Claudius (Hamlet) In Hamlet, Claudius sought to overcome and achieve power and prominence by fraud rather than by force. He could “smile, and smile, and still be a villain.” Hamlet called him, A murderer and a villain, A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe Of your precedent lord, a vice of kings, A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, That from a shelf the precious diadem stole, And put it in his pocket— Hamlet III.iv.97-102 He would murder the king; marry the queen, take the crown, and plot to do away with Hamlet, but in all still managed to guarded himself from blame. Treachery, for the sake of carnal desire and ambition seemed to be native to him. This is inherently Machiavellian, as when you compare the theme with the following excerpt from The Prince, one can quickly draw similarities in thought process. …show more content…
The Roman emperors have perished chiefly by having made themselves odious and contemptible. It is wiser to have a reputation for meanness which brings reproach without hatred, than to gain a name for rapacity which begets reproach with hatred. It is well to be reputed liberal, nevertheless, liberality exercised in a way that does not bring you the reputation for it, unjures you. Of that which is neither yours nor your subjects you can be a ready giver (Caesar). Abstain from the property of citizens and subjects and from their women, because men more quickly forget the death of a father than the loss of their patrimony. The prince who acquires friends by means of money alone, courts his own destruction, for they will abandon him when he most requires their