Claudius is a fictional character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle to Hamlet. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his best-known and most oft-quoted plays. ... King Hamlet is a character from William Shakespeares play Hamlet, also known as The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. ... Gertrude is Hamlets mother. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and one of his best-known and most oft-quoted plays. ...

Overview

Claudius is shown at the beginning of the play to be a capable monarch as he deals with the issues of Norway, and Hamlet's depression, diplomatically. It is not until the appearance of King Hamlet's ghost that it is revealed that Claudius poisoned the old king in his sleep to usurp the throne. During the play's progression he takes a turn for the worse by first resorting to spying, and, when that fails, murder to deal with Hamlet. A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... Clinical depression is state of debilitating sadness or melancholy. ... Reputed ghost of a monk. ... The skull and crossbones symbol traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ... Spy and secret agent redirect here; for alternate use, see Spy (disambiguation) and Secret agent (disambiguation). ...

By the climax of the play when Hamlet appears to have been utterly consumed by revenge, Claudius finally shows remorse for the betrayal and murder of King Hamlet. Despite his guilt, Claudius still seeks Hamlet's death in an effort to save both his throne and his life, as he believes the prince is now aware of his part in King Hamlet's death. The climax of a narrative work is its point of highest tension or drama. ... Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. ... People feel remorse when reflecting on their actions that they believe are wrong. ...

When Laertes seeks revenge for his father Polonius' death at Hamlet's hands, Claudius finally concocts a 'surefire' plan to deal with Hamlet once and for all. He sets up a duel between Hamlet and Laertes, and weighs the scales in his favor by giving Laertes a poisoned blade and Hamlet a poisoned drink. Claudius' plan falls through as Queen Gertrude drinks from the poisoned chalice instead of Hamlet. As Norway's army, led by young Fortinbras, surrounds the castle, Hamlet finally extracts his revenge and slays Claudius using the very poison that had been intended for him. Laertes is a character from William Shakespeares play, Hamlet. ... Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. ... Polonius is a character from William Shakespeares Hamlet. ...

Interpretation

It is certainly not difficult to label Claudius as evil by looking at some of his more unscrupulous actions, yet one must also look at the other side of Claudius when describing his character. He certainly felt remorse for his earlier actions as shown during his confession in Act III/Scene 3. Regardless, Claudius was certainly ruthless in his pursuit of power; not only did he kill his own brother, but he sought to murder his nephew as well. All in all, Claudius seems to be a very confused type of character. Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, or wicked. ...