essay on claudius character in hamlet

Hamlet Sample Answer: Claudius

“claudius can be seen as both a heartless villain and a character with some redeeming qualities in the play, hamlet”. .

This essay discusses the evidence in the play for viewing Claudius as both a heartless villain and as possessing some redeeming qualities. It follows the trajectory the audience takes as they are initially presented with an efficient, diplomatic and seemingly caring man. As the play progresses, the audience is provided with evidence of the villainous characteristics of the King. The question to be considered is whether these redeeming qualities outweigh those of a heartless villain. But it isn’t as simple as an equation of good versus evil. Indeed, Shakespeare’s work survived for many generations because of the realism and depth of insight with which he describes the dichotomy between good and evil in a single person: Claudius’s good side allows him to be so evil.

Claudius appears to show concern for his nephew as he asks ‘how is it that the clouds still hang on you?’. However, his reference to Hamlet as his son could be seen as mischievous and heartless. Claudius appears to observers to be supportive of Hamlet as he considers Hamlet’s actions to be ‘sweet and commendable’. When Hamlet isolates Claudius in his reply to Gertrude: ‘I shall in all my best obey you, madam’, Claudius claims to consider it ‘a loving and a fair reply’. On the surface to the unaware audience, Claudius appears to be doing his utmost to be civil and generous to his nephew. However, given what we know as the play develops, Claudius clearly has the attributes of someone who has the ability to be cunning and mischievous.

• Post author: Martina
• Post published: April 23, 2016
• Post category: Hamlet

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William Shakespeare

Claudius quotes in hamlet.

Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

O, villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!

The play’s the thing, Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

CLAUDIUS: What dost thou mean by this?

HAMLET: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Hamlet — The Guilt of Claudius in Hamlet

The Guilt of Claudius in Hamlet

• Categories: Hamlet

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

Words: 507 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Act i: the murder of king hamlet, act iii: the play within a play, act iv: claudius's confession.

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PRINCE HAMLET   →

“I shall win at the odds.”

KING CLAUDIUS   →

“He is justly served … a poison tempered by himself”

QUEEN GERTRUDE   →

“What devil was’t … That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?”

OPHELIA   →

“Of ladies most deject and wretched … I cannot choose but weep.”

HAMLET AND THE GHOST   →

“Remember me … Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!”

HAMLET AND CLAUDIUS   →

“Thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane.”

HAMLET AND GERTRUDE   →

“Go not to mine uncle’s bed.”

HAMLET AND OPHELIA   →

“The canker galls the infants of the spring.”

HAMLET AND HORATIO   →

“Those friends thou hast …”

CLAUDIUS AND GERTRUDE   →

“My uncle-father and aunt-mother.”

THE MAIN THEMES OF HAMLET    →

“Purposes mistook / Fallen on th’inventor’s heads.”

THEME OF REVENGE   →

“Show yourself in deed your father’s son.”

THEME OF APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY   →

“Who’s there? … Stand and unfold yourself.”

THEME OF MADNESS   →

“Howsoever thou pursuest this act, / Taint not thy mind.”

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  Characters

• #1: Prince Hamlet
• #2: King Claudius
• #3: Queen Gertrude
• #4: Ophelia

  Relationships

• #5: Hamlet and the Ghost
• #6: Hamlet and Claudius
• #7: Hamlet and Gertrude
• #8: Hamlet and Ophelia
• #9: Hamlet and Horatio
• #10: Claudius and Gertrude

  Themes

• #11: Main Themes
• #12: Revenge
• #13: Appearance Versus Reality
• #14: Madness

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Character Analysis of Claudius in Hamlet

Free sample critical essay.

King Claudius is the crown-stealing and family-dividing villain who is the “something rotten” (1.4) in the state of Denmark. In the end, he is “justly served” by “a poison tempered by himself” (5.2).

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Essay introduction /  thesis statement, “one may smile … and be a villain”.

Claudius’ secret “brother’s murder” (3.3) of Prince Hamlet’s father, his within “a little month” marriage to his “sometime sister” (1.2) Queen Gertrude and his election shortly afterward as Denmark’s king provide the starting points to the storyline of Shakespeare’s Hamlet .

