“Cannot you tell that? Every fool can tell that: it
was the very day that young Hamlet was born –
he that is mad and sent into England”
Here we see that even the poorest of folk will still keep up to date with what is happening to Hamlet and see the day that he was born as a very momentous day in their country’s history because they believed that he would become the heir to his father’s throne.
Laertes also illustrates the automatic transition from King to son in his soliloquy Act 1 Scene 3 Lines 20-28.
“His greatness weigh’d, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
The Sanity and health of this whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib’d
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is in the head. Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it”
This shows us that it is the general expectation for Hamlet to take the throne now his father has died. We know the case is, however, that Hamlet didn’t become king but his uncle Claudius did.
Denmark was in need of a new king after Old hamlet had died and they were in a state of national emergency with Fortinbras ready to invade and they needed somebody who was willing to step up to Fortinbras and his army.
Now I shall compare Hamlet and Claudius and their suitability as leaders on the country.
Throughout the play there is evidence that Hamlet would have made a good king if only he would have been given the chance to prove himself.
Fortinbras shows that he believes that Hamlet would have become a great king for Denmark in future years. In Act 5, Scene 2, Lines 425- 433
“Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov’d most royal; and for his passage
The soldier’s music and the rite of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go bid the soldiers shoot”
We also know about the support that Hamlet had from the general public, which I have previously discussed, and this certainly would have put him in a strong position to be a good leader.
Hamlet is also a post graduate, which shows he is intelligent and that is a desired characteristic for a king.
Despite all of these positives Hamlet still comes across as a weak, inexperienced, contradictive and indecisive individual.
The main time we see all of these weaknesses in young Hamlet is when he is unsure of whether to take revenge on his uncle for killing his father. When he is alone he seems to have his mind set on revenging his father’s murder but every time he has an opportunity to do so he convinces himself out of taking action.
A good phrase to describe Hamlet is a “Brave Coward”. When alone and in his thought Hamlet seems to be brave and courageous, seemingly making decisions on what he is to do, but cowards out of doing so at the last minute.
Denmark needed a leader who was able to take action straight away and who could take responsibility for his actions, as they were on the brink of war with Fortinbras Norwegian army.
This Gave Claudius the chance to stake his claim to become the new king, he took advantage of Hamlet mourning his father’s death and Denmark’s fragile state.
Claudius comes across confident, authoritative, rational, and calm all of which make him and ideal candidate. He also handles the war situation well as we see in Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 17 – 25
“Now follows that you know; young Fortinbras,
Holding a weak supposal of our worth,
Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death
Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,
Co-leagued with this dream of his advantage –
He hath no fail’d to pester us with message
Importing the surrender of those lands
Lost by his father, with all bands of law,
To our most valiant brother. So much for him.”
This speech manages to do so much for Claudius campaign to become king as he appears to be sensitive towards his brother’s death, yet at the same time determined on beating Fortinbras. This is exactly what the council wants to hear and gives us an indication as to why Claudius was appointed King. He seems to give the people what they want, be it in action or words, even though later on in the play we realize that this is all an act.
Claudius also marries Gertrude, this strengthens his position, as she is already queen and it will means that if he is appointed then there will be less upheaval in the monarchy meaning that it will be more stable than if there was a whole changeover.
It must be pointed out though that Claudius does have his own weaknesses, but unlike Hamlet’s they aren’t as dominant.
First of all we find out that Claudius is a callous murderer, who killed his own brother, the king. This shows just how much of an unconventional play Hamlet is as we see a king being murdered, a king being insulted and a king as a murderer.
Another weakness of Claudius is his reaction to the play that Hamlet set up to find out whether the ghost is telling the truth or not. This shows that he has been outsmarted and maybe therefore he is unsuitable to be a king.
However despite both candidates having reasonable claims to become king, the council is swayed by the fact that Claudius seems up to the job, and is ready to start straight away, whereas if Hamlet was appointed they would have had to wait for him to finish grieving for his father and by then it could have been to late for Denmark to fight back in the war against Fortinbras.
I believe that Claudius was the right choice for king in the short-term but I believe in the long-term Hamlet would have made a better choice for king, however we know that the council had to decide on the short-term future of Denmark due to the impending war, so therefore I believe that, based on the evidence they had available, they made the correct decision appointing Claudius as the new king.
This view is shared by many other readers of the play and they all believe that if Hamlet would have knew how his father died before Claudius was crowned then he would have made himself appear to be over his father’s death just to stop Claudius becoming king and take a slight revenge against him in this way, but this wasn’t to be the case in Shakespeare’s dramatic play, instead we only find out that King Hamlet was murdered by his own brother Claudius, after Claudius becomes the new king and marries Gertrude.
This could be another reason as to why Hamlet refuses to take revenge as killing the king is an act of blasphemy and punishable in a severe manner and maybe he was scared of the consequences of his actions.
