The most potent example of this occurs in act 1 scene 2 when Claudius first speaks. ... Throughout the play the audience sees things for things which they did not appear to be, in this case the appearance of Claudius's love towards his "dear brother" in reality is false. ... Through Claudius perception of death Shakespeare reveals Claudius's true character. ... Claudius's skill with words is essential to his character. ... What this reveals about Claudius's character can be interpreted in two ways. ...

• Word Count: 1997
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet thinks his father was an excellent king, who loved his mother so much that he may might not beteem the winds of heaven/ Visit her face to roughly (I, ii, 140-141). ... Hamlet originally professes his love for Ophelia during his visitations to her closet, and through the love letter which he writes to her. ... He viciously insults the women whom he said he loved, and this greatly disturbs her. ... When Laertes proclaims his love for Ophelia and his sorrow for her death, Hamlet rushes from his concealment and jumps into the grave after Laertes. Hamlet insults Laertes when he states, Forty...

• Word Count: 2834
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• Grade Level: High School

After all, if the love between them were weakened, the impact of that kind of love rejection followed by her support of Claudius would be lessened. ... After all, in killing Claudius, Hamlet would not be killing the man his beloved mother loves. Gertrude would also not condemn Hamlet for killing or attempting to kill Claudius if she did not love Claudius. ... Also, he needs his mother's love much more than he needs Ophelia's love. ... (The evidence for this arbitrary reliance on his mother's love comes from his father and Claudius both professing of their powerful need for Gertr...

• Word Count: 2027
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Hamlet then begins to make plots to kill Claudius. ... " The determination that Claudius had to become king, made the dead king comes back seeking revenge on Claudius. ... I did love you once. (Act 3:1 111-115) Ophelia believes that Hamlet once loved her, but Ophelia does not know that Hamlet still loves her. ... Ophelia knowing the man she use to love has murdered her own father lose total trust in Hamlet. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Similarly, Hamlet's love for Ophelia, seems irrational to her father, thus Polonius expresses contempt for his daughter to influence Ophelia's thoughts on authenticity of Hamlet's affection. ... The reader meets Claudius as a very unemotional and political personality. ... As Claudius chastises Hamlet, the king seeks for control over Hamlet's unrealistic spirits of grief. ... Polonius' knowledge about Hamlet's love to his daughter, Ophelia, seems as a very absurd thought to him; therefore, Polonius humbles Ophelia in order to obtain control over her thoughts. ... ...

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These include Claudius betraying the king, Hamlet leaving Ophelia, and Claudius attempting to kill Hamlet. ... From me, whose love was of that dignity that it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor to those of mine! ... By denying his love for Ophelia, he leaves her confused and broken hearted. She didn't understand why the man she loved was now acting as though he was disgusted by her and as if he never cared for her at all. ... Hamlet truly loves Ophelia, but she will never know because of his deceptive p...

• Word Count: 750
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Similarly, Hamlet's love for Ophelia, seems irrational to her father, thus Polonius expresses contempt for his daughter to influence Ophelia's thoughts on authenticity of Hamlet's affection. ... Claudius demeans Hamlet's emotions to obtain his control over Hamlet's spirit of agony. The reader meets Claudius as a very unemotional and political personality. ... Polonius' knowledge about Hamlet's love to his daughter, Ophelia, seems as a very absurd thought to him; therefore, Polonius humbles Ophelia in order to obtain control over her thoughts. ... As Claudius ...

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Hamlet's true love, Ophelia, worries constantly about Hamlet. ... I loved you not." (III, I, 117-119) His offensive statement destroys Ophelia's belief in his love and she begins to give up on Hamlet. What she didn't know is that Hamlet was truly in love with her. ... The farther Hamlet is from Claudius, the more danger Claudius could be in. ...

• Word Count: 1415
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• Grade Level: High School

I hate the Moor The main difference between Claudius and Iago, which makes Iago far more evil than Claudius, is simply Claudius's guilt. ... Similarly hypocritical is Claudius. ... By using the trust of those who loved them, whether it is as a husband or a friend, Iago and Claudius are able to mold opinions to their benefit. Implanting the suspicion of Desdemona's infidelity into Othello's mind is especially easy, considering the fact that Othello and Desdemona were newlyweds and Othello had already begun to have doubts as to how she could love an uncultured Moor as himsel...

