Poison -- The weapon of a coward Whether it is a poisonous substance or a symbolic poison of the mind, each may result in death. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, both a literal and metaphorical meaning of poison may be traced. The motif of poison is, both literally and metaphorically portrayed through Claudius’ poisoning of the king and his empire, Laertes, Hamlet and Gertrude’s affiliated death as a result of poison, Hamlets emotional turmoil leading to a poisoned conscience, and finally, Ophelia’s distraught and poisoned mind. Claudius is a morally weak character in the play and causes immense poison in the kingdom of Denmark. Literal poison is seen when Hamlet gets to know the truth about his father’s death from the ghost who says: …show more content…
He effectively fools everyone about the murder and plants the seed of death within the kingdom, bringing the ghost to speak to young Hamlet. Claudius poisons the throne with his unjust claim and as a result also poisons the whole kingdom. Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, The state that Denmark is in directly relates to Claudius’ actions of murdering the king, which appears to be poisoning the kingdom. Claudius marries his own dead brother’s wife and gets away with it, creating corruption in the family and in turn poisoning all of Denmark. The royal family begins to fall apart, coinciding with the fall of the nation they rule, all because of Claudius’ malicious doings. In the midst of the play it is seen that the king himself look as if he is also a victim of poison when he says, Claudius comes to terms with what he has done, he knows that he has committed the absolute worst sin of all; murder. He has effectively poisoned his mind with infecting it with thoughts and feelings of extreme guilt, so much so that he cannot even pray or ask for forgiveness. Claudius uses the word “rank,” in this context can be inferred as, having a foul and offensive odor, and it strongly implies that …show more content…
Prior to the duel between Laertes and Hamlet, Laertes speaks to Claudius in regards to plotting a heinous crime on Hamlet. Laertes says, This very quote exemplifies the poisoning of Laertes’ character, the poison on Laertes’ sword will not only destroy Hamlet, but it will also destroy Laertes’ character in the process. Laertes’ agreement to Claudius to dip his sword into literal poison is what allows the commencement of the true tragedy to occur, resulting in the poisonous death of many. Literal poison is additionally seen when Gertrude drinks from the poisonous cup that Claudius had meant for Hamlet to drink out of. Gertrude says, These are Gertrude’s final words to Hamlet before she dies. Literal poison can be traced within this quote through the consequential of death from the poison in the cup. Thus Gertrude’s death, like many, is credited to Poison. The theme of poison continues and brings the play to a close. All is nearly said and done, the literal use of poison is evident towards the end of the play as Gertrude is poisoned by the cup, Laertes by his own sword, Hamlet by Laertes Sword, and the king forced to drink from the cup by Hamlet. Laertes’ final words give one an insight to the severity of literal poison, he says:
Laertes is resentful to his own actions and has no words for the situation; he now realizes the poison and corruption that Claudius brought
Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1603) is one of the most popular dramas in world literature, as it examines the intensely passionate, but poisonous ambitions of King Claudius. He murders his own brother, King Hamlet, because he desires his throne, power, and wife. As a result of King Claudius’ fratricide, he inherits the “primal eldest curse” of the biblical Cain and Abel, and the dispersion of poison lethally ends his relationship with several major characters. This includes, of course, Prince Hamlet, who falls into a suicidal depression over the death of his father whose ghost visits him. This essay will analyze Shakespeare’s trope of poison, embodied by King Claudius.
During the first act, Prince Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. His father's ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poison in his ear while he slept. The spirit also explains that he wishes for Hamlet to avenge his death, but not to punish Queen Gertrude for marrying Claudius. He tells Hamlet that she will have to answer to her conscience, and eventually God for her incestuous actions (absoluteshakespeare.com 1 of 4). It was believed during these times that when a person died, especially in such a tragic fashion, that their spirit lingered about while suffering in Purgatory. This could cause a normally virtuous person's spirit to become filled with malevolence and begin to meddle in living men's affairs (en.wikipedia.org 4 of 9). This belief caused Prince Hamlet to want to investigate his father's spirit's claims to ensure that they were indeed true. In order to do this, Prince Hamlet feigns madness in order to remain hidden from members of the court's suspicions while he plots his revenge on King Claudius (www.sparknotes.com 1 of 3). He also takes advantage of a group of actors who come to Elsinore Castle to perform by rewriting a play to recreate the scene of his father's murder. He does this with the hope of flushing a confession out of Claudius' guilty conscience. When Claudius sees the play, he stands up and leaves the room (en.wikipedia.org 5 of 9). After many more events, Claudius' guilt becomes more obvious. Claudius then begins to change his focus towards killing Hamlet, as he is beginning to become aware of the Prince's plans to kill him. Claudius then arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Polonius' son Laertes and has Laertes poison the blade of one of his swords to be used in the match (Hamlet).
