greed is the root of all evil
Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare's many tragedies, shows that dealing with unpredictable evil can ultimately consume the lives of good people. Shakespeare gives his audience a character they will love to hate; in this play, Claudius fits the bill. He is the antagonist and his shrewd ways gradually revealed him to be the evil villain he really was.Claudius is responsible for many of the results in this play. Without his selfish greed and ambition the play would have followed a different path. Every act in the play revolves around what Claudius has done or what he will do. He can be linked to, and is eventually responsible, for the deaths of Hamlet's father, Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Laertes, Rosencratz and Guildenstern and finally of Hamlet himself. In addition, Claudius is a one of the many men who ruined the beautiful mind of Ophelia. Claudius also contributes to Hamlet's resentment towards his mother. All of these things come together to help the audience understand Hamlet's hatred for his uncle.Though there are many negative qualities about Claudius, he has a few good characteristics. He did not want to harm his brother, but he was too weak to fight against the strong desire of coveting his brother's wife and status. C
With and unclear mind he decided to join with Claudius and make Hamlet pay for his actions. The only real problem was the strong desire for the throne and his brother's worldly possessions. In the end, it is still questioned as to whether she committed suicide or if she fell reaching for a flower on a willow tree. This was Claudius's problem; he was so focused on killing Hamlet that he failed to realize all of the other people who were endangered in his attempts. In the midst of the mayhem, Claudius does feel guilty at times. Claudius had another major character flaw, he was impatient. An example of Claudius' kind side was his initial intent not to harm young Hamlet. No one could have known what kinds of unpredictable evils were facing them, not even Claudius. Had Hamlet not been so preoccupied trying to find the truth about his father's killer, there would have been more time for courting and wooing Ophelia. The men responsible for the devastating outcome of her and Hamlet's relationship were her father Polonius, her brother Laertes, Claudius and of course Hamlet. Had he not killed the king, the king's ghost would have never haunted Hamlet, ordering him to avenge his death. In his letters written to Ophelia, he would say "To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia" and other things such as "I love thee best, O most best, believe it. It is said that Claudius did hold love in his heart for Gertrude but it is also said that he just married her to help himself. I feel his efforts were the bare minimum, but had he shown more, his cover would have been blown.
Common topics in this essay:
Gertrude Claudius,
Hamlet Laertes,
Ophelia Hamlet,
Ophelia Claudius,
Laertes Hamlet,
William Shakespeare's,
Act III,
Polonius Polonius,
Denmark Hamlet,
Claudius Hamlet,
strong desire,
harm hamlet,
desire kill,
laertes hamlet,
kill hamlet,
ophelia hamlet,
father polonius,
hamlet laertes,
people denmark,
death hamlet,
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Acceptance Essays
