In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, there is much symbolism throughout the entire play but one of the most controversial topics of the play is that of the seven deadly sins, (Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Greed and Sloth). And which of the seven deadly sins is most responsible for the tragic ending of the play. Gluttony shows through most of the characters than any of the other sins. All of the characters show gluttony but a few more than others stand out. Like King Claudius.
Claudius shows gluttony throughout the play with mostly everything that he does. He wants so much to be king and to have all the power but he goes to extreme measures to get to the throne. He first off, he kills his brother so that the throne would be open. He then
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Hamlet even shows gluttony throughout the play by after finding out about his father's death and who was responsible for it he draws it out. He somewhat feeds off of the agony and the torture that he giving to Claudius for killing his father. “Now might i do it pat, now he is praying. And now i’ll do’t. And so he goes to Heaven and so i am revenged. That would be scann’d: A villain kills my father, and for that, i, his sole son, do send this same villain to Heaven.” -Hamlet Act III Scene III- Here Hamlet is showing that he can be gluttonous for continuing to draw out his uncle’s death. He had the chance to kill him. But he chose not to for he didn't want to right after he had prayed for his soul would go to heaven and he wanted him to rot in hell. Someone might say that Greed is most responsible for all the deaths in Hamlet. Evidence of this would be Claudius and his endless greed for power. Power for the throne and over the people. He is greedy enough to kill his own brother and then marry his wife and then let her die in order to keep the secret of his brothers death. But the main sin would be gluttony for the same
Claudius greedy intentions take him to his murderous action. Claudius says, “The whole kingdom/to be contracted in one brow of woe”. (Shakespeare1.2.3-4) Claudius killing old king Hamlet knows that was the only way to have the kingdom. He gives the kingdom a new start under his new government and things that favors him but he still has those devious ways. He also gives the people a speech to represents how good of a ruler his is going to be and he even acknowledges his brother’s death. He gets to maintain the country affairs in his own way. The
Connections can be made between the deteriorating state of the kingdom, or people, of Denmark, and Claudius’ leadership. There are multiple references made about the decaying strength and reputation of Denmark throughout the play, as the audience can see how the actions of one individual causes a snowballing effect of bad endings throughout the kingdom (and more specifically, for the characters in the play). The new king, Claudius’, poor leadership and rotten nature (which then functions like a poison or disease) brings misfortune to Denmark as a
Greed is the desire to have more of something than others, to the point of excess and selfishness. Envy and greed go hand in hand in Hamlet, and is represented through the character Claudius. Claudius murdered his brother, King Hamlet, because he wanted what his brother had. Claudius reveals why he murdered the King when he is overcome with guilt, he says “ I am still possess'd Of those effects for which I did the murder, My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.”( 3.3.53-55). Meaning he committed the act of murder to obtain the three things he was envious that his brother had: being king, the lifestyle and Gertrude. Claudius could end his envy of his brother and obtain the lavish lifestyle he so desired. Envy and greed intense lead Claudius to commit the condemning act of regicide. One definition of regicide is killing a person of royalty deliberately, in this case, it was King Hamlet. In history, most cases of regicide have been executions or court ordered executions, such as in the cases of King Louis the Sixteenth of France and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. King Louis the Sixteenth was sentenced to death after being convicted of conspiring with foreign powers.This contrasts to the regicide in Hamlet because King Hamlet was not put on trial or found guilty of any crime. Claudius was not satisfied with his own life and longed for the life of his brother. Claudius killed his brother for his own personal gain, without justifiable
The first sign of Claudius’s madness is in the beginning of the play, when we find out that Claudius murdered his own brother.Claudius is the root cause of many problems in this play. In the beginning of the play the ghost of Hamlet reveals that Claudius is the one that murdered him. The ghost of Hamlet states to his son, “But know thou noble youth, the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.” (I. v. 45-47.) Marriages are supposed to be meaningful and with the person that you love, but in Claudius’s and Gertrude’s case it seems that Claudius is only marrying Gertrude so he can have the title of the king, perhaps that is why he married Gertrude after two months of his brother’s death. Claudius’s craziness is also portrayed when he encourages Laertes to get revenge against Hamlet and kill him. At this point in the play Hamlet is Claudius’s step son, and Claudius seems just fine with someone murdering his own son. In most situations, a normal step father would most likely not want his stepson to be murdered. Claudius’s craziness is shown in the decisions that he makes throughout the
One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it . His only proof was the ghost and even though others saw the ghost no one else heard it talk except Hamlet. Hamlet was also considering a lot of other things at this time, like how if he killed Claudius now Claudius would be free of sin and would go to heaven. He was also thinking if his father didn’t get to die free of sin it wouldn’t be fair for Claudius to die free of sin either, which shows how vengeful Hamlet’s character is. At the same time, Hamlet has morals and understands the consequences so that’s why it’s harder for him to perform the act . After a l...
By most accounts, this passage would be taken to mean that he does not kill Claudius because at this time the King is praying, and when praying one's soul will ascend to heaven if one should die. Hamlet wants Claudius to burn in hell; for him to go to heaven would make his revenge void. He will avenge his father's death when Claudius is engaged in some other less holy act, in order to insure the King's place in hell.
