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.
When you start to read the play, you can sense the tension between some of the characters. Right off the hop you learn about how Hamlet’s father has passed away and his uncle is now the new King and took the heart of his mother. King Claudius starts off the second scene with a huge monologue
…show more content…
He convincing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to stay and guard him because he is afraid of what Hamlet might to do him. “Something have you heard of Hamlet’s transformation –so I call it, sith nor th’exterior nor the inward man resembles that it was. What should it be, more than his father’s death” (41). He then requests that they spend the night incase anything were to happen. “That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court some little time, so by your companies to draw his on to pleasures” (41). King Claudius is calling back up because he does not want any reprecussions to happen upon him from Hamlet. He has a pretty good idea that Hamlet knows what he has done because of the strange way that Hamlet is acting. “We shall sift him” (43) he is so paranoid that he needs some confirmation on whether he has anything to be worried aout of if he is just being …show more content…
The king is trying to get whatever Hamlet has on his mind to be focused on something else so there is no risk of him losing his title as king. The King reveals to the audience near the start of Act 3 to what he has done. He speaks about how what he has done has affected him dearly.
O’tis too true. How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience. The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plast’ring art, is not more ugly to the thing that helps it than is my deed to my most painted word. O heavy burden! (66).
This shows how the King’s conscience is getting the better of him. He is becoming more and more paranoid as to what others know about what he has done. The King decides that he is going to send Hamlet away to England to try and get things off his mind and let him conscience get the better of him. “Will be some danger; which for to prevent, I have in quick determination thus set it down: he shall with speed to England . . . With variable objects, shall expel” (71). King Claudius plans to send Hamlet to England because he feels that it is too dangerous for his to be close to Hamlet at this
Claudius is smug at the onset of the play because he appears to have gotten away
In Hamlet, Shakespeare developed a character, an antagonist, which produces twists and turns throughout the play. Even though in the beginning of the play, Claudius seemed to be an intelligent man, who has excellent speaking skills that helped him take the leadership of his deceased brother’s kingdom, and marry his wife. But, combining both his intelligence and excellent speaking skills, shows Claudius’s true nature: an astute, lustful conspirator. Through the different settings and situations, Claudius’s character contributes to the overall understanding of the play through psychological, biblical and philosophical methods.
Hamlet is a character that we love to read about and analyze. His character is so realistic, and he is so romantic and idealistic that it is hard not to like him. He is the typical young scholar facing the harsh reality of the real world. In this play, Hamlet has come to a time in his life where he has to see things as they really are. Hamlet is an initiation story. Mordecai Marcus states "some initiations take their protagonists across a threshold of maturity and understanding but leave them enmeshed in a struggle for certainty"(234). And this is what happens to Hamlet.
This passage from the last soliloquy of Hamlet tries to explain the position Hamlet is placed in in. For example, line 34 “How all occasions do form against me...35 and spur my dull revenge!” These two lines critically reveal that Hamlet is being triggered by some actions to carry out revenge against the person who killed his Father (203). In the passage, the question to take action is not only affected by the sensible contemplation, such as the call for certainty, but also by emotive, ethical and psychosomatic factors (Shakespeare
Hamlet is a normal person which brillant ideas. He waited so long to kill Claudius because he wanted people to be able to know the story of really happened and did not want to seem like a bad guy. Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be” (Act 3,Scene 1 Line 64) also means should he live to do as his father or or die to betray him. Hamlet knew everything that was going on in the kingdom but wanted to act as if he did not to get even further in and have more information. He did this because he wanted to think a more brilliant plan to kill Claudius and anyone else that was dealing with it, that is how he killed
Another interpretation could be that Hamlet is melancholy and indecisive, and is not trying to control anyone. He is trying only to take revenge on Claudius, at which he fails for lack of an opportune time. "Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now'a is a-praying, And now I do it. And so'a goes to heaven. And so I am revenged…But in our circumstance and course of thought, 'Tis heavy with him; and then I am revenged, To take him in the purging of his of his soul…No.
... of treachery and, luckily, Hamlet realizes the king’s subterfuge, crushing the plot and flipping it back on him. Claudius remains steadfast in his efforts to remove Hamlet, going so far as to set up a false fencing competition and foolishly pushing the poisoned wine without considering the suspiciousness of the action. In his short-sighted and rash decision making, Claudius shows that he allows his inflated sense of regality and self-worth to cloud his judgment.
