Guilt In Hamlet

Claudius has a very dull personality thats expressed towards his nephew Hamlet. He completely disregards Hamlets feelings and instead criticizes him. Claudius says in his speech to Hamlet “ 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”(1:5:1).

Polonius had told his daughter prior to her encounter with Hamlet, to stay away from him because he thought that Hamlet was only using her but Hamlet is actually deeply in love with Ophelia.

Polonius teams up with King Claudius and once again places demands on Ophelia which require her to disregard her own self to fulfill their wishes of deceiving Hamlet into revealing the cause of his erratic behavior. And once again, it is Ophelia’s duty to her father and this time to the king to be obedient. Disobedience to the king and his advisor are not an option. Polonius wants the king to look on him in good favor and he is willing to step on his daughter to get this admiration. He neglects Ophelia’s feelings by not even thinking of how his requests will affect her. He feels at liberty to request whatever he would like. He is purely worried about himself. Polonius holds a position of unquestioning authority over his daughter. He treats her as though she is not intelligent enough to make her own decisions and he knows that she will inherently obey him. To him her feelings are irrelevant and immature which he states when saying “Affection, puh, you speak like a green girl.”(1.3.101) Following her fathers instructions, she loses her lover and a piece of her happiness.

Beyond Claudius’ need for admiration, he also tends to disregard the feelings of people around him. This is shown in a similar way as his need for admiration, being that he kills his brother to gain power. Such a selfish action will obviously impact those around King Hamlet, but Claudius disregard that and simply does it for his own gain. He doesn’t think about how Hamlet’s death will affect Gertrude, young Hamlet, Polonius, or anyone else close to him. In the aftermath of this, instead of helping Hamlet through the hard time following his fathers sudden death, he tells Hamlet he’s not a man for mourning for such a long time. Staying on the topic of the death of a father, Claudius uses Polonius’ death to get Laertes to want to avenge his

Polonius’ image and plans take precedence over his daughter’s physical and mental wellbeing. This leaves her vulnerable and in danger in regards to Hamlet. When Ophelia describes Hamlet accosting her, Polonius’ reacts by saying:

William Shakespeare’s dexterously written tragedy, Hamlet, is composed of multiple themes such as madness, revenge, and spying with deception. This notable tragedy is filled with the deception and lies that create the reasoning behind why the characters spy on one another. Throughout this play, Hamlet as well as other major characters, such as Claudius, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, spy on one another and generate plans which develop tension between them. After discovering the cause of death of his father, Hamlet wants to avenge the murder. However, this becomes much harder when people decide to spy on his every move. All characters spy, get spied on, set traps for others, and fall into traps that others

Polonius further displays his self-interest through his attempt to advance his cause by using his conversation with his daughter to gain favor with the king. Polonius meets with King Claudius and Queen Gertrude to inform them that the reason why their son, Prince Hamlet, is crazy is due to his love for his daughter, Ophelia. Here, Polonius is willing to sacrifice his daughter’s happiness to score points with the king. He presents to the king and queen a letter that Prince Hamlet has written to Ophelia. He replies, “I have a daughter- have while she is mine-Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, Hath given me this”(II.ii.106-108). The letter shows that Prince Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia as he writes to her, “To the celestial and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia “(II.ii109-111)

He is disgusted by what he sees. He kneels to pray, hoping to purge his guilt, but reflects that this penance will not be genuine because he will still retain the prizes for which he committed murder in the first place, his crown and his wife. In the chamber awaiting Hamlet’s arrival, Polonius hides himself behind one of Gertrude’s curtains. Hamlet enters. Gertrude attempts to be firm and chastising, but hamlet comes right back at her, saying that she has sinned mightily in marrying her husband’s brother. He pulls his mother in front of a mirror, saying that he will reveal her inmost part, and Gertrude momentarily misinterprets this, thinking that hamlet may attempt to murder

Polonius begins adding more to the theme of appearance versus reality when he orders his daughter, Ophelia, from seeing Hamlet. He mischievously lies to her, claiming that

Polonius’ lack of regard for others does not stop before his children. Ophelia’s relationship to Polonius as a daughter is not a deterrent to treating her like a snitch in a criminal investigation. In 2.2, Claudius reads aloud Ophelia’s love letters from Hamlet to Claudius and Gertrude (Shakespeare 2.2.109—110). Polonius has already told Ophelia how to act around Hamlet, but he now has started to use her as a source. Polonius’ interactions with his daughter never go beyond Hamlet, even for a single line. Polonius is not a father figure to his daughter because he would rather use her to his own benefit. Later on, Polonius hires someone to keep tabs on Laertes, even though most would consider that a breach of

His son Laertes, and daughter Ophelia, trust him greatly, while some question his truthfulness. To others around him, from messengers to Kings, he is seen as loving and caring with a great devotion to those he loves and admires. However, Hamlet is one of the other people who can see through this act. Polonius knows that this actions are not for his children but to further himself. Polonius can dish out advice all he likes, but cannot take it,”This above all: to thine ownself be true,/And it must follow, as the night the day,/Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Polonius also acquires his daughter to stop courting Hamlet by ordering her to instead of allowing her to decide for herself. He is looking out for his daughter. The King and Queen were very troubled at Hamlet’s superficial insanity. They tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that discovery of what is hypocritical with Hamlet would be “the supply and profit of our hope “(Hamlet 2.2.24). They are noticeably embittered at his behavior, and Polonius knows this, and tries to use his daughter to demonstrate his notion. When Ophelia approached and pronounced to him her get-together with Hamlet in Act I, Polonius instantaneously brought her to the King. Polonius, performing on his duty to “both God and to gracious king” (Hamlet 2.2.45) took Ophelia to Claudius to understand if he could be any assistance in demanding to find out what is iniquitous with Hamlet. He rapidly tells the King that he will “loose my daughter to him“(Hamlet 2.2.161) and fabricates a premeditated plan to do so. This plan, and Polonius’ role of Ophelia, is all to gratify the Royal Court, and has no space in it for Ophelia’s feelings. Polonius treats his daughter practically like one would use a mare, with his loos of her and organizes it so just to try and get on the respectable side of Claudius and Gertrude.

Claudius, the new king of Denmark since his brother’s death, says “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, yet so far hath discretion fought with nature that we with wisest sorrow think on him together with remembrances of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen…” (AI, Sii, L1-8) By giving Claudius these lines Shakespeare has let the reader know that this character is important. His speech was pertinent to the theme of the play. The political realm is now brought to the forefront. The main characters, mainly royalty, have the highest quantity of lines along with quality of content.

Now the king’s pompous and conniving right hand man, Polonius, has a daughter; Ophelia, who has been dating Hamlet even though her brother, Laertes, disapproves. Ophelia’s father tells her she should not be with Hamlet. Meanwhile, Hamlet and his friends are searching for his father's ghost.

King Hamlet was the King of Denmark and Claudius was his brother. To gain power, Claudius killed his brother and took the throne. He then married his sister in law,Gertrude, soon after. Claudius tells everyone that there is no need to mourn over the king, saying “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,Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him Together with remembrance of ourselves” Hamlet (I.IV.1-7), upsetting Hamlet even more. Claudius ends up going mad from the guilt eating him alive from killing his own brother. He says "O, what form of prayer Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?' That cannot be; since I am still possess'd Of those effects for which I did the murder --My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen" Hamlet(III, iii, 55-58).