In the 17th century, the tragedy, Hamlet, was written by William Shakespeare. In general, this drama is a conflict between the two characters, Hamlet and Claudius. In Act One Hamlet is characterized as an innocent prince that is simply grieving over the loss of his father. However, Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, copes over the loss of his brother differently as he is characterized as controlling and manipulative. In Act One Claudius is portrayed as the most treacherous character of them all. He has a deep dark secret that would obliterate his reputation if anyone found out what it was. Although Hamlet and Claudius are introduced as their own distinct character, they are similar in a few aspects.
Hamlet may be characterized as an innocent prince…show more content… In the beginning Hamlet had no intentions of hurting anyone until he was given the mission to take revenge on Claudius for murdering his father. Claudius is so selfish that he killed his own brother so that he could take over Denmark. When Claudius is first introduced as the new king he is seen as an effective ruler. “He gives a speech to make his court and country proud, addressing his brother’s death and the potential conflict with Norway” (Mabillard). Although he has the people fooled, Hamlet eventually sees past all of his lies. Claudius’ personality is two-faced in many ways. After poisoning his brother he is able to mask the death of the king without anyone being suspicious. Although after Hamlet reveals that he knows what he did he starts to feel guilty and tries to repent for his sins. Hamlet does not show any sympathy for him. Instead he leaves Claudius alone to repent for his wrong doings. His plan is to murder him when he is not asking for forgiveness so he will go to…show more content… His father’s death has him so traumatized that all of his actions are driven by his emotions. Therefore he plans of avenging Claudius no matter what it takes. Claudius feels that Hamlet is being overly dramatic over the death of his father. This causes Claudius to turn to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, thinking that they may know what is bothering Hamlet; considering they are Hamlet’s closest friends. Unfortunately neither of them has a tangible answer of why Hamlet is so upset. Claudius’ last resort relies upon Ophelia, the girl who supposedly has Hamlet’s heart, to get information on why Hamlet is behaving the way that he is. Polonius, Ophelia’s dad, arranges for her to be in a place where she will surely run into Hamlet and where the Claudius will secretly be there as well. When Hamlet enters the room he does not say anything. He immediately walks over to Ophelia and firmly grasps her and stares into her eyes and then he leaves. Claudius then realizes that Hamlet has gone mad and it could not possibly be over love. He decides to send Hamlet to England to protect his self being. He also sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern along with Hamlet to deliver a letter that orders Hamlet to be killed. Claudius however, underestimates Hamlet. Hamlet finds the letter and eventually returns back home. When he returns from England his attitude is different. He encounters a