Similarities Between Hamlet And Claudius

He, wanting to determine why Hamlet has been acting mad, decides to spy on him when he is with Queen Gertrude. When talking to Gertrude before Hamlet has entered, Polonius states, "He will come straight. Look you lay home to him. / Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with / And that your Grace hath screened and stood between / Much heat and him. I'll silence me even here. / Pray you, be round with him" (III.iv.1-7). Hearing Hamlet coming, Polonius hides behind a tapestry. Hamlet enters and is rude to his mother. He tells her that she has offended King Hamlet by marrying Claudius. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he has forgotten who she is, he replies with "No, by the rood, not so. / You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And (would it were not so) you are my mother" (III.iv.19-21). Hamlet then tells his mother to sit, and that he is going to hold up a mirror so she can see who she truly is. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he is going to murder her, Polonius cries out for help from behind the tapestry. This leads to Hamlet thinking that Claudius is the one hiding, so he thrusts his sword into the tapestry, killing Polonius. Polonius' death leads to many further struggles between characters. When his children, Ophelia and Laertes, hear the news of their father's death, they do not take it well. Ophelia goes mad. She begins singing songs about her father's death - "He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and

Hamlet is a play that gives the audience an eye opening. It is an eye opening that reveals the question many of the “Hamlet” readers ask...What is trust? Shakespeare, in Hamlet, proved his point that not everybody can be relied on. He uses the example of Claudius and Gertrude to motivate the audience. The writer also constantly reminds the audience about loyalty, pain, and betrayal by using the character Hamlet and also the death of his father, who is also referred to as the “Ghost”. Not only does Hamlet use Claudius, Gertrude, and the “Ghost” as an example but he uses literary devices to completes his purpose. He also tries to make the reader experience what the characters are going through in the play which

truth about his father’s recent quietus. Hamlet’s uncle ,Claudius, marries his mother the queen, and therefore, takes the throne. In Act 1 (scene 5), Hamlet is told by the apparition of his dead father that it was his uncle, who murdered him. The theme that remains consistent throughout this tribulation is appearance versus reality. The characters introduced throughout the play, appear to be caring and honest, but in reality are nothing but evil. They deceitfully hide behind two-faced mask of integrity. Four main unfaithful characters which are found to be disguised as right-minded are Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the freshly thrown taking King, Claudius. The

Avenging his father becomes his life goal throughout the play which encourages his insanity further more. In Hamlet’s defense, he’s able to control his madness to use it against his enemies or anyone acquainted with his enemies. For example, Hamlet strikes at Ophelia, Gertrude and Polonius (in which whom they all are affiliated with Claudius). In a way, these 3 characters are affiliated with Claudius so by harming them, Hamlet is harming Claudius in an indirect relation. This is Hamlet’s life goal that his father has encouraged him to pursue, to seek revenge against Claudius and anyone affiliated with him. This causes fury and anxiety within Claudius which forces him to spy on Hamlet. Claudius describes it, “Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul.” (Shakespeare 3.1.167). As the play

“To be or not to be,” says Hamlet, acknowledging the presence of Claudius standing out of sight. The presence of betrayal is common throughout history, especially literary pieces such as Hamlet. One would even say the plot revolves around betrayal. Shakespeare’s use of betrayal served the purpose of unveiling the characters for who they really are. It does this by, pushing the character to abandoning their values and placing their family, friends, and kingdom in harm.

2) Claudius thinks that he is attending a play, but Hamlet is getting his actors to reenact the murder of his father so he can observe Claudius's reactions, to see if the information that he has received is true.

Due to Hamlet finding this out, throughout the play he wonders if he should get revenge or not. As the play progress, the readers are let into many secrets and many destructive plans. Claudius was seen to be the one that started the domino-effect of corruption in Denmark, treason was shown to be a normal thing in Denmark, and also Hamlet’s ‘friends’ seem to also help the idea that was wrong nepotism in Denmark. Some readers may think the word rotten connects to Claudius in many ways. Late King Hamlet describe him as “that incestuous, that adulterate beast” (I.V.47), but who can blame him since especially after he married his wife of only him being “two months dead” (I.II.141).

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the title Prince is disgusted by his mother’s quick marriage to his uncle Claudius after the death of his father. The old king’s ghost informs Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius and tasks his son to avenge his death. This leads to a Hamlet’s stress and possible madness through the play, where he is seen in serious contemplation of life and death in his “To be or not to be...” soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 56). When Hamlet speaks with Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and his mother, King Claudius or Polonius are often spying on him. This invasion of privacy or spying is a motif throughout the play that shows how the Prince cannot trust his lover, his friends, or his mother and it reflects how he is ultimately alone in his mental struggle through his mother’s marriage and the murder of his father.

