Ophelia's Weakness In Hamlet

Hamlet realizes how slow and hesitant he is to kill Claudius following the actor’s performance. He proclaims O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I:/ Is it not monstrous that this player here,/ But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/ Could force his soul so to his own conceit/ That from her working all his visage wann’d,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in ‘s aspect,/ A broken voice, and his whole function suiting/ With forms to his conceit?/and all for nothing!” (2.2.53-60)

This is because he has everything now that Old King Hamlet once had but is now dead, the thrown and the Queen. There are positive aspects of Claudius such as he is a good public speaker and has smooth negotiations with other people. He is very much a diplomat and he thinks of himself a very powerful man 'To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, who, impotent and bed-rid.' From the start of Act 2 we see Claudius as being clever when associating with two of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out the cause of Hamlet's disturbed behaviour. He is courteous to them and full of flattery for himself.

Throughout the play, Hamlet displays indecisiveness and a tendency to over think. Despite having every desire and intention to kill his uncle, Hamlet procrastinates to the point where he is loathing himself for taking so long. Had Hamlet take the first opportunity to kill Claudius, the play would be a great deal shorter. If I were placed in a similar situation, I believe that my fury caused by someone murdering my father would be enough motivation to avenge him as soon as humanely possible. Consequently, I see Hamlet as an individual who gets so hung up in executing every task perfectly that it

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he

Beyond Claudius’ need for admiration, he also tends to disregard the feelings of people around him. This is shown in a similar way as his need for admiration, being that he kills his brother to gain power. Such a selfish action will obviously impact those around King Hamlet, but Claudius disregard that and simply does it for his own gain. He doesn’t think about how Hamlet’s death will affect Gertrude, young Hamlet, Polonius, or anyone else close to him. In the aftermath of this, instead of helping Hamlet through the hard time following his fathers sudden death, he tells Hamlet he’s not a man for mourning for such a long time. Staying on the topic of the death of a father, Claudius uses Polonius’ death to get Laertes to want to avenge his

The final way that Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet occurs once again when Claudius and Laertes are discussing Laertes’ actions to achieve his vengeance. Claudius gives Laertes advice saying, “That we would do/ we should do when we would; for this ‘would’/ changes” (4.7.134-136). Claudius is warning Laertes that if he waits long enough, he will probably end up not doing anything at all and will not achieve his goal of vengeance. This quote spoken by Claudius is quite similar to when King Hamlet’s ghost meets with Hamlet earlier in the play to warn him about how he was killed by Claudius and that he must get revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost also warns Hamlet saying, “Taint not thy mind” (1.5.92), telling him to not over think his plan because otherwise he will not pursue his vengeance. After Claudius warns Laertes to not get side tracked, the audience is reminded of King Hamlet’s ghost telling Hamlet to not over think because then their plans will not be pursued. This scene acts as a foil towards Hamlet because soon after the conversation, Laertes does pursue his plan of seeking vengeance, whereas Hamlet has been working on his plan the whole play, and has still not started to execute it.

Hamlet proves himself a temperamental, twisted character in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The Prince of Denmark conveys his facetious demeanor with his behavior and sharp tongue, especially in scenes with Ophelia and Gertrude. Although Hamlet’s situation is difficult and easily sympathized by viewers, his aggression should ultimately be focused on his murderous uncle.

This, in turn, exploits Hamlet’s similar flaw of ego and furthers the conflict, but what’s more, it illustrates Claudius’ sheer audacity and lack of repentance. He continues to try to cover up the sin and appease Hamlet into complacency rather than confess and ask for forgiveness. In a mark of pure arrogance, Claudius tells Hamlet to “throw to earth / This unprevailing woe and think of us / As of a father”, conceitedly requesting that Hamlet merely forget the murder and replace his father with the murderer himself (I, ii, 110-112). Similarly, instead of directly confronting Hamlet about his mental condition, the king more or less hires Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on the prince, again cementing his smug mindset. The king does not believe he can be caught or, rather, that Hamlet is competent enough to figure out his plan and foil him. Claudius, too, thinks only of himself after Hamlet’s inadvertent killing of Polonius, pondering “how shall this bloody deed be answered? / It will be laid to us” instead of considering the ramifications of the murder with respect to Hamlet (4.1.17-18). The other two paper-thin traps the king hatches only reinforce his failure to see beyond the apparent; his attempt to deport Hamlet to England and have him killed reeks 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

Claudius also seems like a respectable king because he mourns the death of King Hamlet and tells “[the] whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe” (21). Although Claudius seems to be a good king who is deeply saddened by the death of the late King Hamlet, he is actually a horrible man who murdered King Hamlet in a way “most foul,...strange and unnatural” (57). He took his crown and acted as if his death was an accident. Claudius makes it difficult for Hamlet to uncover the truth behind his actions because he constantly acts like nothing is ever wrong. After many different plots against Claudius, Hamlet prevails and the real Claudius is exposed. Claudius played an important role in the play because he reinforced the motif Seems Versus Is and showed the reader that although people can come across as honest and respectable, deep down they can have an evil side.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the obsession that titular character Hamlet has with the perfection of various aspects of his life leads to chaos and his tragic downfall. Hamlet’s obsession with the perfection of his plan, the perfection of his moral character, and the perfection of feminine sexual purity help contribute to his tragic fall as he started to lose his sanity and control of his life. His obsessions also created conflict with those around him, as his actions when confronted with his obsessions pitted other characters against him.

