Character Analysis of Claudius from the Play Hamlet by Shakespeare
In the play, "Hamlet", Shakespeare needed to devize an evil character, a villain that is ambitious, and has the ability to scheme to get what he wants. The character would also have to contain some good qualities, such as kindness and contriteness. These good qualities make the character seem more human and thus, more believable. Claudius is this character. Shakespeare uses Claudius in his revenge theme in this play. Without the acts of Claudius, this theme just would not be. The entire play revolves around what Claudius has done, or will do.
The evil traits of Claudius by far outweigh the good things he does. He is very ambitious, perhaps too ambitious. Claudius wanted to be king so badly, that he murdered his own brother to achieve his goal. This is how the revenge theme is weaved into the
play. Hamlet, the dead king’s son learns of the act from a ghost,
"A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused; but now that noble youth The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown." (Act I, Sc. V, Lines 42-46)
Claudius not only wanted to be the king of Denmark, he also wanted the queen that came with it. In Act I Sc. II Lines 8-14, Claudius has just recently been crowned king and is addressing the court. He shows in his words how happy he is to be married to Gertrude, the Queen.
"herefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as ‘twere with a defeated joy,
With an auspicious, and dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole,
Taken to wife; ...."
The ambition of Claudius lays the foundation for the theme of revenge. Without his need to be king and his willingness to do anything for it, the play would be completely different. This evil trait is, in part, what in the end kills Claudius.
Claudius’ other evil trait, his scheming, also leads to his death. An example of one of Claudius’ many ‘plans’ was when he summoned Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to do some spying on Hamlet to find out what was ailing him.
"Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something hav...
... middle of paper ...
...) was very wrong and he realises there is little that he can do to make things well..
" O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t,
A brothers murder! Pray can I not,
Through inclination be as sharp as will.
My stronger guilt defeats my stronger intent...."
(Act III Sc. IV Lines 39-43)
"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
Words without thoughts never to heaven go."
(Act III Sc. IV Lines 100-101)
These traits give Claudius a human side and this plays into the author’s purpose by making the reader wonder if Hamlet is going to do the right thing by killing Claudius. It gives the reader second thoughts.
Claudius was the villain in "Hamlet." He showed all the necessary characteristics of an evil character but Shakespeare put some "extra" into him. He did this be giving him somegood characteristics. What he had was a well blended character with the ability to be both a murderous bad guy to a kind hearted good guy. Shakespeare had Claudius fit well into the theme of revenge. It was all centred around him. With out him, It would have been a happy ending, or completely different.
Although playing what’s thought to represent a noble king, Claudius totally differs from that title. Claudius is a manipulative, under minding, selfish person: “That we wish wisest sorrow think on him,/ Together with remembrance of ourselves,/ Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen” (1.2.6-8). King Claudius kills the king of Denmark his own brother just to turn into the king of
... Claudius is forced to witness the downfall of his kingdom, and is then murdered by the one he watched. Dishonesty and secrecy lead to tragedy and the death of all those who pursued the evil, yet if the characters had shared the underlying meaning of the peculiar events, many of the spies would not have committed their heinous crimes, or have followed their crooked leader.
Claudius is responsible for the death of King Hamlet, regardless of this, he wants to portray himself as someone that is worthy of running the nation of Denmark. Claudius connects to the people of Denmark by demonstrating that they are all participating in the grieving of King Hamlet, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief” (I.ii.1-3). King Hamlet’s death is very recent, but Claudius places himself as someone that is part of the kingdom that will be mourning the death of King Hamlet. This is demonstrated through irony since instead of mourning he is actually enjoying what King Hamlet has left behind; the nation of Denmark and his wife, Gertrude. Through this, Claudius also demonstrates that he wants others to believe that he has not done anything wrong. In order to convey the image of being healthy, Claudius and his court drink merrily within the castle; making the excesses that the court enjoys apparent. Hamlet is not fond of the drinking but then comes to the conclusion that “His virtues else, be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo, Shall in the general censure take corruption” (I.iv.33-35). Hamlet then foreshadows his own destiny. No matter how good a person may be, that person can become corrupt due to something that has ...
Hamlet is a normal person which brillant ideas. He waited so long to kill Claudius because he wanted people to be able to know the story of really happened and did not want to seem like a bad guy. Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be” (Act 3,Scene 1 Line 64) also means should he live to do as his father or or die to betray him. Hamlet knew everything that was going on in the kingdom but wanted to act as if he did not to get even further in and have more information. He did this because he wanted to think a more brilliant plan to kill Claudius and anyone else that was dealing with it, that is how he killed
Claudius’s chief concerns about Hamlet are that his life would have been in danger; his safety. Claudius is concerned that Hamlet would have killed him instead of Polonius, if he was there at that time. He was scared when he heard the news of Hamlet killing Polonius thinking it was him behind the tapestry. With relief and fear, Claudius tells Gertrude, “O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there” (4.1.13-14). Claudius is relieved that he was not murdered by Hamlet. This contributed to character development because this shows us that Hamlet is ready to take revenge, since in the beginning he was confused and afraid, but now has taken the steps to take revenge. Character development can be seen in Claudius too because now we know that Claudius is afraid of the consequences, he will be receiving for the crime he has done.