Hamlet and Oedipus are stories about sons of royalty, cursed with the death’s of their fathers, then cursed with incest and secrets. In a soliloquy near the end of the play, Hamlet recollects, “How stand I, then, / That have a father killed, a mother stained, / Excitements of my reason and my blood,” (Shakespeare 4.4.60-61). After finding out truth of his curse, he cries out, “Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,” (Sophocles 1122). Hamlet and Oedipus are both typified by their rash and impulsive behavior that will ultimately lead to their downfall. Oedipus, King of Thebes, kills his father without knowledge of who it was in rash behavior he says, “But as the charioteer lurched towards me I struck him in my rage… and he rolled on the ground. I killed him.”(Sophocles 766-767, 771). Anger consumes Oedipus and torments him as his brother-in-law Creon says, “Ugly in yielding, as you were ugly in rage!/ Natures like yours chiefly torment themselves.” (Sophocles 635-636). Likewise, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, acts impulsively to get revenge upon his uncle, King Claudius, for killing King Hamlet and in the end gets himself killed. Although Laertes tells the truth, saying, “The King, the King’s to blame.” just lines later, Hamlet says, “Horatio, I am dead. / Thou livest; report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied.” (5.2.351, 370-373)

In literature and film, relationships between characters often change to impact plot or illustrate theme and meaning. This is especially true in Franco Zeffirelli’s movie adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Hamlet and Horatio’s friendship develops with the story and gives us insight into the meaning of trust. Horatio is first introduced as an apparent friend of Hamlet that has come to tell him about King Hamlet’s ghost. Horatio’s role as friend is important to the story right from his very first scene. This is because he is the one that tells Hamlet about the ghost instead of the other guards.

A major moment in Act 3 Scene 1 is when King Claudius is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He’s shaken up by the play and now actually considering that Hamlet could be insane and extremely dangerous. Claudius continues to asks the pair to take Hamlet on a trip to England and to leave right way.They both agreed to leave Hamlet to make preparations. Polonius reminds the king of his plan to hide in Gertrude’s room while Hamlets in there to listen to their conversation. Polonius leaves the room and the king is alone, and he immediately expresses his guilt and grief over his sin.In Shakespeare Hamlet Act 3,Scene 3, Claudius expressed on page 67, line 36-53

When it comes to the play Hamlet, there is a thrill seeking question to be asked; Is the plot of the play driven by revenge or corruption? The answer is debatably corruption; When one reflects back to what happens right before the play begins, when Claudius kills his brother, an individual would most likely lean more towards corruption driving the plot and, therefore, being the answer to the previous question. However, since the details of the incident are not completely revealed and there being no information on the brothers relationship prior to the incident, corruption can not be a concrete answer and revenge can not be completely ruled out. Claudius could have indeed been seeking revenge by killing his brother and marrying his wife, and there is more supportive evidence that leans towards revenge driving the plot due to what is actually being stated and clearly represented in the play. Therefore the plot of Hamlet is more likely to be presented as being revenge driven. Because of all the events that went on and the reasoning behind these events it is easy to see that revenge strongly drives the plot of Hamlet, in a way that the characters act on emotion rather than thought.

A christian shall not wrath, lust, envy, pride, gluttony, greed or sloth. These are the seven deadly sins and in this play’s setting, everyone is assumed of being a christian, and if so everyone who was involved with Hamlet and Claudius is without a doubt going to hell. In this particular situation between Hamlet and Claudius it is unthinkable that any one of these two will still being going to heaven, for all the deaths that has accumulated between their family feud. Each character’s moral obligation to being a christian have been broken since the beginning and as the story progresses each character’s sense of morality degrades into nothing. It is almost as if Hamlet’s morality spins in balance, Hamlet has lost all sense morality after the following death of his father, beginning a new quest for vengeance on Claudius to believe it will bring back balance to his morality or peace in his mind.

Renowned British writer, William Shakespeare, in one of his most popular works, Hamlet, chronicles the growing suspicion and the eventual fatal confrontation between uncle and nephew. Within the first few pages, such contention is made apparent through the interactions between the two and Hamlet’s disclosure of his attitude regarding his uncle. He declares, “Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature possess it merely,” in an effort to characterize Claudius as the weed that will infiltrate and destruct the garden, or rather Denmark (Shakespeare 1.2.135-137). Through an emphasis on Hamlet’s distrust of and contempt for his uncle, as well as offerings of comparisons between Old Hamlet and Claudius, Shakespeare alludes to the aforementioned statement as being a metaphor for Denmark’s well-being in the hands of Claudius.

According to Act three scene four,  he let the queen see his anger, his madness; he is no more a gentle prince, who was arranging a great play to prove his father's death was due to Claudius. Although acting like a madman, Hamlet does not hide the reason he must go this way. "You are the Queen, your husband’s brother’s wife. And ( would not were not so) you are my mother" ( III.4.171.20-21). “Hamlet’s passionate revulsion from his mother’s second marriage will get the better of him, despite, or because of, the natural ties between them”.Then he let his anger control him from the emotions, the mind of a human. His actions, who are crazy, have killed an innocent person, Polonius, the audience is hiding to observe on the conversation. Based on the play, Hamlet action against the queen was “a rash and bloody deed” (III.4.171.34), however, for Hamlet, the killing of Claudius was only equivalent to the act of conspiracy of her with Claudius to his father “A bloody deed-almost a bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother” (III.4.171.34-35). Because, as soon as Hamlet had killed the eavesdropper, he rejoiced at his assumption that is Claudius.