Power Of Power In Hamlet

Class struggle is noticeable in Hamlet. The royals exploit the lower class to satisfy their ambitions. People from the working class carry out the Aristocrats commands and they hold an insignificant rank in their society. The Aristocrats notably Hamlet, Claudius, and even Gertrude oppress others to obtain what they want and show that they are superior. Claudius poisons his own brother and marries Gertrude to have a stronger chance at being king since she is “the imperial jointress,” to the throne; he does not marry Gertrude because he loves her; he is using her to obtain the power (I.ii.9). Even when he gets the throne, he still wants more power and seeks to murder Hamlet because the prince knows his secret. Claudius also uses Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on his nephew. The men carry out his orders without protest; they are “like an ape, in the corner of/ [Claudius’] jaw;” the king is using them to find out the reason for Hamlet’s sudden madness and when he will get what he wants; he will get rid them (IV.ii.18-19). Claudius uses Laertes to get rid of Hamlet because he wants his nephew to remain inferior to him because the people of Denmark love Hamlet and they will want him as their ruler; Hamlet is a menace to Claudius and an obstruction between him and the ultimate power.

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles“ (Marx 15). The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx displays different ideas between the clashing social stances during his time. These thoughts highlight the several issues with the overbearing upper class showcasing the difference between social status and their given power in society. Similarly, the Marxist lens displays how the nobles gaining control of the social, economical, and political aspects of a society affect the lower class. William Shakespeare's Hamlet emphasizes division of social classes and unquenchable desire to obtain power through self- benefiting manipulation and misuse of authority.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark has been performed thousands of times since it was “written in 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603” (Britannica.com). It’s popularity stems from its themes that translate across time. These themes, are seen to be relatable even to this day with the ever growing audience. Readers and viewers are able to find similarities between the current state and or even relate to one of the characters or events taking place over the course of Shakespeare’s five act masterpiece. Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark remains a viable text for contemporary readers in that it functions as a mirror.

Hamlet decides to get more information / prove what the ghost was saying before doing

In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, doubt is one of the most important themes. In fact, the whole play is based on the story of a ghost who claims to be Hamlet’s father, and nobody can be sure if what he says is the truth. In this essay, I am going to focus on the theme of doubt throughout the play. I will first speak about the opening scene, and then I will talk about the ghost, which is a supernatural element used by Shakespeare to create doubt in the play. I will also analyse the passage in which Hamlet declares his love to Ophelia. Finally, I will briefly discuss Hamlet’s sanity.

In act II, scene 2, there is a notable difference between working class and royalty. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude tell officers Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on Prince Hamlet to find out what hurts him; to what they answer: “But we both obey, / And here give up ourselves in the full bent / to lay our service freely at your feet, / to be commanded.” (1375) Another difference between classes exists in act III scene 3. King Claudius tells Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to take Hamlet to England. Both courtiers assures they will do the job. In both examples, it is easy to recognize that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz belong to the working class. King Claudius do not ask them to do something, he tells them what to do without asking if they could it; and both courtiers admit that is their

"Reason is how we discover the truth in nature, without relying on the senses,” said by Descartes. It seems as if Descartes believes that reason is rational, objective thought whereas senses are subjective thoughts. Neither are objective, as humans even our most rational thoughts are subjective and bias to who we are as individual people. Even if reason tells people that the sky is red, our senses say otherwise and no amount of reason can persuade what one can see right in front of them. I would have to, therefore, disagree with Descartes, reason varies from individual to individual and also depending on situations and circumstances. This quote does relate to today’s morals and humanity specifically in the justice system. In the court system the United States relies on some level of “reasonable” doubt. Jurors use reasonings to analyze facts and determine a verdict without relying on their senses, despite not being at the scene of a crime or incident. Descartes quote came to mind at the very beginning of Bohannan’s story. Bohannan was given Hamlet by a friend to read while in Africa due to the primitive setting and maybe with some “meditation” Bohannan could discover the true meaning. After completing Bohannan’s story, coming back to this is humorous. Bohannan’s friend was hoping that meditation, deep thought, and reasoning would help Bohannan come to an accurate interpretation of Hamlet, but when Bohannan relied on the senses to listen to the elders while storytelling she

One main theme that arises in the Hamlet is the power struggle between Hamlet and Claudius. The main problem is between Hamlet and Claudius; they are in an ongoing battle throughout the play to see who will rise with the power of the throne. Claudius is the antagonist in the story and has multiple people under him that follow his every rule (Innes). He is a manipulative character who seeks revenge on Hamlet through other people he knows. On the other hand, Hamlet is the protagonist of the story, he is very unhappy after finding out the news of how his father had been killed (Innes). He is overtaken though by the ghost of his father, Old Hamlet, and is seen to become mad as a consequence. Although Hamlet seeks revenge against his

