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The moral dilemma that's portrayed in these acts is selfishness and materialistic habits. Claudius' top priority is to preserve his royal position and its credit. Even with this "huge concern" that he has for Hamlet and his madness, he refuses to tell the public because it might backlash. He said "To bear all smooth and even, / This sudden sending him away must seem / Deliberate pause. Diseases desperate grown / by desperate appliance are relieve, / Or not at all" (Ham. IV.ii.212) where he says he doesn't want it to be a big deal so everything stays calm (which isn't true, he just can't let everyone know too much).

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In the play Hamlet, there is a point where a play is shown to the characters. Hamlet had actors come and perform for the royal family where Hamlet included an extra scene where the character murdered his brother (to portray the act that King Claudius did) in hopes to get a reaction from the King. In fact, it worked and the King realized that from there on out, Hamlet was a potential threat since he knew the truth. He convinced everyone that Hamlet had officially gone completely mad. He told Gertrude "Oh Gertrude, come away! / The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch / But we will ship him hence; and this vile deed / We must with all our majesty and skill / Youth countenance and excuse" (Ham. IV.i.208).

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As the main villain creating all of the conflict, he had a complex way of planning out his actions. Claudius wants to maintain everything that he's "earned", and to do that he needed to make sure he was never exposed. He needed Hamlet out of the picture no matter what it took. He tried sending him away from Denmark but when that didn't work he attempted to kill him. Claudius tied his intentions back to his selfish necessities and his unbalanced beliefs. Claudius tried his best to make his plans in depth. While speaking to Laertes he says, "Let's further think of this, / Weight what convenience both of time and means / May fit us to out shape. If this should fail... this project / Should have a back of second that might hold / If this did blast in proof" (Ham. IV.VII.254). Where he explains how if their original plan fails, they need a backup plan to get away with it.

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King Claudius is a villain in this play because he is the sole reason for the crisis in the play. He is the murderer that killed King Hamlet, he manipulated Queen Gertrude, he lied, didn't sympathize for anybody, and his intentions were always selfish. Claudius even said "As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents, / And then this 'should' is like a spendthrift sigh / That hurts by easing" (Ham. IV.VII.252) which is where he admits that the things he's doing doesn't do as much good but it gives a sense of relief.

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Obviously the true cause of the death of King Claudius was being poisoned, but I believe the real cause was karma. I think that the person to blame for his death was himself because he was the character that caused the chain reaction of chaos that ended with many people dying. Starting with his initial murder leading to the Hamlet madness drama that only badly progressed. Claudius became too harsh and open about his bad intentions which didn't get him anywhere. He said "No place indeed should murder sanctuaries; / Revenge should have no bounds" (Ham. IV.VII.252), where he tells Laertes that there shouldn't be any boundaries for murder and revenge which explains why the King later says directly to Hamlet "Stay, give me drink. Hamlet this pearl is thine. / Here's to thy health" (Ham. V.ii.300) which is where he directly drops the poison in front of him without hesitation. All of these blatantly things said and done by Claudius led him to death.

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In these acts, King Claudius' selfishness really showed. Before, he started to feel guilty about what he's done, but towards the end he showed no mercy when he became threatened by Hamlet. He remains pessimistic throughout everything and has a perspective that everything revolves around him. He even said to Gertrude, "Let him go, Gertrude. Do not fear our person. / There's such divinity doth hedge a king" (Ham. IV.V.234). Where he speaks about how well his royalty protects him. He gets so caught up in his position that he's rude, selfish, and malice.

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Even from the start, Hamlet was suspicious about King Claudius. The whole play Hamlet was devising a plan for revenge against him after he found out that he killed his father. In these last acts, Hamlet became more upfront with Claudius. Hamlet announced himself as the Dane (the king) to everybody and in the final scene where Hamlet finds out Claudius poisoned Gertrude and the sword he was using was poisoned, Hamlet says "The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work" (Ham. V.ii.304). This is where he stabs the king then makes him drink the rest of the poisoned cup. Hamlet always said that people were nothing when they died, but he was willing to die in order to get this revenge.

