Hamlet Essays - Characters In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, King Claudius

Hamlet In the first three acts of the play Hamlet, King Claudius go through a subtle, but defined change in character. Claudius role in the play begins as the newly corrinated king of Denmark. The former king, King Hamlet, was poisoned by his brother, Claudius, while he was asleep. Claudius, however, made it known to everyone that the king died of a snakebite in the garden, and thus no one knew of the murder that had just taken place making his murder the perfect crime. The only problem that Claudius must deal with now is his conscience. After Claudius commits the deed of killing King Hamlet, he almost immediately marries Hamlet's wife, Queen Gertrude. Claudius also gains a new son, his former nephew Hamlet, the son of King Hamlet. Young Hamlet is very displeased with his mother's hasty marriage of Claudius and is angered by this incest. Hamlet has a deep attraction for his mother which goes beyond the traditional, mother-son relationship. At this point in the play, Hamlet does not know that Claudius has murdered his father, but he dislikes him anyway. Claudius is not a bad king, which is demonstrated by his handling of the situation between Young Fortinbras and Denmark, but he is not extremely popular with the people and has brought back the obnoxious custom of firing the cannons whenever the king takes a drink. Claudius' conscience, here is non-existent. After the ghost of the dead King Hamlet tells Hamlet to avenge his murder, Hamlet has a reason to truly hate Claudius. From this point on in the play, there is definitely friction between the two. When Claudius offers Hamlet the throne after he dies, Hamlet acts apathetic as if the rule of Denmark was, but a mere trifle. Hamlet enters a deep depression which the king and others, see as madness. First they think that Hamlet is lovesick over Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, but after the king spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in conversation, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is mad, a threat to his rule, and must be sent to England to be executed. This is a sign of the king's uneasiness over the mettle of Hamlet's anger which is directed towards him. The last thing that Claudius wants is for Hamlet to be unhappy with him, in fear that Hamlet will overthrow him, discover the murder, or possibly kill him. The king becomes increasingly nervous as time passes, making him a bit paranoid over Hamlet. By the beginning of Act III, Hamlet is almost ready to kill Claudius, but he still needs more proof that Claudius killed his father, and he also wants to put off the murder because he is a bit of a coward. Claudius is beginning to lose his composure. Hamlet decides to set a trap for him in the form of a play. The subject of the play is the murder of a king by his brother who, in turn, marries the king's wife. The plot of the play is strikingly similar to the circumstances of King Hamlet's murder, which strikes a disharmonious chord in the conscience of Claudius. In the middle of the play during the murder scene, Claudius gets up and begs for the play to stop so that he can get some air. Hamlet is very angered by this because it confirms that Claudius did kill his father. Later that night, Claudius prays to god to forgive him for his sins, but he is not ready to give up his new crown and his new wife. Guilt has begun to cloud over Claudius' thoughts, and it will indeed drive him to the brink of insanity and beyond. Hamlet spies Claudius, praying with his back turned and on his knees, but he passes up the opportunity to kill the monarch with the excuse of not wanting to accidentally send Claudius to Heaven. The development of Claudius' guilt is a gradual transformation. This metamorphosis will come to a head later in the play. The guilt though, has already begun to affect the actions of Claudius in his everyday life, by transforming a normal night out to the theater into a devastating insight into his own life. Hamlet, although he

