He shows some skill in diplomacy and dealing with court business in a timely and efficient fashion: in the scenes where he holds court, he gives every indication that he is a decisive and pragmatic king and an effective politician: perhaps more than Prince Hamlet would have proved to be, and perhaps even better than Old Hamlet, who whiled away his afternoons, on a regular basis, asleep in his orchard.īut, like Macbeth, he has only attained the crown through being ruthless, immoral, and murderous. The question of whether Claudius is a better king than the old King Hamlet is one that critics have often encouraged us to ask.
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