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Claudius Tragic Hero Research Paper

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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 …show more content…

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

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This worked out in his favor because he was able to put reason behind his actions of sending Hamlet to England. Furthermore, after hearing of his fathers death, Laertes and an angry mob storm into the castle to accuse the king of murder. Claudius is able to convince Laertes that he is innocent and that Laertes should get revenge on Hamlet: “Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake, To show yourself your father’s son in deed More

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Aristotle’s ideal tragic hero, Oedipus, fits his model perfectly as he exemplifies the five qualities Aristotle believes a tragic hero must have. First, he possesses hubris, excessive pride that aids in his error of judgement, because of his wit: “You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer” (Sophocles 1759). Oedipus’s wit allows him to solve the Sphinx’s riddle and save the city of Thebes from the Sphinx’s wickedness. This leads to Oedipus becoming an extremely prideful man. Oedipus’s pride and fatal flaw of anger lead him to kill King Laius, his biological father: “He that led the way and the old man himself [King Laius] wanted to thrust me out of the road by force.

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Claudius schemes and manipulates many people for many different reasons whether for his personal protection, sparing someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. This motives affect other characters causing them to do things that

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This archetype is shown through Hamlet’s values and actions. One aspect of a tragic hero is that the character must be flawed in his judgment. For example, upon listening to Claudius’ confession of to God, Hamlet confirms that Claudius is his father’s murderer. However, he still delays in killing him. Once more, Hamlet makes the wrong choice, believing that this is not the right time to kill Claudius.

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The audience experiences that he’s in trouble because of himself, but we don’t know why Claudius all of a sudden had to poison King Hamlet. In modern legal philosophy, the aspiration of power exists, but the government discourages leader to not kill for individual advantage. The audience, as law abiding citizens, they would want justice to be served for King Hamlet even if Claudius feels regretful. The modern day audience will never gain sympathy for Claudius because he caused so many problems for Hamlet and his folk, and also the people of Denmark. The government holds our world today with rules and regulations, we expect justice to be served, for those who break the

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