why didn't hamlet become the king of Denmark?

Answer 1

To answer that question correctly, you first need to research the rules for the descent of of kings in the Danish Court during the time period in which the play was supposed to take place. If the throne descended directly from father to first born son, then Hamlet is the rightful heir (barring the possibility of living male siblings older than him).

That said, it is my opinion that Hamlet does not assume his rightful claim to the Danish crown because he does not want it. The world of Hamlet is one of violent take over and military action (see Fortenbras' takeover and Claudius' alleged murder of Hamlets dad). Hamlet does not fit this mold. He is the perpetual liberal arts student. He is a thinker, not a mover/shaker. What does he do for the better part of the play? Think about what to to (in the form of soliloquy). He's constantly in cost/benefit analysis mode. He's putting on plays. He's playing the fool while knowing a "hawk from a handsaw." Hamlet is not king because he does not want to become king. In the meantime, what he manages to do by the end of the play is to inadvertently topple the government of Denmark.

Answer 2

Since Hamlet was age 30, and the only son and only child of the king, under the most widely used rules of succession he would have become King upon the death of his father. However, it is clear that Claudius is now King of Denmark, but there is no sign that he usurped the throne by any violent actions. If Hamlet had been much younger, then we might guess that Claudius was acting as regent. In the last act, Hamlet tells us that his uncle, Claudius, has “Popp’d in between the election and my hopes.” In the 1300's the King of Denmark was elected by a limited group of people. Starting in 1450 the throne of Denmark was occupied by a list of sons. Shakespeare wrote the play in 1600 when sons inherited the throne of Denmark. However, the timeframe of the play is ambiguous. There is some indication that it was in the past. Logically it would seem that Hamlet would be a candidate, but this single line in the play does not shed much light on the issue. Was the election held before he returned from school, and was he not a candidate, or did the nobles vote for his uncle instead of Hamlet? Did the marriage of Claudius to the widowed Queen help the decision. Hamlet is seemingly unconcerned about the loss of his throne, only that Claudius has replaced his father both in his mother's bed and his position as king. The other problem is that Hamlet says he was in school in Wittenbert, which was only founded a hundred years before the play was written. That would seem to place the play in the period when sons automatically inherited the throne. In summary, it is not clear how Claudius became the King. But using the line directly, it looks like he was elected.

Answer 3

Hamlet did not become king because kings were chosen and since Hamlet was not in Denmark at the time of his father's death Claudius was chosen to be king. Also he married the queen so yeah.

Answer 4

Well the one answer is on the right track. You do have to know the political ins and outs of Danish succession. There were several provinces in Denmark at the time and each had a say in the "election" of the next King. Hamlet himself says that Claudius "popped in between the election and my hopes."
By strict rules of succession Claudius is not the next in line to succeed, but second after young Hamlet. So why do the Danish provinces elect Claudius? Remember Hamlet is still at school in Wittenburg when his father dies, and the Danes need a King right now. So instead of going with the younger untried choice, they elect Claudius, a mature man of considerable diplomatic, and political experience. And as it proves out in his dealings with Norway, of no mean ablility.

Look at Claudius' speech from Act I, sc2,

"'Tis sweet and commendible in your nature Hamlet"

Where he upbraids the young man for being to much lost in grief for his father, which may speak of a younger, less mature man's sorrow. As well, Claudius lets the court as well as Hamlet know that, "you are the most immediate to our throne."

Is it possible, do you think, that Claudius not having any children of his own, WANTS to have young Hamlet as his heir, since he must have one. Is it possible that Claudius is telling the absolute truth when he says to his nephew; "And with no less nobility of love than that which dearest father bears his son do I impart to you." If you examine Claudius' speech patterns carefully you will see that this is one of the first and only times that he refers to himself in the singular rather than the royal plural "we." Does this perhaps give the statement more personal weight?
So is it possible that Claudius loves his nephew?
Is it possible that Claudius loved even the brother that murdered?

