In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the character of Claudius is Hamlet's uncle who has just usurped the throne by marrying Hamlet's mother very soon after the death of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. There are many controversies at one time: marriage after a funeral, marrying the widow of his brother, taking the throne instead of the last king's son. Throughout all of this, Claudius speaks using oxymoronic language such as "defeated joy," "auspicious and a dropping eye," "mirth in funeral," and "dirge in marriage" (I.ii.10-21). He seems to be trying to blur the line between happy and sad, making his new subjects feel a sense of correctness and stability. These oxymorons are also trying to link together the idea of death and marriage, which is a strange and unnatural concept. There is not a cycle there like there is for life and death.
While not an oxymoron, Claudius also says that Hamlet is "unschooled," but then tells him not to go back to school and to instead stay in Denmark (I.ii.101). These opposing statements are strange and there is a hint of something fishy going on in Claudius' intentions.
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