Claudius And Macbeth Research Paper

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Claudius and Macbeth, on the exterior, seem similar in their murderous desire for the throne. Both Claudius and Macbeth create their own problems and eventual downfall when they commit murder. However, a closer look shows that Claudius and Macbeth differ in their characters, personality, and behavior.
Macbeth and Claudius’ methods for dealing with their conflicts are quite opposite. The difference in character when they are dealing with adversity is also quite apparent. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, he realizes that the guards of the King's bedchamber are witnesses so, Macbeth kills the guards to hide his murderous crime. Macbeth's character is also exposed when Macbeth plots to have Banque and Fleance killed because he sees them as a threat to his throne. These thoughts and action show that Macbeth has no integrity. Macbeth feels more and more guilt the more people he kills but still never feels so much guilt that he should stop killing innocent people just because they find out of his murderous crimes. He cannot …show more content…

Claudius deals with his problems differently than Macbeth. Claudius does not kill Hamlet right away when he first learned of his crime but waited to see if he was a big enough threat to kill off. Claudius even has the chance to jail Hamlet when he kills Polonium, but he doesn’t. Eventually Claudius exiles Hamlet to England to have him be killed. Unlike Macbeth, Claudius does not kill without reason. Personality is another distinction between Claudius and Macbeth. Claudius is independent and self-confident. The idea for the murder is his own, and he commits this crime without an accomplice. Claudius feels little to no guilt and only once did he feel remorse. On the

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