Answer 5

Is this a trick question?

Fortinbras says, in the speech that concludes the play, that, "had he lived," Hamlet probably would have gone on to become a very effective King. Unfortunately, Fortinbras speaks those lines as Hamlet's dead body is being carried offstage.

So, the point is moot.

Answer 6

Now that's a good question. Maybe because his mother was still alive and it would be too freaky to have a queen who's son was king.

Answer 7

[edit] Plot summary
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Marcellus, Horatio, Hamlet, and the Ghost by Henry Fuseli.The story of Hamlet concerns young Prince Hamlet whose father, Hamlet the King of Denmark (who bears the same name as his son), has recently and unexpectedly passed away. His brother, Claudius, has inherited the throne and taken the former king’s wife (and also Prince Hamlet’s mother), Gertrude, as his own. Prince Hamlet is greatly grieved by the surrogation of Claudius to the throne and Gertrude’s hasty remarriage to her departed husband’s brother, whom Prince Hamlet considers hardly worth of comparison to his father.

On a dark winter night, a ghost resembling the appearance of the deceased King Hamlet appears to Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio, watchmen of Elsinore Castle in Denmark, seemingly with an important message to deliver. However, the ghost vanishes before his message can be told. The sentries notify the prince, prompting his investigation into the matter. The apparition appears once again and speaks to Hamlet, revealing to him that his father was murdered by Claudius. After commanding Hamlet to avenge his father’s death, the ghost disappears. Hamlet plots to confirm Claudius’s guilt by feigning madness.


Hamlet and Ophelia by Dante Gabriel RossettiUpon the notice of Claudius and Gertrude, a pair of Hamlet’s schoolmates named Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are appointed to monitor him and discover the cause of his apparent insanity. Polonius, the councilor to the king, suspects that the origin of Hamlet’s madness lies with his love for Polonius’s daughter, Ophelia. However, in a secretly overseen meeting between the two suspected lovers, there is no evidence that Hamlet loves Ophelia; to the contrary, he orders her away to a nunnery.

Hamlet contrives a plan to uncover Claudius’s guilt by staging a play reenacting the murder. Claudius interrupts the play midway through and leaves the room. Horatio confirms the king’s reaction and Hamlet goes to avenge his father. He is poised to kill when he finds Claudius in prayer but concludes that killing him now would result in his soul’s passage to heaven – an inappropriate fate for one so evil. However, when he leaves, Claudius reveals that he had not been praying in a very pious manner.

Hamlet goes to confront and reprimand his mother. When he hears a noise behind the curtain, he thrusts his sword into it, killing the eavesdropping Polonius. Fearing for his own safety, Claudius deports Hamlet to England along with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who, unbeknownst to Hamlet, carry a request for the arrangement of his death.

Ophelia, afflicted by grief, goes mad and drowns in a river (perhaps by her own doing). Laertes, her brother and Polonius’s son, returns from his visit to France enraged. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is to blame for the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia. Hamlet sends word that he has returned to Denmark after his ship was attacked by pirates on the way to England. Claudius, realizing in Laertes an opportunity to get rid of Hamlet, wagers that Hamlet can best Laertes in a fencing match. The fight is a setup; Laertes’s blade is poisoned, as is the wine in a goblet from which Hamlet is to drink.

During the bout, Gertrude drinks from the poisoned goblet and dies. Laertes succeeds in cutting Hamlet, then is cut by his own blade. With his dying breath, he reveals the king’s plot to kill Hamlet. Hamlet manages to kill Claudius before he too succumbs to the fatal poison. Fortinbras, a Norwegian prince with ambitions of conquest, leads his army to Denmark and comes upon the scene. Horatio recounts the tale and Fortinbras orders Hamlet’s body to be carried away honorably.

Answer 8

Because of Claudius!

Answer 9

Because his uncle was the next in line, not him.

Answer 10

Read the play. It doesn't take long and then you can do your own homework.