Any man who marries his
brother’s wife and then closes out his nephew, and new son from any escape,
after the sudden death of King Hamlet: a brother, a husband, and a father, has
alternative motives for his actions. King Claudius is a greedy, and power
hungry brother who was constantly out-shown by his brother until he turned the
tables on him.
King Claudius takes
advantage of his brother’s passing to gain nothing but personal power. The only
reason that someone would bypass the mourning of a family member is if it made
things more convenient, or if they could gain something from their death. King
Claudius marries queen Gertrude not only to secure his position as King, but
also to prevent the thrown to be given to the prince, Hamlet. Very nonchalantly
King Claudius says that Gertrude went from being “our sometime sister” to “our
queen” (1.1.8) Within the month of King Hamlet’s death, Gertrude simply goes
from being a sister to a wife, and from a widow, to a remarried woman almost as
if it was some sort of business deal.
Shortly after King Hamlet
died, Claudius just swoops in, marries Prince Hamlet’s mom, steals his place in
the kingdom and holds Hamlet in the ruined family dynamic. Instead of banishing
Hamlet from the kingdom because he is a potential threat to his thrown, he
holds him hostage in the kingdom because he knows it is more painful for him. Claudius
knows that he disapproves of his marriage, so he doesn’t let Hamlet return to
school in Wittenberg. Hamlet believes that she “ere yet the salt of most
unrighteous tears/ had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes” (1.2.160). Hamlet
believes that his mother should be mourning the death of her husband instead of
moving on so quickly with her brother-in-law. He cannot come to terms with why
he is mourning his father’s death and why his mother is not. Claudius forces
Hamlet to endure his own living hell in his castle, and under his rule.
Katelyn, I love how you described King Claudius as being greedy and power hungry. I completely agree that he had nothing but evil intentions in mind, and used his brother’s death as a way to gain power. King Claudius is definitely holding Hamlet hostage, and I appreciate you bringing this to light because I hadn’t realized that before. Your use of quotes is brilliant and perfectly relevant. I really agree with all your points, but wish you had written more. I would have loved to dive deeper into all the thoughts you brought to light. You bring a lot of really interesting points to the table and if you could just add more the blog would become stellar!! Keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteHey Katelyn!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It's funny because I agree with you on most of this, but there are some aspects that I have a different opinion on.To start, I disagree with the fact that Claudius is greedy and power hungry. I feel like he was thrown into the situation and is merely trying to prove himself to the people of Denmark. That fact that Hamlet was in college in Germany, he didn't exactly get a choice on whether or not he wanted to take the crown. Don't you think that if he really wanted to take the crown, he would have spoken up and said something? I don't know, I guess it's just something to think about. I do agree with you that it is completely inappropriate and bizarre that Claudius as well as Gertrude would get so cozy so soon. I feel bad for Hamlet. He is being treated like he had no connection with the former king when in reality, that was his father! Great post though! Cant wait too see what Shakespeare brings us next!