Shakespeares Presentation Of Claudius In Hamlet Essay -- William Shak

Shakespeare's Presentation Of Claudius In Hamlet 'Hamlet' opens with the death of Old King Hamlet, Father of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The new king, Claudius, brother of the previous king has married Gertrude, the dead man's widow and has taken the throne. Shakespeare presents Claudius as the plays 'damned smiley villain' although he does allow him some redeeming features; leading an audience to view him as a complex and contradictory figure within the play. After Old King Hamlet dies Claudius is crowned king of Denmark and talks to the people as though he has sympathy and is saddened by his brother's death 'and that it is us befitted to bear out hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom to be continued in one brow of woe.' However, he comes across as insincere as he marries his brother's wife so soon after the funeral. Claudius is sly and clever as he counters possible opposition to his marriage by flattering his court; thanking them for their better wisdoms, which have freely gone with this affair! For the same reasons he turns his attention to the threat of invasion by Fortinbras and shows himself to be an excellent king: knowledgeable, organised and efficient in dealing with the imminent attack by diplomatic means. The king's treachery is revealed when the ghost of Old King Hamlet appears to Hamlet who talks very much of his hate of his brother, Claudius 'The serpent that did sting thy fathers life now wears the crown.' Referring to Claudius as a serpent who plays around beneath you, very deceptive and sly. Claudius has committed two crimes of murder, Fratricide- murder of his brother and Regicide- murder of the ki... ..., I am but hurt.' Hamlet kills Claudius by forcing him to drink the poison his mother has drank. Hamlet is not an unprincipled murderer and traitor, Claudius is! Claudius has manipulated Laertes and deserved to die by Hamlet, as it was an act of revenge and justice for the murder of his father. Claudius is the obvious villain of the play presented by Shakespeare as a contradictory character with clear strengths and weaknesses. He possesses excellent leadership qualities, is diplomatic, determined and clever but beneath this impressive public image he is cowardly, deceptive, murderous and duplicitous. He is therefore presented as a complex character throughout the play. Shakespeare's presentation of Claudius allows him to explore human nature and the themes of corruption, appearance and reality and political intrigue.

Dual Identities Essay

What is identity? We know from intuitive self-awareness that personal identity exists. It seems to be a fact of conscious life, as common as the word â€Å"I.† But the real question is how to define it? I have come to realize that there is no set definition on what makes an identity, so if my understanding is correct anything and everything can make an identity. There is no wrong answer. It varies from person to person. For example Andre Dubus, the author of â€Å"Witness†makes his identity clear through stories in which he shows his disability. In his case having a disability is part of his identity â€Å"I cannot stand or walk . . . I cannot live as normals do.† As for myself, I can relate, although not to the extent as Dubus, I can understand the anger that goes along with a disability. My disability is anemia, and while most people that suffer from anemia do not see anything other than minor side effects, I do. I am severely anemic, and so it affects my everyday life. I have trouble getting up in the morning because I am too tired, even after a good night sleep. I have to take iron pills and I eat red meat almost every day. Furthermore, I have seen more doctors than I wish to remember and they all tell me the same thing â€Å"you’ll grow out of it.† â€Å"Really, thanks Doctor, you’ve been so helpful,† I reply sarcastically. Few people know about my sickness, which I plan to keep that way. For some reason I feel that if many people knew about it they would feel bad for me, and could possibly think I was weak, which is the last thing that I want. Part of my identity is being strong and un-afraid, which is a difficult thing to pull off for a girl. Dave Barry the author of â€Å"Guys vs. Men† thinks that a lot of men give â€Å"guys† a bad name. Just like Barry I think that a lot of girls give females a bad name. Let me explain. I think that a lot of girls are overly dramatic, way too emotional, and acted dumber than they really are, for reasons that are very unclear to me. I know that I am feeding into the stereotype, but some girls fit the stereotype too well to not comment on. I refuse to take guff from anyone, unless I deserve it, and I speak what is on my mind. I have heard that I can be very threatening, but I do not believe that I should refrain from speaking my mind when I see it necessary.  In Keith Bradshers essay â€Å"Reptile Dreams† Clotaire Rapaille describes teens very well by commenting that â€Å"They want to give the message, †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢I want to be able to fight back, don’t mess with me.'† Clotaire seems to sum up the thoughts of the American youth very well, or at least me. I think that I acquired that aspect of my identity from when I lived in Los Angeles. Zora Neal Hurston explains it well â€Å"I left Eatonville, †¦as Zora†¦When I disembarked on the river boat†¦She was no more,† in her essay â€Å"How if feels to be Colored Me.†She expressed exactly how I felt when I moved to Sacramento. I felt like I wasn’t myself anymore. When I lived in Los Angeles I developed an eclectic personality; because I was friends with so many different types of people I took on other aspects of my personality. Unfortunately because I lived in LA I always had to have my guard up, im not sure how to explain it correctly other than, if you lived there you would understand. For the most part everyone had to fend for themselves, and if you weren’t able to do that than you were a follower of someone who did. I later came to realize that ones sense of self, or ones identity is developed through, among other things, external influences including friends, family, and situations. Now looking back I can see where I have gotten my attitude. I’m smart mouthed, sarcastic, and blunt. Through those traits I have also acquired nicknames. A recent nickname as of this summer was, â€Å"Ms. Attitude.† This summer I went wake-boarding with some family friends, their friends, and my best friend. So basically it was my friend and I, and 7 guys. What I came to realize though this summer, is that most guys aren’t used to girls that talk back. Because I am very sarcastic the guys were very surprised, which is why I developed the nickname. They thought it was hilarious, and I was recently told by one of them that they miss my attitude, so I guess I left an impression. What is shocking to me though, is that I usually get that reaction from most guys, which leads me to believe that they have never met any girls from LA. I moved last summer before senior year to Granite Bay, and attended Granite Bay High School my senior year. I moved from my moms house to my dads house,  willingly, to avoid a lot of un-necessary drama. The move was quite unexpected for everyone but myself. I left because I came to realize that my friends were no longer my friends. Many of my friends had begun to do some very hard drugs, and so I no longer wanted to be around them. I knew it was a bad environment, so I left. I have always been very independent and have never relied on anyone else to make decisions for me. I only did what I thought was right, yet after sharing my story with a few new friends in Nor*Cal I witnessed a lot of jaw-dropping, everyone thought that it was such a big deal. My identity quickly developed, I was the girl from L.A. I valued that identity, I almost felt like superman, I was Clark Kent when I was home in LA, and Superman when I was in Sacramento. I say Superman because a lot of people kind of looked at me like that, like I was invincible. I was like nothing any of them were used to. Other than being influenced from where one lives or lived, I believe that family can have a huge impact on ones identity. For instance, because I was raised by my mom, I turned out differently than if I was raised by my dad. If I was raised by my dad I think I would have turned out much more emotionally detached, and much more independent. I say this because my dads a guy, he doesn’t seem to care about anything other than himself and definitely shows no sign of emotion or feeling, that means no hugs. If I was raised by him Im sure I would have had a job at thirteen and would probably be living on my own now. But because I was raised by my mom I grew being very spoiled, because my mom believes that school is more important than work so I was never allowed to get a job. Unfortunately I grew up having everything handed to me. Which is good because I got everything that I wanted very easily, but bad because I got used to having everything handed to me. In addition, because I grew up living with my mom I became more compassionate and caring because that’s what I was taught. I consider the way I was raised part of my identity, I grew up with very strong ties to my family and that’s part of who I am. In conclusion, I believe that there is no one way to decipher where an identity can come from. So once again what is identity? humans are the only animal that can be aware of oneself, and so we are also the only animal to  contemplate who we are, and why we are that way. Through this constant mission of self discovery everyone seems to have an ever-changing view on their personal identity. It is a fact of conscious life, as common as the word â€Å"I,† to want to know who we are. I have come to realize that there is no set definition on what makes an identity, so if my understanding is correct anything and everything can make an identity. There is no wrong answer. It seems to vary from person to person and if any given event, person, action, etc, has effected someone greatly enough it can become part of their identity, even unknowingly. For me writing this paper was a mission of self discovery, I have never really considered who I am other than the obvious. I now know who I am and why I am the way I am. To me that was the hardest thing to answer. Why?