• Word Count: 1814
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

After all, if the love between them were weakened, the impact of that kind of love rejection followed by her support of Claudius would be lessened. ... After all, in killing Claudius, Hamlet would not be killing the man his beloved mother loves. Gertrude would also not condemn Hamlet for killing or attempting to kill Claudius if she did not love Claudius. ... Also, he needs his mother's love much more than he needs Ophelia's love. ... (The evidence for this arbitrary reliance on his mother's love comes from his father and Claudius both professing of their powerful need for Gertr...

• Word Count: 3498
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

Claudius deceives Gertrude and uses her as a mean to gain power. ... Without knowing that it is Claudius responsible for the death of the king, Gertrude trusts Claudius for being the right heir to the thrown and marries him. Claudius also tricks everybody by showing that he is a loving, caring and responsible stepfather to Hamlet in order to gain the trust and love of Gertrude. For instance, Claudius shows his fictitious love for Hamlet in front of the Queen when he states, "This mad young man. But so much was our love"(4.1.19). ...

• Word Count: 837
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Laertes was poised by the ideas of Claudius and midway during the fight he says to himself, "And yet it is almost against my conscience" (V:ii, 273). This realization shows how the obsessions of Claudius took over Laertes, and his own revenge quest prevented him from seeing Claudius" deceit. ... Gertrude is poisoned by Claudius greedy obsession for power. ... In addition, it is Hamlets obsession with taking revenge on Claudius that leads to his downfall. ... Her ideals of true love are shattered when Hamlet yells, "Get thee to a nunnery, farewell" (III:i, 134). ...

• Word Count: 482
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In contrast to the ghost's opinion of the crime, King Claudius feels mixed remourse and self serving ambition. In lines 36-39, Claudius compares his crime to the crime of Cain in the Bible. ... These lines clearly show that while Claudius did plot his brother's demise, he did not slay without remourse. ... He also expresses his love for the queen, his dignity, and confusion in lines 46-49, "The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen...From me, whose love was of that dignity..." ... In true political manner, Claudius' words flow smoothly but the his meaning runs converse to his w...

• Word Count: 852
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Claudius is presented as a multi-faced character. ... Claudius seem to have a large, booming voice in the film. ... Claudius is dressed with a nicely contemporary look. ... In the text, it is never clear if Hamlet ever truly loved Ophelia, and we are left to decide this for ourselves. ... Ophelia could not handle the loss of Hamlet's love, her brother's absence, and her father's death. ...

• Word Count: 1422
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet is a play of love and love lost. ... Gertrude betrays that love by marrying her brother-in-law, Claudius, and Ophelia betrays his love by refusing him on her father's advice. ... Gertrude too, experiences love lost when she loses her husband, so she turns to Claudius to replace it (just like Hamlet turned to her and Ophelia to replace his). Similarly, her second love betrays her, but by the time she discovers this, she is already dying (after Claudius accidentally poisoned her). ... You could almost call Claudius his second love, since the King wooed Laertes into joining hi...

• Word Count: 390
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

At this point Hamlet is certain that Claudius is responsible for his father's murder. ... After Hamlet realizes that Claudius is guilty, he comes across him in the chapel. He is given the perfect opportunity to finally kill Claudius, but turns it down because he does not want to kill Claudius while he is praying. ... Hamlet treated his mother in a rude fashion, because he loved and trusted her, but she married Claudius less than a few months after his father's death. ... However, Ophelia's love for Hamlet caused her to mistake Hamlet's original intention for his distrust an...

• Word Count: 1089
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• Grade Level: High School

Claudius is at prayer, and Hamlet surely doesn't want to send Claudius to heaven after he is absolved by prayer. ... Both women that are important to him, Ophelia and Gertrude, have turned away his love or betrayed him. ... Claudius brings so much sin into Hamlet's world that Hamlet refuses to allow Claudius to be forgiven for it. ... He is disgusted with Claudius" behaviour. ... He must, and will kill Claudius, the man who murdered his father and who stole the crown and his mother's love. ...

