Claudius Soliloquy Analysis

  In the first three acts of the play Hamlet, King Claudius go through a subtle, but defined change in character.  Claudius role in the play begins as the newly corrinated king of Denmark.  The former king, King Hamlet, was poisoned by his brother, Claudius, while he was asleep.  Claudius, however, made it known to everyone that the king died of a snakebite in the garden, and thus no one knew of the murder that had just taken place making his murder the perfect crime.  The only problem that Claudius must deal with now is his conscience.

     Shakespeare presents Claudius as a character with many faces yet the audience can clearly understand his motives and ambition throughout the play. His character does however change and we clearly see how his evilness and weakness increases as his need to escape discovery and his clandestine nature in doing so, is revealed.

In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, various characters manipulate others in order to gain power and fulfill their personal desires. The character who portrays the most immense manipulation is King Claudius, the brother of the late King Hamlet. Thus far, Claudius advertises himself as a sensible, honorable man who lives to serve the greater good, yet his manipulation exposes his dubious intentions, leaving him with an unfortunate fate.

During lines 57-60, Claudius has a prolonged moment of wisdom and revelation in which he describes how “corrupted currents,” (57) of the mortal world can bribe the law but that this is not the case “above,” (60) in heaven. This revelation is yet more irony as Claudius’ truthful statement about not being able to bribe heaven contradicts his attempts to pick a particular prayer with which he could gain redemption from heaven. Shakespeare does break scansion during line 57 and ends it with a single syllabled “masculine” word, emphasizing that the mortal world’s corruption and Claudius’ own corruption are real. During his wise moment, Claudius mentions “Offence’s gilded hand,” (58) shoving by justice. The gilded nature of the hand that attempts to bypass justice is a metaphor for Claudius’ own seemingly benevolent appearance of seeking redemption while he is in reality trying to find a shortcut to redemption without having to give up his spoils of murder. Interestingly, Shakespeare breaks scansion in line 58 and ends it with a two syllabled “feminine” word showing that Claudius does not believe that he can actually escape justice and achieve redemption deceitfully. This shows that Claudius may have the potential for redemption after

In the play Hamlet, Claudius is known as the villain of the play. He is the lead antagonist who is characterized as a cunning, incestuous, and vile, usurper. Many readers and critics of the play do not dispute this perception, especially after reading how Claudius became the King of Denmark; He steals the throne by poisoning his brother, the previous king, and quickly marrying Queen Gertrude his widowed sister in law (1.5.42, 60-74). The general reading of Claudius’s character paints him to be a corrupt, cowardly politician, in addition to being Hamlet’s (the protagonist) foe. This portrait engages first-time readers to judge Claudius immediately and although this perspective of his personality is proven to be true, it is limited. Claudius

In act 3 scene 3 Claudius performs his soliloquy which acts like a window into the true nature of Claudius’ guilt. This excerpt of the play is the first time we encounter Claudius confess blame for the crime against his brother. This self-confession further demonstrates the guilt that Claudius exhibits in act 3 scene 2 when Claudius flees the theater after Hamlet arranges a play reenacting the events of his father’s murder. As Claudius states on line 56, “May one be pardoned and retain th’offense?” This line depicts the true nature of Claudius’ guilt: He does not regret his actions, for his actions have granted him “My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.” (3.2.55) Claudius is content with his gains, his only guilt stems from the fact that he believes he will not go to heaven because of his actions. Zeffirelli as opposed to Branagh shortens this soliloquy which causes a loss of perception into the complex role that guilt plays throughout the story.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses various characters to demonstrate the concept of passion versus reason. He uses his story to show the readers that passion and reason can both exist, but it is necessary to find a balance between the two. As evident in Prince Hamlet’s life, an overabundance of passion can be harmful to oneself and to others. Throughout the play, he faces an internal battle: he must choose between rationality and sentiment. This task becomes especially hard, however, when the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back from the grave to share the horrible story of his murder. The late King has been poisoned and replaced by his own brother, Claudius, and, driven by sorrow and agony, Prince Hamlet decides to get revenge. Hamlet’s plan is to kill Claudius. This idea seems extreme. However, it is reasonable that the Prince would act irrationally as a coping strategy. In times of loss, especially after the loss of a parent, it is normal to experience overwhelming thoughts and sometimes “emotional issues” arise (“Adult Death of a Parent).

To wash it white as snow” he is saying that he cant get it off, that

Hamlet views Claudius' reaction to the play. Claudius' response is indicative of a guilty person, verifying Hamlet's suspicion. Hamlet can now act out his vengeance on Claudius, since he has proven Claudius' guilt and has grounds for carrying out justice. Hamlet is

The audience views Claudius attempting to pray. He wants forgiveness from the heavens for the murder he commits, but he knows he does not deserve it when he still possesses the things he kills for. It is this murder that sets the play in motion; his displaced love turns him into a villain. Not once does

     Claudius’ lies are effective enough to persistently deceive to play’s antagonist, Hamlet. Despite Hamlet’s disgust with Claudius for marrying Gertrude, and his view of Claudius as “a king of shreds and patches” (III.iv.104), Hamlet suspicion of Claudius as a murderer is preliminarily nonexistent. The appearance of a spirit claiming to be Hamlet’s dead father first alerts Hamlet to the actions of “that incestuous, that adulterate beast, /With witchcraft of his with, with traitorous gifts” (I.v.42-3). And yet still, Hamlet remains hesitant to believe that Claudius was the murderer, searching for complementary evidence. The play that Hamlet enacts -- designed to “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.562) --succeeds in revealing Claudius’ guilt, but does not provoke instant action on Hamlet’s part. So effective is Claudius’ manipulation of the royal circle that he manages to almost permanently stay the revelation of his guilt, and if it weren’t for supernatural intervention against an injustice, he may never have been exposed.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Claudius’s soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 3, demonstrates that he is a very ambitious, selfish and sorrow individual with a sense of guilt. Claudius is very ambitious to where his lust for power often drives his actions. His desire for power will often lead to horrible consequences. For instance, it was revealed in Claudius’s soliloquy that he did in fact murder King Hamlet, his own brother. There are no limits to what Claudius will surpass in order to achieve what he wants since killing his own brother was not crossing over the line and he saw King Hamlet as nothing but a barrier standing in his way of gaining power. For example, Claudius expresses that “My guilt is stronger than my intentions. And like a person with two opposite things to do at once, I stand paralyzed and neglect them both”, meaning that

The relationships in ‘Hamlet’ represent the play’s universal themes that resonate through generations due to the ubiquity of human condition. Through the employment of the Senecan revenge tragedy and Machavellian characters, Shakespeare depicts the Elizabethan social climate in Hamlet’s militarised relationship with Claudius as well as Hamlet’s altering disposition towards mortality and madness. Franco Zeffirelli’s artistic choices in his 1990 film adaptation of the play recontextualises the continuity of the themes in line with intrinsic human attitudes. Essentially, the relationships portrayed in the text carry thematic significance in its ability to reflect the motivation and repercussions of human nature and its consistency throughout subsequent

Claudius also says,” O, my offence rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon, A brother’s murder.” (Shakespeare 3.3.36-39). Claudius here tells of his guilt again and to him it’s like a stain that won’t go away. After killing old Hamlet, Claudius retains his power as the king.

if he will be forgiven. He wants to repent for his sin, but he knows