The Complexity of Claudius' Character: Statement Analysis

acter of Claudius: Hamlet“The character of Claudius is much too complex to be dismissed simply as the villain of the play.” What is your view of this statement?

From the very beginning of the play Shakespeare portrays Claudius to be a villainous and devious character; this is made obvious through the murder of his brother King Hamlet, the taking of his brothers bride and his plan to kill Hamlet on the other hand it could be argued that Claudius cannot be purely shown as the scoundrel of the play because of this. Although Shakespeare clearly uses him to catalyse the plot with the murder, he also goes on to show him to be making some attempt to repent on this or redeem his sins throughout the rest of the play. Claudius’ taking of the crown, marriage to Gertrude, attitude towards Hamlet and general outlook on life can all be taken into account to show him to be much more complex than he is at first perceived to be, however clearly developing a sense of tragedy and yet portraying a view of Claudius in a much wider perspective.
At the start of Hamlet Shakespeare uses the murder of King Hamlet by Claudius to show a deliberate overthrow of power, depicting that Claudius has taken both the crown and his new wife Gertrude through ill means, therefore giving the audience an attitude of negativity that can be seen overtly in Hamlet’s initial speeches in the play, emphasised dramatically by his dislike of Claudius from the start; this view can be argued at varying moments and through diverse themes throughout the play but obviously contrasting to Claudius’ act of regicide. Although he may have taken the crown and right to be king through treacherous or villainous means, he is also arguably portrayed as a caring and sentimental ruler, showing great patriotism and loyalty to the country of Denmark and great attention to his land and people. This is more clearly emphasised by Shakespeare in his use of Claudius’ speech and lone scenes such as Act 1 Scene 2: in which he remarks ‘To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe’ indisputably suggesting a need for mourning for both Hamlet and Gertrude and the people of Denmark at the loss of their previous king. Shakespeare uses many parts like this to contrast the characterisation of Claudius, giving a more in depth and multifaceted account of his story during the course of the play, most specifically seen in Act 3 Scene 3 when Claudius is praying alone. Another focus closely related to the deceit in Claudius is his marriage to Gertrude, this is seen by hamlet as ‘incestuous’ and too close to the death of his father for it to be right or comfortable in the context of time and morals, ‘But two months dead – nay not so much, not two’ showing his great outrage and disgust at the amount of time it has taken for his mother and uncle to be wed, Claudius himself even seems to go on to stress this point by describing Gertrude as ‘our sometimes sister, sometime Queen’ in his speech in Act 1 Scene 2. This is however arguable through disparity of opinion based on Claudius from the audience and from Shakespeare’s directly intended portrayal; the marriage of Gertrude could show a jealousy Claudius had of his brother when he was alive and that he has and does in fact truly love Gertrude. This is portrayed through his care for her and his want to keep her in a position of political significance as queen to give continuity of the state, showing her to be the ‘imperial jointress of this warlike state’ and therefore illustrating Claudius as a more caring and moral being in the play, keeping Gertrude in both highly classed political and personal positions to keep her happy and make the death of her lost husband easier to cope with even if it was, unbeknown to her, caused by Claudius. In doing so maintaining the country’s political stability as he demonstrates in his initial speech to the court in Act 1 Scene 2; where he shows high ability in his deft and decisive actions to boost the spirits of the people of Denmark and to address the major fear of Fortinbras’ oncoming army, to which he dispatches a letter to Fortinbras’ uncle terminating the attack. The most moral action in reference to Gertrude is seen much later in the play in Act 5 Scene 2; in which Claudius tries to save Gertrude from death by the poison he had planted in the cup, intended for Hamlet, when he shouts the words ‘Gertrude, do not drink!’
Shakespeare also uses Claudius to display contrasting attitudes towards Hamlet demonstrating the two diverse perceptions of Claudius as a character and his role in the plot of the play. In one sense the audience can see Claudius to be trying to help Hamlet; trying his best to integrate Hamlet into his ‘new family’ showing signs of trying to protect him and making attempts to aid him in the mourning at the loss of his father, almost taking responsibility for his welfare in his new regime. Claudius does employ both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet and watch him, however this could be seen as his ‘new father’ merely trying to watch over him in a time of need, through a period of mourning and sadness, making clear progressive ideas on his position as a father and so see’s it necessary to remove Hamlet to England to get him away from the stress and further affecting issues, furthermore displaying an increased sense of sincerity to all three of Denmark, Gertrude and Hamlet, possibly giving a suggestion towards genuine regret for his previous actions in the murder of his brother and the treason committed against his crown and country.
