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Claudius's Fault In Hamlet Research Paper

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Everything is Claudius’s Fault

William Shakespeare’s, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, is chock full of sorrows and deaths. All of these sorrows could have been ignored if the wicked Claudius had not murdered his brother, the King. With Claudius as King of Denmark, chaos ensues as nature attempts to correct itself, killing many in the process. Claudius is primarily responsible for the deaths of Hamlet, Queen Gertrude, and Laertes. Claudius’s goal is to kill Hamlet once Hamlet discovers Claudius has killed Hamlet’s father. Claudius’s first attempt in sending Hamlet to England to die is unsuccessful, so he decides to try again with Laertes’s help this time. Claudius’s second attempt is successful, Hamlet dies from the poison on Laertes’s sword …show more content…

Gertrude mistakenly drinks from Hamlet’s poisoned cup who then falls to the ground. The queen proclaims, “No, no, the drink, the drink – O my dear Hamlet - / The drink, the drink! I am poisoned.” (5.2.313-315) before dying at the duel. Claudius is responsible for the Queen’s death because he not only incestuously married her shortly after his brother’s death, but he poisoned the cup for Hamlet to drink from. Claudius’s blind ambition to murder Hamlet kills the queen with the precautions took to ensure Hamlet’s death. Had Claudius not only, not tried to kill his son-in-law, but also stuck to one plan, the queen’s death would not have been …show more content…

(5.2.329-333)
Laertes forgives Hamlet as he dies, and asks Hamlet to forgive him as well, a sign of repentance thus displaying Laertes’s regret that he agreed to help the King. Laertes’s death is also on Claudius’s hands because the King decided to prey on Laertes’s recent loss in order to have the young man join his quest to kill Hamlet. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” has many deaths which could have been avoided had Claudius not been hell bent on murdering Hamlet before Hamlet got to him or exposed him for murdering the previous king. Hamlet was Claudius’s primary target to kill, yet Claudius was not even granted the sick satisfaction of seeing Hamlet murdered. Gertrude simply happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and is killed because Claudius poisoned Hamlet’s drink. Laertes allowed himself to become involved in the King’s plans for Hamlet, yet dies anyways in what was supposed to be revenge for his father. Claudius is responsible for the aforementioned characters deaths because of his blind ambition, a trait which few individuals should act on lest they make choices similar to Claudius’s and bring about their own sorrows in their

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