King Hamlet's "foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare I.v.31) tops Claudius' list of egregious sins. Using his mastery of manipulation, Claudius, the “incestuous” and “adulterate beast” managed to win the honorable queen Gertrude by using the “shameful lust [of her] will” (I.v.49…52-53). Claudius had to use verbal trickery to influence Gertrude into switching husbands that quickly after her husband’s death, which shows his true skill: lying convincingly. Claudius manages to validate his ascent to the throne by diverting attention away from him and to the attack by the young Fortinbras of Norway (I.ii.1-38). The most horrible of Claudius’ crimes is his lack of emotion over his traitorous fratricide. Claudius does not even give his late brother a word of respect; instead the focus is upon the future of Denmark. Claudius goes so far as to chastise Hamlet for his “unmanly grief” (I.ii.98), emphasizing that for the benefit of Denmark; all those affected by the death of King Hamlet should keep a strong façade. Later in Hamlet, Claudius begins to openly express his remorse and recognizes the immorality of his actions when he says himself: “O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;/ It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, / A brother’s murder. Pray cannot I” (III.iii.40-42). He expresses his grief and sin in private but keeps a façade in front of the rest of the kingdom. Claudius is
Claudius is a manipulative and corrupt character who mislead the entire Sate of Denmark to believe he was dutiful, trustworthy and perceptive King. After the death of King Hamlet, Claudius takes the thrown and says this to the State, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe.” (Act 1, Scene 2, lines 1-4) This quote at first makes Claudius seem like a very sensitive King who is addressing the fact that mourning for the death of King Hamlet is encouraged. Yet, later on in the play we discover that Claudius is truly the murderer of the King and fooled the Kingdom to believe he was also grieving. Claudius also manipulated to the Kingdom to believe that he was shipping Hamlet away to England for his own safety and for the safety of others, but in reality he was petrified that Hamlet would reveal his dark sin of assassinating the King to take the crown for himself. Lastly, in the very last scene in the...
... 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.
The concept of poison is all around society: poisonous people, poisonous ideas, and poisonous environments; however, the poison in society cannot be avoided, it’s inevitable a finite company would suggest. As Michael Uhl once put it “you’ve got to pick your poison”, and hope for the least of the evils, which unfortunately is not always the case. In Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the motif of poison functions to be the symbol of corruption throughout the play that highlights the theme of death, madness, and the power of language.
Seen from the early scenes of the play until Claudius’ last breath, Claudius’ only concern is gaining and maintaining power by any means necessary. His introduction into power begins with his own manipulative plot—that succeeds—to kill his brother, which the ghost tells Hamlet within the first act of the play (Shakespeare 59, 61). Claudius’ entrance into the position of king is centered around crime, murder, and manipulation, which in return is the basis of his reign. Further along into the play, readers notice that majority of the men portrayed in the play are concerned about justice or moral balance. However, the man in the position of absolute power is preoccupied with lust and schemes. As the play progresses, Claudius’ malfeasances become more apparent once Hamlet’s “insanity” reaches its peak and kills Polonius (171). More concerned with preserving his seat in the court, Claudius resorts to a plan
Claudius, the wise man, is not so wise anymore. His short amount of time being King, 9 people died, including King Hamlet, Hamlet, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Claudius, him self, all because of his selfish ways. First he wanted to become King, and have a gorgeous wife, because he was envious of his brother. He wanted it all, but no one gets it that easy. As soon as anyone got in his way of his brilliant plan, he wanted to destroy them. Claudius did everything in his power to save his ass. Although poison was a metaphor in this play it is also clear that poison was literally being used as well. Unfortunately for Claudius though, saving his own ass killed everyone around him, including the ones he loved, therefore left him with nothing and now he is the one who is truly dead.