The bourgeois in the play criticize and demean others who they see as inferior. When Hamlet complements Horatio who is modest when accepting it, Hamlet tells him that he is not flattering him and asks, “Why should the poor be flatter’d?” (III.ii.55). He also says that there is nothing to gain from complimenting Horatio because he has nothing to give. This showcases how the wealthy value materialistic possessions and are okay with flattering others to get what they want. The bourgeois also use others to gain power. Claudius was willing to throw away his moral standards and kill his own brother for power. He does not allow anything to stand between him and the power that he wants. Claudius even knows that he does something that is dishonorable, but asks God if he can “be pardoned and retain the offence” (III.iii.59). Gertrude also tries to keep her status throughout the

In the beginning of the play, Claudius is portrayed as a cunning character who murders his own brother and marries his sister-in-law to attain the power of the crown, a power that he manages to craftily convince the people of Denmark belongs to him. It is not often that a softer side of Claudius is exposed to the audience, and when it is his views on religion and his own conduct come to light. This occurs during Claudius’ sole soliloquy, right after Hamlet has used the Mousetrap play to reveal to Claudius his knowledge of King Hamlet’s murder. Claudius considers the morality of his actions their religious implications when he admits that “[his] offense is rank, it smells to the heavens” (3.3.36). He identifies that his actions have been dishonest, and notices that his sins will most likely be noticed by God. He wants to repent for his actions, but doesn’t know if it is possible, wondering if “there (is) not rain enough in the sweet heavens / To wash (his hand covered in his brothers’ blood) white as snow” (3.3.45-6). He has to beg his body, “bow, stubborn knees, and, heart with strings of steel, / Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe” (3.3.70-1). Although he is begging his body to change, his subconscious is preventing him from bending his knees and softening his heart, therefore preventing him from acting on

Both females and the lower classes feel oppressed in Hamlet. The main difference being that all females are oppressed in this society, no matter the class. The oppression, whether it was between upper classes and lower classes or gender related, contributes to this play being truly tragic. The oppression only got worse as the story progressed as shown through Hamlet’s fate. First Hamlet feels betrayed when his father is murdered and then his mother marries the man who killed his father who is also his uncle. Polonius is killed by Hamlet, causing an oppressed Ophelia to lose all of her insanity which after a series of events leads to her death. It does not matter that Ophelia’s death might have been a suicide causing even more blame and reason

It seems that it is human nature to want to please others, but compromising ones values in order to do so can result in people getting hurt emotionally or physically. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the desire to please those in authority overweighs the judgment of many characters. These characters are more interested in pleasing those in power than doing what is in their best interest. This is seen in Polonious' eager attempt to use Ophelia, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's being coerced into spying on a good friend, and finally in Laertes' all too easy manipulation by Claudius to take revenge on his fathers' death. In all these instances, the characters put their

It is easy to view the characters in Hamlet as being completely helpless to the external forces that control their lives. This idea is pointed out by Michael Shelden in his article, “The Imagery of Constraint in Hamlet,” which uses Maurice Charney’s book to further assert that all characters do not have control over their destiny, supported with the use of traps in the play. However, both Charney and Shelden fail to represent that power structure plays a large role in destiny and they push all characters into the same powerless category. Shelden neglects to recognize Claudius has more freedom compared to any of the other characters because of his power. Within the play, Claudius is able to reach his ultimate goals before the play even begins by marrying the queen and obtaining the position as king. He continues to prove his freedom as the controller of the traps in the play and has the power to control the characters’ freedom with the use of these traps. Even as Hamlet attempts to trap him, Claudius is able to escape both times, showing the control he has over his freedom. When focusing on the power structure of the characters, Shelden’s assertion fails to recognize that although the characters in Hamlet are controlled, Claudius is the only character that has power over his freedom and that of other characters.

Throughout centuries, many of the qualities of a hero or a leader in the society have changed, yet there are still some qualities that have remained the same. In the story of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, leadership is the main theme of the play, as many different qualities of a leader are shown in the play by different characters and many have tried to become the highest power in Denmark, where the story takes play, whether rightfully or not. Being a successful leader means that the character can manage emotions, is resilient, and is ethical. The main leaders of the play are Hamlet, who is the prince of Denmark and also the main character, and Fortinbras, who is prince of Norway, but they show different heroic qualities from each other, therefore only one of them can be the leader, or hero, that the country needs.

What is Hamlet about? Maybe a summary of the plot could answer this question but it wouldn’t do it justice. However it’s impossible to narrow down any of William Shakespeare’s work to one theme. The fact is, that all of Shakespeare’s plays are about many things. There are many ways to look at a Shakespearean play, and none are wrong of course, but it is not entirely true to say that one theme is the most important. Some of the more common and dominate themes that can be found in any of Shakespeare’s works are: conflict, appearance and reality, order and disorder, and change.