s ghost that Claudius was the one who killed him. First, before he sets out to do anything, Hamlet makes sure Claudius was actually the one who murdered his father. Enraged after finding out the truth, Hamlet sets of on the quest to seek revenge on his uncle, Claudius. He plans to kill Claudius when he is
After several attempts to kill Hamlet fail, Claudius teams up with Laertes and tries to murder Hamlet once and for all. Each of these plans directly or indirectly caused Hamlet’s death. After Hamlet talks to the ghost of his father, he finds out that Claudius killed him to gain the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has to get revenge by killing Claudius. To do this, he must act insane to draw away suspicion from himself. Hamlet says to Hortaio "How strange or odd some’er I bear myself as I perchanse hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on,"(I;v;170-172).
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, revenge intertwines to bring about the deaths of most of the main characters. Hamlet’s course of revenge initiates the first fatality when Polonius gets caught spying on him and Gertrude (III. iv. 24-25). By pursuing revenge, Hamlet killing Polonius paves the way for more lives to be lost. Claudius sees the murder as an opportunity to eliminate Hamlet, because Laertes’s obsession with revenge leaves him vulnerable. Laertes’s and Hamlet’s revenge lead to the deaths of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and finally Hamlet (V. ii. 287-357). The revenge of each character ironically ended their own life. By acting upon revenge and having inimical intentions, the individuals brought fatalities that were unnecessary.
Claudius was responsible for the deaths of Gertrude and Hamlet and Hamlet was responsible for the deaths of Claudius, Polonius, and Laraties. If one were to surface the complex plot of Hamlet, it would appear that Hamlet was victorious in his conquest for revenge because he achieved his goal of killing Claudius even if it meant death for himself. However, upon further analysis, Hamlet, who initiated the war, has lost the most in a fight for justice. Evidently, Hamlet has lost his sanity and lost sight of himself but the conquest of revenge makes Hamlet lose Ophelia. Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, and Hamlet's lover, was another innocent person sacrificed in Hamlet’s conquest for vengeance.
After the death of Polonius, Hamlet was shipped off to England, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern escorting him. All was going fine until Hamlet discovered a letter from his stepfather instructing the King of England to chop off Hamlet’s head when he got there. He escaped death by writing a completely different letter and sealing it, this letter decrees this,“...those bearers be put to sudden death…”(5:2 Line 50). This action may have saved Hamlet from death by the English king, but it couldn’t save him from Claudius’ wrath. The aftermath of the letter lands Hamlet back in Denmark, apparently uncaring and numb to his past actions.
Claudius is one of the main characters responsible for his own death in the play because he portrays himself to be untouchable; not thinking clearly of the consequences to his actions. He starts off by killing his own brother and marrying his queen, Gertrude, only because he lust power and sex. His cold-hearted actions make him the antagonist of Hamlet and most deserving of death. Through all of his malicious actions, he plans a duel between Laertes and Hamlet assuring Hamlet’s death as well by poisoning a drink and the end of Laertes’ sword. He definitely got a taste of his own medicine because he died a rightful death by the sa...