Alison Hearst

1.2 122-132

Why does King Claudius encourage Hamlet to stay in Denmark? Is Claudius's delight to Hamlet's decision to stay genuine?

There was a general consensus that Claudius wants Hamlet to remain in Denmark in order to keep his eye on him. Disagreements arose when debating the reasons for Claudius's desires to watch over Hamlet. Because Hamlet is still upset over his mother's marriage to his uncle, Claudius could be in fear of Hamlet attempting overcome Claudius in order to gain control of the kingdom. A different opinion is that Claudius wants to establish a family and by addressing Hamlet as his son, he has no selfish interests in mind and is only trying to be a father figure for Hamlet. Although the second explanation would be ideal, by marrying Hamlet's mother less than a month after his father died, Claudius does not seem to have Hamlet's best interests in mind.