How Does Steinbeck Use Power In Hamlet

“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power,” is a quote by the famous author John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is saying that people become corrupt when they fear that their power will be taken away from them. The correlation between politics and power is that politics cannot exist without power; power must be given to someone. Characters throughout Hamlet take whatever actions they deem necessary to get power and take revenge, all of which relate to politics and the corruption within. The corrupt nature of the country and characters is seen best through Marcellus’ words; “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” (I.iv. 22). Politics directly relate to power and revenge because to be in control politically,

one must have power and revenge is a corrupt way of attaining power without working for it. Claudius, Hamlet, Laertes, and Gertrude are all characters who either search for power or revenge. These characters are all prompted to their actions because of an urge that they have for power and revenge.

Shakespeare portrays his characters in certain ways by highlighting their political motives, but these characters are portrayed differently in the film Hamlet. Politics are the underlying motive of most actions and characters in Hamlet, which all ties in together in the search for power and revenge and how these actions are portrayed differently in text and film.

Politics are critical to the actions of Claudius, who believes that power is the biggest asset to him. This is why all of his actions in the text are motivated by the thirst for political power that he embodies through his actions. The first, and most significant, action that Claudius takes with the intent of acquiring power is killing his brother. The Ghost tells Hamlet of this action; “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown,” (I.v.24). By saying this, the Ghost is telling Hamlet that the person who wears the crown of Denmark is the brother of the dead king. By saying that the king’s killer wears the crown, shows that the sole motive of that action was to gain the power that belonged to the crown of Denmark. Claudius had a strong desire for power that he murdered his brother. The desire for power led him to a

corrupt explanation of the death; “‘Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, / A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death / Rankly abused,” (I.v.24). Claudius desired power and he distorted the image that everyone had of the death. He forced the idea that a serpent stung the king, not that he murdered his own blood. The fear of his loss of power after he obtained it through sinful means is what powered the rest of his actions throughout the play. Hamlet begins to act out in madness so that his plan does not become unravelled by the King. Claudius devises a plan to protect his power. He is afraid of what will happen to this power if Hamlet stays; “I like him not, nor stands it safe with us / To let his madness range … / The terms of our estate may not endure / Hazard so near to us as doth hourly grow / Out of his brows,” (III.iii.68). Claudius cannot have Hamlet threatening his power because he is obsessed with the power to the point where it rules his life. Everything that Claudius does is motivated by his own rank, his own position, and his own reputation and power within Denmark. Claudius says to Hamlet after he replies that it is good that he is being sent to England, “So is it, if thou knew’st our purposes,” (IV.iii.83). Claudius is purposefully trying to perplex Hamlet so that Hamlet will not understand the motive behind his being sent to England. The motive behind this action that makes it political is because Claudius is troubled by the possibility of Hamlet taking away his power. Despite Claudius’s anxiety concerning his loss of power to Hamlet, Hamlet is not actively seeking power. In a soliloquy, Hamlet says, “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, / … / the law’s delay,” (III.i.53). Hamlet is directly saying that there is inefficiency in the government because it is ruled by corrupt leaders. This establishes Claudius as a foil for Hamlet because they have different motives for their actions.
Rather than actively seeking power, Hamlet is actively seeking vengeance on the king, making his motive political.

In speaking to the ghost of his father, Hamlet says, “And thy commandment all alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain, / … / Now to my word,” (I.v.26). Hamlet is voicing his allegiance to his father’s ghost and the command that he has given him to seek revenge. His need for vengeance motivates all of his actions throughout the text. Hamlet pretends to be going mad to distract the King from his act of revenge that he is plotting. Rosencrantz, sent by the king, speaks of Hamlet and his madness; “He does confess he feels himself distracted, / But from what cause he will by no means speak,” (III.i.51). Hamlet is doing this to distract the king, the queen, and Polonius from his plans that he is scheming. Since the moment that Hamlet learned of his father’s death, he has been constantly preparing for the actions that he is going to take. This act of revenge relates to the politics of Denmark because murdering the king, whether for revenge or not, will cause chaos throughout the nation, just as Claudius’s murder of his brother did. Hamlet does not care what happens to Claudius because he was born to make the murder of his father right by seeking revenge; “O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right!” (I.v.28). Hamlet understands that he must make things right, so he has to seek revenge on the king. Hamlet knows that murdering the king will

