Claudius And Hamlet Comparison Essay

2. Both Claudius and Hamlet are similar in many ways. They both have trouble taking action and are very indecisive. This can be seen when Claudius wants to pray and repent for his sins but has trouble praying because he does not want to give up everything that he has gained from that sin. He refuses to let everyone know that it was in fact him that killed the king and deal with the consequences that would follow, like him losing the power and respect he gained from being king. This indecisiveness can also be seen in Hamlet when he has trouble deciding whether to avenge his father’s death or if Claudius even killed his father. Even though the ghost of his father came to him and told Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him to take his position as king, Hamlet has trouble acting

Another way in which the two are similar is in the way that they use their intellect to manipulate others. This can be seen in Claudius when he manipulates Laertes into agreeing to kill Hamlet. Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet is not only the one responsible for his father’s death but he is responsible the death of his sister Ophelia. This can also be seen when Claudius gets Hamlets friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to work for him and on Hamlet. Hamlet’s manipulation skills can be seen in his plan to use a play that reenacts the murder of his father as a way to get Claudius to reveal his guilt. Another instance where Hamlet uses his manipulation skills to his advantage is when he changes Claudius’s orders from putting him to death to putting both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to death.
There are also many ways in which Claudius and Hamlet differ from each other. The most prominent and visible difference between the two is in the roles they play as characters. In Hamlet Claudius plays the role of the antagonist, while Hamlet pays the role of the protagonist. Another difference is the fact that