"Fifth Business" Boy Staunton

Boy Staunton and Claudius both share very similar ways of life. Both men demonstrate a need for wealth, success, and power. In the novel Fifth Business, Boy Staunton can easily be characterized as a privileged, spoiled, and self-centered person. Right from the beginning, Boy reveals himself as someone who sees themselves above all others. For example, Dunstan writes, “His parents were rich, his clothes were fine, and his mittens were of skin and came from a store in the city, whereas mine were knitted by my mother” (Davies 1).

Boy’s ambition grows through the course of the novel as he reaches for a life filled with more power and success than his father. Dunstan states, “Boy was fast becoming one of the truly rich, by which I mean one of those men whose personal income [...] stands behind them and cannot be counted, only estimated” (Davies 1). Boy’s entire life seems to revolve around his wealth, to such an extent that he has a crumbling relationship with his wife and never takes the time to improve himself as a person. Since he is only focused on his ambitions, Boy dies a tragic death the exact same person he was as a child. This same type of ambition is seen in Hamlet as well. Claudius, the uncle of Hamlet, shares the same desire for power as Boy Staunton. Claudius’s ambition drives him to murder his own brother to become the new king of Denmark and marry his sister-in-law, Queen Gertrude. When Hamlet is speaking to the ghost, he is told, “ But know, thou noble youth,/The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/Now wears his crown” (1.5.38-40).

Hamlet discovers that his uncle is the murderer of his father and learns the great lengths that he went through to steal the high postion of power. Furthermore, Claudius later becomes increasingly worried of Hamlet’s strange behaviour and frets that he may know something about his crimes. In order to preserve his title of king, Claudius sends Hamlet to England, saying it is for his own protection. However, his manipulative ambition actually motivates him to send letters ordering Hamlet to be killed. He is so obsessed with power that he will do anything to obtain it, even if it means killing his own family members. Claudius’s ambition goes even further when he attempts to poison Hamlet. However, his plan backfires and Gertrude dies instead. Hamlet says to Claudius, “Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damnèd Dane,/Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?/Follow my mother” (5.2.320-322).

As a result of his failed scheme, Claudies dies as well. Although Claudius’s desire for power is much more violent and extreme than Boy’s, both characters prove that ambition used in the wrong way can lead to one’s own downfall.