The play’s main conflict starts with King Claudius’ lie. At the beginning of the play, Claudius had become the new king of Denmark, and married his late brother’s widow only one month after the death of his brother. Not only is his action immoral, it is later revealed by the Ghost that he is the person that took his brother’s life by poison poured through the ear: “A serpent stung me. / So the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death / Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, / The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown” (I.v.43-47). Claudius places a lie in Denmark so the people believed that a snake kill King Hamlet while he’s sleeping in the garden. However, the Ghost revealed the truth to Hamlet. Shakespeare uses this lie as the spark to ignite the conflicts between Hamlet and Claudius that eventually lead to Claudius’ death at the end of the novel; however, it also speaks volume of Claudius’ personality. He is selfish and cruel enough to kill his own brother for power without any remorse: “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death / The memory be green, and that it us befitted / To bear our hearts in grief… / Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature / That we with wisest sor...
Claudius messed up Hamlet's life terribly, but by doing that he became a worthy opponent. He showed all the skills that he had to use against Hamlet at every chance he got.
Ambition is the desire for power, honor, fame, wealth and the will to do anything to obtain them. Claudius is full of ambition and commits nefarious acts against his own family to gain power. In Act one; Scene five, Hamlet has been blessed by the presence of his father’s ghost. King Hamlet, who is absolutely irate, tells Hamlet exactly how he died. Murdered, more specifically poisoned, by his brother in his sleep. Not only did Claudius murder him but he robbed him “Of life, of crown, of queen.” All of these are things he viciously snatched from King Hamlet to fulfill ambitious life style. Although in Denmark the people elect their king Claudius is of royal blood, he knows the ins and outs of governing a body of people, thus possibly the reason...
Hamlet’s dogged attempts at convincing himself and those around him of Claudius’ evil, end up being Claudius’ best moments. The audience doesn’t have just one view of Claudius; the other characters favorable ideas of Claudius as king and person lets them see the humanity, good and bad, in Claudius. An allegory for the human soul, Claudius is many things: a father, a brother, a husband, and a king. He, like anyone else, has to play the role to the best of his ability, but is still very human and susceptible to the evils of human emotion ranging from concern to jealousy, all of which could have easily fueled his decisions. Page 1 of 6 Works Cited Hamlet, Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a play that tells of a young man, Hamlet, who wanted revenge for the death of his father. After speaking with his father's spirit, Hamlet was led to believe that the person who murdered his father was his uncle, Claudius. Claudius kills his brother mainly because of jealousy, the crown, the queen and a hatred of his brother. Therefore Claudius is guilty of the murder of his brother.
Seen from the early scenes of the play until Claudius’ last breath, Claudius’ only concern is gaining and maintaining power by any means necessary. His introduction into power begins with his own manipulative plot—that succeeds—to kill his brother, which the ghost tells Hamlet within the first act of the play (Shakespeare 59, 61). Claudius’ entrance into the position of king is centered around crime, murder, and manipulation, which in return is the basis of his reign. Further along into the play, readers notice that majority of the men portrayed in the play are concerned about justice or moral balance. However, the man in the position of absolute power is preoccupied with lust and schemes. As the play progresses, Claudius’ malfeasances become more apparent once Hamlet’s “insanity” reaches its peak and kills Polonius (171). More concerned with preserving his seat in the court, Claudius resorts to a plan
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
Claudius is one of the main characters responsible for his own death in the play because he portrays himself to be untouchable; not thinking clearly of the consequences to his actions. He starts off by killing his own brother and marrying his queen, Gertrude, only because he lust power and sex. His cold-hearted actions make him the antagonist of Hamlet and most deserving of death. Through all of his malicious actions, he plans a duel between Laertes and Hamlet assuring Hamlet’s death as well by poisoning a drink and the end of Laertes’ sword. He definitely got a taste of his own medicine because he died a rightful death by the sa...
Claudius is a villain because of his enormous greed, his overwhelming selfishness and his use of intelligence for evil purposes.
With his thinking mind Hamlet does not become a typical vengeful character. Unlike most erratic behavior of individuals seeking revenge out of rage, Hamlet considers the consequences of his actions. What would the people think of their prince if he were to murder the king? What kind of effect would it have on his beloved mother? Hamlet considers questions of this type which in effect hasten his descision. After all, once his mother is dead and her feelings out of the picture , Hamlet is quick and aggressive in forcing poison into Claudius' mouth. Once Hamlet is certain that Claudius is the killer it is only after he himself is and and his empire falling that he can finally act.