Claudius Tragic Hero Research Paper

Claudius: Tragic Hero or Not? Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle developed his own theory for a tragic hero. The tragic hero must be of noble stature, someone to whom the audience can relate, have a self-inflicted downfall, struggle with hubris, not deserve their misfortune, gain self-knowledge or discovery of human nature, and not leave the audience depressed from their downfall. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is a character that possesses a few qualities of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Claudius is the King of Denmark who struggles with arrogance and commits a sin that leads to his own misfortune without sadness from the audience. Although King Claudius meets some requirements for Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, he does not

Claudius kills his brother and is arrogant to the people of Denmark and his own son Hamlet, so his death is deserved. Claudius schemes with Laertes to have a backup plan to kill Hamlet. First, they will poison the tip of Laertes’s sword to try to kill Hamlet during their fencing match. If that plan falls through, there will be poison in the drink to kill him when he gets thirsty from fencing (4.7.146-158). Claudius murdering his own brother to marry his wife and become King of Denmark was enough to deserve his death, but planning to kill his own son is by far worth it. In these ways, he does not qualify as Aristotle’s tragic hero. Additionally, Claudius has discovered his own fate by events happening to him, not initially by himself. King Claudius is curious when Hamlet has been overtaken by a sudden “change.” He wants his attendants to immediately talk to Hamlet and find out what is wrong (2.2.1-18). Claudius now thinks Hamlet is a little dangerous and is out to hurt him or Denmark. Claudius focuses on Denmark as a whole with every decision. Claudius is trying to find out what is wrong with Hamlet before the audience actually hears Claudius confessing his sin. Events with Hamlet eventually lead to his downfall without any discovery of human nature. Hamlet’s revenge for Claudius and Claudius’s failure for discovery of human nature does not complete the requirements for Aristotle's tragic