Villains in Shakespeare

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Recommended: Hamlet compared to Claudius

Three stories from the same author, but not just an author. Perhaps the greatest author in human history. His name was William Shakespeare, heard of him? Maybe you have heard of these three stories by him Hamlet, Othello, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These stories have been talked about throughout history because of the similarities and difference in the plots. What is really important to me, is the villains or antagonist in the plays. “Equally well known as the Hero is the Villain. And just as the Hero is actually made up of several distinct qualities, so is the Villain. In fact, for every quality the Hero possesses, the Villain embodies a counterpart.” (Phillips) Each story has certain villains that make the plays, and their names are Hamlet and Claudius, Iago, Puck and Egeus.
First of all, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays of all time, Hamlet, has a combination of two villains. Hamlet is the main character of the play, and most controversial character ever made by Shakespeare. He is controversial because he is the protagonist and antagonist at the same time. He makes the viewers and readers love him on his journey for revenge. But at the same time, as Hamlet crosses paths with his dark side, he turns into the hated Hamlet that ruins his life and ends the play. Everybody has a villain inside them, it’s not about getting rid of it, and it’s about hiding it for no body to see. The other villain inside the story is Hamlets uncle, Claudius. He kills the rightful kind of Denmark, Hamlets dad and then to top it off, takes Hamlets mom as his lover. Which is just wrong on so many levels. “Claudius is viewed as the evil murderer in Hamlet. However, counting the number of people killed, Hamlet wins by far. Claudius only kills one...

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...ers in all of literature.” (Tannahill)

Works Cited
Adams, John. "Who is the main villain in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?" enotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
Kravchuk, Michael. "Hamlet – Hamlet the Villian." Music, Art, Literature. N.p., 2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
Phillips, Melanie Ann. "Hero is a Four-Letter Word: The Villain." Writers store. N.p., 1982. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
Smith, Sylvester. "Iago." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
Tannahill, Ryan. "Top Shakespeare Villains." Shakespeare Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .

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