There cannot be a strong country without a strong king. In this play, which character would make a better king, Claudius or Hamlet, when all of their qualities and characteristics are examined? Hamlet would have been a better ruler because throughout the play he demonstrated how smart he was, how he thought things out before acting, how he questions things to find the truth and how he is a better person than Claudius.

Claudius is considered by some to be a good king, despite the means by which he obtained the throne. He did prevent Fortinbras from coming in and taking over the country. But you have to remember that Claudius is also a villain, a murderer, a traitor, and a liar. Claudius killed his own brother and married his wife just a few weeks later. There is no way that people could or should respect a per

This whole questioning attitude, which may seem stupid but is actually a very good thing, leads to Hamlet having the players put on what he calls "The Mousetrap". Hamlet says, "The plays the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king"(Act II, Scene 2).

To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to"(Act III, Scene 1). The meaning of this speech is whether or not he should kill himself. Again he is questioning and weighing the choices, should he continue his struggle for revenge or end his troubles by way of committing suicide. This part of the play shows the reader many qualities of Hamlet. It shows how he to is human and how he is hurting, how he thinks things out instead of acting irrationally, and how he questions things.

That would be scanned; a villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven"(Act III, Scene 3). Hamlet realizes that he can’t kill Claudius at this time because as he said, it would send him to heaven. Only Hamlet does not hear the end of the prayer, an insight that we the reader have knowledge of. But it is good to know that Hamlet can control his anger because a character like Laertes would have just went ahead and killed Claudius at that time.

Hamlet has one of the most well known soliloquies of all time. The old "To be or not to be" speech, but although many people know the beginning of this speech, emphasis on the beginning because less people know the middle and the true meaning of his speech.

The reader is also shown later in the story that Claudius is not even sorry for killing his brother. Luckily for him, Hamlet misses the last lines of his prayer. He said "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go"(Act III, Scene 3). This shows the reader that although Claudius is saying a praying and saying his is sorry for what he has done, he does not really mean it, and therefore he is not really sorry. A person going to church and just sitting there for an hour, not praying, listening or singing demonstrates what Claudius is doing. Just the fact that you are there or that you are saying a prayer is not enough, you have to mean it, otherwise it is just a waste of your time. Claudius’ life was spared, temporarily, because Hamlet did not hear this part of his prayer. Claudius, by the end of the play has caused more than half a dozen deaths, King Hamlet, Hamlet, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, and himself just to name the main ones. It is because of Claudius’ scheming that the end of the play is so plagued by death. When you look at this side of Claudius it makes it hard to image how he could have ever been a good king, if in fact he was a good leader. It was Claudius’ obsession for control and power that ruined a great kingdom.

Being a

Some topics in this essay:
III Scene, Claudius Hamlet, Horatio Horatio, Laertes Polonius, Killing Claudius, Claudius Claudius, Hamlet Claudius, II Scene, Wittenberg Throughout, William Shakespeare, scene 2, iii scene, king hamlet, hamlet king, play hamlet, questioning attitude, hamlet hear prayer, father’s death, ii scene, claudius hamlet, qualities characteristics, iii scene 3, ii scene 2, hamlet king hamlet,