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King Claudius Selfish Essay

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A Selfish Serpent of a King William Shakespeare is well renowned for the dynamic characters that he included in the writings. The Tragedy of Hamlet, for instance, has many characters who change throughout the play. Claudius, the king of Denmark is one of the people. His selfishness causes him to change into a more manipulative person than before. He commits crimes and is forced to lie to his people due to his selfishness making him want to be king. He feels guilt for the things he has done, but even his repentance is rooted in selfishness. Claudius also lets his selfishness take control over him when he realizes that Hamlet knows what he has done, so he plots against Hamlet so that he can remain in control. Claudius’s selfishness and greed are major flaws of his, and they come back to lead to …show more content…

He becomes a murderous man because he wants his brother’s life as king with a beautiful queen. His envy gets the best of him, so he put “cursed hebona in a vial and in the porches of [Claudius’s] ears did pour the leprous distilment”(I.v.68-71). Claudius’s selfishness turns him into a devious man. After killing the king, he must win over the people, so he gives a speech to the people, pretending that Claudius has died of natural cause and that he is grieving the loss of his brother (I.iii.5-7). He is a deceptive character in the way that he manipulates others. Claudius even has to lie when Hamlet proves that he is guilty of killing King Hamlet. He has a very dramatic reaction because he knows Hamlet is aware of what he did. He blames his reaction on a sudden need for lights. It happens while he is watching Hamlet’s play, “The Mouse Trap,” a play in which the king’s nephew pours poison into the king’s ear. This shocks the king, and his jealousy and selfishness cause him to have to hide and cover up his crime that will follow him for

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Like many British rulers (e.g., Henry IV, Elizabeth I, Richard III), Claudius kills a family member, performing “an act of state” and following “a tradition which every English monarch had had to accept for two hundred years” (45). Once on the throne, he must begin the process of securing his position: praising the dead king, forming political alliances, marrying Gertrude, dealing with the threat of Fortinbras, conciliating ministers (e.g., Polonius), and attempting a reconciliation with his primary rival Hamlet. Because Hamlet refuses to embrace the new king, Claudius must engage in spying tactics to gain knowledge about his potential enemy and, ultimately, decide to terminate the threat. But in Shakespeare’s political tragedy (unlike the realities of British history), murderers are destined to fail. Aside from the fact that all of his supporters die (e.g., Polonius, Laertes), Claudius proves a weak leader because he “invariably prefers compromise to confrontation, placatory gestures to open defiance” (51-52).

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However, Claudius does not care. By doing this speech he displays his power to everyone and has their attention to return to him. This attention-greedy trait of Claudius would help him achieve the greatest possible outcome in any situation because he has the determination to look very dominant in the public eye. Not only does Claudius do anything to appear powerful but he will do anything to retain power even if it means sacrificing forgiveness to keep his position as king. Claudius expresses true feelings about murdering his brother as he prays: “My crown, mine own ambition and my queen May one be pardon’d and retain this offence?”

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This is because of his capability to murder his own brother to gain the title of the King. Thus, exhibiting that he cares about nothing but himself. Claudius introduces the theme of deception since he is

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In Act I, Scene 2, Claudius lies about killing the king. “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe, yet so far hath discretion fought with nature that we with wisest sorrow think on him together with remembrance of ourselves.” (pg, 10, 1-6) Furthermore, Claudius shows his tragic flaw of deceitfulness in other ways throughout the

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This suggests that through his guilt, Claudius struggles with regret as killing his brother has given him the throne and a queen to stand by him. However, he cannot truly repent as he is unwilling to give up his gains. This adds to Claudius’s complexity as he recognizes that genuine repentance is unattainable. Moreover, Shakespeare highlights Claudius’s morals as he faces the conflict between ambition and ethics. Claudius is aware and understands the consequences of murder, but continues to violate them for personal gain.

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The first three character’s intentions were to obtain more power. But just because the king has all the power he can possibly have, that doesn’t mean that he can’t deceive people. The very first sign of Claudius’ deceit is how he obtained his power. His brother, Hamlet was the king, and was married to Gertrude.

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Claudius’ route to power is brutal and vicious which provides the shortest route. Unlike Papa, Claudius is a goal driven character whose first priority is himself and does not choose his actions to promote the people around him. Hamlet in the beginning of the play characterizes Claudius as a “serpent that did sting my father’s life / [and] Now wears his crown.” (I.IV, 39-40). Hamlet describes Claudius as a manipulative and tricky guy who will not let anything get in his way to power.

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‘No place indeed should murder sanctuarize; Revenge should have no bounds” (IV, VII, 124-125). King Claudius has no boundaries for any such case of revenge to claiming a spot on the throne. King Claudius an antagonist is a cruel, unforceful, and neglect ant king who changes throughout the storyline. King Claudius shows his attitude and passion to be king through his character as well as his appearance. To begin with, King Claudius is a deviant, mistrustful, and shrewd character in the Tragedy Hamlet.

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Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is intelligent and a great schemer, he devises a plan in which he murders his brother in order to take the throne of Denmark and then easily charms the royal court into accepting his quick marriage to his brother’s wife, Gertrude. From there, he does all that he can to then further protect his ill-gained power. The death of Hamlet’s father throws Hamlet into a state of mental turmoil and, after seeing his father’s ghost, is determined to seek revenge on Claudius for his father’s murder. Polonius, The Lord Chamberlain of Denmark, aids Claudius in spying on Hamlet, and in return, Hamlet does all that he can to keep Claudius on edge. Within Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the characters Claudius,

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This change in character occurs because as Hamlet begins to reveal hints about him knowing about the murder of his father, Claudius seems to be in more pressure due to the possibility that he would get caught in front of the people of Denmark. This creates a problem for Claudius because since he would get an idea that Hamlet knows already of the situation that Claudius created, Hamlet would end up killing him or hurt him in any way, which would ruin the reputation for both Hamlet and Claudius himself if they were to go to extreme measures. Although he is aware of the consequences, Claudius manages to get Laertes on his side to fulfill his desire to get Hamlet out of the way so that he could remain as King of

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He knows that what people do reflects who they really are, and he basically admits that the murder he did defines his true self. After the fact that he killed Hamlet’s dad comes out, he really changes and tries to get rid of Hamlet. He wants to ship him away, “The sun shall no sooner touch the mountains, But we will ship him hence”(Shakespeare 4.1.30). In the beginning he pretends to care, but in reality he does not care one bit about Hamlet and his feelings. In part of the book Philosophy and the puzzles of Hamlet, Craig describes Claudius, “Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he seems like a man who would prefer to be better than he is, but cannot master the desires that make him the lesser that he is''(Craig 110).

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In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Claudius is portrayed as a ruthless king, hiding himself behind a charming façade in order to conceal his driven passion. Therefore, within his soliloquy, the ambiguity surrounding his character disappears as he reveals his true nature. While the other characters within the play remain oblivious to Claudius’ committed crime, it is emphasized to the reader, through Shakespeare’s use of allusions, imagery and the universal theme of internal conflict. As a pivotal point within the play, Claudius finally confesses the depth and severity of his crime.

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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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At the beginning of the play, Claudius decides to kill his brother, the king, so he can have the throne, the king’s wife, etc. For example, when Claudius becomes king he says, “The memory be green, and that it us befitted, to bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom” (Act 1 Scene 2). When Claudius was saying this, he was not sad in any way at all. He got what he wanted and didn’t regret it (at first).

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What’s worse, he never realizes the truth that it is rather important to maintain his power as a prince than to revenge Claudius in order to protect himself. On the contrast, Claudius’ only intention is to pursuit power and he is willing to take any risk in order to maintain his

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