Why Is Claudius A Villain

How Claudius Meets the Requirements of a Villain “The serpent that did sting my father’s life / Now wears his crown.” (Hamlet 1.4.38-39). In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Claudius is an evil and cunning villain. Shortly after the king of Denmark dies rather suddenly his brother Claudius took over his position as king. Claudius married his wife and instantly gained access to all his wealth and power. There was no evidence to suggest that the king had died of anything other than natural causes except for what a ghost told his son Hamlet. The ghost of the king told Hamlet that he had been murdered and betrayed by his own brother Claudius, the one person that he trusted the most. Hamlet vowed to take his revenge on

Claudius is a villain because of his enormous greed, his overwhelming selfishness and his use of intelligence for evil purposes. Claudius was motivated to take the throne for many reasons but one of the mains ones was his enormous greed. Claudius was not happy being the king’s brother, or being super wealthy, but rather he wanted to be the king himself, he wanted to be the wealthiest and most powerful man in entire kingdom. Claudius reflects back on what he has done when he says, “Forgive me my foul murder? /That cannot be; since I am still possessed/ Of those effects for which I did the murder-/ My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.” (Hamlet 3.3.52-55). Claudius knows that he has done wrong but his greed has consumed him and he cannot simply give up everything he has taken. The wealth and power he has acquired is what he has wanted his whole life and now he cannot imagine himself without it. He has committed a murder and he has married the queen he will now stick to his ambitions and not turn back. Greed is often when someone wants something in an extreme or an excessive amount above what is necessary. A certain amount of everything is

Claudius, using his wits, convinced Laertes that Hamlet should be killed, “To show yourself your father’s son in deed/ More than in words? / To cut his throat I’ the church!” (Hamlet 4.7 125-127). Claudius learns that Hamlet is still alive he thought of a master plan to use Laertes to kill Hamlet. Claudius has already turned Laertes against Hamlet by saying that he murdered his father in cold blood and has gone unpunished because the queen and all the kingdom is in love with him. Laertes who is fueled by misguided anger is prepared to do whatever it takes to get his revenge against Hamlet. Laertes simply suggests that he kill Hamlet in cold blood, but Claudius uses his superior intelligence to come up with a truly dark and evil plan to kill Hamlet. Intelligence is mostly thought of as an admirable quality but a select few choose to use it for the wrong reasons. It can sometimes lead people to think they are above the law and can simply get away with whatever terrible crime the commit (Nyborg 344-345). This was the case with Claudius he thought that he had planned the murder carefully and meticulously enough that no one would ever ask questions. Even once Hamlet knew his evil secret Claudius did not give up he came up with plan after plan to kill Hamlet. Claudius, in his mind, had thought that he had earned everything he had acquired. He may have