Hamlet

Mrs. Clinch warned us that Hamlet is going to be a smart ass and be the over dramatic prince, but I did not expect him to really be all that and beyond. I supposed if one loved his father as much as Hamlet and has not been given the right to throne, I guess one could be as depressed and mad as Hamlet. However, if King Hamlet was so great of a king that he is described as a 'Hyperion', why is the young Hamlet not on the throne of Denmark? Hamlet, as noted by his verbal wit, is very intellectual and far out ranks Claudius in that category. He fits the mold for a king as well as and even better than Claudius. Therefore, a question is prompted to question the authenticity of Claudius's rise to the throne. How did Claudius become so well liked and respected by the servants of Denmark that he was able to ascent to the throne without much opposition? Because this play is a tragedy and has a ghost of King Hamlet, who is not able to rest in peace, I don't think it is a stretch to assume that Claudius had something to do with the king's death. During King Hamlet's reign, Claudius probably started recruiting people on his side because as many people know, you need to have a fair number of servants backing you up for an up rise. If Claudius did kill the king but did it secretly, it would have been easy for him to take the throne through deception. Also, his 'act', as I see it, towards Hamlet is kind and gentle in order to cover up the massive fear and threat he feels from his nephew. However, in order to renegade that, he marries the former queen, which in a way can strengthen his legitimacy to the throne. I thought the marrying part wasn't as scandalous as it seemed because I know that in some cultures, the same situation often occurred in history. However, after reading Hamlet's soliloquy, it became clear that even this time period does not look favorably of such action. Which is weird because Claudius was able to do those things and consolidate his power. How did the people in court  or people of Denmark view the situation? We  only know about Hamlet's point of view but if it is incestuous, then wouldn't other people  view it in the same light as Hamlet? If Claudius has been able to cloak the situation in a natural and undeceiving way and have the people at court accept this ascension to throne, he must be very persuasive and charming. I sort of detracted from what I thought I was going to talk about, Hamlet, and instead  gravitated more towards Claudius. However, it will be interesting to see what Claudius does to Hamlet or vice versa and if Claudius will ever be overridden with guilt due to the way he took over the throne.