Claudius- Character Paper
...so see Claudius and Polonius setting Hamlet up to be spied on. “Be you and I behind and arras then; mark the encounter”, (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 161-162) says Polonius, who is helping Claudius to determine the reason for Hamlet’s madness. Claudius is continually spying on Hamlet so that he might stay one step ahead and counter Hamlet’s future plans. Claudius not only has great significance to the play, but he is arguably the reason for the play. He is a very controlling character, who shows very little emotion and even less sympathy. The audience views Claudius as being in a position of great power; however he feels scared and threatened by Hamlet. Furthermore, he is extremely cowardly toward Laertes during their confrontation following Polonius’ death. It is easy to see that the other characters passionately dislike Claudius. No other character more visibly hates Claudius than Hamlet. He says of Claudius, “He hath killed my king, and whored my mother” (Act 5, Scene 2, Line 64) and speaks openly to others about him. Horatio is another character in the play that hates Claudius. Perhaps somewhat influenced by Hamlet, Horatio refers to Claudius as a terrible and sinful m...