By 
William Shakespeare only wrote 37 plays, many of them comedies and stories. When I set out to compile a list of his greatest villains I thought he would probably be struggling to make a Top 10, how wrong can you be? I soon found it impossible to limit the list to 10 and even with a Top 20 there are other characters that seem to do just as well but just didn’t make it.
What constitutes a villain? — You could probably write a whole thesis on that. I’m going to adopt a pretty loose working definition: villains are people who do bad things. Certainly some people will be surprised and offended to find Hamlet and Caliban on the list. I don’t apologize, they do bad things, they are inside.
Villainy is represented here in many forms, from the callous immaturity of Richard II to the calculated machinations of Iago and Edmund. There are would-be seducers trying to attack virtuous young maidens, tyrannical monarchs, and more than one wicked queen. Families seem to bring out the worst in people, and there are mischievous sisters, brothers, stepbrothers, stepfathers and stepmothers all vying for a spot on Shakespeare’s “Most Wanted” list.
So here, and in order of increasing evil, are Shakespeare’s bad boys (and girls)…
20.Don Juan (Much ado About Nothing) — The “Bastard Prince”, brother of Don Pedro. Don John is one of the few examples of a true villain in Shakespearean comedies. An embittered man, he attempts to thwart Hero and Claudio’s wedding out of a spirit of sheer wickedness. Villainous quote: “It cannot be said that I am an honest and flattering man, it should not be denied, but I am a villain who deals frankly.”
19. Richard II (Richard II) – King of England from 1377 to 1399. Shakespeare paints a picture of an impetuous, self-centered and headstrong young man. He orders executions, banishes those who disagree with him, and imposes unfair fines and taxes. Richard’s bad behavior is the result of too much power in the hands of an immature child rather than the result of malicious calculation. Villainous Quote: (Richard on his divine right to rule) “Not all the water in the rough, raging sea can wash away the balm of an anointed king.”
18. Angel (measure for measure) — Left in charge of Vienna, Angelo enforces archaic laws, including one requiring the death penalty for impregnating a woman out of wedlock. He appears pious and self-righteous, but is soon shown to be a complete hypocrite when he tries to bribe a young novice, Isabella, into sleeping with him in exchange for the life of her brother. Villainous Quote: (Isabella, about Angelo’s abuse of his new power) “Oh! It’s excellent to have the strength of a giant, but it’s tyrannical to use it like a giant.”
17. Caliban (The Tempest) — Son of the witch Sycorax, a half-human monster and slave of Prospero. Another one that will likely make some people angry, Caliban is more often portrayed as a victim than a villain. Don’t forget, though, that he tried to rape Miranda and willingly plans Prospero’s death with Stefano and Trinculo (who should probably also be blacklisted if space allowed). Villainous Quote: (cursing Miranda and Prospero) “As evil dew as my mother brushed with crow’s feathers from unhealthy swamps, fall upon you two! A blow from the southwest upon you, and scorch you utterly!”
16. Village (Village) – Prince of Denmark. Although Hamlet is ostensibly the tragic hero of the play, let’s not forget that he does some pretty dastardly things that qualify him for inclusion on this list: he sends his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to near-certain death, kills Polonius, and spends a lot of money. of the play conspiring to kill Claudio. Villainous Quote: (about stabbing Polonius) “How now! A rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!”
15. Iachimo (cymbeline) — a dishonest and lustful sleaze. Iachimo makes a pact to prove that he can seduce Imogen. When he fails to seduce her, he resorts to theft and deceit to dishonor the lady. Along with Angelo, one of Shakespeare’s great would-be parlor lizard seducers. Curiously, at the end of the play Iachimo goes unpunished. He quotes villainess: “If you buy women’s meat at a million a dram, you can’t help but stain it.”
14. Claudius (Village) – Hamlet’s stepfather, responsible for killing Hamlet’s father. He attempts to send Hamlet to near-certain death, when that fails, he conspires with Laertes to poison Hamlet with a poisoned sword. He quotes villainess: “What if this cursed hand were thicker than itself with brother’s blood? Is there not enough rain in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow?”
13.casio (Julius Caesar) — leader of the conspirators against Julius Caesar who persuades Brutus to join the plot. Cassius seems to be motivated by a combination of ambition and political ideology. He eventually meets the end of himself on the battlefield by committing suicide after witnessing the death of his best friend Titinius. Villainous Quote: (Julius Caesar describing Cassius) “Yon Cassius has a thin, hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.”
12.Shylock (The merchant of Venice) — a Jewish pawnbroker in Venice. Opinion is divided on the extent to which Shylock is a villain or a victim. He certainly gets some pretty pitiful treatment at the hands of the Christians, but his insistence on wanting a pound of Antonio’s flesh makes it hard to see him in a fully sympathetic light. Although Shylock seems to dominate this play, he only appears in four scenes. Villainous Quote: “The villainy that you teach me I will execute, and it will be difficult but I will improve the instruction.”
