Claudius' Interaction with other Characters in Hamlet
Claudius' Interaction with other Characters in Hamlet by Shakespeare
Claudius is shrewd, conniving, deceptive, and dishonest. The relationships between Claudius and other characters in Hamlet, ultimately conclude in the type of person Claudius is. He is manipulative with his skillful use of language to other characters in the play.
Claudius' love for Gertrude may be sincere, but it is more probable that he married her for personal gain of the throne. For example, when Polonius was murdered, Claudius makes a remark that he is in danger, though he did not remark that Gertrude was in danger, although she was in the same room as Polonius.
Claudius' mounting fear of Hamlet's insanity leads him to greater pre-occupation. He uses Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch Hamlet, suspicious in his actions and madness. Also, he and Polonius use Ophelia to spy on Hamlet. He makes a remark that the great ones must be watched. Altogether in the end, he is distrustful of Hamlet's madness, and deports him to England to be killed.
Manipulation is greatly used in interactions between Laertes and Claudius. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet stands at the root of his troubles. Conclusively, Claudius wants Laertes to murder Hamlet for him.
Claudius' craftiness and deception, in association with other characters, is decisive in his own downfall. The king is killed by Hamlet, and is ultimately defeated by his own cowardly scheme.
Hamlet Sr. & Jr. versus Claudius
The characters of both Hamlet Sr. and Hamlet Jr. can be seen as foils for Claudius. They both seemingly represent opposites of him. In the majority of plays, including Shakespearean works, there is always a good and evil character. In Hamlet, Hamlet Sr. and Hamlet Jr. stand on the good side, while Claudius stands for evil. Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes this contrast very vivid.
Evidently, since the play begins with Hamlet Sr.'s death, the reader knows little about how Claudius' relationship with Hamlet Sr.. However, several things can be interpreted or inferred. First of all, obviously Claudius' love for Hamlet Sr. was not great enough to prevent him from killing him. Hamlet Sr. was most likely a popular or well-liked king. This contends to a realization of the audience that Claudius may have problems in his new reign. Basically, Claudius is jealous of Hamlet Sr.'s success: Hamlet Sr. was everything Claudius wanted to be.
In Act 1 scene ii, with the ghost of Hamlet Sr., the contrast becomes quite...