Both literally and metaphorically, Claudius is a poisoner. Old King Hamlet , Queen Gertrude and ultimately Claudius himself all fall victim to his “juice of cursed hebenon” (1.5).

Moreover, his corrupting reign contaminates with deception and distrust the natural human bonds of friendship and romantic love .

The two “Good lads” (2.2) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are executed in England. And in Claudius’ “unweeded garden” (1.2), the unwed couple of Hamlet and Ophelia end the play not together on Denmark’s throne but united only in death in Elsinore’s graveyard.

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Claudius in #Hamlet - Can a bad man be a good king and loving husband? Answer: 'No.'

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• Claudius is the crown and queen-stealing villain whose corrupt ambition is the “something rotten” (1.4) in the state of Denmark.
• Appropriately for the villain of the play, Claudius’ name is never spoken aloud by any other character.
• Does he really love Queen Gertrude as much as he loves the throne? And can a bad man be a good king?
• The motifs of the antagonist as a snake and Denmark as a once idyllic but now fallen kingdom recur throughout the play.
• For example, Claudius will later attempt to execute Hamlet using the “adders fanged” (3.4) of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Key Supporting Quotes

Claudius’ kingship, “witchcraft of his wit”.

King Claudius may well have an exceptionally strategic mind. But the political gifts are dissipated in attempting to cover up his regicide. His criminal past forever clouds his kingly future.

Claudius is compelled to expend almost all his mental energy grappling with the events that flow from his pre-play murder of Old King Hamlet —recruiting courtiers as spies, calling in a political favor from the English king, arranging the “hugger-mugger” (4.5) burial of Polonius and manipulating Laertes into a rigged fencing match.

Old King Hamlet ruled Denmark successfully for at least three decades. His brother lasted only about six months. Claudius, who set out to rule a country, ended up losing it to a foreign power.

King Claudius in #Hamlet - His murderous past forever clouds his kingly future.

SOME KEY ESSAY TOPICS

• Claudius is a manipulative and ruthless figure who seems to come directly from Machiavelli’s book, The Prince .
• His conversation with Polonius in 2.2 suggests he is less focused on the Norwegian danger than the threat posed by his nephew.
• Even at the point of Laertes’ sword and with an angry mob outside the castle, Claudius cunningly turns the situation to his advantage.

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Claudius and Queen Gertrude

“our sometime sister”.

Despite Prince Hamlet’s accusation towards his mother of fickle disloyalty ( “Frailty thy name is woman” , 1.2), Gertrude remains steadfastly at the side of her second husband.

Claudius’ dark secrets mean he can never fully open his heart to her. But his comments about Gertrude— “I could not but by her” (4.7)—reveal another side of an otherwise cold and calculating man.

The on-stage royal relationship is far removed from the unrestrained sensuality which Old King Hamlet’s Ghost luridly imagines. It more resembles that of a middle-aged, married couple which, of course, Claudius and Gertrude actually are.

It is not that Claudius is incapable of love; rather he is incapable of placing love—anything else—above his passion for kingly power.

#Hamlet - King Claudius' sentimental descriptions of Gertrude reveal another side of his character.

• Both on the first and the final occasions we see King Claudius on stage he is accompanied by his wife, Queen Gertrude.
• His sentimental descriptions of Gertrude reveal another side of Claudius’ character.
• Gertrude defends her husband from an enraged, sword-wielding Laertes.
• The final bloodbath scene reveals Claudius will sacrifice his wife’s life to retain his throne.

Claudius and Prince Hamlet

“mighty opposites”.

For three decades, Old King Hamlet stood between Claudius and the throne he jealously coveted. Now, his son Prince Hamlet threatens Claudius’ hold on it.

Even the wily Claudius could not have foreseen that his spying efforts through Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Ophelia would be so transparent to the prince. Or that his nephew would respond with a display of feigned insanity and the psychological masterstroke of The Murder of Gonzago .

