The most interesting villain?

[Rodrigo]

Hello,
I'm writing an essay titled "Shakespeare’s Machiavellian villains". Who do you think I should chose apart from such obvious characters as Iago or Richard III? Please help!

[Charles Darnay]

what about Claudius?

[Rodrigo]

But is he really a machiavellian villan? I mean is he so bad? I even like him ;) anyway, thx for the suggestion.

[Rodrigo]

**** ;) I'm sorry Claudius Cassius I've mistaken these too. Blame sleeplessness. Claudius is a good idea thx.

[Janine]

Claudius from Hamlet and MacBeth. They are both rather rank. Claudius kills to acquire the throne and the queen, then plots to get rid of Hamlet. MacBeth kills the king by the prompting of his wife. Lady MacBeth is horrible, as well. Then a trail of blood ensues throughout the play - pretty ugly indeed! Lots of cold blooded killing in that play and no mercy, even for the children. I still think that Iago is the worst manipulative villian since he seems to never show any remorse even at the end. Personally he is my favorite villian, staying true to the very end. He is so smart and uses it to deceive everyone by what he terms "double knavery". Richard III is so demented and such a liar and so ruthless. But the dog does have his day. All the various villians in Shakespeare tragedies are great and unique and they all have their own style and special kind of evil course. They are oft times the most interesting of Shakespeare's characters. Take your pick!

[Janine]

Someone just suggested on another thread - Regan and Gonrel from "King Lear". Why can't woman be considered - they are pretty terrible and so is the husband who gorges out the eyes of the old man - forget his name. That has to be one of the worse acts ever - really revolting.

[cuppajoe_9]

That would be Gloucester. I love King Lear, Edmund would make another good choice.

[Janine]

Edmund - absolutely. I forgot about him. He is central to the plot of Lear. Anyone see the film with Lawrence Olivier? Really intense.

[Rosalind]

Olivier's Lear blew my mind. I wish I could see a really good production of 'Lear' live, but no one in my area puts it on at all, much less puts in on well.

I second Edmund and Cassius, though I'd debate both Claudius and MacBeth. Villains, yes. Rank, definately. However, I don't think either one of them is particularly Machiavellian, especially MacBeth. He just sort of sees a problem and kills it, rather than going through the intricate Machiavellian plotting exemplified by, say, Richard. The initial murder wasn't even his idea, but his wife's or the witches.'

What about Don (umm...Pedro...?) from 'Much Ado'? Admittedly, he's not so much villain as plot device, and next to the proper murderers, he looks like a school kid throwing spitballs. However, his methods are appropriately devious, even if his ends are petty.

Out of curiousity: What about Machiavellian heroes? I think there are a few of those, too. Any thoughts?