• Word Count: 1261
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The decaying metaphor refers to the sighting of the ghost and the corruption that Claudius' usurpation has bought to the kingdom. ... The murder of Old King Hamlet has caused Claudius' mindset to become corrupted in order to control Denmark for himself. ... Conflicted with the sudden marriage of Gertrude to Claudius, Hamlet searchers deeper into their relationship, accusing her of marrying Claudius for sex, denigrating women further. "You cannot call it love, for your age The heyday in the blood is tame, it's humble." This metaphor outlines Hamlet's intrinsic unde...

• Word Count: 1108
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In Act I Scene 5, the Ghost explains to Hamlet, how Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, murdered his father and that he wants Hamlet to avenge his death (I.v.38-90). ... This occurs throughout the play, but is more apparent when Hamlet learns of his mother's marriage to Claudius, in the beginning of the play. This hatred stems from a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption; which leads him to reject Ophelia's love and to call his mother incestuous. ... This in turn, directs Hamlet's resolution on killing Claudius and he stabs him, before he himself dies, ending the ...

• Word Count: 1979
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

He urges Hamlet that he must take revenge for his murder and kill Claudius, and says, "If thou didst ever thy father love/...Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (I.v: 29, 31). ... When the play (appropriately titled "The Mouse Trap" because of its design to catch Claudius) is performed, Claudius storms out, crying, "Give me some light: away!"... Hamlets first opportunity to kill Claudius is when Claudius is confessing to god. ... He wants Claudius to have to go through purgatory, so although this is the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, he can't. ... Hamlet stops himself from...

• Word Count: 988
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Claudius' motives to kill the old King Hamlet was to become King himself, to be more important and powerful than he was before and also to marry Gertrude whom he loved. ... Hamlet refers to King Claudius as a "bloody, bawdy villain" (2.2.580). ... That way, Claudius will go to hell, as opposed to heaven. ... Therefore he must wait for Claudius to sin in order to fulfill is destiny. ... Hamlet learned that he needed to kill King Claudius in order to get revenge on him for killing his father, however it had to be under the circumstance that Claudius' soul would be sent to he...

• Word Count: 1120
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The play Hamlet begins with deception as Claudius has killed his brother, King Hamlet, in order to take power and the love of his wife as well. ... Finally, Claudius sets up a fencing duel between Hamlet and Laertes noting that it is to determine who has greater love for Ophelia. ... Thus, Claudius also has a plan B in the case Hamlet will be victorious. ... He appeared to love and care for his son as he gave him advice about being true to yourself and not be false to anyone else. ... Yet, in reality Hamlet actually does love her and would never harm her. ...

• Word Count: 1918
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

In the Play Hamlet, Claudius has a downfall throughout the play. ... By the beginning of Act III, Hamlet is almost ready to kill Claudius, but he still needs more proof that Claudius killed his father. ... After this Hamlet spies on Claudius. ... The development of Claudius' guilt is a gradual transformation. ... She tells him "If you do not do this for me u are not man enough and I will no longer love you". ...

• Word Count: 1027
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

For most people, it's the last thing that crosses their minds when they cheat on a test or lie to the people they love. ... Like Claudius, Cain murders his brother out of envy. ... When Claudius confesses having killed his brother, Hamlet had all the proof he needed to confirm what the ghost had told him. ... He realized that he had to kill Claudius when he was committing a sin so that he would go to hell and be punished for his sins. This is an important detail that Shakespeare included in order for Hamlet to not kill Claudius right away. ...

• Word Count: 993
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Who places the blame of his death upon his brother, Claudius, who has married his once widowed wife. ... Many others were killed: his mother, the court advisor Polonius, his son Leartes, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Hamlet's Love Ophelia, and Hamlet himself; all because of Hamlet's procrastination. ... As well they each show similarities to the noble late King Hamlet, or the deceitful King Claudius. ... This is shown by their betrayal of Hamlet, their school friend, in order to please the king, Claudius. ... (II, ii, 60-79) Telling King Claudius pure facts about their meeting with For...

• Word Count: 1487
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School