Claudius describes Hamlet as “like the hectic in my blood” (4.3); to the prince, his uncle is the man who “killed my king and whored my mother” (5.2). Hamlet is Claudius’ nemesis, the character he can never fully control and through whom he meets his ultimate comeuppance.

Old King Hamlet stood between Claudius and throne and queen. Prince #Hamlet threatens his hold on each.

• A suspicious Hamlet is unswayed by Claudius request “to think of us / As of a father” (1.2).
• A battle of wits between two very different types of intelligence: the political and the artistic.
• After the ‘play-within-a-play’, Claudius knows that Hamlet knows. Their conflict now becomes a battle to the death.
• In the end, Hamlet the intellectual scholar triumphs over Claudius the worldly, power-hungry politician.

Claudius as a tragic hero

“some vicious mole of nature”.

Of all the characters in the play, Claudius most resembles a ‘tragic hero’: an otherwise noble figure who dooms himself and everyone around him because of a fatal flaw— “some vicious mole of nature ” (1.4)—in his character.

His lust for political power leads him to commit one murder only to find that he must plot a second to cover up the first. When this plan fails, his next scheme leads to the death of the woman he loves , followed quickly by his own.

“ How smart a last that speech doth give my conscience!” , Claudius declares in an aside after hearing Polonius’ remark to Ophelia about how with “pious action we do sugar o’er / The devil himself” (3.1). But Claudius will not give up the rewards of his crime: “My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen” (3.3).

#Hamlet - "When sorrows come, they come not single spies / But in battalions."

• Claudius’ moment of triumph begins and ends with the court scene of 1.2.
• His secret crime sets in motion unanticipated events that bring calamity to everyone around him.
• The family of Polonius and ultimately Denmark itself fall victim to his unrestrained ambition.
• A deceitful manipulator of others, he is undeniably honest with himself.

Essay conclusion / Summary

“he is justly served”.

Claudius dies as he lived. His final action in 5.2 is an attempt to portray Gertrude’s fainting as a reaction to the fencing duel between Hamlet and Laertes: “She swoons to see them bleed. ”

But Claudius has spoken his last lie. Queen Gertrude dies knowing the true character of the man she married ( “O my dear Hamlet—The drink, the drink! I am poison’d ”).

Hamlet is at last able to bring himself to murder his usurping uncle. As he does, he bids farewell to Claudius with the words: “Follow my mother. ” And so, just like his brother, and by the same means of his own poison, Claudius is “Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched ” (1.5).

Like his brother, Claudius in #Hamlet is "Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched."

• A hugely gifted man who traded everything for his brother’s throne and wife.
• A measure of his cunning is how he contrives a fencing match between two characters who earlier were on the brink of killing him
• Gertrude’s poignant elegy for Ophelia offers a glimpse of what has been lost in the unfolding tragedy.
• Finally exposed: the false king, false husband, and false uncle.

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42 x 1,500-word model essays

Chapter-by-chapter guide to Hamlet Model Essays

IN THIS BOOK ARE THREE 1,500-WORD SAMPLE ESSAYS ON EACH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING 14 CHARACTERS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND THEMES. THAT’S 42 SAMPLE ESSAYS IN TOTAL.

#1: The Character of Hamlet

Born a prince, parented by a jester, haunted by a ghost, destined to be killed for killing a king, and remembered as the title character of a play he did not want to be in. If at the cost of his life, Hamlet does in the end “win at the odds. ”

READ FREE SAMPLE ESSAY   >

#2: The Character of Claudius

His “ambition ” for Denmark’s crown leads him to commit one murder only to find that he must plot a second to cover up the first. When this plan fails, his next scheme leads to the death of the woman he loves followed by his own.

#3: The Character of Gertrude

“Have you eyes? ”, Prince Hamlet demands of his mother. Gertrude‘s “o’erhasty marriage ” dooms her life and the lives of everyone around her when her wished-for, happy-ever-after fairytale ends in a bloodbath.

#4: The Character of Ophelia

As she struggles to respond to the self-serving purposes of others, Ophelia’s sanity collapses in Elsinore’s “unweeded garden ” of falsity and betrayal. Her “self-slaughter” is her revenge for her silencing and humiliation.

