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The stage is awash with the aftermath of a fateful battle. A lifeless king rests amid the corpses of his family and followers, slain for his sins. His nephew, Hamlet, has just taken the life of the man who stole King Hamlet’s crown and passes on with the confidence that he has just liberated his nation, Denmark, from an oppressive ruler. Unfortunately, what Hamlet fails to grasp is the amount of incalculable sacrifices that guided him to be able to tear away Claudius’ crown. In actuality, the lack of animosity in Claudius’ character as well as the sheer destruction that resulted from Hamlet’s journey to avenge his father acts as evidence to the poignant truth: Hamlet was responsible for his country’s decay and cannot be considered the savior of Denmark.
Conversely, others would tend to argue that Hamlet, the protagonist of what is perhaps the most distinguished English text in existence, could indeed be vindicated in being called a savior. The standard definition of “savior” is one who rescues another, either a person or an object, from peril. One could contend that Hamlet’s nation, Denmark, is under strain as the young Prince Fortinbras of Norway threatens to occupy the country with the false justification that he is attempting to conquer Poland. As Fortinbras recently lost his father to the Danish-Norwegian war, this could prove to be evidence for an attack on Denmark; therefore, in this context, Denmark has fallen into peril. Alexander Crawford states that King Claudius of Denmark is futile in his efforts to protect his nation from invasion, only going so far as to employ diplomats to speak for him. “This weakness,” he writes, “is in contrast to the days of the elder Hamlet, when the Danish royal power was feared and respec...
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Knight, G. Wilson. “The Embassy of Death: An Essay on Hamlet.” Bloom’s Shakespeare through the Ages. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Infobase, 2008. 264-277. Print.
MacCary, W. Thomas. “Amon and Character.” Hamlet: A Guide to the Play. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. 70. Questia Online Library. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .
Macdonald, George. “The Elder Hamlet.” Bloom’s Shakespeare through the Ages. Ed. Harold Bloom. 1875. New York: Infobase, 2008. N. pag. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon, 2009. Print.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “Claudius in Hamlet.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop U, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .
- - -. “Fortinbas in Hamlet.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop U, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Madden, Frank. Exploring Literature. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print 539-663
... of treachery and, luckily, Hamlet realizes the king’s subterfuge, crushing the plot and flipping it back on him. Claudius remains steadfast in his efforts to remove Hamlet, going so far as to set up a false fencing competition and foolishly pushing the poisoned wine without considering the suspiciousness of the action. In his short-sighted and rash decision making, Claudius shows that he allows his inflated sense of regality and self-worth to cloud his judgment.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare). Simon & Schuster; New Folger Edition, 2003.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York City: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 1-10.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Paul Werstine and Barbara A. Mowat. Folger Shakespeare Library ed. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Three-Text Hamlet. Eds. Paul Bertram and Bernice Kliman. New York: AMS Press, 1991.
Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985.
Claudius begins his speech with an acknowledgement of Hamlet’s death and his own marriage to Gertrude. Claudius claims that the “green” memory of his “dear brother’s death” “befitted” Denmark to contract into “one brow of woe” (1.2). Despite Claudius’ affectionate reference to Hamlet, his hypocrisy is transparent. The colour imagery reveals the freshness of Hamlet’s death. The metaphor used suggests the kingdom is expected to unite and share the grief over its loss but the diction in “befitted” hints Claudius disapproval of expected mourning rites, causing the audience to doubt his sincerity. Furthermore, Claudius adds that “discretion fought with nature” causing him to think of Hamlet together with a “remembrance of [himself]” (1.2). The metaphorical conflict between “discretion” and “nature” contrasts Claudius’ hasty marriage to the expected mourning after Hamlet’s death. Moreover, in Claudius’ statement, the dependen...
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Washington Square Press new Folger ed. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.
Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.
...World of Hamlet.” Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.