Claudius: A Villain or Victim of His Actions?
Of all the characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet the role of Claudius seems to be the most intriguing and crucial role in this tragedy. Claudius is the most controversial, the most mysterious and the most talked about character in this play. Many people look at Claudius and only see a villain, but there are additional sides to him that are often overlooked: Claudius as a father, a husband, a ruler and as a mortal individual. In this play the characters are not super-human they make mistakes just like any existing person, Claudius isn't an exception whatsoever, but his mistakes only make him look more human.Claudius, as a father is very recognizable in Scene 2 of Act 1. He states to Hamlet, starting at Line 108 "...think of us as of a father: for let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne, and with no less nobility of love that that which dearest father bears his son do I impart toward you." Hamlet is "Our chiefest courtier, cousin and our son." (Line 118) Here Claudius is speaking to Hamlet and saying that he is loved and accepted even since he is not Claudius' biological son. Claudius seems to have no trouble speaking to his son Hamlet in front of a crowd. However when the two are alone, Claudius is at a los
Along the same lines, Claudius is also a great and sovereign ruler. When young Fortinbras came to demand the surrender of those lands lost by his father to King Hamlet, Claudius handled the matter with such ease and grace. He informed Fortinbras that a letter was going to be sent to the King of Norway telling him "...to suppress his (Fortinbras) further gait herein." (Act1, Scene2; 31-32.) Claudius realized that a war at the beginning of his rule would not look good, especially since there had been the thought of "incest" going around. He did not want to be blamed for tainting the Queen's bed and for destroying the mighty kingdom. Another interesting thing about Claudius is that in his formal speeches he uses the plural form of "we" implying that the crown also has a say in official matters. Claudius, as a husband is a little less easy to recognize, but still just as important. The Queen is identified as "...our sometime sister, now our queen, th' imperial jointress..." by Claudius (Act1, Scene2; 9.) The personal life of the King and Queen is kept just that; not much is known of them outside of what Hamlet says. Yet even that can not be taken seriously, for we do not know the truth behind the matter. Beside what we do not know about the husband in Claudius, we can be sure that he did treat Gertrude with respect and dignity or she would not have stayed with him, or even married him in the first place. As a King he is also a villain, a murderer, a conspirator and a liar. s for words and can not figure out what to say, or when to say it. It could be that the King feels so guilty about murdering King Hamlet that he is unable to speak to Hamlet in private, because of the fear of his true nature emerging from the depths of his heart. Claudius, despite being the alleged "bad guy", has many similar qualities in which Hamlet
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Approximate Word count = 1235
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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