Claudius

Claudius

1. Hamlet's uncle, Gertrude's second husband

2. power hungry and lustful

   • murders his brother to be king of Denmark

3. great talker and schemer

4. charms the royal court into accepting his hasty marriage, comes up with plots to maintain his power

5. consummate politician

6. At various times he does show guilt for killing his brother, and his love of Gertrude seems genuine.

7. QUOTES

   • "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables." - HAMLET ON CLAUDIUS' 'HASTY' MARRIAGE
   • "O, villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!" - Hamlet to CLAUDIUS
   • "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go. " - Claudius
   • "Claudius: What dost thou mean by this? Hamlet: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar."

8. CRITICS

   • Wilson Knight: Claudius is a good King "Claudius, as he appears in the play, is not a criminal...He is..a good and gentle king, enmeshed by the chain of causality linking him with his crime."