#5: Relationship of Hamlet and the Ghost

By surrendering Denmark to his rival’s son, Hamlet grants to the angry Ghost of his “dear father murdered ” the forgiveness his suffering soul needed more than the revenge he demanded.

Hamlet grants the Ghost the atonement his suffering soul needed more than the revenge he demanded: he surrenders Denmark to the son of the man murdered by his father on the day of the prince’s birth.

#6: Relationship of Hamlet and Claudius

Uncle and nephew are two men at war with each other—and themselves. Claudius is haunted by the murder he has committed ( “O heavy burden!” ); Hamlet by the one he hasn’t yet ( “Am I a coward?” ).

#7: Relationship of Hamlet and Gertrude

A haunted-by-the-past Hamlet seeks the truth about his father’s death ( “Do you see nothing there?” ). A live-in-the-present Gertrude seeks to protect her second husband and crown ( “No, nothing but ourselves” ).

#8: Relationship of Hamlet and Ophelia

Their relationship begins in uncertainty, descends into mutual deceit and rejection, and ends with their double surrender to death: Ophelia, to the water; Hamlet, to Claudius’ rigged fencing duel.

#9: Relationship of Hamlet and Horatio

“Those friends thou hast … Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel.” Horatio is Hamlet’s trusted confidant in life and vows to remain the keeper of his memory after the prince’s death.

#10: Relationship of Claudius and Gertrude

A marriage of mutual self-interest: Claudius wanted to become king; Gertrude wanted to remain queen. In the end, both die by the same poison her second husband used to murder her first.

#11: Main Themes of Hamlet

A king murdered, an inheritance stolen, a family divided: Elsinore’s older generation destroys its younger when two brothers—one living, one undead—battle in a “cursed spite” over a crown and a queen.

#12: The Theme of Revenge

Hamlet and Laertes journey from revenge, through obsession and anger, to forgiveness. And the revenge sought by the Ghost on King Claudius becomes the revenge of Old King Fortinbras on Old King Hamlet.

#13: Deception and Appearance versus Reality

“Who’s there?” The characters struggle to distinguish between truth and falsehood in a play-long triple pun on the verb ‘to act’: to take action, to behave deceitfully, and to perform in theater.

#14: The Theme of Madness

“Your noble son is mad” , Polonius tells Denmark’s king and queen. But is Hamlet ever really insane? If not, why is he pretending to be? And is the prince’s “antic disposition” the cause of Ophelia’s traumatic breakdown?

Claudius, Hamlet

Claudius is a character in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. He is one of Shakespeare’s most manipulative characters.

We tend to think that Hamlet, is all about the prince. But it’s a play with a full cast of characters all interacting intricately with each other. Claudius is without doubt the second character in Hamlet . The substance of all dramas is the playing out of human relationships, and the action of Hamlet is mainly concerned with the relationship between Hamlet and Claudius. On the story level the two play a cat and mouse game with each other.

Patrick Stewart as Claudius

On the death of his father, the king of Denmark, the young prince returns from university to the Danish court at Elsinore Castle only to find that his father’s brother, Claudius has not only managed to make himself king, but has also married his brother’s widow, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. It is a giddy situation, everything happening very fast, and Hamlet is stunned into a surly sulk.

Claudius is a smooth-tongued, self-assured and convincing man – an experienced politician – and he slips easily into the role of king, where he takes command and presents himself as a charismatic national leader. The young man he has disinherited is an inexperienced student, a private, inward-looking man, not having the first idea of how to deal with the situation in which he finds himself.

What is particularly galling for Hamlet is that his mother has married this man who, compared with his late father, is a parody of a king. He’s also galled by Claudius’ pleasure-seeking habits – his eating and drinking and his excessive sexual appetite.

Both Claudius and Gertrude attempt to break through to Hamlet, imploring him to take off his black mourning suit and realise that everyone dies, that one just has to get back to normal and carry on with one’s life. But Hamlet is unable to do that.

Hamlet’s university friend, Horatio, has also come for the king’s funeral. He tells Hamlet that the guards on the castle battlements have seen the ghost of the dead king and that he should check it out for himself.

