Claudius Character Analysis: In-depth Guide

Claudius is the primary antagonist of the play “Hamlet”. This Claudius character analysis will give you a detailed study on his role and contribution to the plot. Check the complete character list of Hamlet so that you get a thorough understanding of all characters in the play.

Claudius Character Analysis: In-depth Guide

Claudius is a criminal but is portrayed as a polite and wise King in the early part of the play. He displays genuine anguish at Polonius’s death and Ophelia’s madness. His words are not like that of a Shakespearean villain but of a kind-hearted King.

He gained his throne and his queen by worst methods, but he now seems to be passionately and genuinely longing for peace.

In the confrontation of King Claudius and Laertes, the King shows a fine dignity. His love for his ill-gotten wife appears to be quite genuine, so there is no ground for suspecting him of having used her as a mere means to the throne.

His conscience, though ineffective, is certainly not dead. In spite of all the reproaches of his conscience, he plots new crimes to ensure his stability; and yet this plotting makes him unhappy (Act 3).

Claudius unexpected Characteristics

Claudius is courteous and never undignified.
He performs his ceremonial duties efficiently.
He takes good care of national interests.
Claudius nowhere shows cowardice.
When Laertes and the mob forced their way into the palace, he confronts a dangerous situation with coolness and confidence.

The King’s appraisal of Hamlet’s “madness” is creditable. The King finds that Polonius’s harping on love-madness is stupid. He quickly thinks of a way of getting rid of Hamlet. He determines to send him to England on a pretext connected with the payment of tribute by the English King. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are his agents in this undertaking, and so to them, he talks freely and intimately. Claudius has the schemer’s facility of quickly adjusting his plans to the current circumstances.

When the tragic incidents close in on him, Claudius is not insensitive. At the end of the scene in the graveyard, he remains in control. He reminds Laertes of his resolution and tells him that the fencing-match will take place without delay. In the castle-hall, the King, seemingly patient and unruffled, goes over the conditions of the match, and he watches without a show of passion as Hamlet and Laertes fight to the death. When he is stabbed he tries to make little of his death, saying “Oh yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt”.

Claudius: What he is and what he isn’t!

Claudius is a man of mean appearance.
He is bloated by excessive drinking.
He had a small nature.

On the other hand

He wasn’t stupid, but quick-witted and adroit.
He won the Queen with the “witchcraft of his wit” or intellect.
Claudius seems to have been soft-spoken, ingratiating in manner.
He used to smile on the person he addresses (“that one may smile and smile, and be a villain”).
He isn’t a tragic character.

Hamlet scarcely ever speaks to him without an insult, but he never shows resentment, hardly even annoyance.