Claudius and Hamlet

A detailed Summary of Claudius and Hamlet


When at the beginning of Act I scene ii of Hamlet we find that Claudius, and not young Hamlet is king of Denmark, we are surprised.

Part of this surprise comes from our anticipation that the son of the old king should be the natural heir to the throne. Shakespeare takes advantage of this expectation by naming his prince 'Hamlet'. So when, after encountering the ghost, Horatio and the others decide to "impart what we have seen tonight/Unto young Hamlet" (I, i,185), we are expecting to meet a young king and not the elder Claudius.

Why old Hamlet did not name his son as successor is not clear, but that he could have is shown strikingly when Claudius makes "the world take note" that Hamlet "is most immediate" to his throne (I, ii, 115). This, coupled with the fact that Hamlet was at Wittenberg when his father died, are the two conditions that enabled Claudius to seize power.

But taking control and remaining in control are two different things Claudius has some explaining to do, and this is precisely what occupies him for most of the second scene.

It is practical concerns, Claudius argues, that have forced him to become king. There is of course the threat of Fortinbras who, thinking De


The subsequent disclosures of the ghost to Hamlet in Act I, scene iv, would seem to make all this moot except that it all remains true nevertheless. Note that in his first soliloquy in scene ii, Hamlet contemplates suicide, mourns his father, laments the incestuous nature of his mother= relationship with Claudius, but never once disputes his uncle=s claim to the throne. When the ghost reveals Claudius' treachery, Hamlet's response - after his initial fury - is to lament the "cursed spite" that he "was born to set it right!" (I, v, 216).

(I, ii, 46-50)

nmark to be vulnerable "by our late dear brother's death" has been demanding "the surrender of those lands/Lost by his father" (I, ii, 23-24). In a gesture of contemptuous superiority, Claudius simply declares "So much for him" (I, ii, 25). That crisis is over.

The fact is Claudius is in control. He has already acknowledged the moral awkwardness of marrying his "sometime sister" Gertrude but characterizes it as mere political expedience: she is "The imperial jointress to this warlike state"(I, ii, 8-9). He thanks his supporters who have shown their "better wisdoms, which have freely gone/With this affair along" (I, ii, 15) and illustrates,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hamlet Wittenberg, Claudius Hamlet, According Claudius, Hamlet Act, Polonius Laertes, Claudius King, claudius hamlet, scene ii hamlet, scene ii, ii hamlet, father ii, act scene,

Approximate Word count = 839
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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