Hamlet goes to the battlements and his father’s ghost appears and tells him that he was murdered by his brother and that Hamlet should avenge his murder.

The rest of the action is about that. Hamlet finds himself paralysed by his inability to know what to do and is simply unable to do as the ghost has instructed him. For several reasons he just can’t bring himself to act. But that doesn’t stop Claudius from regarding him as a threat and he begins to plot against Hamlet’s life. He is a ruthless murderer sheltering behind the facade of a genial, likeable king. He employs some of Hamlet’s fellow students to spy on him. He and his most senior aide, Polonius, spy on him themselves as well, and as the threat grows, he finally sends Hamlet on a mission to England and gives instructions to the English king to execute him.

Hamlet manages to escape from that trap and, with the help of pirates, returns to Denmark. He gives up all thought of avenging his father’s death, deciding that he will just allow matters to take their course. A Christian theme creeps into the text here as Hamlet decides to let Heaven punish the wrongdoers.

Matters do take their own course and the wrongdoers do meet their ends in the final scene.

Claudius arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes, the son of Polonius, recently killed accidentally by Hamlet and he and Laertes plot to murder Hamlet in the match by poisoning the tip of Laertes’ sword.

The duel takes place in the final scene of the play. So many characters die in that scene that Shakespeare has to bring in extra characters to carry the bodies off the stage! During the course of the play all those who have plotted against Hamlet die in the execution of their plots. That’s where the term ‘hoisted by one’s own petard’ comes from – Hamlet’s description to Horatio of what he thinks is going to happen.

Claudius is one of the most rounded of Shakespeare’s villains. For example he is not as heartless as his behaviour suggests and we get an insight into his remorse for the bad things he has done. He is aware that all those things – murdering his brother, marrying his widow, and plotting against Hamlet – are terrible. At the same time as he is carrying out his villainous deeds he is suffering badly from the effects of his acts in the extent of the guilt that he feels..

At one point he tries to pray for forgiveness but, displaying a measure of self-knowledge, he gives up because he recognises that the benefits of what he has done are things he couldn’t bear to give up and so could not hope for forgiveness. He has gained the throne, and a beautiful queen. He gets up from his knees because he knows that his words are flying up to heaven but his thoughts are solidly grounded in the realm of human ambition.

Claudius is a terrible human being but Shakespeare presents him in such a way as to allow us to sympathise with him. he takes us inside Claudius’ head and what we see is a very talented man and a gifted politician who, overwhelmed by ambition, has committed one of the worst possible crimes – the murder of his own blood. However, he is his own greatest critic and hates what he has done. And then to top it all and make him even more human, he admits to himself that he is too weak to do what he knows would be the right thing.

Top Claudius Quotes

‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father. But to persever In obstinate condolement is a course Of impious stubbornness. ‘Tis unmanly grief. It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschooled: ( act 1, scene 2 )

This sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father, But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his — and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow. But to persever In obstinate condolement is a course Of impious stubborness, ’tis unmanly grief, It shows a will most incorrect to heaven.  ( act 1, scene 2 )

How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience. The harlot’s cheek beautied with plast’ring art Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it Than is my deed to my most painted word. O heavy burden! ( act 3, scene 1 )

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t, A brother’s murder. ( act 3, scene 3 )

poor Ophelia Divided from herself and her fair judgment, Without the which we are pictures or mere beasts; ( act 4, scene 5 )

See All Hamlet Resources

Hamlet | Hamlet summary | Hamlet characters : Claudius , Fortinbras , Horatio , Laertes , Ophelia . Osric , Polonius , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern | Hamlet settings | Hamlet themes  | Hamlet in modern English | Hamlet full text | Modern Hamlet ebook | Hamlet for kids ebooks | Hamlet quotes | Hamlet quote translations | Hamlet monologues | Hamlet soliloquies | Hamlet performance history | All about ‘To Be Or Not To Be’

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Character Analysis

(Click the character infographic to download.)

