According to Perry Besshye Shelley, "Power, like a disease, pollutes whatever it touches." In other words, many characters in literature become corrupted because of their quest for power. I fully agree with Shelley that power "pollutes everything that it touches" because having too much power concentrated in the hands of one person leads to dictatorship and its bad consequences. "Power is the root of all evil" is another interpretation of Shelley's statement. This idea is demonstrated in the plays Hamlet and Macbeth, both by William Shakespeare, where major characters lead themselves to their downfall by trying to become very powerful. In fact, in both plays many major characters die because of one person's ambition to become a powerful king.
             In Hamlet Claudius murders his brother, marries his former sister-in-law (the Queen), and ascends to the throne of Denmark. These three deeds are performed by a shrewd and self-serving man. The King will do almost anything to protect the throne, in spite of knowing that he did not rightfully earn it. He resorts to underhanded tactics such as spying, manipulation, and deceit in order to overcome whatever he perceives as a threat to his supreme position. As a result of Hamlet's meeting with the ghost of his father, Hamlet's behavior changes. Everyone perceives this change as lunacy due to Hamlet's inability to accept the death of his father. However, Claudius does not believe that this is the root cause of Hamlet's madness. Since he is uncertain of Hamlet's knowledge of his secret, Claudius feels that his supremacy is being threatened by Hamlet.
             Claudius sends for Hamlet's childhood friends Gildenstern and Rosencrantz to assist him with getting to the source of Hamlet's "so called transformation". Claudius exercises his power and plays on their loyalty and respect for his position, in addition to their ...