The Embodiment of Machiavellian Ideals in Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Enshrouded by manipulation, filled with deceit, and laced with ominous intentions, William Shakespeare's Hamlet, is a compelling and renowned tragic tale of the competition for control. The main characters, most notably Prince Hamlet and Claudius, King of Denmark, provide quintessential examples of the struggle to attaining and maintaining power, and the disparity between appearances versus reality. Provided within the context of Machiavelli's controversial The Prince, their characteristics make them worthy of comparison to Machiavelli's ideas to the ideal Prince. The mind of Machiavelli's Prince is calculating and cunning, in all actions concerned foremost with the ends rather than means. Therefore, as compared to Machiavelli's ideas for successful ruling, it is Claudius who meets these standards to the fullest.
Highest among the principles Machiavelli holds for being a successful ruler, he claims, "there may be a line of conduct having the appearance of virtue, to follow which would be his ruin, and that there may be another course having the appearance of vice, by following which his safety and well-being are secured" (Machiavelli 40). He also states, "It is essential, therefore, for a Prince who desires to maintain his position, to have learned how to be other than good… as necessity requires."(Machiavelli 40). Here Claudius is an excellent example as capable of being "other than good" to secure his situation. While Claudius appears kind and caring to the court and to Gertrude, he is ruthless in his actions to maintaining his position. He uses pawns, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and Ophelia, to uncover the guise of Hamlet's madness, a tactic Machiavelli would approve. Finally when he realizes that Hamle...

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...d also approve of Hamlet's use of the play to confirm the guilt of Claudius, as "if constrained to put any to death, he should do so only when there is manifest cause or reasonable justification." (Machiavelli 44).
When compared against Machiavelli's qualities for a successful Prince, Claudius is the embodiment of the most characteristics. His methods were dexterous, delusive, and strategic, and through them he displayed directness and practically in his struggle to maintain his political power. Although in the end Claudius fails in maintaining his throne against Hamlet's plot, his actions are such that he is clearly more an ideal Machiavellian Prince than Hamlet. In his conquest for vengeance, Hamlet proves himself to be an equal adversary in the art of deception, yet because he lacked the mark of a true Prince according to Machiavelli's standards, he too failed.

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