Robert Clive: “Conquering Hero” or “Conniving Scoundrel”?

Robert Clive was born at Styche in a family estate, near Market Drayton, to a respectable yet underprivileged family. At the age of eighteen he became a clerk in the civil service of the East India Trading Company. On 4Th September 1746, Madras was attacked by French forces, Clive and some others made an escape and for his bravery he was given an ensign’s commission. But soon the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in1748 forced him to go back into the civil duties he preformed.
The portrait of Robert Clive shows a very pompous looking man, who is wearing a heavy robe which suggests the essence of royalty and power. He is placed in the middle of the portrait and is presented as the most important part of the painting; he also has a very ominous stance which also gives the impression of the man being powerful important and perhaps even arrogant, there is a whole heroic aura to him. In the top right hand corner there is a painting within the portrait of what looks like a Nawab and although the painting is placed higher than Clive, it is not as bright and therefore doesn’t not look as powerful, suggesting a deeper meaning that it has been conquered and therefore has lost its magnificence.
Though his actions at the siege of Arcot were deemed heroic and though he was the one to devise a plan to divide the enemies’ forces, he only offered to attack when Chanda Sahib had left Arcot to attack Mahommed Ali Wallajah at Tiruchirapalli. It could be argued that the impression he gave when he refused to take the reward of the £700 sword unless Lawrence received one too was modest, making his image of a conquering hero more sturdy.
His actions in Calcutta also show how conniving he was as he took the route of attacking by land as Admiral Watson attacked by sea. He may have just creped behind the Nawab as they were trying to defend the port and therefore was successful by being devious. However, his decision in the Plassey was considered quite heroic as he had been severely out numbered, showing his daring bravery to go into a clash despite being very outnumbered.
Taking all this into account, his early life is probably the main reason why he shows such ruthlessness and bravery in battle. He was the main founder of a gang of youths, in his earlier years, which were a protection racket, which does take count for his leadership and how well he is able to make a team.
Nevertheless, his reputation was built mostly on the treachery with Mir Jafar. He employed a rich Bengali trader to draw up a contract that would cause betrayal and scandal, and he also signed this himself showing his ruthlessness and cunning. In addition to this, he became a Nabob in a very short time, he went to India as a poor clerk who wrote events down and came back with some power over the army and a lot of money which raises the issue of him taking money that was not supposed to be taken, or even squeezing India, like a lemon, of all its riches, even though he was said to have distributed the takings, after each battle, with the army.
On one hand, Clive is a man who is heroic and brave and shows for example in the Plassey, where he takes the terrible odds and turns them around to his advantage, however on the other hand, he is a conniving scoundrel as he takes opportunity as it comes, and despite the media and the coverage of the news in Britain about him squeezing India dry, he still manages to obtain enough money, so that he can even buy a seat in parliament.