As the human race progresses, the desire for individuals to gain personal success and material wealth only increases. Some choose to keep their morals intact and achieve all they want without jeopardizing and playing with other people’s lives. However others use manipulation as a form of unjustly getting what they want by ignoring and harming the desires of others. This is the reason why thorough out history, several pieces of literature have focused on the nature of manipulation and the outcomes of using it. William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, portrays how the use of manipulation results in tragedy and exposes all evil. Claudius, the new King of Denmark, uses charm, persuasion, coaxing and trickery as a way to overcome obstacles standing between him and his goals. Claudius uses manipulation as a tool to get everything he desires however the outcome is opposite to what he thought and results in his death.
Claudius’ desire to become King of Denmark persuades him to go as far as to kill his own brother. The first person to know of his foul deed is Hamlet, his nephew. During an encounter with his dead father’s ghost, Hamlet mentions that Claudius is king. To this news the ghost responds “O horrible, O horrible, most horrible! / … Let not the royal blood of Denmark be/ a couch for luxury and damnèd incest.” (1.5.87-89) The ghost conveys that Claudius unjustly became king and is manipulating the kingdom of Denmark into believing that he is innocent. Claudius does not stop at just becoming king; he continues to use manipulation as he tries to