Shakespeare\'s Notorious Villians William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Notorious Villians

William Shakespeare is notorious for creating despicable characters that remain popular because they reveal the frailty of human nature. Three characters that exemplify how truly frail mankind is are Iago, from Othello, Macbeth, from Macbeth, and Claudius from Hamlet. These characters represent how easily man can fall prey to his own ambition and eventually ruin his life. Iago is affected by ambition because he does not get what he thinks he deserves. The play is about how he will stop at nothing to destroy everything that is near and dear to Othello. Macbeth is affected by ambition in that he becomes thirsty for the crown. Claudius is affected by ambition because he wants to keep what is his. He has successfully managed to become king but interprets Hamlet as a threat that must be removed. Each of these characters illustrates how delicate the human psyche is in that they become consumed with ambition in one way or another. Whether it is a lack of success that leads to revenge or the desire for success unlimited, they demonstrate how man can become a slave to his emotions, even until death. While some men are born evil, others become that way through a series of events that shape their character.

In Othello, Iago is driven to evil because he has ambitions and those ambitions are thwarted when Othello promotes Cassio to lieutenant. Iago feels entitled to the promotion and spends the rest of his days plotting revenge because he did not get what he though he deserved. Once he decides that revenge is his plan, nothing stands in his way. He confesses to Roderigo that some are:

Trimmed in form and visages of duty,

Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,

And, throwing but shows of services on their lords,

Do well thrive by them, and when they have lined their coats,

Do themselves homage. (Othello I.i.46-52)

Here we see that Iago has an ulterior motive. He thinks anyone that lives a life different than this is an idiot, stating later in the play, "To be direct and honest is not safe. / I should be wise, for honesty is a fool / and looses that it works for" (III.iii.373-4). Put simply, Iago is a bad guy and he does not care because this way of life is working out for him. He is driven by ambition feed by revenge.

In Macbeth, Macbeth becomes a victim of ambition as well. It strikes him differently than it does Iago in that we hold out hope for Macbeth - for a time. It is true that he was prodded by his wife and he might not have committed acts of murder without her prodding. Macbeth also had to deal with the witches and the ideas they planted in his mind. Once he had the crown in his sight, he could think of little else. However, he did allow himself to be persuaded and, as a result, became a very villainous character. After he became accustomed to the idea that he could kill, he is strengthened by it and decides that he can kill again. While it was Lady Macbeth who urged Macbeth to kill in the beginning of the play, he becomes corrupt through desire. In killing Banquo, Macbeth encourages his wife, telling they should "make their faces visards to their hearts,/Disguising what they are" (Macbeth III.ii.35-36). Macbeth was a man that allowed his logic and good nature to take a back seat to his ambition. He is perhaps the saddest of these villains because he does not begin as a man intent on committing evil like Claudius and Iago are. Shakespeare allows us to see Macbeth's good nature, which also illustrates how easily man can fall once he allows his passions to have free reign.

In Hamlet, Claudius is also driven by ambition and he ranks a close second to Iago as men whose hearts are tainted with evil. His ultimate desire is to be king and then to remain king and he will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Of course, the wicked deed of killing his own brother becomes more grotesque than that of Iago or Macbeth because of the sheer lack of soul a man must have to commit such an act. Claudius admits that he will do what it takes to retain the throne and he resorts to all sorts of dubious behavior to accomplish this. He also asks Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to use their:

Companies

To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather

So much as from occasion you may glean,

Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus That, opened, lies within our remedy. (Hamlet II.ii.14-8)

Here the man is so obsessed with staying on the throne that he is willing to enlist others to help him. Once he decides to include others in his scheme, he decides Polonius would be an ally that could help him gather information about Hamlet by hiding behind the curtain in Gertrude's room and eavesdropping. Of course, allowing Laertes to become involved with his scheming demonstrates just how far Claudius will go in maintaining the crown. It is interesting to note that Claudius is so intent on killing Hamlet that he devises a back up plan just in case Laertes does not succeed in wounding Hamlet, telling him, "Therefore this project / Should have a back or second" (174-5). Claudius is a man that became corrupt through his ambition and saw that ambition until the very end. He may not be the most infamous of Shakespeare's villains, but he is the most detestable.