1) At the beginning of Act 4, we see Claudius's reaction to the death of Polonius. He doesn't care that Polonius is dead, rather, he immediately thinks of how easily he could have killed by Hamlet if he had been in Polonius's place. This demonstrates how Claudius thinks of his own personal safety first. After the play, Claudius is on red alert and has become paranoid that he will be discovered as a murderer. As an actor, I would capitalize on Claudius's growing paranoia and show the gradual deterioration of his cool demeanor. He may act authoritative in the presence of others, but in actuality, he is extremely on edge. It is in this scene that Claudius's guilt begins to weigh down on him and cause him to suspect everything, especially Hamlet's odd behavior. He doesn't want to lose Gertrude or control of Denmark, and Hamlet's behavior has too many risks involved with it. It would be safer if Hamlet would just leave.
2) Claudius's motivation in this scene springs from his desire to keep everything in order. He wants to keep Gertrude as well as control of Denmark, and he doesn't want anything to upset the delicate balance. By addressing the court about Polonius's death and sending Hamlet to England, Claudius wants to try and stop the negative repercussions of the death and Hamlet's behavior from spreading and upsetting his reign. At the root of it all, Claudius will do whatever it takes to keep people from finding out that he killed his brother, and in order to ensure that this doesn't happen, everything must be kept in order.
3) Claudius is upset by the fact that he could have been killed by Hamlet just as easily as Polonius was. He doesn't think about Polonius's cruel fate, rather, he worries about himself and what the death could mean for him. He sees Hamlet's freedom mainly as a threat to himself, but to Gertrude and the stability of the kingdom as well.
4) No character says anything about Claudius in this scene. It's mainly composed of Gertrude's tale of Polonius's death and Claudius's reaction to it and decision to send Hamlet to England. Gertrude seems to be treating Claudius as she would have before her encounter with Hamlet in her private chamber, but we can't be sure that she feels the same way about him as she did before.
5) Claudius doesn't affect the scene as much as the scene effects him. This scene frightens Claudius and makes him realize that his hold on Denmark as well as Gertrude could be in danger. This puts him on the defense and implies that he will be a bit paranoid and extremely analytical of the behavior of others.
6) How is Claudius going to treat Hamlet now that he sees him as a potential threat to his position as king? Will he still treat Hamlet cordially, or will he start getting a bit more violent? What will Claudius do if Hamlet doesn't end up going to England? Is Claudius going to get increasingly paranoid? Dis Claudius ever intend on being loving toward Hamlet?
7) None of my questions about Claudius have really been answered in this scene. In fact, I'm not sure I've had many questions for him so far. He's been pretty static up to this point, but this scene ensures that he will be a bit more interesting to me from now on.
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