Sources of Titles Drawn from Shakespeare

Sources of Titles Drawn from Shakespeare Sources of Titles Drawn from Shakespeare Sources of Titles Drawn from Shakespeare By Maeve Maddox Today is April 23. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAKESPEARE! Here are the sources of the titles given in yesterdays post. 1. The Moon Is Down, John Steinbeck BANQUO: How goes the night, boy? FLEANCE: The moon is down. I have not heard the clock. Macbeth, II.i The remark adds to a sense of evil foreboding; Macbeth is on his way to murder Duncan. 2. Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers ANTONY: †¦Come, Lets have one other gaudy night: call to me All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more; Lets mock the midnight bell. Antony and Cleopatra, III.xiii Antony is speaking to Cleopatra. Their end is nigh, but theyre going to party. 3. Under the Greenwood Tree, Thomas Hardy AMIENS: Under the greenwood tree Who loves to lie with me, And turn his merry note Unto the sweet birds throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. As You Like It, II.v Jaques and the other forest dwellers listen to Amiens sing about their idyllic life. 4. And Be a Villain, Rex Stout HAMLET: O villain, villain, smiling, damnà ¨d villain! My tablesmeet it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark. Hamlet, I.v Hamlet is talking about his uncle/stepfather Claudius, the murderer of his father. 5. Something Wicked This Way Comes. Ray Bradbury SECOND WITCH: By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. [Knocking] Open locks, Whoever knocks! [Enter Macbeth] Macbeth, IV, i This is the second scene with the witches. The first time, they accosted Macbeth. This time he is seeking them out. He has begun the downward path into evil. 6. Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov TIMON: The suns a thief, and with his great attraction Robs the vast sea: the moons an arrant thief And her pale fire she snatches from the sun. Timon of Athens IV, iii Misanthrope Timon is discoursing on his view that everyones a crook. Nabokovs story is about the creative fire of the poet. An echo of the pale fire from the Timon of Athens quotation is in a line spoken by the ghost of Hamlets father. Morning is approaching and he must return to Purgatory: GHOST: Fare thee well at once! The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, And gins to pale his uneffectual fire: Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. [Exit] Hamlet, I,v 7. Band of Brothers, Stephen Ambrose HENRY V: This story [of Agincourt] shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall neer go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberd; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers Henry V, IV.iii Henry is giving his discouraged men a pep talk before a last desperate assault on the French. 8. The Dogs of War, Frederick Forsyth ANTONY: And Caesars spirit, ranging for revenge, With Ate by his side come hot from hell, Shall in these confines with a monarchs voice Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war Julius Caesar, III.i Antony, speaking at Caesars funeral, desires to stir up the populace against the assassins. After describing the horrors of civil war, he depicts the ghost of Julius Caesar leading the attack. 9. There is a Tide, Agatha Christie CASSIUS: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea re we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. Julius Caesar, IV, iii Cassius is trying to persuade Brutus that they must fight at Philippi. 10. By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Agatha Chrstie See Number 5 above. 11. Not in Our Stars, M. M. Marshall CASSIUS: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Julius Caesar, I,ii Cassius is urging Brutus to act against Julius Caesar. 12. Chimes at Midnight, Terence White SHALLOW: Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen that that this knight and I have seen! Ha, Sir John, said I well? FALSTAFF: We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow. Henry IV part 2, III,ii Falstaff and Shallow, in the company of Silence, are reminiscing about their youth. Only rowdies and people up to no good would have stayed out late enough to hear the clock strike midnight. 13. The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie CLAUDIUS: Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence in t? HAMLET: No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; no offence i the world. CLAUDIUS: What do you call the play? HAMLET: The Mouse-trap. Hamlet, III, ii Hamlet has hired actors to present a play with which he hopes to catch the conscience of the king. Uncomfortable as the play proceeds, Claudius asks Hamlet for more information. 14. Twice-Told Tales, Nathaniel Hawthorne LEWIS (Louis, Dauphin of France)†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã‚  Theres nothing in this world can make me joy: †¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale †¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man; †¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And bitter shame hath spoild the sweet worlds taste †¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That it yields nought but shame and bitterness. King John, III,iv Lewis is depressed because the fortunes of war have turned against France. His meaning is that a twice-told tale is boring and tedious. Hawthorne and other writers used twice-told tales in another sense: old stories retold for modern readers. 15. A Muse of Fire, A.D. Harvey PROLOGUE: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of Mars and at his heels, Leashd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire Crouch for employment†¦ †¦can this cockpit hold The vasty fields of France? or may we cram Within this wooden O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt? Henry V, Prologue Kenneth Branagh opens his film version of the play with an actor declaiming these lines on an Elizabethan stage. Then the scene opens out into the vasty fields of France and the realistic action that movies excel in. Shakespeare had to do it all with words and a few stage props. 16. Strange Snow, Steve Metcalfe PHILOSTRATE [reading]: A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth. THESEUS: Merry and tragical! Tedious and brief! That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow. How shall we find the concord of this discord? Midsummer Nights Dream, V, i Theseus is reacting to the comical, contradictory description of the play of Pyramus and Thisbe offered as wedding entertainment by Bottom the weaver and the other mechanicals. 17. Walk the Night, Robert C. Reinhart GHOST: I am thy fathers spirit, Doomd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. Hamlet, I,v 18. A Plague on Both Your Houses. Robert. W. Whitaker MERCUTIO: I am hurt. A plague o both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing? Romeo and Juliet, III, i Romeos friend Mercutio has been in a fight with Tybalt, a Capulet. Tybalt has escaped without a scratch, but Mercutio is fatally wounded. With his dying breath he curses the senseless hostility between the Montagues and the Capulets that has ended his life. 19. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner MACBETH: To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Macbeth V,v Macbeth has come to the end of the road. Lady Macbeth is dead, and MacDuff is at the gates of Dunsinane Castle. All his scheming and criminal behavior amount to a pile of ashes. 20. Dagger of the Mind, Star Trek episode MACBETH: Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision*, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? Macbeth, II,i Macbeth is on his way to murder King Duncan. Hes hallucinating because of the guilt he feels. *Fatal Vision, true crime book by Joe McGiniss; Fatal Vision, TV miniseries starring Karl Malden Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†What is the Difference Between Metaphor and Simile?May Have vs. Might Have