ENGL 1080 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: King Claudius, Polonius
5 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Son of the late king hamlet of denmark. Hamlet believes his mother has betrayed his father by becomes king claudius" wife. Famous for the graveyard scene: holding the skull of the dead jester yorick. Realizes man has little lasting control over his fate. Describes man as the paragon of animals . Knows about the king"s spies, his friends. When hamlet meets his fathers ghost and learns that king claudius killed his father, he goes from a distrustful, disillusioned man to one who wants to avenge his fathers" death. Distrusts and rejects all those he thinks are spying on his for the king. Invents a madness to hide his true intentions. Cunning and inventive: changes the lines of a play performed before king claudius to see whether the ghost told him the truth or now. Kills rosencrantz, guildenstern, laertes and king claudius then dies himself.
