claudius character analysis
- Created by: amcbrinn
- Created on: 15-04-17 15:09
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- Claudius
- Shakespeare's villains are complex. Unlike the earlier antiheroes of the revenge or morality plays that were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean culture, Shakespearean criminals lack the simple clarity of absolute evil. Claudius is a perfect example of a quintessential Shakespearean antagonist.
- He explains his feelings for her at the end of Act IV, but he has proven these feelings consistently throughout the playThe Queen his motherLives almost by his looks, and for myself,My virtue or my plague, be it either which,She's so conjunctive to my life and soulThat as the star moves not but in his sphere,I could not by her.A character who loves is not merely a cold-blooded killer. Like Hamlet, his conflicting imperatives tear him apart.
- In some ways, Claudius exhibits more heroism than Hamlet. He manipulates fortune and takes what is not rightfully his, but remains unapologetic for his actions; he possesses enough strength to admit that he would do the same again. Hamlet, torn by conscience to smite the morally deficient Claudius, causes the death of six innocent people before he accomplishes his goal. By taking full responsibility for his actions, Claudius mitigates his evil nature.
- The mark of a great Shakespearean antagonist is how completely he mirrors the protagonist. Claudius is no more Machiavellian than Hamlet; both ultimately believe that the end justifies the means, and both ultimately sacrifice humanity and humaneness in the acquisition of their goals.
- Machiavellian?mak???v?l??n/adjective1. cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics."a whole range of outrageous Machiavellian manoeuvres"
- What makes Claudius a villain is that he is wrong, and Hamlet is right. Claudius is a sneak who murdered and lied. Hamlet commits his murders in the open and suffers the pangs of his own conscience. Claudius subverts his conscience and refuses to ask for divine forgiveness. Hamlet seeks contrition and absolves himself of guilt before he dies; Claudius receives no absolution and seeks none. Hamlet will spend eternity in Heaven; Claudius will burn in Hell.
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