Hamlet and New King Claudius Essay

Submitted By bencope16
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Pages: 4
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Ben Copeland
Mrs. McCall
British Literature
6 November 2012
Hamlet
Do you know anyone that has ever been fake, cruel, or greedy? William Shakespeare has become the most famous playwright of all time, one of his well-known plays would be Hamlet. Shakespeares’s son named Hamnet had passed away while Shakespeare was in London. His play Hamlet relates to the passing of his son, as well as Shakespeare’s life. In the play “Hamlet” a young prince mourns the death of his father. He seeks revenge on the person who murdered him. There are many obstacles along the way, but in the end he kills his father’s murderer. The murderer was Hamlet’s uncle, his name was Claudius. The Character Claudius in William Shakespeare’s play shows selfishness to get what he wanted, while doing this being very unoriginal and even cruel at times. The new king Claudius showed self-ambition numerous times in this play. Claudius was not always king, his brother King Hamlet was, but he always wanted to be on the throne and have the power his brother had. When King Hamlet was napping, Claudius came and poured poison in his ear and killed his brother. Claudius always wanted to get the throne and knew when the king was at his weakest. When King Hamlet was sleeping in his favorite spot, Claudius committed the murder of his brother. The only person that knew of the murder was Hamlet which he had been told from the ghost of King Hamlet. King Claudius wanted Hamlet dead and tried several times to get him killed. In the end he finally murders Hamlet with a poisoned tipped sword. Hamlet’s uncle married his mother which was King Hamlet’s wife. Claudius has always wanted to be with the king’s wife. Gertrude (Hamlets mother) also wanted the power of being queen, so she got what she wanted in marrying Claudius. Two weeks after the funeral of his dear brother, the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude had begun. King Claudius got many things that he wanted, but as you can tell he was very cruel as well. Claudius had committed several cruel things to other people. Whenever he had suspicion of anyone, he would do anything in his power to commit cruel things. Claudius even called on Polonius to spy on Hamlet. Polonius used his power over Ophelia to walk past hamlet, so Polonius could cruelly spy on him. ”Hamlet slays Polonius when he mistakes the meddlesome eavesdropper for Claudius.”(Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Eric Sterling) Claudius was cruel in using his power, but that wasn’t the only time. Claudius arranges for a duel where hamlet faces off versus Laertes. Laertes accepts this easily in wanting revenge for his fathers (Polonius) death. “This complex drama contains several characters who seek revenge against others.”(Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Eric sterling) Claudius poisons the tip of the sword and gives it Laertes and when they start the duel, Laertes kills Hamlet. This was a very cruel way to die, but Claudius had it arranged. Hamlet wasn’t the only one King Claudius wanted killed. Claudius wanted King Hamlet dead, so he poisoned him just like his son. Just when he was asleep, Claudius had the king killed. King Claudius was very cruel in his ways and murdered numerous people. King Claudius was cruel to the closest people around him,
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