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How does Old Hamlet's foreign policy with Norway contrast with Claudius'?

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Old Hamlet's foreign policy with Norway involved personal combat, settling territorial disputes through a duel with King Fortinbras, while Claudius opts for diplomacy and potential war. Old Hamlet's approach was direct and personal, emphasizing ethics and avoiding broader conflict. In contrast, Claudius is more political, using letters to Norway's king to curb Young Fortinbras's aggression, showing a preference for diplomacy but preparing for war if necessary.

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Old Hamlet, Prince Hamlet's father, agrees with the late King Fortinbras to tackle foreign policy in a personal way. Rather than have Norway go to war with Denmark over their territorial disputes, Fortinbras recommends that he and King Hamlet have a fight to settle their country's differences. Old King Hamlet concurs. Legal documents are drawn up to the effect that the loser of the fight will give up his life and forfeit the territories the two kingdoms are arguing over. During the fight, Old Hamlet kills Fortinbras—we later find out this is on the same day young Hamlet is born—and Denmark gains the disputed lands.

The young Fortinbras and Claudius have far different ideas about how to settle foreign policy conflicts than Old Hamlet. Fortinbras has raised an army to march on Denmark, and Claudius, in turn, is building ships and defenses to meet Fortinbras's threat. Claudius is...

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willing to drag the whole country into war.

It offers some possible insights into Hamlet's character that he was raised by a father who preferred a personal battle—putting his own life on the line—to going to war over disputed territory. Growing up with such a man, Hamlet may have learned the value of avoiding bloodshed whenever possible. What if all national leaders decided to settle disputes through personal combat, without putting thousands of soldiers' lives on the line, not to mention the lives of civilians?

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The elder Hamlet acts ethically in all things, even in war. As evidence, see Act 1.1.95-100. Horatio is reminding Marcellus of this fact after the mute appearance of the ghost of the King. The king, "who by a sealed compact/Well ratified by law and heraldry,/Did forfeit, with all his life, all (those) his lands/Which he stood seized of, to the conquerer." Horatio tells him that he would have acted in accordance with justice no matter who was the victor "Had he been vanquisher" (105).

Claudius, however, knows no rule of ethics at home or abroad. He will do whatever it takes to gain and keep power, including murdering his own brother for the throne. He is a "hyperion to a satyr," that is, the Sun God, full of light, compared to the demonic half-horse, half-man, who was known to be full of lust and cowardice.

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How do Old Hamlet and Claudius differ in their foreign policy approaches?

We learn quite a bit about this topic in the first two scenes of the play. When the soldiers are out on the platform of the castle to look out for the ghost, they also ask Horatio about the build up of armaments and ships that is currently going on.  Horatio reveals that Young Fortinbras of Norway is planning on attacking Denmark to gain back lands lost by his father in a battle with the late King Hamlet. This reveals that the late king was a successful warrior who settled land disputes with war. King Hamlet engaged in a battle and "by a sealed compact, well ratified by law and heraldry / Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands / Which he stood seized of, to the conquerer."

On the other hand, Claudius isn't jumping into a battle with Prince Fortinbras to defend the lands.  While is he preparing for the possibility, he is trying diplomacy first. In his first monologue to his court he explains what this external threat to Denmark is, but then tells them that he plans to send a letter to the King of Norway (Fortinbras's bed-ridden old uncle) telling the king that he must stop Young Fortinbras in his plans against Denmark.  In a effort at confidence, or in a moment of ego, he is speaking dismissively of the Fortinbras threat and ends that part of his speech with the phrase, "so much for him" that seems to even imply a dismissive wave of the hand to go along with it.

We learn in Act 2 the letter worked and that Old Norway has attempted to reign in his nephew, but who now is only asking to be allowed to pass through Denmark on their way to battle in Poland. And while we may question the honesty of the request, we have to take it at face value for the next couple of acts.

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