hamlet villian

There are many themes in Hamlet such as revenge, madness and religion. But who would be the villain and who would be the hero? Hamlet would be considered a hero and Claudius would be considered the villain. Some people might think different because of all that Hamlet did to people. Hamlet has a reason for all that he has different motives. Motive is something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc. Despite how Hamlet has some villainous qualities he is still the hero in Hamlet. How is Hamlet considered a hero you say? Well he did some courageous things to help people through the book. Yea he probably could’ve done some of the stuff he did different but he didn’t. Hamlet helped people out by killing the people he killed. Who knows Claudius could’ve killed some other people to get what he wanted. Hamlet was just doing what his father asked him, to avenge his death. Hamlet did do that, he later killed Claudius at the end of the tragedy. So since Hamlet was getting revenge for something he shouldn’t be labeled a villain because he is motivated by revenge, and revenge started becoming more popular in plays in the 16th century. Hamlet could’ve killed Claudius though at the end of act 3 scene 3. Hamlet had a chance to kill Claudius but Hamlet thought that Claudius was praying. He says that killing the king now would be "hire and salary, not revenge!" He simply cannot send Claudius to heaven, where he would surely go where he killed just after praying and purging his sins. He thinks that would not avenge his father's murder, because Claudius killed Old Hamlet without giving him the opportunity to pray, and therefore, Old Hamlet must spend time in hell. Claudius only killed one person so why is he considered the villain. Well if he didn’t kill King Hamlet no one would’ve died or had to die. Hamlet on the other hand kills three people in the play and arranges the death of another two people. Hamlet kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius; he also arranges Rosencrantz's and Guildenstern's death, and he then, at the end of the play, kills Laertes by accident but shows no remorse and also kills Claudius out of revenge. Claudius only killed someone just so he can become king. Hamlet was killing people on accident and for revenge. Hamlet had many soliloquies throughout the play to show what was going on in Hamlets mind and what he was thinking. Hamlet's personality varies throughout the play. He acts insanely to try and confuse the hierarchy, pretending that he is mad and therefore harmless. His intelligence and controlled state of mind is another reason that makes him a hero. Hamlet uses words to show his emotions and passion. He uses words like daggers. Also he talks to other characters and lets them hear is feelings. For example he told Ophelia “cruel only to be kind”. Which might sound mean but he is only doing it to be kind to her as he does not want her involved in his scheme for revenge. It is clear that Claudius is motivated by greed and self interest throughout the play. Usually characters who are motivated by greed and self interest are killed in other plays. For example like in Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had a downfall because of their greed and ambition. Those are motives of a villain not a hero. Claudius also shows no emotion in what he has done to everybody and the old king, which is also what villains are known for. Hamlet showed his emotions, he didn’t mean to kill Polonius but he had to get over it and go back to what he was doing and finish what his father told him to do. Hamlet kills Claudius because he feels responsible for the death of his father and the ghost of his father told him to. Hamlet kills Claudius by making him drink the poison and then striking him with the sword. Gertrude also drank the poison before Claudius did and died before he did. Claudius knew that there was poison in the cup and didn’t tell her tell after she drank the wine. Hamlet did what he was sent out for to do. He did what is dad or the ghost told him to do, he had motives for what he was doing, he had reasons for killing people even if they were accidental. Hamlet is a Hero for many reasons as I stated. He did what he thought was right and he had to avenge for his father’s death. He might have saved a lot of other people from getting hurt too. Claudius could’ve killed more people if he wanted too. So that means Hamlet saved people which also makes him a hero. He might be different than other heroes from other stories because how he acts and who he kills and why he kills people. Some might say Hamlet is not a hero because it became a tragedy because of Hamlet. Some say that he could’ve acted different than the way he did. But he didn’t and he handled it just perfect. He avenged his father’s death and made sure that won’t happen again. That is a true hero.