Hamlet and Laertes have agreed to a fight to the death, but Laertes and Claudius have a trick up their sleeve. “I bought an unction of a mountebank,So mortal that, but dip a knife in it,Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death” (IV.vii.138-142). Claudius really wants hamlet gone, he will do anything to achieve that. Hamlet and Laertes start to duel, both with the intent of killing the other party. Hamlet strikes Laertes with his foil. “A hit, a very palpable hit.” exclaims Osric (V.ii.272). Hamlet really gets into it now, but he shows cockyness. Claudius drops a “pearl” into the cup, in celebration Gertrude decides to drink from the poisoned cup. Hamlet tries to stop her but fails. Laertes manages to get a hit off on Hamlet with the poisoned sword. Hamlets taunts Laertes to come at him again but he was distracted, Gertrude collapses on the throne. Laertes has succumbed to his own poison “Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.” (V.ii.301-302). Laertes was poisoned from the beginning with revenge and it finally came to bite him in the rear. Before dieing Gertrude warns hamlet of the poisoned drink, Laertes fronts to his own wrong doing exclaiming that the king poisoned the drink. Hamlet bursts into rage knowing that his stepfather would do such a thing to him. Hamlet forces his
Unintendedly, Hamlet lays the first blow with the poisoned sword on Laertes. Claudius then offers a drink from the poisoned cup to Hamlet who refuses, and unbeknownst of Claudius’s plan, the queen takes the cup and drinks the poison . Laertes, who has now wounded Hamlet, informs him of Claudius’s corrupt plan that led to his mother’s death. This is where some scholars believe Hamlet has completed a mental transition that enables him to get his vengeance. Courtney Prince describes this transition saying Hamlet “he has lost touch with his original self; he has changed from his hidden, inner self into the outer persona, becoming his own antic disposition (38). It is Hamlet’s transition to corruptness that allows him to avenge his father’s death, a transition brought on almost entirely by Claudius
Throughout Hamlet, each character’s course of revenge surrounds them with corruption, obsession, and fatality. Shakespeare shows that revenge proves to be extremely problematic. Revenge causes corruption by changing an individual’s persona and nature. Obsession to revenge brings forth difficulties such as destroyed relationships. Finally, revenge can be the foundation to the ultimate sacrifice of fatality. Hamlet goes to show that revenge is never the correct route to follow, and it is always the route with a dead
It is evident how nervous Claudius is from his plot to kill Hamlet in every way possible by having multiple backup plans in the case of an initial failure. Initially, poison was applied on Laertes’ sword to kill Hamlet. In turn, the goblet that is thrown into the cup that Hamlet will drink out of is poisonous as well. As a result, Hamlet and Claudius both experience moral corruption throughout the play resulting in both deaths.
By telling the public that the King had died from the sting of a serpent, Claudius is building up his poisonous kingdom in which he is the serpent that "now wears his [dead King Hamlet] crown." This image of poison in this early scene foreshadows the final duel in Act V of the play. After discovering the king's treacherous plot and running him through with sword, Hamlet forces Claudius to "drink off this potion [poison]." The poison on the sword and in the cup represent deceit and corruption, and it is only fitting that Claudius is killed by his own trick. "The point envenom'd too! Then, venom, to thy work" (V.ii.285-86). At this point in the play, Hamlet no longer needs to contemplate his decision because he has become insane and simply completes his deed of revenge. It is quite ironic how Claudius's corrupt kingdom is both created and ended with
As the play was going, Claudius ignores the play, in some productions of the play he simply isn’t paying attention. This was up to the director, but Shakespeare made it clear through his writing that Claudius was not reacting at the beginning and if he was guilty, he would have reacted if he knew what was going on. But the play itself, when he was paying attention, horrified him. When the poison was described (per Hamlets request) and poured into the sleeping king’s ear, Claudius abruptly stops the production: ‘Give o’er the play … Lights! lights! lights!’ (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 268–70). The overall performance of this (Claudius’s) crime is too much to bear for a guilty newly-crowned king. Hamlet is delighted he can now ‘take the ghost’s word’ (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 286). And yet, while Claudius stops the performance, he makes no public confession, he just walks out without an explanation. Hamlet accomplished his
Claudius is the antagonist of the play and the heart of the play’s moral corruption, characterised as being a shrewd “smiling, damned villain”. He is a corrupt politician and is used a symbol to represent the rottenness that pervades Denmark, for it is his relationship with Hamlet’s mother Gertrude, that enrages Hamlet and brings sexual infidelity and incest to the Danish court. Shakespeare emphasises images of decay and disease repeatedly throughout the play to convey the corrupt nature of Elsinore and its court. The corruption is foreshadowed early on in the play through the dramatic device of the ghost, prompting Marcellus to exclaim “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. Using pathetic fallacy, the disfiguring of the natural world is used to represent the rot at the heart of the Danish court. Shakespeare also uses the animal images of an “incestuous (…) adulterate beast” and “the serpent that did sting thy fathers life” to represent Claudius. The biblical reference highlights the devilish characteristics of Claudius for Shakespeare uses his physical and emotional state to represent the moral decay spreading throughout Elsinore. Moreover, Shakespreare presents the idea that the moral fabric of society in Elsinore is rotting because of the dishonest and corrupt behaviour of the king Claudius (who took