What Makes a Person a Villain

  Introduction

            A villain is a person who is morally evil and corrupt; he or she does not show compassion towards humankind, he or she is guilty of committing heinous crimes and they are recognized for their actions. For example, in the play of Shakespeare King Claudius portrayed the qualities of a villain.  Claudius was an intelligent man and he deceived people into believing that he is innocent and morally upright.  He used his power to manipulate people so that he can remain and maintain the power; he failed to show any remorse for his actions.  He used his linguistic skills to make people believe he is a good person; however, upon investigation, he was really a bad king who was manipulative and cunning in nature and he showed no mercy to anyone.  

            Claudius killed his brother who was the king of Denmark by poisoning him as he sleeps, who was Hamlet's father.   He married his brother wife in order to take or secure power for himself. After noticing that Hamlet is on him he employed some of Hamlet's friends to keep an eye on him and he organized or convinced them to have Hamlet killed during a duel. The plan did not succeed and he ended up killing his wife, Laertes, and Hamlet. Claudius is a villain because he was all wrong; he was a cold- blood killer and a liar, he killed six people so that he can achieve his goal (Charney, 2012).  By confessing to his actions, Claudius mitigates his evil nature.  Also, he believed in sacrificing human lives and humanness in order to accomplish his goals. Claudius was not a good king because he was not committed to his country rather he was more concerned for himself (Jiménez, 2015).

 

 

 

 

References

Charney, M. (2012). Shakespeare's villains. Madison [N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

Jiménez, H. J. (2015). Shakespeare's extremes: Wild man, monster, beast.