cause mass chaos throughout Denmark, but he seeks to plan his vengeance despite this fact. In the end, Claudius causes Gertrude’s death, which is the final breaking point of Hamlet. Hamlet takes the poisoned and sharpened sword that Laertes enlightens him of and stabs the king; “The point envenom’d too? Then, venom, to thy work,” (V.ii.119). As a foil to Hamlet, Laertes is persuaded to take revenge on Hamlet for killing his father. During his conversation with Claudius, Laertes says, “My Lord, I will be ruled; / The rather, if you could devise it so / That I might be the organ,” (IV.vii.96). Laertes understands that Claudius must kill Hamlet somehow, and he wants to be the reason for the death and revenge. Laertes understands the political motive behind this because Hamlet is the son of the king of Denmark and is deeply beloved by the whole nation. Killing the son of the king will cause uproar in the country. Claudius understands this dilemma and reassures Laertes; “If he be now return’d, / … / No more to undertake it, I will work him / To an exploit now ripe in my device / Under the which he shall not choose but fall; / And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, / But even his mother shall uncharge the practice, / And call it accident,” (IV.vii.96). They need this action to be seen as an accident by the people because Hamlet is so beloved. The political nature behind this revenge relates back to Claudius convincing Laertes to take revenge. While convincing Laertes to take revenge, Claudius says, “The other motive, / Why to a public count I might not go, / Is the great love the general gender bear him, / … / so that my arrows, / Too slightly timber’d for so loud a wind, / Would have reverted to my bow again / And not where I aim’d them,” (IV.vii.95). Claudius is turning the actions around so that everything falls on Hamlet by saying that whatever he tries to do against Hamlet will turn around and harm himself instead. He makes this revenge that Laertes takes political because someone must kill the beloved prince and cause chaos in Denmark. Revenge is political in Hamlet because it all relates back to the power and highly ranked positions of those who are being sought out for their deaths.
Directors can choose to comply with the original text when remaking it into a movie or they may choose to make it their own to reinforce and emphasize different ideas. The director of Hamlet by William Shakespeare chooses to do both. In scene v of act I, the ghost leaves out parts of his monologue to Hamlet, the most important being, “O wicked wit and gifts that have the power / So to seduce!” (I.v.24). The director chooses to leave this out because it is not the “gifts” that Claudius had that killed the king and married his wife, it was his desire for power. The motive for all of his actions tie back into the need for power that Claudius exudes. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are portrayed in the film just as they are in the text. The two men were sent to Hamlet to “give him a further edge” (III.i.52) both in the play and the text. The men follow their commands greatly because they are indebted to the king who brought them there. Again, in Act III, scene iii, they follow their commands from the king because they have no power. All of their power lies in the king, who needs them there to further understand the motives behind Hamlet’s madness. The director chooses to keep Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern’s characters and words the same throughout their interactions because they highlight the importance. Claudius only worries about his own safety and his own power. This is portrayed in the same way in the text and in the film. He especially worries about himself when learning of Polonius’s death “had we been there” (IV.i.79), referring only to himself. The director adheres to Shakespeare’s portrayal of Claudius because it is one of the most important characterizations throughout the play. The director creates Claudius exactly how it is in Shakespeare’s text because if the basic characteristics and motives of his actions were to change it would change the whole theme of the movie. Claudius still tries to act as though he is not at fault for anything. He blames the blood of the battle for the falling of the queen; “She swoons to see them bleed,” (V.ii.119). Rather than putting himself at fault for the queen’s death, he blames the blood. This characterization adds to the political nature because it shows that he is only concerned with his status. He could not admit that he is the one that killed the queen because he could only worry about his own safety and political status. Hamlet, rather, is a character who is conveyed differently in the movie. Rather than asserting his power and taking his revenge on the king by murdering him with the sword, Hamlet says to the king, “Drink off this potion,” (V.ii.119). This different characterization shows that Hamlet is not as powerful and heroic as he initially believes himself to be. This change in Hamlet is powerful towards the effect that the movie has because it shows that the corruption experienced as a result of revenge changed the characters mentally.
Power and revenge are not things that are to be taken lightly; Shakespeare portrays the search for these and relates them all back to politics in a way that corrupts the characters involved in the actions. Almost all actions in Hamlet were motivated by a need for political power or vengeance, which also related to politics. Some characters were corrupt before their search and others became corrupt as a result of their search for revenge. Corruption is seen in the life of many, even those who are not actively a part of the problem; regardless of who is involved and who takes action, “Denmark’s a prison” (II.ii.40) which houses the most corrupt people in the nation. Everyone has an underlying motive for their actions, especially Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes. Claudius establishes his power because he is hungry for it. Hamlet seeks revenge because he must be loyal to his dead father and kill the man who murdered the dead king. Laertes becomes corrupt when he learns of Hamlet’s slaying of Polonius. All of these things emphasize that politics, power, revenge, and the fear of losing established power motivate characters to do things that they might not normally do if they do not have an objective.