Political Power In Claudius And Macbeth

The ambition for power can cause even the best humans to become villains. This ambition can take hold of a character and end up destroying them. Political power is one of the many ambitions that can take hold of a character’s mind. No power is greater than the power of a King. In Hamlet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, two characters let their ambition for political power consume their thoughts and actions. Claudius (a character in Hamlet) and Macbeth (the main character in Macbeth) struggle with this desire for political power. Claudius’s desire for political power leads him to killing his brother and stealing the throne from his nephew all in an attempt to be King. In addition, Macbeth’s ambitions cause his life to become consumed by his

Although Claudius and Macbeth’s ambitions had similar effects on their relationships and conscience, the thing that ultimately sets these two characters apart is the difference in beliefs they have when it comes to killing.

As a result of letting their ambition for political power consume their lives, both Claudius and Macbeth destroyed the relationship between the people they loved the most; their wives. In Hamlet after Claudius learns that Hamlet knows that he killed his brother, Claudius becomes resentful of Hamlet. Afraid that Hamlet will tell his secret and no longer be in power, Claudius planned to kill Hamlet in a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. But because Claudius was so focused on his ambitions of being king and trying to murder Hamlet in the match, he couldn’t save his wife from the poison he put in a cup that was intended for Hamlet. As Queen Gertrude drank from the cup, Claudius said, “it is too late” (5.2.319) signifying that he could not save her from the poison. If Claudius wasn’t consumed by his desire for power, he would have been able to save or stop Gertrude from drinking the cup by tell her that it was poisoned. But instead, he let her die because he would have rather had kept his