Kelly Kingsbauer
Composition 111
Instructor: Dr. Clark
October 14, 2014
The Tragedy of Hamlet In Shakespeare’s tragic play, “Hamlet”, each of the main characters fatal flaws leads them to their destruction. The character King Claudius is one of these main characters that have a great extent of fatal flaws, which leads to his death. Claudius is basically an opportunist whose blind ambition erases his moral sense. Hamlet himself is driven to suicidal madness and creates countless flaws, which ultimately leads to his and other characters deaths. For both of these characters, lack good and stable form throughout the play, this leads to each others destruction. Both characters choices throughout this tragic play contain consequences for the other characters they’re around. King Claudius’s most major fatal flaw is his ambition. His ambition for power is ultimately what leads Claudius to his death as well as the death of other characters. Claudius secretly poisoned his brother and lied about it and got away with it, while Hamlet commits his murders in the open and suffers for it. This character’s actions betray a moral feeling from the very beginning. First murdering his brother and he then proceeded to make his crimes worse by marrying his brother's wife; therefore, soon after his brother's death the church labeled the
Kingsbauer 2 marriage incestuous. This shows the reader that he is only after power and will let nothing stand in his way. Also, throughout the whole play Claudius seem to be getting furthermore evil. For example, when he orders people to murder Hamlet and also tries to poison Hamlet near the end of the story.
Hamlet's tragic flaw that will certainly bring him to his death is his tendency