Claudius = Serpent

Claudius from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is a generally dislikeable character, and it is only fitting that he should be portrayed as a snake. Claudius is repeated compared to beasts of the earth; he is called a satyr (a goat-man with a large sexual appetite) and an incestuous beast.   But none of these are so fitting as “serpent” He draws a parallel to the serpent from the Garden of Eden in more ways than one. Here are just a few, just in case you didn’t dislike him enough.

First off, he seduces the “seemingly” virtuous queen. Gertrude was devoted to her husband the king until Claudius, “with witchcraft of his wit, which traitorous gifts—o wicked wit and gifts that have the power so to seduce”   tempted the queen. If Claudius is a serpent, then the virtuous and devoted Gertrude is most definitely Eve, who was tempted by a snake to eat from a tree of knowledge and was banished from Eden because of it. Just like Eve, Gertrude’s temptation costs her the ability to live happily in the “Garden of Eden,” which in her case is Denmark. Once Gertrude succumbs to Claudius’s wit and consummates a marriage on “incestuous sheets,” the purity and sanctity of the garden is destroyed.

Secondly, he poisoned his brother. That makes him a bad person, but what makes him the serpent is that he poisoned him while he was “sleeping in [his] orchard.” Claudius destroyed his brother while he was in a garden, which draws a direct parallel to how Adam was led to his downfall in the Garden of Eden. Furthermore, his destruction is because his wife was tempted by Claudius, just as Adam’s was because of Eve’s temptation. Claudius kills his brother in order to win the queen and persuade her into marriage. Gertrude was tempted by his charm, which made the king’s destruction inevitable and necessary in the eyes of Claudius. The ghost of his brother even describes the event by saying “a serpent stung me.”

Third, when Claudius enters the thrown, Hamlet compares Denmark to an “unweeded garden that grows to seed.” In essence, Denmark is Eden, a pure and prosperous garden, until Claudius, a weed with a personal agenda comes and destroys it.  

Claudius is a very traditional antagonist. He is selfish, he tempts innocent women and destroys the men that love them. His pattern is not in the least original, but he is no less evil.