The lust for power In the play “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare the drama of conflict between Prince of Norway Hamlet and his uncle the king Claudius takes center stage. The Prince of Denmark seeks revenge after the ghost of his father revels to him that his uncle king Claudius was the one who murdered him. Claudius is a king who is an ambition and cunning political figure that will do anything to stay in power. He is the essential figure that causes so much pain and despair throughout the play. Claudius is an evil antagonist; he is manipulative, a greedy liar, and a murderer. A clear sign of an evil antagonist is their ability to manipulate or used people to serve their own agenda. In the play Claudius does
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The most obvious lie that is present throughout the whole play is that fact that Claudius has manages to keep his murder of king Hamlet by fooling everyone that he is mournful of the king’s death. He kills King Hamlet and also marries his wife Gertrude displacing the rightful heir to the throne young Hamlet as king. Claudius himself acknowledges his deceit in his prayer in Act three, “Of those effects for which I did the murder: My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned and retain th ' offense?” (1136). He realizes that greed and lies have helped him gain power and he feels a bit of remorse for his actions. Although, he asked for forgiveness from god Claudius does not want to give up his crown or his love queen Gertrude. He wants to be forgiven for his devious acts, but also wants to keep the benefits of those acts. Claudius is the antagonist of the story because he lies to fulfill his greedy ambition of being in power. In the play “Hamlet” the antagonist Claudius is obsessed with gaining power for himself to the point he would murder anyone else who stand in his way. It is known that in ordered to become the king of Denmark, Claudius had to murder the previous king Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear. The ghost of King Hamlet describes the incident in act one …show more content…
This act causes multiple other instances in which Claudius has used his manipulative ways to murder others. He constantly plans on getting hamlet murdered directly or by indirect means. He uses the death of Polonius as a plan to kill hamlet in a duel by manipulating his son Laertes. This duel leads to the death of Laertes, Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius to their deaths. He has consistently been the antagonist throughout the story by killing king Hamlet and trying to kill Hamlet. His plan to kill Hamlet eventually gets everyone killed in the
The most obvious lie that is present throughout the whole play is that fact that Claudius has manages to keep his murder of king Hamlet by fooling everyone that he is mournful of the king’s death. He kills King Hamlet and also marries his wife Gertrude displacing the rightful heir to the throne young Hamlet as king. Claudius himself acknowledges his deceit in his prayer in Act three, “Of those effects for which I did the murder: My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned and retain th ' offense?” (1136). He realizes that greed and lies have helped him gain power and he feels a bit of remorse for his actions. Although, he asked for forgiveness from god Claudius does not want to give up his crown or his love queen Gertrude. He wants to be forgiven for his devious acts, but also wants to keep the benefits of those acts. Claudius is the antagonist of the story because he lies to fulfill his greedy ambition of being in power. In the play “Hamlet” the antagonist Claudius is obsessed with gaining power for himself to the point he would murder anyone else who stand in his way. It is known that in ordered to become the king of Denmark, Claudius had to murder the previous king Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear. The ghost of King Hamlet describes the incident in act one …show more content…
This act causes multiple other instances in which Claudius has used his manipulative ways to murder others. He constantly plans on getting hamlet murdered directly or by indirect means. He uses the death of Polonius as a plan to kill hamlet in a duel by manipulating his son Laertes. This duel leads to the death of Laertes, Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius to their deaths. He has consistently been the antagonist throughout the story by killing king Hamlet and trying to kill Hamlet. His plan to kill Hamlet eventually gets everyone killed in the