Leadership In Hamlet

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Ricky Vogel, Kevin Cortes
Mr. Ryan Dainty
AP Junior Composition
27 February 2015
Who Exhibits a Better Prince?

“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command,”­Machiavelli. (10) The

Prince by Machiavelli highlights how one should be obeyed and maintain power. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, these characteristics are shown between the main characters, Hamlet and Claudius. This tragedy is a battle of a king in power and one trying to dethrone him. In the end, Claudius displays a better resemblance of a Machiavellian leader. Machiavelli defines a successful leader as charismatic, inventive, manipulative and willful; than a benevolent, kind prince . Hamlet possesses some of these qualities such as
inventiveness and manipulativeness as he is seen feigning his father’s death to the point of insanity. Machiavelli states, “ Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are” (Machiavelli, 47). This saying is illustrated by Hamlet as he puts on a show and acts to be mad when in reality, he is not. Hamlet acts as if he is still mourning the loss of his father after two months of his passing, Gertrude questions “Why seems it so particular with thee?” Hamlet responds: “Seems, madam? Nay, it is, I know not ‘seems’” (1.2.75­76). Suspicion creeps into to the mind of the those around him, and they confront him about it. He covers his tracks by saying that he does not seem this way, rather he is in this current state. However, he also retains

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qualities that Machiavelli would have deemed as flaws in a ruler.
He falls short in his appearance by this because he incurs confusion with reality and the facade he is undertaking. This ends up being one of his worst enemies. He is in opposition of one of Machiavelli’s points which states that a prince should not let their emotions get in the way when making rash choices on behalf of the kingdom. He Split between personal morals and willfulness, he battles between inaction and action. His battle proves to be detrimental at times due to the missed opportunity of ending Claudius swiftly and effortlessly, “Now I might do it. Now he is a­praying/And now I’ll do’t (Shakespeare 3.3.74­75). Moments after he said that, he has a change of heart, missing a perfect opportunity, “To take him in the purging of his soul/When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?/No”(3.3.86­88). Thinking he will get an even better moment and using this as an excuse to feel peace at mind, he stashes his sword, “Up,sword, and know thou a more horrid hent” (3.3.89). His idling in this is situation deems him unworthy in affirming a position of power in Machiavelli’s eyes. He appears to be weak to him because he goes against his belief that “it will always be more advantageous for you to declare yourself”(Machiavelli, 34). On the contrary, a prince should be strong in declaring himself and be able to protect his kingdom “without national arms no Princedom is safe” (Machiavelli 37). Hamlet cannot protect
a kingdom and maintain power because he can not even establish who he is and protect his heir to the throne. Also, he would see him as a stooge rather than an intelligent figure because of this, “The wise man does at once what a fool does finally” (45). Due to the weaknesses Hamlet exhibits outnumbering the strengths, he would not have been a good leader. On the other hand, there is the king, Claudius. He is the manipulative, scheming politician. Claudius is an expert in hypocrisy and deception, compared to others in Hamlet .

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Claudius is concealed behind his mask of justness, concernment and gentleness. He pretends to care for his subjects, mourn for his late brother, and love for his stepson, Hamlet. Claudius does not let his conscience get in the way of his goal. His skill at deceiving the public is quite remarkable;

“Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

The memory be green, and that it us befitted

To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom

To be contracted in one brow of woe” (Hamlet 1.2.1­4).

Claudius proclaims his “grief” for the brother that he murdered. His appearance is never his reality. The theme appearance vs. reality is always present in Hamlet. Although that theme influences Claudius, there is Machiavelli, who Claudius seems to have studied vigorously. Throughout Hamlet,
Claudius proceeds to follow the rules set by Machiavelli in order to attain power. Machiavelli first rule is, "anyone who conquers such territories and wishes to hold on to them must...extinguish the ruling family...thus in short time they will become one with the conqueror 's original possessions” (Machiavelli 34). Claudius succeeded in removing his brother and inheriting the land, but he made the grave mistake of letting Hamlet stay with him. Like every human, Claudius commits errors, which in the end, come back to bite him. Machiavelli continues by stating, "in seizing a state, one ought to consider all the injuries he will...inflict and inflict them all at once so as to avoid a frequent repetition of such acts” (49). Letting Hamlet live brings about Claudius’ death. Claudius failed to inflict all the necessary injuries, proving that Machiavelli was correct in his teaching. Machiavelli held strongly to his belief that the support of

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the people is crucial due to "if the people hate him, a fortress will not save him…” (47). It is shown in the following scene: Messenger : “Save yourself, my lord.
The ocean, overpeering of his list,
Eats not the flats with more impiteous haste
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
O 'erbears your officers. The rabble call him “lord” And—as the world were now but to begin, Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
The ratifiers and props of every word—
They cry, “Choose we! Laertes shall be king!”
Caps, hands, and tongues applaud it to the clouds: “Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!” (Hamlet 4.5.95­105).
Claudius’ subjects are not pleased with him and are in a revolt against him. He strays from Machiavelli’s path once again and failing to gain support from the people, proves Machiavelli right when Fortinbras destroys Claudius’ fortress, taking over Denmark. Even though Claudius did have his fair share of errors, he did manage to have a powerful influence. He had Old Fortinbras stop Young Fortinbras in pursuing his ambitions to overtake Denmark. Also, Claudius took the initiative to obtain a powerful alliance with the monarch of England. So much so that he asked him to execute Hamlet. All in all, Claudius used his infallible appearance to obscure his dark reality. The appearance gained him power, although the reality is what prevailed in the
end.

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Compared to Hamlet, Claudius ultimately proves to be the better “prince”. Hamlet is too

indecisive and rash to be in a position of leadership. Machiavelli would not have deemed him worthy of a prince, but would have praised him on his ability of playing the political game and manipulating others. Claudius may have had his shortcomings, but in the majority of his rule and appearance, he was the quintessential Machiavellian leader. There is no doubt that Machiavelli would have ranked him along Cesare Borgia, “a man of such savage courage and ability...so well aware of just how men are to be won over or ruined” (Machiavelli 34). Machiavelli 's guidelines make a solid foundation for power. Those who know how to manipulate the game will emerge victorious.

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Works Cited
Machiavelli, Niccolo.
The Prince.
Trans. N. H. Thomson. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print. Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.”
The Norton Introduction to Literature
. Ed. Spencer
Richard­Jones. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print