Steven Stoosny's Motivation In Hamlet

Motivation is a key to survival. It is what helps individuals be successful at what they do and do not do on an everyday basis. Without it, there would never be a reason to accomplish anything in life. However, motivation can be used for completing great things for oneself or can lead to harmful situations. Through the use of approach, avoid, and attack motivation, King Claudius can be seen using aspects of Steven Stosny’s Motivation theory throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Steven Stosny’s Motivation theory consists of three major types of motivation: approach, avoid, and attack. Approach motivation occurs when somebody wants to get more of something that interests them by learning more information from others. Avoid motivation happens
whenever someone tries and get away from someone or something by ignoring or rejecting that thing. Attack motivation is when somebody wants to cause harm or insult another person due to their resentment or hatred for that person. All three of these characteristics of motivation can be seen in King Claudius. During the play, there was multiple times when Claudius reached out and approached to others. Throughout Hamlet, he talks to several other people to try and get material on the state of Hamlet’s insanity, as well as convincing people to spy and kill for him. For example, when Claudius is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he says, “The need we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending.
Something have you heard of Hamlet’s transformation” (II.ii.3-4). Claudius takes Hamlet’s childhood friends and uses them to spy on Hamlet for him. Claudius is intrigued with Hamlet’s thoughts and actions as he fears Hamlet is aware of his involvement in King Hamlet’s death. His interest and motivation to find out more is the definition of what approach motivation is. Claudius could also be seen as avoiding Hamlet because he never directly goes and talks to Hamlet for most of the play, instead having others do it for him. King Claudius would never confront the problems he had directly. He uses avoid motivation by ignoring from the fact that he has killed King Hamlet, and keep it a secret for political gains. Shortly after Claudius is crowned the new king, Hamlet explains to his friends from outside the castle, “The king doth wake tonight and take his rouse, keeps wassail, and the sawgg’ring uprising reels” (I.i.9-10). Hamlet is saying that Claudius is celebrating being the new king. He makes a lengthy speech at the party mourning the loss of King Hamlet, and says how everybody should move on. Claudius does this to make it seem like he has empathy for King Hamlet to hide that he truly was
the cause for his death. Another place where he avoids a situation is when Hamlet presents his play in front of the king. When Ophelia exclaims, “The King rises!” (III.ii.291), Claudius runs away from the play because he now knows Hamlet knows that he killed his father and is running away from the awkward situation. Claudius normally was using avoid motivation whenever something dealt with King Hamlet’s death. The attack motivation is a part of Claudius’s nature. First, he kills King Hamlet with poison to become the new king. Then, Claudius makes numerous attempts to kill Hamlet, so Hamlet would not reveal his secret murder, either through others or himself. He at first has Hamlet sent to England to be killed when Hamlet arrives at the island. When that failed, Claudius explains to Laertes his next motives to get rid of Hamlet when he says, “you may choose a sword unbated, and in a pass of practice requite him for you father” (IV.vii.156-158). Claudius is letting Laertes get revenge for his father’s death by killing Hamlet with a sword with poison on it during a fencing match. If that failed, Claudius also would poison Hamlet’s drink to kill him. Claudius tries to keep Hamlet quite about murdering King Hamlet by trying to kill him without Hamlet ever knowing it came from him. His aggressive attack motives do eventually kill Hamlet, but it came with the price of his own life, as well as Laertes and Gertrude. By indirectly approaching, constantly avoiding, and vigorous attempts of attacking, Claudius can easily be seen expending parts of the Motivation theory by Steven Stosny in various different places of Hamlet. Claudius’s main motivation was to keep his secret of killing King Hamlet quiet. He manipulates and uses other people to get information and to accomplish tasks for him so he can manage to keep his secret private. But all secrets eventually get uncovered. So as Hamlet finds out what Claudius did was true, Claudius’s drive to stop Hamlet gets higher and higher. Claudius’s increasing motivation to keep his wrongdoing a secret ultimately led to his demise.