A persona is defined as “The image or personality that a person presents to other people” (Merriam-Webster). This concept of a persona is featured largely in both George Orwell’s 1984 and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, two texts which tell the tale of men rebelling against a higher authority. By comparing the personas of multiple characters in both novels it becomes clear that whether a character is in a position of power or not, a persona always hides one’s true intentions, and that a loss of this persona ultimately leads to death. Hamlet has a very simple goal: kill his Uncle and avenge his Father’s death. Of course, with Hamlet’s uncle being the current king of Denmark, he cannot simply go around acting suspicious and seeking to kill him. It …show more content…
Of course it is later revealed that Claudius killed his brother and his motives are not those of a benevolent king, these motives are revealed when Claudius says, “I am still possessed of those affects for which I did the murder, my crown, my own ambition, and my queen” (III.iii.53-55). This quote reveals that not only did Claudius kill his brother, but he did it for lust and power. This shows that Claudius is simply using the persona of a benevolent king to hid his true intentions which are to have power and to have the queen, this is even further strengthened by Claudius’ general lack of regard for the kingdom as the play approaches its conclusion. Norway’s army is on the doorstep of the palace and Claudius is too caught up in attempting to maintain his power that he does not even notice. Claudius is a prime example of a character with high authority using a persona to hide his true intentions. Claudius loses this persona of a benevolent king near the end of the play when he is caught in the act of attempting to murder Hamlet using poison, it is not long after Claudius loses his persona that he is slain by the very poison he was attempting to carry out the murder
Claudius feels much guilt about the death of his brother he also faces the desires of power. The guilt of his brother death drives Claudius to be on his toes around the kingdom. He remains very scared that someone like Hamlet Jr. might avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Jr. chooses to use a play to test Claudius’s guilt. He rewrites parts of the play to replicate the story voiced by the ghost. Hamlet Jr. watches Claudius carefully during the performance, and the king leaves during it (Gale). Claudius gets up and leaves because he cannot bear to see the reenactment of how he killed his own brother. The internal conflict of the guilt about his brother eats Claudius up and he goes to repent for the corrupt act he has done: “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ And like a man to double business bound,/ I stand in pause where I shall first begin,/ And neglect; what if this cursed hand,/Were thicker than itself with brothers blood” (3.3.40-45). Claudius repents but knows his words will mean nothing to the heavens because Claudius is an insincere being whom
Between the poem, ¨ No one died in Tiananmen Square¨ by William Lutz and the novel, 1984 by George Orwell there are multiple similarities. Subjects such as their government, their denial of history, and the use of doublethink and re-education are all parallel between the novel and the poem. For instance, both the governments have a highly strict government. Their governments are so controlling of their people that they use brute force in order to help re-educate them. For example, in 1984 the main character, Winston Smith was trying to go against their government, The Party, and because he tries to do so, he is placed in The Ministry of Love and brutally beaten by the man whom he assumed was a part of the Brotherhood, O'Brien. O'Brien claimed
North Korea, China, and even Cuba are similar to 1984. They try to control their people just the same as in 1984, and just like in Jonestown. The only people who were free in 1984 were the Proles. The community in Jonestown began as everyone wanting to be there, and then as conditions worsened the people wanted to leave. They were not allowed to, much like 1984. The people in both situations are similar, in that they are oppressed by their governments, but only the people in Jonestown are given the ability to think they are even able to
“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another,” said a dauntless manifesto from the movie Divergent. I will be comparing dystopian characteristics present in 1984 by George Orwell to the movie Divergent based on the book by Veronica Roth to determine which subject most accurately represents Dystopia. A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through control. Dystopias, though an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
The fact that Claudius has become king is not really surprising. Only late in the play does Hamlet complain that his uncle had "popped in between the election and my hopes." The country had been in a nervous state expecting an invasion by young Fortinbras, at the head of a lawless band of adventurers, in revenge for his father’s death at the hands of King Hamlet. A strong new king was immediately needed; the election of Claudius, particularly in the absence of Hamlet, was inevitable. What is more, it was immediately justified, because Claudius manages to dispel the threat of invasion by appealing to the King of Norway to curb his nephew, Fortinbras; the ambitious young soldier was the more ready to cancel the projected invasion because the object of his revenge, Hamlet’s father, was now dead, and in return he received free passage through Denmark to fight against Poland (Burton).
King Claudius is proved to be a power hungry antagonist throughout the whole entire play. In many instances he is shown to do whatever it takes to convince himself and others around him that he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Although knowing that someone one knows his truth, he makes plans to get rid of this spy as well as anyone who gets in his way. Within the first couple pages of the play you find out the hidden truth behind Claudius’ disguise.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell is a fictional future where The Party controls everything. The Party is lead by a larger than life figurehead named Big Brother. The main character is Winston Smith. The story is divided into 3 parts and chronicles Winston’s rebellion against and then re-entering of The Party.
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.
...let seemingly goes mad over. While the murder of Old Hamlet is in essence wrong, Claudius ends up as the more level-headed one, a distinctly better option considering Hamlet’s growing murderous craze. Hamlet’s dogged attempts at convincing himself and those around him of Claudius’ evil, end up being Claudius’ best moments. The audience doesn’t have just one view of Claudius; the other characters favorable ideas of Claudius as king and person lets them see the humanity, good and bad, in Claudius. An allegory for the human soul, Claudius is many things: a father, a brother, a husband, and a king. He like anyone else has to play the roles to the best of his ability, but is still very human and susceptible to the evils of human emotion ranging from concern to jealousy all which could have easily fueled his decisions.
The concepts of deception and illusion are central themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and are illustrated throughout the tragedy in many scenes. Many of the play’s characters are involved in schemes intended to deceive or even kill others. Characters like Claudius, Hamlet, and Polonius are good examples of duplicitous characters because they are the masterminds behind major schemes in the play. Through their deceitful actions and words, these three characters best embody the two central themes. First, Hamlet’s duplicitous nature, seen in his words and actions, helps illustrate the themes of deceit and illusion.
Seen from the early scenes of the play until Claudius’ last breath, Claudius’ only concern is gaining and maintaining power by any means necessary. His introduction into power begins with his own manipulative plot—that succeeds—to kill his brother, which the ghost tells Hamlet within the first act of the play (Shakespeare 59, 61). Claudius’ entrance into the position of king is centered around crime, murder, and manipulation, which in return is the basis of his reign. Further along into the play, readers notice that majority of the men portrayed in the play are concerned about justice or moral balance. However, the man in the position of absolute power is preoccupied with lust and schemes. As the play progresses, Claudius’ malfeasances become more apparent once Hamlet’s “insanity” reaches its peak and kills Polonius (171). More concerned with preserving his seat in the court, Claudius resorts to a plan
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 William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, revenge is a common theme throughout the play. Almost every major male character in the play, whether it is Prince Hamlet, Laertes, the Ghost of King Hamlet, or King Fortinbras of Norway, is acting with purpose to avenge a death. The obvious exception to this trend in the play is Claudius, King of Denmark and brother of King Hamlet. Instead of possessing a noble or vengeful purpose throughout the play, Claudius is instead motivated by more evil qualities like his greed and deceptive natures. But despite his solidified role as the antagonist to Prince Hamlet, Claudius’ degree of true villainy is more so in question.
In the opening of Hamlet; the king of Denmark, Claudius is viewed as an intelligent and very capable leader for the nation of, Denmark, who has recently lost their King. The whole play revolves around Claudius killing King Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear. He killed him seeing that he had a lust for Gertrude, King Hamlet’s former wife.