Claudius of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

Claudius of Hamlet A close second in nobility to the protagonist in Shakespeares Hamlet is the incredible queer Claudius. His superior qualities render him a worthy antagonist capable of a plummeting downfall at the climax. G. Wilson Knight in The Embassy of Death interprets the character of Claudius Claudius, as he appears in the play, is not a criminal. He is - strange as it may seem - a good and gentle king, enmeshed by the chain of causality linking him with his crime. And this chain he might, perhaps, have broken neglect for Hamlet, and all would have been well. But, granted the presence of Hamlet - which Claudius at offshoot genuinely desired, persuading him not to return to Wittenberg as he wished - and granted the point of his original crime which cannot now be altered, Claudius cannot now be accuse for his later actions. They are forced on him. As King, he could hardly be expected to do otherwise. (n. pag.) The drama opens after Hamlet has merely returned from W ittenberg, England, where he has been a student. What brought him home was the news of his fathers last and his uncles accession to the throne of Denmark. Philip Burton in Hamlet discusses Claudius sudden deck up to the Danish throne upon the death of King Hamlet I A strong new king was immediately needed the election of Claudius, in particular in the absence of Hamlet, was inevitable. What is much, it was immediately justified, because Claudius manages to dispel the threat of invasion by appealing to the King of Norway to curb his nephew, Fortinbras the ambitious young soldier was the more ready to cancel the projected invasion because the object of his revenge, Hamlets father, was now dead, and in ret... .../ham1-col.htm Faucit, Helena (Lady Martin). On Some of Shakespeares Female Characters. sixth ed. London William Blackwood and Sons, 1899. Jorgensen, Paul A. Hamlet. William Shakespeare the Tragedies. Boston Twayne Publ., 1985. N. pag. http//www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/ other/jorg-hamlet.html Knight, G. Wilson. The Embassy of Death. The wrap of Fire. London Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1954. p. 38-39. http//server1.hypermart.net/hamlet/wheefire.html N. pag. Mack, Maynard. The World of Hamlet. Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Shakespeare, William. The calamity of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http//www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.