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Claudius's Response To The Claubethan Audience

Decent Essays

Throughout history, literature has been able to captivate and enchant audiences of all backgrounds. Words have an undeniable ability to sway a crowd’s emotions and truly affect them. William Shakespeare, one of the most revered writers of all time, had such skills. His plays are timeless pieces of art considered the foundations of the English literature. Shakespeare’s most dramatic and infamous tragedy, Hamlet, has earned its place as a cornerstone. In the play, Shakespeare poetically writes speeches that show the true colours of the characters, whether good or devious. The main antagonist, Claudius, shows his treachery to the Elizabethan audience, through his speech to his wife Gertrude. Claudius’ conversation with Gertrude in Act 4, …show more content…

Along with dramatic irony, this statement serves as a foreshadowing to the events soon to transpire.
Claudius’ speech also has a tremendous effect on the Elizabethan audience because of its ability to relate to the various aspects of the Elizabethans’ lives. As Claudius mourns for Ophelia with a false sense of worry for her, he declares, “Poor Ophelia/ Divided from herself and her fair judgement, /Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts” (4. 5.60-62). Ophelia was most likely suffering from chronic depression and in today’s world, she would have had therapy or been treated, not compared to a beast. But in the Elizabethan era, there was no scientific research on mental illness and those who suffered from them were just thought of as maniacs. Elizabethans may have felt pity for Ophelia, but would have thought of her as a lost cause. Along with this mindset, those in Elizabethan society had a sense of honor and pride that all, especially the king, must follow. Claudius worries about the rebellion of the people after Polonius’ death, saying “the people muddied, /Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers/For good Polonius’ death, and we have done but greenly/ In hugger-mugger to inter him” (4.5.56-59). Polonius was considered part of the nobility social class and the idea of him not having a proper and ornate funeral would create

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