Uneasy lies the Head that Wears the Crown …

Especially if he got it through sibling-cide and quasi-incest. That's our man Claudius, the current king of Denmark. He's married to his dead brother's wife Gertrude, which makes him Hamlet's uncle and stepfather. Make that evil stepfather: Claudius murdered the previous king, Hamlet's father. Is it just us, or did it just get really cold in here?

Claudius is so evil that he's practically a cartoon villain. And we have to ask: what sort of man would murder his brother, basically usurp the throne, and then plot to have his nephew killed?

Claudius and Biblical Allusion

Let's take a look first at how Claudius went about his dastardly deeds. Fact #1: He murdered Old King Hamlet by pouring poison in Old King Hamlet's ear while the guy was sleeping peacefully in his garden. Hm. Brothers killing brothers sounds pretty familiar . Claudius is definitely aligned with Cain, the Biblical figure whose claim to fame is committing the first murder ever, when he offed his brother, Abel. Even Claudius admits his "offence is rank [and] smells to heaven [because] / It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, / A brother's murder (3.3.36-38).

Claudius' murderous deed in the garden also recalls the Biblical story of the Fall. The Ghost (of Old Hamlet) says "[t]he serpent that did sting [Hamlet's] father's life / Now wears his crown. (1.5.46-47) The Ghost also goes on to say "that that incestuous, that adulterate beast, / With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts […] won to his shameful lust / The will of [Old Hamlet's] most seeming-virtuous queen (1.5.49-53).

In other words, the Ghost is comparing Claudius to the infamous serpent  who seduced Eve in the Garden of Eden. (We talk more about gardens in " Symbols, Imagery, Allegory ," so be sure to check that section out.) Our point? Claudius kind of is a cartoon villain. He's a distillation of the most basic, fundamental evil in a Christian worldview: Cain, the original murderer; and the Serpent, who got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden.

The King is Dead; Long Live the King!

Claudius is definitely a bad man: nice guys don't kill their brothers and steal their wives. But he might not be such a bad ruler. William Camden said in 1586 that Richard III—another of Shakespeare's tricky kings—was a "bad man, but a good king" ( source ). Could we say the same about Claudius?

Well, he did do a pretty spectacular job of assuming the throne. As he says himself, he had to convince the nobles of the court to accept his bizarrely timed and probably sinful marriage to Gertrude, all "discretion fought with nature" and talking about his "wisest sorrow" (1.2.5; 6). In other words, he says, he really didn't want to marry Gertrude, but the kingdom needed him. Convincing? It convinced the entire court, everyone except Hamlet.

Aside from crown-stealing and wife-stealing, Claudius goes on to diplomatically avoid war with Norway. Remember that the trouble between Denmark and Norway began when Old King Hamlet accepted Old Norway's challenge to a duel in which the winner would walk away with some of the other ruler's lands. His willingness to gamble away part of his kingdom suggests he wasn't exactly the terrific king his son remembers. In any case, Claudius cleans up the mess with Norway when his negotiations prevent Old Norway's son (Fortinbras) from attacking Denmark in order to retrieve Norway's lost territory.

Later in the play, Claudius manages to talk his way out of Laertes' rebellion, too. Even at swordpoint, Claudius manages to calm the kid down and convince him that he is innocent of Polonius' death by telling Laertes to "speak, man" and ordering Gertrude to "let him demand his fill" (4.5.143; 147). He gives Laertes a voice and treats him like an equal—well, sort of. He pretends to listen to him, while really he's just manipulating the poor kid. But the point is that Laertes invades the palace with a bunch of "rabble" (4.5.112), and still Claudius comes out on top —and wearing his crown.

Claudius as Machiavellian Ruler

There's a reason Claudius is so good at kingcraft: he seems to be a pretty diligent student of one Niccolò Machivelli, whose Prince (1532) was basically a self-help guide for rulers looking to get and maintain power. According to Machiavelli's theory, being a successful ruler has nothing to do with being a nice person or doing the right thing. Instead, it's about being inventive, charismatic, willful, and manipulative. Controversial, sure—but also super popular in Shakespeare's day.

