Hamlet As King Essay Research Paper What

Hamlet As King Essay, Research Paper

What qualities come to mind when you think of a king, or any ruler for that

matter. A ruler needs to be very trustworthy, honest, hard working, fair, just,

forgiving and intelligent. Especially where there is a king, as in the play

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, because a king is in charge of the whole

community. He has to keep in mind all of his subjects as he makes tons of

decisions every day. A king is a symbol of his land. There cannot be a strong

country without a strong king. In this play, which character would make a better

king, Claudius or Hamlet, when all of their qualities and characteristics are

examined. Hamlet would have been a better ruler because throughout the play he

demonstrated how smart he was, how he thought things out before acting, how he

questions things to find the truth and how he is a better person than Claudius.

Claudius is considered by some to be a good king, despite the means by which he

obtained the throne. He did prevent Fortinbras from coming in and taking over

the country. But you have to remember that Claudius is also a villain, a

murderer, a conspirator, and a liar. Claudius killed his own brother and married

his wife just a few weeks later. There is no way that people could or should

respect a person that does something of this nature. The reader is also shown

later in the story that Claudius is not even sorry for killing his brother.

Luckily for him, Hamlet misses the last lines of his prayer. He said .My words

fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven

go.(Act III, Scene 3). This shows the reader that although Claudius is saying

a praying and saying his is sorry for what he has done, he does not really mean

it, therefore he is not really sorry. A person going to church and just sitting

there for an hour, not praying, 1 listening or singing demonstrates what

Claudius is doing. Just the fact that you are there or that you are saying a

prayer is not enough, you have to mean it, otherwise it is just a waste of your

time. Claudius. life was spared, temporarily, because Hamlet did not hear this

part of his prayer. Claudius, by the end of the play has caused more than half a

dozen deaths, King Hamlet, Hamlet, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, and himself just

to name the main ones. It is because of Claudius. scheming that the end of the

play is so plagued by death. When you look at this side of Claudius it makes it

hard to image how he could have ever been a good king, if in fact he was a good

leader. It was Claudius. obsession for control and power that ruined a great

kingdom. The question left to be answered however is this, would Hamlet have

made a good king. Hamlet possessed many qualities that would have made him a

suitable king. First of all, his father was the king, so he was royalty and

obviously had some knowledge of what a king needed to do. Second, he was a smart

individual. We see at the beginning of the play that he is just coming back from

a university in Wittenberg. Throughout the play all Hamlet wants to do is go

back to the university. It is because of his education that he has such a

questioning attitude, which plays a huge role in the whole play. Being a

scholar, Hamlet is prone to thought rather than actions. He contemplates every

action, prepares for the reaction, and also weighs the consequences. Hamlet

questions things from the very beginning when he asks Horatio why he has come.

Horatio answers that he has come for Hamlet.s father.s funeral, but Hamlet

says in reply .I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student; I think it was to

see my mother.s wedding.(Act I, Scene 2). Horatio then tells us that Hamlet

is correct. This series of events shows how Hamlet has an ability to find the

truth and how he questions things to make sure they are the truth. Even though

it is just a little question, not merely as important as some of the other stuff

that occurs, it is a good example of what kind of person Hamlet really is. 2

There are other times in the play where he questions things that he is told.

What the ghost tells him is probably the best example and the most important

one. First of all he asks the guards a bunch of questions regarding the ghost.

Was it armed. Did you see his face. Was it pale or red. Did it stay long. These

were the type of questions that Hamlet was asking, so he could know more fully

what exactly was going on and have a more detailed idea of what had happened.

Even when Hamlet talks to the ghost and finds out that his father was murdered

by the one that now holds the crown, Claudius, he questions that to be sure that

it wasn.t a trick or that the ghost wasn.t lying. Hamlet says later in the

play, .The spirit that I have seen may be the devil; and the devil hath power

to assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps out of my weakness and my

melancho

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