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At the beginning of the play, Gertrude and Claudius had a seemingly strong connection where Gertrude put her trust into him. Towards the end especially in Act 5, she starts to notice Claudius' darker side. There were a few instances where Claudius would be talking about Hamlet in a harsh way and Gertrude would tell Claudius that his comments were unnecessary. When King Claudius offered Hamlet and poisoned drink, Gertrude drank it for herself. Gertrude finally realizes Claudius' evilness when she falls and says "No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink! I am poisoned" (V.ii.304).

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Laertes, the brother of Ophelia and the son of Polonius had a relationship with Claudius that seemed to changed a little bit over these acts. At first they were more like acquaintances, but towards the end they came together to form a plan. At the start of Act 4 Scene 7, the king talks about how he is going to kill Hamlet and Laertes says "My lord, I will be ruled, / The rather if you could devise it so / That I might be the organ" (Ham. IV.VII.248). Which means that he wants to come along to help him. Their bond here is rooted from the hatred they have developed for Hamlet.

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The moral dilemma in this act was guilt. King Claudius was presented with different situations like Hamlet's continued madness and the play that made him really question himself. After seeing that his crown, his queen, and his reputation were at stake, he began to truly feel bad about what he did. He tried praying and figuring out whether he could be saved from that sin or not. Although he can't resolve it all on his own, he just decides to take the matter into his own hands by sending Hamlet away and ordering for him to be killed. He said to himself in prayer "Whereto serves mercy / /but to confront the visage of offense? / And what's in prayer but this twofold force, / To be forestalled ere we come to fall / Or pardoned being down? Then I'll look up. / My fault is past. But oh, what form of prayer / Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?' / That cannot be, since I am still possessed / Of those effects for which I did the murder" (Ham. III.iii.186). I think that Shakespeare is trying to get the audience to realize that Claudius has feelings and that he does feel guilty for what he's done. Shakespeare wanted to show the audience that there are consequences that follow something like this.

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During the play, King Claudius was fine up and until the murder scene where he immediately got up out of his seat and left the room. The entire play was stopped and didn't resume. Claudius asked "Have you heard the argument? Is there no offense in't?" (Ham. III.ii.168) when the dialogue was the Queen talking about how she was a widow and how she would never marry again. He asked that because he most likely made a connection to his own experience and didn't know if the play was going to portray something similar. The play was indeed very similar to Hamlet because for one, it showed that a Queen was remarrying. In that play she Player Queen said "The instances that second marriage move / Are base respects of thrift, but none of love. / A second time I kill my husband dead, / When second husband kisses me in bed" (Ham. III.ii.166) which is almost exactly how the plot is in Hamlet where Gertrude, Hamlet's mother remarries to his uncle Claudius which hurt King Hamlet. Another part where the two plays showed similarities was when the nephew murdered the King. In the play, the nephew Lucianus says to the audience "Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time / agreeing, / Confederate season, else no creature seeing, / Thou mixture rank, or midnight weeds collected, / With Hecate's band thrice blasted, thrice infected, / Thy natural magic and dire property / On wholesome life usurps immediately" (Ham. III.iii.170). Which is where he poisons and kills him, just how Claudius poisoned and killed King Hamlet.

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I think that Claudius is a character that is quick to take action because it's clear that everything that he has done never had too much thought. One reason is that during the play, Claudius seemed to be offended and very bothered by the murder scene and without hesitation he stood up and said "Give me some light. Away" (Ham. III.ii.172). And the played stopped and the King left. He didn't put any thought into what he did, he just got up in left. Another reason is because the first thing that he thought to do was to just send Hamlet to England. Even though the scene didn't have much correlation with Hamlet, Claudius' guilt led him to make the immediate decision. He said to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "I like him not; nor stands it safe with us / To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you. / I your commission will forthwith dispatch, / And he to England shall along with you" (Ham. III.iii.182).