Hamlet wishes to avenge the murder of his father and rectify this great injustice. The conflict between his desire to seek revenge and his own thoughts of incompetence is the cause of his initial unrest. "Haste me to know't , that I , with wings as swift / As meditation or thoughts of love , / may sweep to my revenge (1.5.29-31). Here Hamlet pleads to the Ghost of King Hamlet to reveal the name of his murderer.
Hamlet's is a mind to be reckoned with. He thinks things out rather than just act on impulse. No matter what the situation, there is always something that stands in his way that a more impulsive, emotional man might overlook or just ignore. By thinking things over he gives Claudius time to figure out what he knows. If he had acted faster things may have turned out differently for our intellectual prince. The Brain can be a slow, bungling thing that is constantly tripping over it's own feet whereas a body controlled by emotion knows no limits.
William Shakespeare brought to life an interesting character in King Claudius. On one side you see a kind and affectionate man toward the Queen. Yet on the other side you see a character that Shakespeare would have you believe is truly diabolic and will kill to get what he wants. I believe Claudius is not the bad person that most critiques would have you believe; rather he was a man who loved his country deeply enough to kill his own brother King Hamlet for it.
...with the sharpness of an experienced leader and decisively acting on every issue of importance. Therefore, the actor must have an imposing and confident presence on stage, for Claudius dominates Elsinore and is in full control of Denmark. However, by the third act, the King must be depicted as a man who is growing increasingly fearful of Hamlet, and during the play, Claudius is so startled that he must appear as though he has seen the ghost of Old Hamlet. But in my opinion, Claudius’ defining moment comes during his lengthy soliloquy in which he acknowledges his guilt. As he mourns his condemned soul, he should seem so helpless that the audience views him with intense pity, for the character of Claudius, like Macbeth, is not intended to represent evil but instead to show the universal ability of power to corrupt and to destroy lives in the process.
He would be alive at this point if he would have been quiet. Hamlet in his quest for revenge has become very edgy and when he saw an opportunity to strike at the king he took it. He had no knowledge that Polonius was in the room, but instead believed that it was Claudius who had entered the room in an effort to seduce his mother into lying with him in bed. When Hamlet heard the voice behind the tapestry call for help, he pounced and seized at what he thought was his chance to kill Claudius. He was wrong, however, and shed the innocent blood of a loyal servant. Many people would say that Hamlet does not want to get revenge for the death of his father, but throughout the play, we see Hamlet doing that very thing. He concocts multiple plans in an attempt to make the king confess what he has done, that way Hamlet can punish him for his cruel actions. Hamlet became so consumed with his quest for revenge that he ended up killing innocent people in hopes that it was the king. His goal was not justice, but to see his uncle end up dead for the murder of his father. Hamlet is a smart young man, who throughout the play lusts for revenge. He wants to make his uncle suffer for the crimes of he committed and should not be an example to anyone because he believes that the only way to solve the problem of his father’s murder is to take revenge. Hamlet also loses the ability to think about other things because his quest for revenge takes
King Claudius, as illustrated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, displays both charm and eloquence. Claudius is an intelligent person and is able to deceive people into believing he is innocent and morally guided. He is adept at manipulating people in order to advance and maintain his own power and fails to show any remorse for his actions. Claudius utilizes his linguistic skills to portray himself as an innocent and prudent leader; however, upon further inspection his diction is a mere smoke screen that hides his manipulative and cunning nature.
...emise, and rid of Hamlet at the same time. Hamlet’s unstable mental state and irrational actions led King Claudius to the conclusion that something must be done to rid of Hamlet. Working through the steps of the decision-making process would have enlightened Claudius on three things: citizens would be suspicious if Hamlet was to vanish, Hamlet’s image must be ruined in order to prevent citizens suspecting Claudius to be responsible, and the fact that Hamlet won’t be very easy to expel. After this information was considered, Claudius would be able to synthesize an effective plan to rid of Hamlet. Being aware of the fact that Hamlet is rather smart and likely hard to corner, Claudius would have arrived at a solution; an elaborate plan to kill Hamlet that gives him no time to counter the attack. No suspicion, no more nice-guy Hamlet, no thinking time, no problem.
Hamlet play a very important role in this play. Basically the whole play revolves around him. In this play Hamlet is faced with the obligation to kill Claudius because Claudius has killed his father. Some people see Hamlet as a tragic hero with a clear and sacred obligation to kill Claudius but since he is scared to kill him and has many other things going on in his life, he is unable to kill Claudius right away. Throughout the entire play Hamlet procrastinates on killing Claudius. Why does Hamlet procrastinate for so long to revenge his father's death?