An Exploration of the Ways Shakespeare Presents the Character Claudius

An Exploration of the Ways Shakespeare Presents the Character Claudius

From Claudius’s first speech the audience gains the impression the

character is political and educated. Shakespeare uses metaphorical

language to emphasis this.

Claudius’s first speech in the script is full of metaphorical

language, and it shows a manipulating, persuasive character who can

convince a kingdom that it was perfectly acceptable for him to marry

his brother’s wife just a few weeks after his death.

It is the language Shakespeare has chosen to give Claudius that can

convince others that he is morally correct. He uses imagery of facial

features to represent the kingdom as one body. An example of this is

‘in one brow of woe,’ which refers to the kingdom as all having one

joint eyebrow. Again he is giving his opinion and views but insinuates

it is what everyone else should be thinking too.

The situation Shakespeare has created of the king being married to

the wife of his brother who has died, automatically shows the audience

that Claudius is an unpleasant, immoral character. This is not allowed

according to the Bible and goes against many people’s views; this

would be more shocking for an Elizabethan audience considering that

many more people were religious at that time. He makes the character

appear more sinister by showing a sly, manipulating side of Claudius

justifying himself in his first speech; ‘our sometime sister and now

queen.’ This is the way the character refers to the grief of his dead

brother; he convinces the court that he is very grief stricken and

assumes others think in the same way showing them that he has the

higher status and...

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...that his character knows

what he has done and realises how wrong it truly is. ‘My stronger

guilt defeats my strong intent.’ Again Shakespeare wants to show the

audience the character although it is weakened, does still have a

conscience.

This scene also creates dramatic irony, as he tries to pray but cannot

because of the guilt he feels, Hamlet thinks he is praying so doesn’t

kill him Shakespeare chose to have this build up and this soliloquy to

show the dramatic irony and another more guilty more humane side to

Claudius.

Shakespeare shows the character of Claudius as been a villain, yet he

shows other sides to him which have feeling of guilt showing that the

character is not entirely bad. Claudius is shown as an ambitious and

ruthless king but also as the main source and theme of evil throughout

the play.