After learning that Claudius had killed his father, Hamlet was furious and set on seeking revenge. He generated a plan to act mad, in order to distract Claudius while ensuing his actual plot of revenge which would eventually end with the death of Claudius, by Hamlet. Hamlet may have been hopeful that his plan would work, but he had no such luck. Claudius did not believe Hamlet’s amateur attempts at pretending to be insane. Claudius says, “Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul (III; I; 161). This shows that Claudius sees through Hamlet’s act, and knows that his new son knows something of the truth and is brewing a plan. Claudius then, also has a plan to kill Hamlet, but ironically it is Hamlet that murder Claudius at the

Claudius is the other major example of ambition in the story, as shown through his drastic measures taken to assure that no one discovers that he killed the King and used his death as an opportunity to take up the crown. It is revealed to Hamlet by his father’s ghost that Claudius killed the former ruler in his own garden by pouring poison into his ear. This is very characteristic of Shakespeare’s tragedies, characters will kill each other off for their own ambitious agendas without hesitation for morals or law and Claudius fits into this trend perfectly. To further ensure that his status as king is not compromised, he seduces the King’s wife, Gertrude, and attempts to get Hamlet to forget his father by calling his grief childish and a hindrance to his role as the prince (365). The King’s ghost informs Hamlet that Gertrude was one of the most virtuous women alive and wouldn’t have taken lightly to his sudden death, so it is apparent that Claudius took extreme measures to get Gertrude on his side. To go through all this work to ensure that he remained in power proves that Claudius was just as ambitious to achieve power as Hamlet was to remove him from it.

Hamlet and Claudius both have many needs which are determined by a part of their psyche: the id. One major desire is for the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has repetitive lapses of angst which are based on the fact that Claudius robbed Hamlet of his rightful crown. As Hamlet says “I lack advancement” (Shakespeare, 3.2.324), “Popped in between th’ election and my hopes” (Shakespeare, 5.2.70); these are just a few of the times when Hamlet sees Claudius as someone between him and the crown of Denmark. Claudius’ desire for being king; this is more perceptible as his greed lead to an “offence [that] is rank” (Shakespeare, 3.3.39): the murder of his brother. Hamlet’s need for the crown and Claudius’ position as an obstacle create the dramatic situations that lead to the tension between them. Hamlet wants the throne, but Claudius has made it impossible as he has already declared Hamlet as the heir to the kingdom, therefore giving Hamlet no basis of argument making him powerless in this way. As Hamlet has the dominance behavioral system syndrome, he lacks a way out of this submissive role where his power and pride are hurt. He thus instigates the conflict by reacting to and talking to Gertrude in a provocative manner and insulting Claudius. The fact that he treats Gertrude badly is because he is also looking for something to vent his anger out on.

Unlike Hamlet though, Claudius thinks about his actions because he wants to make sure he makes a decision that will be the best for him. He knows if he just kills Hamlet the people of the kingdom will turn on him because of the love they all share for Hamlet. He sends in Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to find out what is wrong with Hamlet so that Claudius can decide what to do from there. His decision to send Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on and talk to Hamlet is illustrated when he says, “So by your companies/To draw him on pleasures, and to gather/So much as from occasion you may glean/[Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus]/That opened lies within our remedy” (II.II.14-18). Claudius and Hamlet are both extremely sly and cunning and posses similarities with their ability to act, but this could merely be because of the education they both have which has brought them common sense and the ability to think before acting. One major difference of their ability to act is when Hamlet acts on impulse and kills Claudius’ advisor Polonius. Hamlet unlike Claudius has so much anger built up inside of him because of his father’s death and it kept building and building until he finally let it out when talking to his mother about Claudius. He heard a noise from behind a curtain which was Polonius’, and without thinking Hamlet stabs him releasing some of his pent up aggression. Hamlet shows the anger he has within when he says, “A bloody deed-almost as

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Claudius’s soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 3, demonstrates that he is a very ambitious, selfish and sorrow individual with a sense of guilt. Claudius is very ambitious to where his lust for power often drives his actions. His desire for power will often lead to horrible consequences. For instance, it was revealed in Claudius’s soliloquy that he did in fact murder King Hamlet, his own brother. There are no limits to what Claudius will surpass in order to achieve what he wants since killing his own brother was not crossing over the line and he saw King Hamlet as nothing but a barrier standing in his way of gaining power. For example, Claudius expresses that “My guilt is stronger than my intentions. And like a person with two opposite things to do at once, I stand paralyzed and neglect them both”, meaning that