Of All The Characters In Shakespeare’s Hamlet I Find The Role Of Claudius To Be

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Term Paper Title	Of All The Characters In Shakespeare’s Hamlet I Find The Role Of Claudius To Be
# of Words	1267
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.07

Of all the characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet I find the role of Claudius to be the most intriguing and crucial role in this tragedy.  Claudius is the most controversial, the most mysterious and the most talked about character in this play.  Many people look at Claudius and only see a villain, but there are additional sides to him that are often overlooked.  Claudius the father, the husband, the ruler and the mortal individual.  In this play the characters are not super-human beings.  They make mistakes, just as Claudius does, but it goes to show that they are only human.
     Claudius, the father is very recognizable in Scene 2 of Act 1.  He states to Hamlet starting at Line 109 "…think of us as of a father: for let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne, and with no less nobility of love that that which dearest father bears his son do I impart toward you."  Hamlet is "Our chiefest courtier, cousin and our son." (Line 119)  Here Claudius is speaking to Hamlet and saying that he is loved and accepted even since he is not Claudius' natural son.  Claudius seems to have no trouble speaking to his son Hamlet in front of a crowd.  But when the two men are alone, Claudius is at a loss for words and cannot figure out what to say, or when to say it.  It could be that the King feels so guilty about murdering King Hamlet that he is unable to speak to Hamlet in private, for fear of his true self emerging.
     Along the same lines, Claudius is also a great and sovereign leader.  When young Fortinbras came to demand the surrender of those lands lost by his father to King Hamlet, Claudius handled the matter with such ease and grace.  He informed Fortinbras that a letter was going to be sent to the King of Norway telling him "…to suppress his (Fortinbras) further gait herein." (1. 2. 30.)  Claudius realized that a war at the beginning of his rule would not look good, especially since there had been the thought of "incest" going around.  He did not want to be blamed for tainting the Queen’s bed and for destroying the mighty kingdom.  Another interesting thing about Claudius is that in his formal speeches he uses the plural form of "we" implying that the crown also has a say in official matters.
     Claudius, the husband is a little less easy to recognize, but still just as important.  The Queen is identified as "…our sometime sister, now our queen, th’ imperial jointress…" by Claudius (1. 2. 8.)  The personal life of the King and Queen is kept just that; not ...

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