Blog #2

Claudius is the King of Denmark. He builds up a shrewd, conniving and wicked image compared with the other characters in the play Hamlet. In contrast with other men especially Hamlet who holds the ideas of justice and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon maintaining his throne. He absolutely does not deserve the throne, since the only ability he has is to manipulate others through his conspiracy. 

Before the death of the old king, his larger overarching objective is to obtain the throne in order to satisfy his desire of powers. Thus, he brutally kills Hamlet’s father by pouring the poison into this ear. After he successfully inherits the throne, and becomes the King of Denmark, he wants to maintain his power, preventing from being threatened. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, and Hamlet would be the biggest threats. Therefore, he marries Gertrude as another strategic move, to help him keep the throne away from Hamlet. However, as the play progressed, after the accident death of Polonius, Hamlet’s insanity gradually makes him feel threatened. Thus, he takes another step to get rid of Hamlet by manipulating the death of Polonius in the Act IV, scene iii. 

In the Act IV, scene iii, the main objective that Claudius wants to achieve is to address his last threat by using Polonius’ death in order to reach his larger goal — maintaining his own power. At the beginning of this scene, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appears with Hamlet, who was under guard. Claudius asks Hamlet the location of Polonius’s body, and Hamlet pointedly answers that Polonius is in heaven; he can send a messenger to find him in heaven, or seek him in hell himself. Finally, Hamlet tells that Polonius’s body is near the lobby, and the king sends his attendants to seek Polonius there. And then, Claudius eventually throws out his objective — send Hamlet into exile in England. Also, he lets his courtiers to follow him to make sure that Hamlet boards the ship. More importantly, he sends a letter to England to call for Prince Hamlet to be put to death. 

Within this scene, Claudius’s vicious image is perfectly performed. Before this, Claudius has not feel any threats from Hamlet to his throne. But now, he finally perceives the depth of the “insane” Hamlet, and takes actions, building up a near-perfect plan to root out the last biggest threat, Hamlet. This is the third plot that he brews for the acquisition of his goal, after he poisons the old king, and marries the queen. Although the following things are not going his way: Hamlet returns, Claudius exhibits somehow more heroism than Hamlet. He never feels lost or hesitated like what Hamlet does throughout most of the play; he knows what he wants. He has been trying to control his fortune, and in the pursuit of satisfying his desires of powers. Despite of his persistence, he is still a villain who murdered and lied. He never admits his guilt, and refuses to ask for his forgiveness.