The play Hamlet, one of the finest revenge tragedies of its time was written in 1601 by William Shakespeare. The play became and remains a sensation in literature to this day. A large part of what sparked all the interest was the depth and complexities within Shakespeare’s characters, particularly the villains. It called into question however whether the villains were even truly villains at all or rather just the result of an unfortunate play of events leading them into their villainous act. Is a villain merely the illusion of a one-sided point of view? Evidently the villain is a matter of skewed perspective. Though yes, both Claudius, Polonius and Laertes commit villainous acts, their stories are far more complex; motivated by love, loss
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He believes that Ophelia ending the relationship is the cause of Hamlet’s madness. To prove this, he sets up an encounter between the two, spying on the interaction for Claudius. Hamlet’s treatment of her, the hatred, anger and hurtful words he uses only prove that Polonius was in fact right to tell Ophelia to end the manipulative relationship. Polonius is later murdered in cold-blood when Hamlet discovers him spying again on a conversation between him and Gertrude. Though Polonius may have been an irritating old man that liked to meddle in other people’s business and give longwinded hypocritical speeches, his heart and motives were always in the right place. All of his actions were driven by love and devotion to his family and his duty and friendship to the King. Polonius’ death was needless and a tragedy in …show more content…
Claudius, Polonius and Laertes have complex motives; all three driven by love to commit villainous acts. Each of them have a strong tie to family and Claudius and Laertes both expressing guilt for their actions looking for forgiveness to move forward. These are not typical traits one would associate with a villain. Under an alternate point of view wouldn’t Hamlet also fit this broad the description of a villain, and likewise would it not be Polonius, Claudius and Laertes fit the role tragic heroes? The actions of a person do not define them as good or bad, wrong or right for the world is a far more complex place than that. In this sense we take on aspects both the villain and the tragic
He believes that Ophelia ending the relationship is the cause of Hamlet’s madness. To prove this, he sets up an encounter between the two, spying on the interaction for Claudius. Hamlet’s treatment of her, the hatred, anger and hurtful words he uses only prove that Polonius was in fact right to tell Ophelia to end the manipulative relationship. Polonius is later murdered in cold-blood when Hamlet discovers him spying again on a conversation between him and Gertrude. Though Polonius may have been an irritating old man that liked to meddle in other people’s business and give longwinded hypocritical speeches, his heart and motives were always in the right place. All of his actions were driven by love and devotion to his family and his duty and friendship to the King. Polonius’ death was needless and a tragedy in …show more content…
Claudius, Polonius and Laertes have complex motives; all three driven by love to commit villainous acts. Each of them have a strong tie to family and Claudius and Laertes both expressing guilt for their actions looking for forgiveness to move forward. These are not typical traits one would associate with a villain. Under an alternate point of view wouldn’t Hamlet also fit this broad the description of a villain, and likewise would it not be Polonius, Claudius and Laertes fit the role tragic heroes? The actions of a person do not define them as good or bad, wrong or right for the world is a far more complex place than that. In this sense we take on aspects both the villain and the tragic