11. Lady Macbeth (macbeth) – Macbeth’s wife. Lady M’s ambitions for her husband cause her to convince him to stab not only Duncan but his pages as well. Haunted by the murders, she eventually commits suicide (offstage). Villainous Quote: “It looks like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.”
10.Macbeth (macbeth) — begins the play as Thane of Glamis, but quickly murders his way to the top and becomes King of Scots. However, his reign is short-lived and Macduff soon decapitates him in battle. Critics argue over who is the more villainous, Macbeth, who commits the bloody deeds, or his wife, who deifies him. Villainous Quote: “Stars, hide your fires! Do not let the light see my black and deep desires.”
9. Cornwall (king lear) — Regan’s husband and a completely disgusting job. Cornwall is a small role and is often overshadowed by some of the showier villains in the play. But don’t overlook him, he is a ruthless torturer and deserves his place on the list. He eventually dies from a wound inflicted by one of his own servants during the Gloucester torture. Villainous Quote: (on gouging out Gloucester’s eyes) Away, you vile jelly! Where is your chandelier now?
8. Richard III (Richard III ) — King of England for two years from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Shakespeare’s prototypical villain who begins to play with a lengthy monologue explaining his villainous motivations to the audience. Richard will stop at nothing in his quest for the throne, enjoying the mayhem and carnage he causes along the way. Richard III is the second longest play in the entire Shakespearean canon, only Hamlet is longer. Villainous Quote: (about wooing Lady Anne) Was a woman ever courted in this mood? Have you ever won a woman in this mood? I will have it, but I won’t keep it for long.
7.Tamora (Andronicus Titus) — Queen of the Goths, brought to Rome as a captive by Titus. Although it’s tempting in some ways to see Tamora as the archetypal Evil Queen, you have to remember that she’s had some pretty rough treatment at the hands of the Romans. In one of Shakespeare’s strangest scenes, she eats hers two children of hers baked into a cake by Titus before he stabs her. Villainous Quote: “I will find a day to slaughter all of you and lay waste to your faction and family.”
6. Regan (king lear) – The middle child of Lear and definitely suffers from middle child syndrome. Regan is the more overtly sadistic of the two sisters, and takes a positive delight in her husband’s blinding of Gloucester. Widowed after her husband Cornwall died of a wound inflicted by a servant, she seeks the affections of her sister’s lover, Edmund. She is finally poisoned by her sister. she eventually dies from the poison administered by her sister. She quotes villainess: (after helping blind the Duke of Gloucester) “Go throw him at the gates and let him smell his way to Dover.”
5. Goneril (king lear) — The eldest daughter of Lear, she receives a third of his kingdom but cannot cope with her father and his rowdy entourage. Married to a weak husband, she publicly flaunts her affair with Edmund. She eventually stabs herself (offstage) after confessing to poisoning her sister. She quotes villain: (Albany, speaking of his wife) “O Goneril! You are not worth the dust that the rude wind blows in your face. I fear your disposition: that nature, which despises its origin, cannot be bordered on certain in itself.”
4. The Queen (cymbeline) — Wife of Cymbeline and stepmother of Imogen. Here’s a good prototype for an evil stepmother, she unsuccessfully tries to poison both Imogen and Cymbeline. Although she is never given a name, the Queen is a major villainous role. She quotes villainess: (Dr. Cornelius, who was asked by the queen to prepare deadly poisons and says that she only wants to poison animals to see what happens!) Dislike. He thinks he has strange lingering poisons. I know his spirit and I wouldn’t trust someone like him with a drug of such a damn nature.
3.Edmundo (king lear) — The illegitimate sound of Gloucester. He concocts a plot to banish his half-brother and has affairs with two of Lear’s daughters pitting them against each other for his own purposes. Edmund is not without his redeeming qualities and at the end of the play, after being mortally wounded, he repents of his wrongdoing; however, it’s all for naught, the revelations save no one’s life, and many directors nowadays cut out their regret speech entirely. Villainous quote: “Now, gods, defend the bastards!”
2. Aaron (Andronicus Titus) — Tamora’s Moorish lover brought by Titus as a captive to Rome. One of Shakespeare’s darkest villains, responsible for many of the atrocities and murders in this bloody play. When he is finally captured, he gloats over his misdeeds. Shakespeare only gives Aaron one redeeming quality, his devotion to his baby. Villainous quote: “I have done a thousand terrible things as voluntarily as someone would kill a fly; and nothing really grieves my heart that I cannot do ten thousand more.”
1. Iago (othello) – Othello’s lieutenant and the man who plots his downfall by persuading Othello that his wife is having an affair. Iago is an arch manipulator who is directly or indirectly responsible for all deaths on the play. Interestingly, Iago is one of the few major villains who doesn’t die at the end of the play. Villainous Quote: But I’ll wear my heart on my sleeve to get pecked at. I am not what I am.