KING CLAUDIUS
Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death
The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him,
Together with remembrance of ourselves.
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy,–
With an auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole,–
Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr'd
Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone
With this affair along. For all, our thanks.
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,
Colleagued with the dream of his advantage,
He hath not fail'd to pester us with message,
Importing the surrender of those lands
Lost by his father, with all bonds of law,
To our most valiant brother. So much for him.
Now for ourself and for this time of meeting:
Thus much the business is: we have here writ
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras,–
Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears
Of this his nephew's purpose, –to suppress
His further gait herein; in that the levies,
The lists and full proportions, are all made
Out of his subject: and we here dispatch
You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand,
For bearers of this greeting to old Norway;
Giving to you no further personal power
To business with the king, more than the scope
Of these delated articles allow.
Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.
Using examples in your answer, how would you describe the performance of the King in his first appearance in the play. You may want to focus on:Email me on gringle@tesco.net if your not sure of any part of the question.
- the use of figurative language
- the tone and how it changes
- how Claudius' kingship is represented
6 comments:
The King's first performance in the play is loaded. Full off imagery and dramatic langauge he is giving a public address, he appears arrogant and proud and the tone quickly changes showing his eagerness to act the king. From a mournful adress to a political one.
The King (Claudius) makes a speech about mourning the king's death yet mentions the joy of marriage which contracdits the idea of the king and state being in mourning, 'Have we as 'twere with a defeated joy, with an auspicous and drooping eye,' this shows the mix of joyous and grieful emotions.
The tone also changes part way through his adress. he goes from a mournful, almost concillatory tone to that of an arrogant leader who thinks he will do a better job and likes giving orders. 'To our most valiant brother. So much for him', shows his arrogance and egotisim.
Annoymous also said...
The King’s first performance is overloaded, as he is trying to win the people of Denmark over and he is trying too hard. ..’our dear brother’s death the memory be green..’ This supports the fact that he is trying to win the people over by bonding with them and bring the kingdom together, as he uses ‘our’ which is a connotation as it involves everyone. Also the fact he says ..’The memory be green..’ gives the audience an idea that he is trying his utmost to become popular and get the people to believe he is a good person, as he still remembers his brother. The language used in this case is rhetorical, as the people of Denmark are engaged as well as the audience.
The tone of the King’s speech changes, as he has done the introduction, which was to pay respects for the late King Hamlet and now he focuses on the mourning in order to prepare them to move on. The King goes through the formalities and praises the Queen. However, there is a link between the two powers as they are seen as an ..’imperial jointress..’ and this legitimises the theme of kingship.
Claudius’ kingship is represented in a negative way, as he starts off by paying respects to his late brother, but he is still happy about marrying his wife, which is difficult to understand and this typifies the fact that he has already pronounced the man dead by marrying his wife. In addition, Claudius has no respect for other countries, as young Fortinbras is planning to fight for his possessions which were won by the late King Hamlet and he does not seem to take the situation seriously at all. Also Claudius signifies arrogance and ignorance because he is not aware of the severity of the situation presented to him, ..’To our most valiant brother. So much for him.’
The first sentence, while I know what you mean, is not expressed formally enough.The second sentence needs to be rewritten so that the ideas contained within it are fully exploited. Ilike your comments on how his 'tone' changes. Perhaps you could have structured your work differently-second paragraph first and so on.
HARRY
Check your use of the word 'connotation'. You need to express your ideas more ACCURATELY and PRECISELY if you are to get the most from them. I am very impressed with the content of your work as it clearly shows that you have been listening carefully and making good notes.
HARRY1
The King’s performance is clearly one that has been well planned. His very public speech begins by discussing Hamlet, his greatly admired and recently dead brother. The King speaks of the grief of “our whole kingdom” and “our Queen”. This use of the first person plural is a persuasive technique often employed to give the impression of unity and shared beliefs. As the new King, it is particularly important that he appears to be sensitive to his subjects’ opinions especially in such suspicious circumstances. He acknowledges that his swift marriage to his brother’s wife is inappropriate when he speaks of being “with mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”. The King’s overall objective at this point is to win his subjects’ approval by persuading them that his marriage was the best course of action for Denmark. His argument is that as Gertrude is the link between he and the former king and as her status remains as Queen and “imperial jointress”, the marriage is legitimised and Claudius’ rightful position is as King.
His tone then changes from placating and sombre to one which hints of a degree of arrogance. Claudius compliments his advisors’ “better wisdoms” but does not heed them. He then dismisses the threat by Young Fortinbras from Norway by saying “so much for him”. This disregard for what could potentially become a serious political disaster certainly portrays Claudius as an irresponsible and overconfident King for the nation of Denmark.
The King’s first appearance in the plat is highly revealing. The first half of Claudius’ speech shows that he is to some degree concerned by the problems affecting Denmark. Most notably, the unease his actions have caused. However, this could be interpreted as revealing Claudius’s self-absorption as his dismissal of Young Fortinbras is both callous and arrogant. As a result, Claudius is portrayed as much more concerned with his status as King than with his responsibilities for Denmark.
Very engaging response. Well argued and clearly focused on the question. You have also shown some capacity to offer differing perspectives regarding Claudius' motivations and your textual reference focused.
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