ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -strange and unnatural” (1.5) because he was poisoned by his brother. Through the Ghost, we learn that Claudius poured poison into his brother’s ear, killing him while he napped in his gardens. Claudius then took the throne for himself and married Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude.

Detailed explanation-2: -Polonius hides in Gertrude’s room to protect her from her unpredicatable son. When Hamlet arrives to scold his mother, he hears Polonius moving behind the arras (a kind of tapestry). He stabs the tapestry and, in so doing, kills Polonius.

Detailed explanation-3: -Remember that Claudius killed King Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear. Shakespeare continually illustrates that words can function as poison in the ear as well. As the ghost says in Act I, scene v, Claudius has poisoned “the whole ear of Denmark” with his words (I.v.36).

Detailed explanation-4: -Claudius kneels before his private alter and confesses to God that he murdered his brother. He admits that this act is unforgivable but he is unwilling to relinquish his new found power and position. Instead he asks for some divine intervention to soften him so that he can seek forgiveness.

Detailed explanation-5: -In the beginning of his soliloquy he says, “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent” (III. iii. 44), showing that he regrets murdering his brother, Page 2 2 and would have rather he had not done it despite what he has gained.