Hamlet question

[aex]

WHat kind of King is Claudius?

What is Hamlet's conflict over the Ghosts existence?




Why does Hamlet doubt the "honesty" of the ghost?

[Redzeppelin]

WHat kind of King is Claudius?

Morally? Politically? I'll answer the latter: based on the 1.2 evidence, Claudius is a capable leader, one who chooses diplomacy as a way to solve problems.


What is Hamlet's conflict over the Ghosts existence?

Why does Hamlet doubt the "honesty" of the ghost?

These questions are similar. Hamlet's problem is based on the dual interpretations that ghosts could have. Ghosts could be
1) a spirit released from purgatory to pass on a Divine message to the living
2) a demon sent to tempt/trick a person into sin

See the problem? That's why Hamlet feels the urgency to verify the ghost's claims - to see if it is indeed an "honest" ghost.

[GVS]

Claudius is a person that wants to be king sooo bad, that he kills his brother!:O

If a ghost came to you, and told you that you had to kill someone, of course you would have doubt the honesty of the ghost. As they say, the ghost may be a demon! Hamlet is also surprised to see his father again. He's in shock and dont know what and who to believe in .. That's just natural .

[GVS]

Claudius is a faul and devious king. This because he is only thinking of his own good, and dont care about how many bodies he will have to step on to reach his goal!

The reason why Hamlet mistrust the ghost is that it could may have been a devil. Like Hamlet says in act II scene 2 " The spirit that i have seen may be a devil - and the devil hath power t'assume a plaesing shape. Yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me."
This shows us that he tries to think sense even though he is upset:P

[Mrs. Dalloway]

I think Claudius is an example of how the human being needs power and that a person can do everything to get power, even killing his brother.

Ghosts are unknown and misterious "beings" so it's normal that Hamlet doesn't trust him at the begining. All those unknown things were considered in former times as devil personifications and manipulations. so that's why he doesn't trust him at all.

[oracle13]

It would be very possible to make a case that Claudius is a 'better' king than Old Hamlet - and indeed would be a better king than Hamlet, especially considering his chronic indecision which borders on insanity. Old Hamlet was a warrior king, a relic of a feudal, medieval age in which the poleaxe was more important than the pen. Claudius is cunning, shrewd...of course, he is running a little dry in terms of ethics, but he is not ethically bankrupt (his soliloquy proves this). His masterful grasp of power politics and persuasion/manipulation is perfectly expressed through his coercion of Laertes in...can't remember which act and scene, but I think around the 2/3 mark of the play.