In William Shakespeare’s
“Hamlet”, Claudius, the new King of Denmark, has just married the widowed Queen
of Denmark, who is also the mother of Prince Hamlet. Claudius seems to be a
kind and respectable kind on the outside, but Hamlet believes him to be devious
and greedy. I agree with Hamlet’s ideas of Claudius because Claudius married
the grief-striken Queen when the King was, “But two months dead—nay, not so
much, not two.” (1.2.142) Hamlet is resentful of his mother’s quick marriage
after his father’s recent death. Claudius, uncle of Hamlet, wanted the power of
the throne and couldn’t wait to take it no matter the rudeness or suddenty of
his rise to power. Claudius wants everyone to believe he is a kind, noble king,
whereas, I believe him to be a selfish King with a love for Hamlet. His
kindness only reaches so far when he denies Hamlet’s request to go to
Wittenberg to study by telling Hamlet, “we beseech you, bend you to remain/Here
in the cheer and comfort of our eye,/Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our
son.” (1.2.119-121) I believe he is only saying this so he can watch over his
heir to the throne to prevent any treasous actions and ideas. Claudius even
convinces Gertrude, the Queen, to agree to try and convince Hamlet to stay. Notice,
Hamlet only agrees to stay after his mother asks not his King. “I shall in all
my best obey you, madam.” (1.2.124) Hamlet even address that he is only staying
because his mother asked him to by saying “madam”. Hamlet believes Claudius to
be abbusive to a frail woman like his mother by marring her in her time of
weakness. Hamlet detects that, even while old King Hamlet was alive, Gertrude
was still emotionally and physically frail, and she clung to him for support.
But, once he died, the Queen clings to another power, Claudius. Hamlet, though
he is disappointed with his mother’s stability, agrees to her requests though
these requests come from the mouth of Claudius. He is using Gertrude as a
puppet; the only puppet/ person Hamlet will listen to. Claudius, while he is
kind to most, uses Gertrude to get what he wants from Hamlet and wants Hamlet
to be his pawn that he can summon whenever just like his mother. I believe
Claudius to be a cunning, deceptive man, who is trying to take control of
Denmark due to his greed and power-hunger.Monday, October 7, 2013
Deception Within the Throne
In William Shakespeare’s
“Hamlet”, Claudius, the new King of Denmark, has just married the widowed Queen
of Denmark, who is also the mother of Prince Hamlet. Claudius seems to be a
kind and respectable kind on the outside, but Hamlet believes him to be devious
and greedy. I agree with Hamlet’s ideas of Claudius because Claudius married
the grief-striken Queen when the King was, “But two months dead—nay, not so
much, not two.” (1.2.142) Hamlet is resentful of his mother’s quick marriage
after his father’s recent death. Claudius, uncle of Hamlet, wanted the power of
the throne and couldn’t wait to take it no matter the rudeness or suddenty of
his rise to power. Claudius wants everyone to believe he is a kind, noble king,
whereas, I believe him to be a selfish King with a love for Hamlet. His
kindness only reaches so far when he denies Hamlet’s request to go to
Wittenberg to study by telling Hamlet, “we beseech you, bend you to remain/Here
in the cheer and comfort of our eye,/Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our
son.” (1.2.119-121) I believe he is only saying this so he can watch over his
heir to the throne to prevent any treasous actions and ideas. Claudius even
convinces Gertrude, the Queen, to agree to try and convince Hamlet to stay. Notice,
Hamlet only agrees to stay after his mother asks not his King. “I shall in all
my best obey you, madam.” (1.2.124) Hamlet even address that he is only staying
because his mother asked him to by saying “madam”. Hamlet believes Claudius to
be abbusive to a frail woman like his mother by marring her in her time of
weakness. Hamlet detects that, even while old King Hamlet was alive, Gertrude
was still emotionally and physically frail, and she clung to him for support.
But, once he died, the Queen clings to another power, Claudius. Hamlet, though
he is disappointed with his mother’s stability, agrees to her requests though
these requests come from the mouth of Claudius. He is using Gertrude as a
puppet; the only puppet/ person Hamlet will listen to. Claudius, while he is
kind to most, uses Gertrude to get what he wants from Hamlet and wants Hamlet
to be his pawn that he can summon whenever just like his mother. I believe
Claudius to be a cunning, deceptive man, who is trying to take control of
Denmark due to his greed and power-hunger.
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Kayhon, I love how you presented your thoughts throughout this post and I think it was a rather accurate first impression as well. In fact, in reading this I agreed with almost everything you said. You did a great job of laying out your thoughts in an easy to read sequence. I also love how you perceived Claudius as such a greedy king because that had not come to my mind before. Now, I can see why he is acting the way he is and further more the story looks a bit more clear to me. I also think you did a great job of really deciphering the passages you used and using the detail to express your thoughts on the characters. In all, I think you have a great understanding of this first section of Hamlet. Keep up the good work!
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