Although this is all seen as possibility there is also great proposition towards the villainous and deceitful side of Claudius; it can be argued that he chooses to send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet for his own means in an attempt to figure out what he knows about the regicide that was committed and in doing so turns his friends against him leaving him to fight the burden on his mind alone and therefore causes the abrupt dismissal of Ophelia from his life both physically and mentally. Claudius uses Ophelia as a pawn in his covert game of deceit and treason, leading to the inevitable breakdown of Hamlet and his plan to seem mad, taking it out on Ophelia in Act 3 Scene 1 where he belittles her ‘Get thee to a nunnery – why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners’ showing Hamlet to be increasingly invective towards her; his could potentially lead to Claudius holding responsibility for the death of Ophelia in the later part of the play: Act 4 Scene 5 ‘Go to thy death-bed, He never will come again’, due to her rising stress over her use in Claudius’ spying game and the grief of her lost love for Prince Hamlet. It could also be seen that he tries to remove Hamlet from the picture by sending him to England to cover his own back and avoid the possibility of any problems being caused by any revelation of information on Claudius’ act of treason to Hamlet’s father. Shakespeare continues this use of other characters to portray Claudius and cowardly and unable to deal with his own problems in reference to Hamlet, later utilising Laertes in the duel in Act 5 to be the final action to kill Hamlet and remove him from his list of concerns, evidently displaying a lack of physical intent in Claudius and a need for others to do his bidding.
Although Claudius can be most easily recognised as the villain it is not impossible to see him from an alternative perspective, the irrevocable action taken against his brother, king and country at the start of the play undoubtedly affects the audiences opinions on him from the beginning, however, most prominently in Act 3 Scene 3 when Shakespeare facilitates a scene within the chapel whereby Claudius is alone and praying; the audience can see from a dramatic point of view that this is effective in giving a display of his character and personality on a private level, making it more appealing to be able to empathise with him and therefore take a more controversial viewpoint on the character and role of Claudius within the play. Within this scene it can be argued heavily that Claudius is repenting for his sins as he speaks in prayer and references to that of a higher power and help from angels, ‘… I did the murder, My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned…’ giving a declared statement of his ant to be ‘pardoned’ for the crimes and sins he has committed in all areas of his life. ‘Help, angels!’ we see references to religion and angelic beings in other parts of the play also, used by Shakespeare to reference to Claudius’ guilt and here, depicting a cry for help at the mercy of god, a final attempt at resolve after his treacherous betrayal of Denmark and his family, showing him to now be trying to correct his mistakes and take back the wrong doing, however his refusal to give up the gains it has caused him, ‘…and retain th’offence?’ depicting him to still be on a villainous path of murder and deception. From this perspective of Shakespeare’s portrayal it could be argued in a controversial manner that the suggestion of Claudius’ plot to remove Hamlet from the picture through either: driving him away to England or killing him is one only of concern to the crown and country and not due to personal issues. Due to Hamlet’s personal revenge mission to bring down the monarchy and therefore cause major concern to the political stability of Denmark and the spirits of its people, because of this it can be said that Claudius has no choice but to remove Hamlet through any means for a more important purpose, his personal vendetta having the potential to bring down the whole structure of Denmark. Giving Claudius another level of perception that proposes him to be in a more difficult situation than he had at first anticipated, choosing his love for Hamlet after acceptance as his own son or the stability of the country and his need to remove a major threat from the scene.
It is in this point of view that the audience could see Hamlet to be a controversial character in himself, through a plot to avenge his father’s death and prove to his mother the treachery of Claudius, his inaction through the majority of the play cause more innocent characters; such as Gertrude, to die and threatens the safety of an entire nation in hope for personal gain of a resting soul after the appearance and belief of his father’s ghost. This gives a third perspective on the characterisation of Claudius, his personal scheme against Hamlet, a possible acceptance and integration of him as a son and the suggestion that Hamlet could be seen as a political enemy and therefore gives Claudius a responsibility to deal with him.
Shakespeare succeeds in effectively identifying Claudius as too complex to simply be the villain; however this is the most easily recognised characteristic and is so more successfully picked up on by the audience, his actions from the start of the play cause others to be negated and show a lack of general analysis on the idea of Claudius being anything more than that. Shakespeare gives Claudius a direct role as the catalyst to all the following events and portrays a clear perspective of him as treacherous and dishonest. It is his political position and stature in Denmark’s regime that cause him to be far less easy to figure out and show him to be in a much more intricate situation that highlights all sides of his personality and therefore suggest him to be increasingly confused; criminal and yet with an intent to repent his sins on the basis of his attitude towards Hamlet, marriage with Gertrude, personal theory of mind and also his duties as king.