But it is equally true significant that Claudius dies because he postpones too long the killing of Hamlet" (Elliott, 1951). 4. Conclusions

Great Britain has produced ones of the greatest writers of all times, with William Shakespeare being the most relevant example to sustain this statement. His Hamlet has been played for years within theaters and has even been adapted to films. The long lived success of this play is due to a multitude of elements, such as the human interest raised by murder, family affairs or ghosts, as well as the complexity of the characters constructed by the English dramatist.

The general perception is that the main character in Shakespeare's tragedy is Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, as shown by the very title of the play. While the veracity of this belief is not contested, it is also important to note that there exists a character which plays a greater role -- an individual who, through his own ambitions and actions, sets the course for the entire events of the play. This man is Claudius, jealous brother of the king, murderer, king himself and then, victim.

Aside from setting the...

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Elliott, G.R., Scourge and Minister: A Study of Hamlet a Tragedy of Revengefulness and Justice, Duke University Press, 1951

Stegner, P.D., "Try What Repentance Can't": Hamlet, Confession and the Extraction of Interiority, Shakespeare Studies, Vol. 35, 2007

Stoll, E.E., Hamlet: An Historical and Comparative Study, University of Minnesota Press, 1919

Tiffany, G., Hamlet, Reconciliation and the Just State, Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2005