Power And Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark
Judy Ramsook
September 20, 2005
Power, it’s that one thing most yearn for. Some get by without it, and well, others will do anything to obtain it. They will lie, cheat, steal, resort to violent acts that could result in taking measures that may leave one wondering, is all that trouble worth it?
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, for instance, there are a few things that set the play in motion. Those things, the quest for power and opportunity needed to obtain that power.
For Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius is so determined to gain the power and control that his brother has as King of the land, that he, Prince Hamlet’s uncle resorts to murder when he pours poison in his sleeping brother’s ear, and thus begins a series of events that ultimately lead to the play’s tragic end.
Since Hamlet’s uncle Claudius could not gain the power and control he wanted otherwise, he thought of a plan. And the moment that thought of murdering his own brother entered his mind, he set about on carrying out that plot. For in order to pour poison into his brother’s, King Hamlet’s ear, he had to find an opportunity to do so.
First he, Claudius sought out an opportunity when his brother, the King would be in a vulnerable enough position for that poison to be administered. And that opportunity came on that day when King Hamlet was napping under a shady tree in the Kingdom’s garden. This results in Prince Hamlet’s uncle Claudius acquiring the power he sought; the throne, as he becomes the new King in the land, King Claudius.
Today, power comes in many forms. One could have it just by being the first born child in a family of two or more siblings, an employee in a managerial or supervisory capacity, having a rare skill or quality, being the owner of a successful business, and other things, including being the leader of a great nation as King Hamlet in Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark was a leader in his kingdom.
But it is better achieved the old fashioned, hard way of earning it as opposed to using other methods to obtain something that is only deserving of the few who know how to wield it.
For committing one criminal act in a moment of being obsessed with an idea so fantastic, could trigger a chain of events that will be as uncontrollable as a wild wind in the dark of night.
And once events and situations begin to spin out of control, as in Shakespeare's Hamlet, heartbreak and the precious lives of those close to the individual whose hunger for power led him on the path of destruction, could leave them all wondering such things as, maybe if things had been left alone, the end result would have been different. And more so for the person who triggered the chain of events, as Claudius did in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, for instance, there are a few things that set the play in motion. Those things, the quest for power and opportunity needed to obtain that power.
For Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius is so determined to gain the power and control that his brother has as King of the land, that he, Prince Hamlet’s uncle resorts to murder when he pours poison in his sleeping brother’s ear, and thus begins a series of events that ultimately lead to the play’s tragic end.
Since Hamlet’s uncle Claudius could not gain the power and control he wanted otherwise, he thought of a plan. And the moment that thought of murdering his own brother entered his mind, he set about on carrying out that plot. For in order to pour poison into his brother’s, King Hamlet’s ear, he had to find an opportunity to do so.
First he, Claudius sought out an opportunity when his brother, the King would be in a vulnerable enough position for that poison to be administered. And that opportunity came on that day when King Hamlet was napping under a shady tree in the Kingdom’s garden. This results in Prince Hamlet’s uncle Claudius acquiring the power he sought; the throne, as he becomes the new King in the land, King Claudius.
Today, power comes in many forms. One could have it just by being the first born child in a family of two or more siblings, an employee in a managerial or supervisory capacity, having a rare skill or quality, being the owner of a successful business, and other things, including being the leader of a great nation as King Hamlet in Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark was a leader in his kingdom.
But it is better achieved the old fashioned, hard way of earning it as opposed to using other methods to obtain something that is only deserving of the few who know how to wield it.
For committing one criminal act in a moment of being obsessed with an idea so fantastic, could trigger a chain of events that will be as uncontrollable as a wild wind in the dark of night.
And once events and situations begin to spin out of control, as in Shakespeare's Hamlet, heartbreak and the precious lives of those close to the individual whose hunger for power led him on the path of destruction, could leave them all wondering such things as, maybe if things had been left alone, the end result would have been different. And more so for the person who triggered the chain of events, as Claudius did in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark.
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