Beginning of Essay
When at the beginning of Act I scene ii of Hamlet we find that Claudius, and not young Hamlet is king of Denmark, we are surprised. Part of this surprise comes from our anticipation that the son of the old king should be the natural heir to the throne. Shakespear ....

Middle of Essay
.... for most of the second scene. It is practical concerns, Claudius argues, that have forced him to become king. There is of course the threat of Fortinbras who, thinking Denmark to be vulnerable "by our late dear brother's death" has been demanding "the surrender of those lands/Lost by his father" (I, ii, 23-24). In a gesture of contemptuous superiority, Claudius simply declares "So much for him" (I, ii, 25). That crisis is over. The fact is Claudius is in control. He has already acknowledged the moral awkwardness of marrying his "sometime sister" Gertrude but characterizes it as mere political expedience: she is "The imperial jointress to this warlik ....