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Even though Claudius showed that he was regretful of what he did, he didn't feel guilty enough to actually own up to it. A part of him knew that even though he thought he had good intentions, the heavens probably wouldn't forgive him. He is still a greedy person who wanted to keep everything that he got from the deed. He said "My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. / May one be pardoned and retain th'offence?" (Ham. III.iii.186). this shows that even though he knew what he did was wrong, he still wanted to keep everything he "earned" and goes back and forth with his rights and wrongs but finally concludes the prayer with "O wretched state! O bosom black as death! / O limed soul, that struggling to be free / Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay. / Bow, stubborn knees; and heart with strings of steel, / Be softt as sinews of the new-born babe. / All may be well" (Ham. III.iii.186).

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I think this Act shows a lot about Claudius' character beyond the fact that he is just a murderer. He feels guilt too and he showed that he regret doing it because he started to see the consequences. He prayed after watching the murder scene in the play and said "My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, / And, like a man to double business bound, / I stand in pause whee I shall first begin, / And both neglect" (Ham. III.iii.184).

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I think that the relationship that Claudius has with Gertrude is a little bit manipulative and fake. Claudius has her convinced that he is a great person who is only helping people for the better when in reality, he is only covering up what he's done by going out of his way to "help" Hamlet. Gertrude usually chooses Claudius' side as well even though she knows Hamlet better. Just like when Claudius and Polonius were arranging to put Ophelia and Hamlet together to "test" him with her, he said "Sweet Gertrude, leave us too, / For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither / That he, as 'there by accident, may here / Affront Ophelia" (Ham. III.i.140). In which Gertrude responded, "I shall obey you. / And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish / That your good beauties be the happy cause / Of Hamlet's wildness..." (Ham. III.i. 140). Here it shows that Gertrude just simply agrees with anything that Claudius commands her to do or tells her.

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Hamlet and Claudius have an interesting and unspoken relationship. At the beginning, Claudius made a small effort to help Hamlet and give him advice, but with little care. Over the course of the play, Claudius began to distrust Hamlet more and more due to his suspicious behavior. After the play that Hamlet held, Claudius grew a fear that his murderous sins might become exposed so Claudius proceeded to speak bad on Hamlet's to convince others that Hamlet was the issue. Hamlet even caused him to feel more guilty about what he did and he prayed and said "Oh, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; / It hath the primal eldest curse upon't - / A brother's murder! Pray can I not" (Ham. III.iii.184). Which when he said this, it actually caused Hamlet to wait to revengefully murder him.

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Polonius is one of Claudius' good friends who has been helping him since the beginning of the play. They relied on each other to figure out what was wrong with Hamlet and they worked together to demise plans. Their bond strengthened as the play went on because they started working together more and putting more trust into each other. Polonius did as much as he could to get to the bottom of the presented conflicts. "My lord, he's going to his mother's closet. / Behind the arras I'll convey myself / To hear the process") (Ham. III.iii.184).

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One theme in this act is that actions can speak louder than words. In multiple situations this has been proven true. Hamlet showing Ophelia a sense of his love for her made her father furious and led him to take action. Hamlet's actions and behavior worried the King and Queen so they ordered for people to visit and help him even though Hamlet might not have directly said anything to make them do this. The two guests suspicious actions clearly spoke loud enough for Hamlet to realize that they were sent for him (even though they didn't say anything that implied they were there for him). And lastly, King Claudius' covering up a murder, throwing ceremonies in times of mourning, and lying to the family and community spoke loud enough to make Hamlet form not only a cruel plan against him, but hatred for him. All of the different actions that are being taken by these people just open the doors to emotions, different behaviors, and perceptions for each character and can lead to a change of how they act and react. I think that Shakespeare is trying to get the audience comprehend how everybody has different intentions, views, and secrets. He wants to show the audience how each of the characters who are hiding things can be really deceitful which shows a lot about their true colors and how they can take advantage of and trick people.

