Introduction
Shakespeare’s famous tragedy The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark presents the story of Hamlet who seeks revenge against his uncle Claudius that killed Hamlet’s father for the Dutch throne. In this regard, at first sight, it is quite clear that Hamlet represents a hero full of wisdom which is found to reflect on his own life and behavior occasionally. On the contrary, Claudius is characterized as the villain that only lasts for power and is ready to remove every obstacle on his way (Hirsh 180). However, a deeper analysis reveals that Hamlet’s uncle deserves more pettiness and understanding than contempt as he constantly struggles between being truly remorseful for one’s actions and the desire for power (Batson 44). Moreover, a detailed consideration of both the main hero’s and central antagonist’s moral stances may suggest that the character of the former is more flawed than it is of the latter. Therefore, the current essay seeks to prove why Hamlet is more faulted than Claudius.
Reasons Why Hamlet is More Faulted than Claudius
Remorse
The first aspect that shows the sharp contrast between the two characters is how they bear the consequences of murdering other people. Although Claudius has significantly fewer lines in the tragedy than Hamlet, the audience can see that the king feels sincere remorse for one’s actions (Sagheer and Auktum 113). “O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven,” he thinks during the prayer, understanding that he committed a huge sin (3.3.42). And then he continues, “O what form of prayer Can serve my turn? Forgive me my foul murder? That can not be…” (3.3.57-59). Notably, the king says these words not as the way to make God merciful and forgive him, but because he believes that he does not deserve forgiveness.
On the other hand, Hamlet does not exhibit any sign of remorse for those people that he killed or for the actions that led to other people’s suffering. Although he claims, “I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so” after the death of Polonius, it is hard to believe that Hamlet does (3.4.193). Indeed, the main hero immediately tries to justify one’s actions – very different from Claudius – and later on, never thinks about his murder again. Neither has he felt responsible for what happened with Ophelia, even though it is his actions that caused her craziness.
Care for the Country
The second difference between Hamlet and Claudius concerns their qualities as the leaders of the country. In this respect, the latter exhibits a genuine concern about the country and its people (Dunne 105). He concludes that pain for the king’s loss should not lead to bearing “our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe” (1.2.5-6). Therefore, he masterfully resolves the problem with Fortinbras and saves the country from being involved in the war. Additionally, Claudius understood that Hamlet’s craziness could cause great political turmoil as he is a prince. Thus, he exclaims, “O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there: His liberty is full of threats to all. To you yourself, to us, to everyone” (4.1.15-18). Conversely, throughout the narrative, Hamlet does not show any concern for the future of the country that he supposedly should rule after his uncle’s death. The main hero only shows disdain for his homeland and its traditions which makes the audience think about whether he would be a good ruler.
Love
Finally, the last difference between the characters proving that Hamlet is more faulted than Claudius is revealed through their attitude towards their loved ones. “She’s so conjunctive to my life and soul, That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, I could not but by her,” tells the king about his feelings towards Gertrude (4.6.18-20). Although there is some speculation that he might do it for strengthening one’s political position (for instance, see Nurida 23), in my opinion, those comments are not true for two reasons. Firstly, Claudius always appeared with the queen and consulted her instead of using her as the representative body without real power. Secondly, when Gertrude drinks poison, Claudius is sincerely sad, which again proves his love for the queen.
In contrast, Hamlet talks about his love for Ophelia many times throughout the story. For instance, Ophelia says to her father, “My lord, he hath importuned me with love In honourable fashion” (1.3.118-119). Similarly, several other occasions seemingly proved Hamlet’s feelings towards Polonius’ daughter. However, when Ophelia dies, Hamlet’s grief is so short that as soon as he and Horatio move from her grave, the main hero is already fully concerned with other businesses. Moreover, the death of the loved one does not lead to any personal change, and Hamlet continues living and dies only with thoughts about revenge.
Conclusion
Overall, the current essay discussed why Hamlet should be considered more faulted than Claudius. One of the arguments included the premise that the former did not think about his kingdom at all, whereas the evidence suggests that his uncle was a devoted and clever leader. Moreover, although Hamlet claimed his love to Ophelia a number of times, his further actions proved that he did not have any true feelings towards her. Conversely, Claudius’ love for Gertrude is found to be genuine, which is evident several times throughout the story. Finally, the sharpest difference between Claudius and his nephew is that the king was always remorseful concerning his murder while the prince did not exhibit any signs of a guilty conscience. Therefore, although Hamlet is famous for being introspective, Claudius is the one who could truly repay for one’s wrongdoings and become clean of sins.
Works Cited
Batson, Beatrice, ed. Reconciliation in Selected Shakespearean Dramas. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021.
Dunne, Derek. Shakespeare, Revenge Tragedy and Early Modern Law. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Hirsh, James. “Hamlet and the Late Renaissance Convention of Self-Addressed Speech: An Empirical Approach to Theatrical History.” Ben Jonson Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, 2019, pp. 180-205.
Nurida, Rani. Claudius’s Life Ambition As Reflected In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Drama By William Shakespeare. 2021. UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Master dissertation.
Sagheer, Abu Obaydah Maky, and Auz Auktum. “A Study of Physical and Figurative Death in Hamlet.” Journal of Language Studies, vol. 4, no. 3, 2021, pp. 104-114.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Web.