Passion tends to lead characters to behave impulsively or make decisions which are not very sound in the long run. Passion leads Claudius to kill his brother and marry his brother's wife, apparently without concern for his immortal soul (a concern which we can understand as appropriate to this play based on the ghost's experiences), which Claudius has now blackened for eternity. It might be fun to be king for now, but Claudius's passion compels...
Passion tends to lead characters to behave impulsively or make decisions which are not very sound in the long run. Passion leads Claudius to kill his brother and marry his brother's wife, apparently without concern for his immortal soul (a concern which we can understand as appropriate to this play based on the ghost's experiences), which Claudius has now blackened for eternity. It might be fun to be king for now, but Claudius's passion compels him to take an immoral route to the throne. On top of his, he married Gertrude, who is, according to the Bible, his sister (because she was married to his brother), so he's committed incest as well.
Hamlet's passion causes him to become obsessed with avenging his father's murder, a process whereby his own hands become dirty as well. He has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed, and is also responsible for the death of Polonius. His machinations also lead to the deaths of his lover Ophelia, his mother Gertrude, and Ophelia's brother Laertes. Hamlet's passion causes him to lose sight of everything else, and he makes a number of bad decisions — such as murdering Polonius in haste because he thought he was Claudius — as a result.
Laertes's passion also causes him to behave dishonorably. He challenges Hamlet to a dueling exhibition, but he tips his rapier with poison so Hamlet will die if Laertes so much as scratches him. Laertes allows his passion to overrule his reason, which ultimately leads to his own and Hamlet's deaths.
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