So it seems that the same characteristics that make Claudius a bad man are those that make him a successful king. He has no qualms about manipulating people, and he is unapologetically selfish. Hypocrisy barely bothers Claudius: he pretends to be a loving stepfather to Hamlet even while sending him off to be killed. Claudius doesn't let his conscience get in the way of the job that needs to be done. He also lets Gertrude drink a goblet of wine he knows is poisoned, since he'd rather see his wife die than risk ruining his plans.

Okay, let's give him a little credit. He does manage a "Gertrude, do not drink"—but opts out of the perhaps more effective, "Gertrude, do not drink, whatever you do, as the wine is poisoned because I'm secretly trying to kill your son, and even though I really would rather have him dead, I'm not willing to let you go down as a casualty of my despicable and unlawful scheming."

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W hy's T his F unny?

William Shakespeare

• Literature Notes
• Hamlet at a Glance
• Play Summary
• About Hamlet
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I: Scene 1
• Act I: Scene 2
• Act I: Scene 3
• Act I: Scene 4
• Act I: Scene 5
• Act II: Scene 1
• Act II: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 1
• Act III: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 3
• Act III: Scene 4
• Act IV: Scene 1
• Act IV: Scene 2
• Act IV: Scene 3
• Act IV: Scene 4
• Act IV: Scene 5
• Act IV: Scene 6
• Act IV: Scene 7
• Act V: Scene 1
• Act V: Scene 2
• Character Analysis
• Character Map
• William Shakespeare Biography
• Critical Essays
• Major Themes
• Yorick's Skull as a Major Symbol
• Free Will and Fate
• Ophelia's Dilemma
• Top 8 Quotes Explained
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Character Analysis Claudius

Shakespeare 's villains are complex. Unlike the earlier antiheroes of the revenge or morality plays that were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean culture, Shakespearean criminals lack the simple clarity of absolute evil. Claudius is a perfect example of a quintessential Shakespearean antagonist.

Claudius is socially adept, and his charm is genuine. He can exhibit deep distress over his "dear brother's death" and admiration for his wife, "Th'imperial jointress to this warlike state." He knows the value of a great funeral, but quickly turns mourning into celebration and moves on "With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage" to whatever lies ahead. He is a decisive man, fair in his politics and commanding — if  Gertrude 's allegiance is any indication — in his bedroom.

The Queen has chosen to marry Claudius, and she defends him even to her son. In fact, she never opposes Claudius in anything. Were he dark and sinister in all things, she would fear and despise him; she follows him willingly even when he arranges to send her beloved son into the jaws of death. He must be sincere in his love for her. He explains his feelings for her at the end of Act IV, but he has proven these feelings consistently throughout the play

The Queen his mother Lives almost by his looks, and for myself, My virtue or my plague, be it either which, She's so conjunctive to my life and soul That as the star moves not but in his sphere, I could not by her.

A character who loves is not merely a cold-blooded killer. Like Hamlet , his conflicting imperatives tear him apart.

Whereas he recognizes that he his "offense is rank" and "smells to heaven," he also admits that he will not make amends with God because he refuses to give up what his crime has bought him. He is willing to take the consequences of his actions.

In some ways, Claudius exhibits more heroism than Hamlet. He manipulates fortune and takes what is not rightfully his, but remains unapologetic for his actions; he possesses enough strength to admit that he would do the same again. Hamlet, torn by conscience to smite the morally deficient Claudius, causes the death of six innocent people before he accomplishes his goal. By taking full responsibility for his actions, Claudius mitigates his evil nature.

The mark of a great Shakespearean antagonist is how completely he mirrors the protagonist. Claudius is no more Machiavellian than Hamlet; both ultimately believe that the end justifies the means, and both ultimately sacrifice humanity and humaneness in the acquisition of their goals.

What makes Claudius a villain is that he is wrong, and Hamlet is right. Claudius is a sneak who murdered and lied. Hamlet commits his murders in the open and suffers the pangs of his own conscience. Claudius subverts his conscience and refuses to ask for divine forgiveness. Hamlet seeks contrition and absolves himself of guilt before he dies; Claudius receives no absolution and seeks none. Hamlet will spend eternity in Heaven; Claudius will burn in Hell.

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