Truman s Policy On Containment Of Communism - 1548 Words

In daylight of President Eisenhower’s policy on containment of communism, the Soviets feel they have no choice but to resist any such efforts. While we have successfully positioned ourselves as the number one nuclear power on the planet, Nikita Khrushchev has built up a nuclear power of his own. I have gathered classified information leading me to believe that Khrushchev has landed these weapons of mass destruction in Cuba as part of a â€Å"nuclear pressure† policy, code named â€Å"Anadyr† (Zubok, 144). I am disappointed to say that we have underestimated the Kremlin. It is crucial to inform President Kennedy of the situation immediately in order to make timely decisions on how to handle the situation and to ensure the security of the United States of America. 1. The present crisis we face is a situation we never could have imagined prior to the uprising events in Cuba that lead to this day. It is impossible to think American corporations once had control of almost all of Cuba’s land and industry. In a way it was almost part of the United States. How could we let this happen? The uprising of Cuba’s people lead by Fidel Castro ended our friendly economic relationship with Cuba. Castro’s regime presented a new threat of communist influence to the United States and the western world. As a result, President Kennedy’s leading effort to eradicate Fidel Castro’s communist regime in Cuba is now a big priority. Perhaps Kennedy was unaware of the opportunities this creates for the SovietShow MoreRelatedThe Cold War Between The United States And The Soviet Union1268 Words   |  6 Pagesstrictly limit the spread of communism through containment, an idea formulated by US diplomat George Kennan, which became the bas is of Harry Truman’s foreign policy. 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Because of the diplomat s development of the containment strategy, Kennan was the individual who best predicted the start of theRead More How The United States Contained Communism in the Cold War Essay891 Words   |  4 PagesUnited Sta tes engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the UnitedRead More2 Years After World War 2 A New Enemy Was Rising That Was1613 Words   |  7 Pages2 years after World War 2 a new enemy was rising that was not just a country or person but communism. Following the end of WW2, the Soviets were spreading their new ideology to several small countries from Poland to north Korea. As communism gained in popularity the US became increasingly concerned about a potential fall in capitalism and democracy. This fear resulted in the Cold War: a social, political, econ omic conflict between the US and the USSR. The Cold War lasted 44 years and 9 different