William Shakespeare is famous for his tragedies and within those tragedies are legendary characters that will always live on. In this essay I will compare and contrast two of Shakespeare greatest characters from two of his greatest works, they are Macbeth and Claudius. For starters Claudius and Macbeth are both incredibly ambitious characters. That's probably the main reason that all their problems begin in the first place. Their ambition and lust for power is what causes them to murder the reigning kings of their countries so they can assume the throne, eventually succeeding on it. However their methods for doing all the horrible things they did are different. For starters if it wasn't for the three witches that prophesied that Macbeth would be king he wouldn't have had that crazy idea, and he wouldn't had murdered King Duncan. However Claudius idea and reason to kill Hamlets father, was completely his decision so that he could obtain the power that he so deeply desired. Unlike Macbeth, Claudius does not murder without motive or to avoid the consequences of his actions. Also we see Macbeth doubting on himself too much, that's why Lady Macbeth was the one planning the assassination of King Duncan, and she is the one that pushes him into doing it. While on the other hand Claudius was independent and self confident, and assumed responsibility for all that he did with no accomplice whatsoever. Both at one point they question their actions an there is when we can see the misunderstood part of the characters even though that is directed more to Macbeth. Still it was both their choices to kill and continue killing so that they could get what they want. At the end both were so naive with their desire for power, and that was ultimately their downfall as they paid for their sins with their lives. .
In all the great Shakespeare tragedies women play a very important role and usually are one of the most defying characters in the story.