There Is A Villain In Every Story
(A comparison between evil characters in the plays Othello, Midsummer, and Hamlet)
As the great William Shakespeare once said, “I like not fair terms and a villain's mind.” When William Shakespeare sat down to right this remarkable plays no one knows exactly what he was thinking. All that we have left of the thought process of William Shakespeare is his plays that still live on today. . As Charles McGarth expands on the subject, “ If we actually discovered something new about Shakespeare, it might put an end to an entire publishing industry. That we know so little for certain about him -- not even his birthday -- is what has enabled and inspired so many writers to rake over the same meager pile of evidence: legal documents mostly, including church records, property deeds and the famous will with its puzzling bequest of the second-best bed.” As the New York Times writer explains, that all that we know about Shakespeare is that he wrote plays, and that he died. The characters within these plays are what make the most out of it. It seems that every play has similar character structure. For example, within each play there are lovers and there is a villain. Villains and lovers are the things that people always look for, and they root for the lovers to win and the villains to loose. Each of the plays that William Shakespeare has written has a villain, three of these villains include, Claudius (Hamlet), Iago (Othello), Puck (Midsummer).
To begin, in the play Hamlet, Claudius is the biggest villain that is presented. Claudius is considered the villain of this play, because you learn early on that he is the man that killed Hamlets dad, the original king. He killed him in his garden, by pouring poison i...
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... villain that is presented. Moving forward, in the play Othello, the main villain in the drama is Iago. Lastly, in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck is a fairy, but also the main villain. These three villains have all done something evil, two of them were murders and the other just made really bad decisions. No one wants to be treated the way that the people these villains have treated them. Katherine Blakely explains the immensity of a Shakespeare villain, “There is no doubt a fascinating character and an entertaining villain. It is Shakespeare’s command of the English language, and his keen sense of drama and psychological depth, that make his plays so affecting and deeply memorable. Shakespeare was a brilliant playwright, but nevertheless, he was not a historian.” All in all, the three villains, Claudius, Iago, and Puck all were great, but they were evil.
There are many characters that Shakespeare has portrayed to the audience as being responsible for the tragedy.
Few characters in Shakespeare's plays outside of the leading "main" character ever are associated to actively pursue an agenda that destroys other characters lives. Charles III is well known as a Shakespearean bringer of chaos and Machiavellian figure however, he is dwarfed by Iagos malevolent nature. Iago is complex character that seeks the utter destruction of Othello emotionally and physically. Iago as a character is manipulative and secretive only revealing his inner workings to his audience through soliloquy and demonstrating his deceitful nat...
Claudius is the antagonist in this play and starts all of the drama. Claudius is the reason why hamlet is trying to seek revenge. Other characters are trying to seek revenge throughout the entirety of the play also. Shakespeare in the play Hamlet, is trying to make this a play on revenge between many characters and also show the insecurities of Hamlet as he tries to seek revenge.
An important factor of any fictional story is the antagonist, or a person who conflicts with the protagonist – the “hero” of the story (Encarta). As many have come to the realization already, Claudius is the main antagonist to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Uncle to Prince Hamlet, King of Denmark and Husband of Gertrude, Claudius is quite a character. Imagine the guilt and anxiety brought about by killing one’s own brother, claiming his kingdom as your own, and then going so far as to marry his widow. These were the crimes of King Claudius of Denmark, and one can see that he was pretty much written to be despised by the reader, a noticeable aspect of Shakespeare’s age-old work. Moreover, many often quickly assume, upon their first reading of the play, that Prince Hamlet ought to kill the king (Goddard).
Claudius greedy intentions take him to his murderous action. Claudius says, “The whole kingdom/to be contracted in one brow of woe”. (Shakespeare1.2.3-4) Claudius killing old king Hamlet knows that was the only way to have the kingdom. He gives the kingdom a new start under his new government and things that favors him but he still has those devious ways. He also gives the people a speech to represents how good of a ruler his is going to be and he even acknowledges his brother’s death. He gets to maintain the country affairs in his own way. The
Hamlet is becomes obsessed with the idea of killing Claudius, the unmerited force ruling his country. But while this obsession is the beginning of Hamlet's revengeful behavior, it also introduces his character flaw; his penchant for delaying what he should do.
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...
In many stories there is a hero and a villain. There are also some stories where one person is both the hero and the villain. In the story of Hamlet there are multiple villains and no heroes. Everybody has a fault that leads to something tragic or dramatic during the story the main villain in this story is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
Delving into the character of King Claudius in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, we find a character who is not totally evil but rather a blend of morally good and bad elements. Let’s explore the various dimensions of this many-sided character.
Commonly, a hero is considered as a representative of morality, justice and power. Also, people have various ways to evaluate their own heroes. Especially children, as they grow up, are more likely to create their heroes who are usually brave, strong, righteous and indestructible. However, villains are the opposite side of heroes, and they are evil, demoniacal and cruel. Some of those heroes would easily turn into villains when they are trying to get revenge because their hearts are filled with hatred. The play Hamlet by Shakespeare tells the tragic story of a prince avenging the death of his father. In the play, the main character Hamlet changes from a hero into a villain through his immoral and repellant actions.
Nemesis is defined as being a deserved fate; just punishment for wrong-doing. Nemesis plays a tremendous role in Hamlet. The majority of characters in the tragedy of Hamlet deserved what happened to them in the end. Nemesis and its role in Hamlet create ironic endings for the characters of this tragedy.
Claudius is a villain because of his enormous greed, his overwhelming selfishness and his use of intelligence for evil purposes.
As often associated with a tragedy, a conflict usually ensues between a protagonist and another force in the play. A tragedy is ‘a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror’ (Webster's dictionary). Given its structure and depth in characterization, this play will or can be analyzed and interpreted from various perspectives and beliefs. However, my analysis of the play is conducted on the basis of various components which are: Hamlet as a tragic hero, the ironic message conveyed in the play, the roles of its characters, the role and personification of madness, the role of paranormality, the role of friends and family, the role of inaction, the role of sex and violence, and the role of death as portrayed in the play. Based on literary definitions and portrayal of his character, there is popular belief that Hamlet as the protagonist acted to satisfy his own conscience but could his actions be attributed purely to his desire or was he being influenced by other factors?
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.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.