(Hamlet) Claudius
- Created by: NHow02
- Created on: 23-04-19 17:34
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- Claudius
- As a sinner
- 'Hyperion to satyr' (Act 1, Scene 2)
- Associates previous king with a sun god (heavenly imagery)
- Satyrs are mythical creatures with insatiable incestuous appetites
- Satyrs have connotations of the Devil, as he is likened to a goat
- 'a little more than kin and less than kind'
- Audience takes on Hamlet's view of Claudius as the malcontent
- Harsh 'k' alliteration creates a bitter effect
- 'Kind' could mean ancestral connection OR natural order of things
- Leviticus (rules on incest could determine who was able to inherit property or even become king)
- 'Hyperion to satyr' (Act 1, Scene 2)
- As remorseless
- 'there is no shuffling, there the action lies' (Act 3, Scene 3)
- 'shuffling' is clumsy/ mortal (suggests Hamlet retains his humanity)
- 'shuffle off this mortal coil'
- 'coil' suggests Hamlet is trapped by morals while Claudius has none
- Machiavellian- 'The Prince' in 1532 (one had to be 'ruthless' to be the best ruler)
- 'shuffle off this mortal coil'
- 'Revenge should have no bounds'
- Hamlet does have boundaries, while Claudius does not
- 'shuffling' is clumsy/ mortal (suggests Hamlet retains his humanity)
- 'bow, stubborn knees' (Act 3, Scene 3)
- Command 'bow' suggests he's incapable of genuinely good behavior
- His words are a facade because he fears Hell
- Reference to Wittenberg = Shakespeare rejected Catholic indulgences
- Command 'bow' suggests he's incapable of genuinely good behavior
- 'there is no shuffling, there the action lies' (Act 3, Scene 3)
- As the source of corruption
- 'draw', 'gather' + 'glean' (Act 2, Scene 2)
- Knight: 'enmeshed by the chain of casualty'
- Represents Elizabethan surveillance state (predatory effect)
- Shakespeare worked in a legal office for a short time
- 'like a mildewed ear' (Act 3, Scene 4)
- Fungus-like imagery (obscures/ infects reality)
- This exemplifies Claudius’ manipulation of language to persuade and distort the truth.
- Simile refers to Claudius murdering Old Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear
- Fungus-like imagery (obscures/ infects reality)
- 'sick at heart'/'I am the organ'
- 'unweeded garden'
- 'incestuous sheets'
- Sinister sibilance creates a perverse effect
- Also suggests a secretive affair-like relationship (underlying corruption)
- Leviticus (rules on incest could determine who was able to inherit property or even become king)
- Sinister sibilance creates a perverse effect
- Alludes to the Garden of Eden (corruption of paradise)
- Hyppolyte Taine: 'the story of moral poisoning'
- Claudius described as a 'serpent' (damned mankind)
- 'incestuous sheets'
- Claudius presents the 'body' of the state (leads others to corruption)
- Time of uncertainty as Elizabeth was old and hadn't named her successor
- Opportunities for direct anatomical dissection were restricted during the Renaissance
- Shakespeare possibly disagreed with the monopoly on knowledge (totalitarian)
- 'ripe in my device' (means the same as 'rotten')
- Play of paradoxes
- 'like a mildewed ear' (Act 3, Scene 4)
- Fungus-like imagery (obscures/ infects reality)
- This exemplifies Claudius’ manipulation of language to persuade and distort the truth.
- Simile refers to Claudius murdering Old Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear
- Fungus-like imagery (obscures/ infects reality)
- 'unweeded garden'
- 'draw', 'gather' + 'glean' (Act 2, Scene 2)
- As a sinner
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