King Claudius is a man of ambition and personal power, but
only in the presence of open opportunity. The king has swooped into Hamlet’s
life and replaced his father in almost every way. He managed to take advantage
of his own brother’s death, and use it to improve his own life. Frankly, it is
sick how quickly King Claudius, along with Hamlet’s mother, moved on from the
death of the king.
So far,
King Claudius strikes me as the kind of ruler who is very self-motivated. This
self-motivation usually drives a character with passion and they take risks
that have a great reward. Claudius will do anything if it means he will extend
his rule. Already, Claudius has manipulated his only competitor, Hamlet, and
made him an immediate family member
Although
Claudius is harsh to Hamlet, he has proven smart and calculating when it comes
to the security of his rule. Claudius knows that Hamlet will want to rule the
kingdom, so he does all he can to make sure Hamlet cannot claim the kingdom. Claudius
takes the idiom, “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”, very
literally. Rather than banishing Hamlet, where he could start a rebellion of
some sort, he keeps Hamlet right where he can control and monitor his
movements. Also, by keeping Hamlet trapped inside of his kingdom and marrying
Hamlet’s mother, he is breaking Hamlet’s will and asserting his dominance over
Hamlet.
King
Claudius also tries to control Hamlet by urging him to let go of his father’s
death. He is bothered that Hamlet will not, “Cast thy nighted color off”
(1.2.70). His dark clothing stand as a symbol for Hamlet’s mourning for his
father, and if he lets those go, Claudius is one step closer to demoralizing
his greatest competition. Claudius creates another close connection to the
family by marrying Hamlet’s mother. If one leaves the mother’s odd choice out
of the situation to remarry so quickly, it is obvious that Claudius is trying
to justify his rights to the kingdom, and to show Hamlet that he can really do
anything he pleases, including marry his mother.
Bobby, this is very similar to my first impressions of Claudius when I read it. I thought of him as very calculated and really kind of sick and evil. Just as you were saying, I thought he took control of the opportunity he got with Hamlet dying in a very evil and calculated way. I agree how he calculated exactly how he would take Hamlet out of the picture by keeping him close by marrying his mother because he may want the throne. I would have liked to hear about what you thought about his speech because I thought it was very calculated and would have fit into your blog nicely. It would have been pleasant to read into depth your ideas about the speech and what he had to address in it.
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