Hamlet: A Revenge Tragedy The play dramatizes the perpetual struggle to which all civilization that is genuine is doomed. Bevington 114 Ever the masterly politician, Claudius has engineered his own succession to the throne in place of his nephew Hamlet not by usurpation, but by full consent of the Danish court.B1 Well before he learns of the murder, he spurns the hypocrisy of meats baked for a funeral coldly furnishing forth the wedding festivities of …showed first 75 words of 868 total…

…showed last 75 words of 868 total…Claudius is a prisoner of circumstance, burdened with a guilty responsibility, unable to rid himself of his enemy my forth-right action. Hamlet is a constant danger to the king, and yet no plausible grounds can at first be discovered for proceeding against Hamlet. Only after the “mouse trap” play do both of them know that action is imperative: and yet both of them find their subsequent moves thwarted by unforeseen circumstances and deceptive appearances. B4