Hamlet only kills Claudius when he has also murdered the queen, Laertes, and has also poisoned himself. It takes a threat of death to do what his own dead father orders him to do. A largely held opinion is that he is to emotional to do it, but it is when his emotions all come together that he murders Polonius. Another opinion is that he to full of morals to kill, but how then can he alter a note and literally sentence two old friends who were just following orders too death. It is also believed that he is too cowardly to go through with it, but if a man is bold enough to face a ghost, confront a queen and kill an eavesdropper, than what should stop him from avenging his father and ridding Denmark of the disease that infests it's royal line. The answer is simple, he is to smart to get around to doing it.
Peter Leithart in “The Serpent Now Wears the Crown: A Typological Reading of Hamlet,” considers the gravity of the main sin of offense of Claudius:
... His desire to obey his dead father’s request and exact revenge on Claudius warred against his qualms and doubts of killing another human being. When he finally accepted the role Fate plays in the lives of mankind, Hamlet could proceed to “accept the necessity of killing Claudius. [because] he would simply be acting as the instrument of divine justice at work in the world.” (Ahlman)
In Hamlets mind, it is now his duty to avenge his father's murder. This is where the real problem of inaction enters the play. Later that night, Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, when he sees the King kneeling in prayer. He wonders if this is the time to kill him and get it over with, but decides not to. He claims that he does not want Claudius to go to heaven, so he would rather kill him when he is committing a sin. If this is the case, then why doesn't he simply wait till Claudius has completed his prayer, accuse him of the murder and kill him in his sin of denial. Instead, Hamlet goes to the chamber of his mother and passes up his best opportunity at revenge. The argument can be made, however, that it is not a fear of killing that causes this inaction. He does not display an inability to end someone's life when killing Polonius. He neither hesitates nor capitulates in sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their executions. Why then would the prince of Denmark hesitate to kill the one man he most justly could? Many literary believe that his inaction is the result of a vicarious Oedipus complex. Those who concur with this theory say that Hamlet, in his subconscious mind, has a desire to do exactly what his uncle has done; that is, get rid of the king so that he can have Gertrude for himself.
Claudius kills his own brother so that he can claim the crown and the queen. He disposes of a good and noble king to satisfy his greed. He sacrifices his brother, the good of the country, and the happiness of many to fulfill his ambition. He cares only for himself. Knowingly or not, most humans, at one point or another, will be driven by greed. Most, however, will not have the determination and desperation that Claudius displays. This is partly because of the differences of the times. In the time period that Shakespeare wrote the play, murder was heavily frowned upon as it is now. Greed is part of all people. They see something they want and they tell themselves that it is only what they deserve. It is inescapable, but we can control it to a certain degree.
Claudius was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. He was clever enough to devise a plan to kill the king, he had spies all around watching Hamlet's every move, and he found a way to become king. In Claudius' case, killing the king without the entire world suspecting him took a lot of planning and work. He poisoned the king in a way that no one would suspect. The play does not say where he got the poison used for King Hamlet, but it is not likely that he could just walk down to the market and purchase it.
Hamlet should have acted decisively and killed Claudius as soon as possible after the Ghost told him to avenge his murder. But then comes the indecisive character in him that thinks it though. he debates that if he does not kill Claudius, he may forever be locked in the stressful mental state in which his obsession puts him, but then again if he attempts or succeeds in killing Claudius he is released from all the responsibility he feels for represtenting his father. Whether he does or doesn't kill Claudius, he faces enormous psychological pain. This allows him to mope about the castle for months on end. He's convinced a few people that he's mad. Hamlet could have killed Claudius and gotten away with it. Hamlet was incredibly popular with the people, and Claudius wasn't.Instead he wiles away the time, playing mad and deceiving people, but accomplishing nothing.
Claudius is responsible for the death of King Hamlet, regardless of this, he wants to portray himself as someone that is worthy of running the nation of Denmark. Claudius connects to the people of Denmark by demonstrating that they are all participating in the grieving of King Hamlet, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief” (I.ii.1-3). King Hamlet’s death is very recent, but Claudius places himself as someone that is part of the kingdom that will be mourning the death of King Hamlet. This is demonstrated through irony since instead of mourning he is actually enjoying what King Hamlet has left behind; the nation of Denmark and his wife, Gertrude. Through this, Claudius also demonstrates that he wants others to believe that he has not done anything wrong. In order to convey the image of being healthy, Claudius and his court drink merrily within the castle; making the excesses that the court enjoys apparent. Hamlet is not fond of the drinking but then comes to the conclusion that “His virtues else, be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo, Shall in the general censure take corruption” (I.iv.33-35). Hamlet then foreshadows his own destiny. No matter how good a person may be, that person can become corrupt due to something that has ...
Hamlet's character lends itself to a possible motivation for his unwillingness to kill Claudius. He is a scholar, and a student of theology. It is a moral dilemma for Hamlet to kill without a just cause, or kill at all. He wants proof of the part his uncle and his mother played in his father's death. His royal birth leads him to consider his responsibilities to his country, which is Hamlet's internal conflict throughout the play.