King Claudius's Actions

The infamous King Claudius is essentially connected to almost every malicious instance in William Shakespeare’s renowned play, Hamlet. His actions are consistently fueled by his overpowering greed and hunger for power. Consequently, Claudius truly establishes the meaning of the play through the multitude of his abhorrent actions. The murder of the King, Prince Hamlet’s father, serves as the stimulus that affects the play’s major events. After Hamlet found out about his father’s murder, a ghost, told him to “revenge his [father’s] foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.37). Additionally, Hamlet was stunned when the ghost mentioned that the murder was carried out by his very own uncle, Claudius. Initially, Hamlet had qualms about believing the words the ghost was telling him. Subsequently, Hamlet devised a plan to discover whether these accusations against his uncle were valid. After an intricate plan of putting on a play that mimicked the events surrounding his father’s death, Hamlet figured out that Claudius did in fact murder his father. Ergo, Hamlet said he would “take the ghost’s word for a thousand a pound” (III.ii.312). This formally establishes Claudius as the primary

He is a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to attain the highest stature of power possible. After killing the King, Claudius went and married his brother’s widowed wife, thus granting him top-tier King status. Wow, that’s uncannily coincidental. Hamlet strongly rebukes his mother, referring to her action of marrying Claudius as “a bloody deed” (III.iv.33). King Claudius’s manipulative actions only further contribute to his role as the predominant malefactor of the play. Claudius's marrying of the Queen serves as an ultimate betrayal of his brother, after viciously murdering him. Evidently, Claudius has no sense of good conscience, and his greedy nature has a grave influence over his