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I believe that Hamlet is trying to expose to not only a crowd but to the Queen and the rest of Denmark who King Claudius truly is. Hamlet says "For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak / With most miraculous organ" (Ham. II.ii.136). This means that his actions (murder in this case) speak loud and if what he plans is true, he will "know what to do". In my opinion, I presume that his plan is to not only expose and kill him, but to "catch his conscience".

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I believe that Hamlet's motives are both conscious and unconscious. Most are conscious because of his father's spirit telling him what to do so he's doing them for the sake of avenging his father. Other's are unconscious because it's his grief that is driving him.

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In the first act, the spirit of Hamlet's father appeared to him and told him the truth about his death. King Claudius was the one that poisoned and killed King Hamlet and his father wants his son (Hamlet) to seek revenge and do what he needs to do.

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Hamlet created a plan in scene two that he was going to have people attend to a play performed by local actors and he was going to include scenes that were similar to the "scene" where Claudius murdered King Hamlet. Hamlet said "About, my brains. I have heard / That guilty creatures sitting at a play / Have, by the very cunning of the scene, / Been struck so to the soul that presently / They have proclaimed their malefactions" (Ham. II.ii.136). So that means that he's planning on seeing if King Claudius has a reaction to a murder scene similar to he one that he committed.

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After everybody showed Hamlet that they didn't care as much as he did about his situation, he became suspicious of people's intentions and emotions. When the foreign King and Queen came to visit he made sure to ask "Were you not sent for? Is it your own inclining? / Is it a free visitation? Come, come, deal justly with me. / Come, come, Nay speak" (II.ii.114). Hamlet basically interrogated them because of his suspicion.

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While Hamlet was talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet mentioned that he thought of Denmark as "prison". And when the two questioned him. Rosencrantz said they the world was a prison, but Hamlet told her there were specific places that were especially "prison-like"; Denmark being one of them. Hamlet's reasoning for feeling this way was when he said "Why, then 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either / good or bad but thinking it makes it so. To me it is a prison" (II.ii.114). So Hamlet claims that a person can see anything how they want to see it whether it be good or bad.

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Hamlet was one of the only characters who took his grief seriously. Hamlet held his father's death close to his heart. He hated how nobody wanted to truly mourn with him. Act two showed how Hamlet could become defensive in rough times. He tells Polonius "You cannot sir, take from me anything that I will / not more willingly part withal -except my life, except my / life, except my life" (II.ii110). And Hamlet speaks of him as a fool and makes sure he speaks his mind.

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Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are King and Queen of another town coming to visit upon request of King Claudius for assistant with Young Hamlet and his "troubles". At first they were sent to try to talk to Hamlet to report back to the King but Hamlet noticed and confronted them about their intentions. Hamlet still stays respectful as he doesn't try to treat them like servants. Hamlet says "Why, anything. But to the purpose. You were sent / for, and there is a king of confession in your looks, which / your modesties have not craft enough color. I know the / good King and Queen have sent for you" (Ham. II.ii.116). But they compromise and speak kindly to each other.

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Polonius is the father of Ophelia and believes that Hamlet had gone mad and was not worthy of being around his daughter. At the beginning he didn't may much attention to Hamlet until it involved Ophelia. He tried telling the Queen and King about his concern and said "And he, repelled - a short tale to make - / Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, / Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, / Thence to a lightness, and by this declension, / Into the madness wherein now he raves / And all we mourn for" (Ham. II.ii.106). Although Polonius thereafter tried to test and try Hamlet, he payed no mind and didn't seem to notice or care.

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She is Hamlet's love interest but Ophelia's father forbids the relationship. Hamlet grew to like her after Polonius came to the town and eventually he told her his feelings. Ophelia tells her father "No, my good lord, but as you did command, / I did repel his letters and denied / His access to me" (Ham. II.i. 94).

