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As with all the supporting characters in Hamlet, Claudius is not developed to his full potential. His primary role in the play is to spawn Hamlet's confusion and anger, and his subsequent search for truth and life's meaning. But Claudius is not a static character.
Claudius Character Analysis. Hamlet’s major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful, conniving king who contrasts sharply with the other male characters in the play. Whereas most of the other important men in Hamlet are preoccupied with ideas of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon maintaining his own power.
Claudius is indeed a consummate politician, and the action here recalls the Ghost's accusations regarding his seduction of Gertrude. Claudius now makes Laertes a co-conspirator in a plot to murder Hamlet, and insinuates that this plot must be kept from Gertrude.
Laertes, however, wants to know why Claudius didn’t pursue vengeance or justice against Polonius’s true murderer, Hamlet. Claudius says there are two reasons he hasn’t killed Hamlet: one being that Gertrude loves him, and the other being that the commoners love him as well.
Nearly half of all the lines spoken by Hamlet to Claudius occur in this short scene, which frequently is omitted in stage productions due to the length of the play. What do you think of the dramatic significance of this scene?
Why does Claudius plan to send Hamlet to England? 2. Do you think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are aware of Claudius' intentions? 3. An examination of Shakespeare's dramas reveals a recurrent and deliberate political philosophy on the nature of kingship.
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Since Dr Johnson's famous remark that Hamlet's words here are 'too horrible to be read or to be uttered', critics have argued about why Hamlet spares Claudius. Hamlet's own explanation leaves few people satisfied.
