He has the . . .
He has the persuasiveness and physical courage of a ruler, but is morally empty.
- Schofield (Claudius’ Morality)
He loved . . .
He loved Gertrude deeply and genuinely.
- Dawson (Claudius’ love for Gertrude)
The cunning and . . .
The cunning and lecherousness of Claudius’ evil has corrupted the whole kingdom of Denmark.
- Richard D. Altick
Clearly . . .
Clearly the antagonist.
- Carla Stockton
Claudius, as he appears . . .
Claudius, as he appears in the play, is not a criminal . . . He is . . . a good and gentle King, enmeshed by the chain of causality linking him with his crime.
- Wilson Knight (Claudius’ Criminality)
Claudius is a . . .
Claudius is a good and gentle King.
- G Wilson Knight
Machiavellian . . .
Machiavellian schemer.
Claudius is as obsessed . . .
Claudius is as obsessed by Gertrude as the two Hamlets are and although he clearly loves her - he shares the Hamlets’ conception of her as an object.
- Smith (Claudius’ relationship with Gertrude)
The revelation that . . .
The revelation that Claudius is a usurper and guilty of fratricide confirms that he is the principal source of the rottenness which pervades Denmark.
- Alan Gardiner
What is rotten about the . . .
What is rotten about the ‘state’ of his kingship is his [Claudius] lack of inner goodness as a man. He is a usurper, not of young Hamlet’s title to the crown but of old Hamlet’s life, crown and queen.
- Andrew Gurr
In the denouement of Hamlet . . .
In the denouement of Hamlet the irony is profound. Claudius, who has arranged the whole performance in order to destroy Hamlet, is himself destroyed and destroys his Queen.
- Helen Gardner 1959