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When Hamlet leaves after being told by his mother to stop grieving, he says, "With which she followed  my poor father's body, / Like Niobe, all tears - why she, even she - / O God!" (Ham. I.ii.42). Niobe in Greek mythology was a woman of many children. She would often brag to others about how she had so many kids compared to them. As a punishment, Apollo and Artemis (two gods) killed her sons and daughters. Niobe was put in eternal pain after her loss when she was turned to stone. Hamlet is saying that his mother took no time to mourn his father like Niobe did her children.

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In Act 1, Shakespeare creates a moral dilemma regarding the truth about power. King Hamlet was linked to the kingdom and its qualities. He was a great king, especially in the eyes of Young Hamlet. When King Hamlet fell ill, the people did not recognize his work and moved on quickly to the next person who took the throne (King Claudius). King Claudius is not a good man and doesn't have good morals. He represents the evil that can be in a government (in this case monarchy) that is unseen. In conclusion, the theme is that the appearance of a great person or their representation can have a dark and hidden circumstance.

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https://alecelliotrm.weebly.com/act-1.html

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From the same quote as the previous text box "Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother" (Ham. I.ii.42). He is comparing the difference between his father and his uncle, King Claudius. Mythologically, a satyr is a crossbreed between a man and a horse. Satyrs were seen as lower class, dangerous, and cowardly. Which is how he sees Claudius. And it shows that Hamlet thinks his father truly loved his mother compared to Claudius' lustful ways.

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The Nemean lion in Greek mythology was a powerful lion from Nemea who couldn't be killed with mortal weapons. Which is why Hercules was the one to kill him. Hamlet quotes "My fate cries out / And makes each petty artery in this body / As hardy as the Nemean's lion's nerve" (Ham. I.IV.68). What he means by this is that while is speaking to the spirit who he believes is his father, he needs the strength and the courage to speak with him just like in the Greek myth.

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Hyperion is the Titan God and light. He overthrew his father and took over the world later to be killed by Zeus and the Olympians. Hyperion is described as watchful and wise. Hamlet compares his father to Hyperion because he thinks his father is full of wisdom and alludes that Young Hamlet has a lot of respect for his father. "Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother" (Ham. I.ii.42).

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"But two months dead - nay, not so much, not two - / So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother..." (Ham. I.ii.42). In this passage, Hamlet is defending that his father deserved more than two months of mourning, especially as the King rather than celebrate a new king on top of the new king marrying King Hamlet's wife.

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When King Claudius married Queen Gertrude, he threw loud parties with lots of people, loud music, drinks, and food. Hamlet found this extremely disrespectful and remained professional in his position as a royal figure. While with his guard accomplices, he says "But to my mind, though I am native here / And to the manner born, it is a custom / More honored in the breach than the observance. / This heavy-headed revel east and west / Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations - / They clap us drunkards, and with swinish phrase / Soil our addition; and indeed it takes / From our achievements, though performed at height, / The pith and marrow of our attribute" (Ham. I.IV.64).

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In Act 1, we learn that Hamlet held his father dear to him. He understood the best qualities of his father and loyally mourned his death. While other's partied in celebration of his uncle and his mother's marriage, he still (rightfully) was mourning the loss of his father. "But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe" (Ham. I.ii.38).

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Hamlet knew that his father was a great man, and an even greater king. He loved his father dearly and was willing to do anything to avenge his untimely death. "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge" (Ham. I.V.72).

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Horatio is a good friend and servant of Hamlet. He is one of a few men who introduce him to the spirit him and other guards saw. "Sir, my good friend, I'll change that name with you. / And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?... I am very glad to see you" (Ham. I.ii. 44).

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Young Hamlet despises his uncle, the new King because he immediately took it upon himself to marry Gertrude and become King after his brother, King Hamlet's death. "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...With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,  / In equal scale weighing delight and dole, / Taken to wife" (Ham. I.i.34).

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Queen Gertrude (Young Hamlet's Mother) is connected to Hamlet by being his mother and "trying" to care for him during the rough times he is going through. "Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet: / I pray thee stay with us, go not to Wittenberg" (Hamlet I.ii. 40).

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*Hamlet and his father, the King*