Hamlet, I am your Father: Analysis of Claudius' Speech Patterns

Often the struggle for an individual who obtains power illegitimately is to convince the public that it is legitimate. In the classic Shakespeare work Hamlet, the character Claudius attempts to do just that. After acquiring power by killing Hamlet's father and taking the royal seat of Denmark, King Claudius attempts to prove the legitimacy of his power through his outward appearance to his loyal subjects. Claudius puts up a rouse, pretending to very objective towards the death of the former King and even goes as far as to marry the old queen to solidify his position as the new King. All of King Claudius' speeches and relations with other characters in the play identify Claudius as a man desperate to conceal a dark past in order to guarantee autocracy in the state of Denmark.