Hamlet leadership free essay sample

Hamlet is one of the everlasting plays written by Shakespeare in 1603. Hamlet is based on a true story, which demonstrates the young Prince of Denmark â€Å"Prince Hamlet† who’s Father was killed by his own brother Claudius. All the characters in Hamlet fight for power, Gertrude married Claudius so she can stay a queen, Prince Hamlet is unhappy about his uncle getting the crown even though he was supposed to be getting the crown. Worst of them all is Claudius who is driven by his greed to commit his own brother’s murder for the crown and the queen. Character of Claudius in â€Å"Hamlet† demonstrates to the reader that Human nature is fundamentally very greedy, power hungry and vengeful because of leadership, which is demonstrated by, Shakespeare through the literary devices such soliloquy and metaphor. Claudius’s power hunger blinded his human nature. Murdering the king, stealing his crown and the queen are not the only things Claudius had done. Claudius married Gertrude right after the death of King Hamlet and gave out a speech in order to get accepted by the nobles of the court in which he says â€Å"Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death†¦ Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th 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 (1. 2. 13). According to this speech by Claudius he clearly states to the people in the court that his urgent and sinful marriage to Gertrude had happened because for the better of the kingdom. This soliloquy by Claudius Is obviously for Hamlet to forget his Fathers death because of the fear that the more he bring up his fathers death the more likely people would look into it. In order for him to convince the nobles of court he keeps going on with the speech and says â€Å"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, †¦. So much for him† (1. 2. 13). According to this now Claudius relates back to when King Hamlet took the land from Norway and now since the army from Norway is trying to attack Denmark again, Claudius totally avoids the war and wins the nobles in the court. Power hunger in Claudius is so strong that he would do anything to keep his queen and the crown by having the people of Denmark by his side. Human Nature changes once it comes to leadership and crown. A great example of it is presented in â€Å"Hamlet† through the soliloquy of Claudius. Claudius is so greedy and blinded for his crown that when he confesses for his sins he says, â€Å"O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon’†¦ All may be well† (3. 3. 37). According to this Claudius says his crime is so bad that god can smell it. The â€Å"primal eldest curse† is the reference to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain and in this case Claudius is presented as Cain. Then he says, â€Å"My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned and retain th offense? † (3. 3.37) According to this Claudius shows how greedy he is since he asks if there are any possibilities if he can keep the crown, his power and the queen and still be forgiven. The entire soliloquy by Claudius demonstrates how Claudius is just asking god for even more favors, which is not an act of confession since he believes whatever he did, was the right thing to do for his ambition. Being greedy while confessing for the crimes Claudius committed are not the only thing Claudius did. Leadership makes Claudius’s human nature to be very devious. Claudius act of sneakiness is the reason behind everyone’s death in the play. Claudius is obviously happy that Hamlet had murdered Polonius. As soon as Laertes hears about his fathers death he comes back to Denmark right away seeking for revenge and this is what Claudius says â€Å"Now must your conscience my acquaintance seal, And you must put me in your heart for friend, Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear, That he which hath your noble father slain Pursued my life† (4. 7. 5) According to this Claudius is proving himself not guilty and telling Laertes that Hamlet had killed his father not him. â€Å"And you must put me in your heart for friend† Claudius talking to a common person like this definitely demonstrates that he is manipulating Laertes to kill Hamlet. This is backfiring Laertes because when Laertes asked Claudius why did he send Hamlet away? His simple answer was because he was being a good husband and because Gertrude can’t see her son getting hurt. Claudius act of killing Hamlet is very sneaky since he sends Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so they can murder him in England and make it look like an accident. Claudius defends himself and his crown by sneaking and most deaths look like accidents that are obviously caused by him. Human nature can be very greedy, power hungry and sneaky when it comes to leadership. This has been demonstrated by Shakespeare play in Hamlet by one of the Evil character Claudius. At first Claudius murders his own brother for crown and the queen and then manipulates the people of Denmark to focus on the present by trying to make them forget about the past and worry about future. He wins peoples attention by avoiding war with Norway. Nonetheless Claudius human nature is filled with such greediness that when he asks for forgiveness he yet still wants to keep his power and queen, which is not an act of forgiveness. Other then being greedy and power hungry Claudius acts of sneakiness not just kills everyone else but himself as well. Being a leader affects ones human nature to become very filthy, Selfish and Sneaky just in order to maintain their power and their status. Being a good leader means maintaining the power and status without changing their human nature.