Although King Claudius is often viewed as the villain in Hamlet because of his slaying of Hamlet’s father and struggle to hold onto power after gaining control of the throne, by the end of the play many actions point to Hamlet being the true malefactor of the story. It first starts off with Hamlet’s drive to revenge his father’s death concocting a plan to make everyone believe he is going mad so he can stay under the radar of having the King find out that he knows what he did. Eight people including himself die at the hand of crazy Hamlet and his best friend Horatio is the only one left alive and the tell the story. Compare Hamlet’s eight to Claudius’s one and the true villain of the story is revealed.
The first to suffer the vengeful spirit of Hamlet is Polonius, who is stabbed by Hamlet while behind a curtain. Once he realizes that he has mistaken Polonius for Claudius Hamlet says: “I took thee for thy better” (3.4.33). Because of Hamlet’s mistake, Ophelia goes crazy and kills herself. In addition to being the cause for Ophelia’s suicide, he is very harsh and says “I did love you once”(3.1.113-14) he then insults her as a woman and says: “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.119). In addition to being the cause of Ophelia’s death, he also caused the deaths of both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he tells them to give a note to the King of England that says to kill them. Hamlet’s own mom is poisoned by drinking the wine …show more content…
A thirst for revenge triggered Hamlet to concoct a crazy scheme to kill King Claudius, thinking that “acting crazy” will allow him to sneak under Claudius's nose and eventually kill him. The sole death that Claudius was responsible for was the death of King Hamlet, while Hamlet was responsible for the deaths of eight individuals including himself. This insane plan eventually caused Hamlet to lose everyone he loved and his own
The first to suffer the vengeful spirit of Hamlet is Polonius, who is stabbed by Hamlet while behind a curtain. Once he realizes that he has mistaken Polonius for Claudius Hamlet says: “I took thee for thy better” (3.4.33). Because of Hamlet’s mistake, Ophelia goes crazy and kills herself. In addition to being the cause for Ophelia’s suicide, he is very harsh and says “I did love you once”(3.1.113-14) he then insults her as a woman and says: “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.119). In addition to being the cause of Ophelia’s death, he also caused the deaths of both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he tells them to give a note to the King of England that says to kill them. Hamlet’s own mom is poisoned by drinking the wine …show more content…
A thirst for revenge triggered Hamlet to concoct a crazy scheme to kill King Claudius, thinking that “acting crazy” will allow him to sneak under Claudius's nose and eventually kill him. The sole death that Claudius was responsible for was the death of King Hamlet, while Hamlet was responsible for the deaths of eight individuals including himself. This insane plan eventually caused Hamlet to lose everyone he loved and his own