Analysis Of King Claudius

When we analyze a work, it is easy to judge the characters by the standards of our time, but this is not very fair to them. They do not follow our rules; they follow the standards of their societies. In addition, unless the characters’ thoughts are revealed to us in soliloquies or asides, we cannot tell if the person knows of his or her actions’ consequences. To determine if a character is “good” or “bad,” we must set a standard and evaluate it for each text we examine. We shall define “goodness” as performing actions whose outcomes are net positive, intended or not, and “badness” as the opposite. Through this lens we shall examine King Claudius of Hamlet, discovering that while Claudius might be a good King, he is definitely not a good person.

When we first meet Claudius, he is holding court and giving a very long and eloquent speech with frequent use of the “royal we.” He begins by unifying himself with the audience in grief over “our dear brother’s death” (1.2.1) and then explains he will marry Queen Gertrude to both solidify his rule and bring “mirth to funeral” (1.2.12). However, it is odd that King Hamlet’s son, Hamlet, did not inherit the throne. Claudius explains, referring to his near marriage, that the nobles “have freely gone / With this affair along” (1.2.15-6), so it is likely that he convinced the nobles to vote for him as King instead of Hamlet, who was away. Instead of taking the crown by force, which Laertes and Fortinbras will later attempt, Claudius became King without any harm whatsoever, excepting the murder of King Hamlet. His ease with the royal court and the trust he places in the nobles are signs of his good Kingship, however much hidden blood there may be.

Claudius is not just friendly with the nobles. ...

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...m; the poisoned goblet makes Hamlet realize Claudius’s plan and results in Hamlet killing him with the same goblet.

Although we quickly see through Claudius’s sham, his “bad” qualities might be the reason for his “good” Kingship. After all, a King who is ambitious, manipulative, and selfish would want to keep the throne, and since Claudius dislikes confrontation, he has evidently decided to remain in power by being a just and wise ruler. He might have had the wrong motivations and a terrible character, but royal policies were, on the whole, good for Denmark. But we must not forget his terrible choice; instead of giving up his sins’ rewards, he chooses to keep them and kill Hamlet to assure his crown. Make no mistake, Claudius was a bad person, but Denmark had experienced an extraordinary King, ended with poisoned drink in his throat and poisoned sword in his chest.