When king Claudius is introduced in Hamlet, he immediately sets off a bad impression. The first thing shakespeare lets us know about Claudius is that he marries his dead brothers wife, an action that I find very unsettling. Claudius is doing his best to demonstrate his superiority now that he is king, but in my opinion, he comes off as arrogant. I also think he serves as a bad fatherly role towards Hamlet by being insensible and inconsiderate towards his feelings.
Only one month after the death of his brother, the old king of Denmark, Claudius marries his wife. He makes it seem like he is providing a balance of emotions for himself and for the kingdom, " Have we (as 'twere with a defeated joy, /With an auspicious and a dropping eye, / With mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage, / In equal scale weighing delight and dole)" (1.2.10-13). But how can he feel both sorrow for his brother's death, and happiness for marrying his dead brothers wife? I find this balance to be unnatural and his ideas contradicting. Still, he pretends that everything is fine when it most clearly isn't.
During his speech to the court, Claudius seems insulted because Fortinbras doesn't believe in his ability as king, "Now follows that you know. Young Fortinbras, /Holding a week supposal of our worth/ Or thinking by our late dead brothers death / Our state to be disjoint and out of frame," (1.2.17-20). Since the kingdom is at its lowest for just losing its king, and because Fortinbras doubts the abilities of Claudius, he is ready to get back land won over by the old king. Claudius is clearly insulted by this criticism and has to show that he is worthy of the throne by resolving the problem. Claudius is proud and arrogant, and he is most likely looking to surpass the old king and be more admired than he ever was.
When Claudius tries acting fatherly towards Hamlet, he does a pretty bad job. First of all, he steels Hamlet's throne by marrying his mother after his father's death. Then he tells Hamlet to look at him as if he were his father, when clearly Hamlet does not want his father to be replaced. Instead of being understanding towards Hamlet's feelings and providing comfort, Claudius tells him that, "But to persevere/ In obstinate condolement is a course/ Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief. / It shows a will most incorrect to heaven," (1.2.96-99).Who wants to hear that they should man up and stop mourning when they've just lost a loved one? No one, especially not from the person that is trying to replace them.
So far, my first impression of king Claudius is very lousy and I'm expecting the worst from him.
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post about your initial impression of Claudius because it was very insightful and brought up points that I hadn't previously considered. First, I agree completely that Claudius "comes off as arrogant... and serves as a bad fatherly role towards Hamlet." I think your quote from the play about unmanly grief really evidences Claudius' insensitivity and inconsideration regarding Hamlet's feelings about the death of his father. Also, the degree of the awkward, unnatural balance that Claudius tries to maintain between his sorrow for his brother's death and his joy for marrying his late brother's widow never occurred to me. It was very enlightening reading about your insight on this matter because the existence of that unnatural balance is an interesting aspect of the second scene of the first act, and it really helps to characterize Claudius. Personally, my first impression of the king was also rather lousy, so it was fun reading about the same opinion based on reasoning that slightly varied from my own.