1) In this scene, we see Claudius learn that Hamlet has not made it to England, and that his plot to kill him abroad has failed. He immediately acts on his toes and realizes that he can capitalize on Laertes's desire for revenge and have him kill Hamlet instead. That way, Claudius's hands will be clean and Hamlet will no longer be a threat. The actor portraying Claudius will have to portray his first reaction upon hearing of Hamlet's survival, but then work quickly to cover it up and decide to use Laertes's thirst for vengeance to his advantage. This scene really shows off Claudius's ability to think on his feet, and the actor can use this quality to portray Claudius as a cool, clear-headed villain.
2) Claudius's primary motivation in this scene is to convince Laertes to focus his revenge upon Hamlet. Claudius wants Laertes to kill Hamlet so that he doesn't have to, and he uses his skill of manipulation in order to achieve this goal. In the end, Claudius just wants to restore order and ensure that no one discovers that he killed his brother.
3) Claudius doesn't care about the demise of any other characters in Act 4, rather, he only considers what affects those people could have on him. For example, he only cares about Laertes because he knows that he can use him to get rid of Hamlet. Claudius doesn't act upset upon hearing that his first plan to kill Hamlet has failed, but he probably is freaking out about it on the inside. At this point, Claudius just wants Hamlet dead.
4) Laertes respects Claudius, and constantly addresses him as "My Lord." After Claudius's manipulation, Laertes is hell-bent on killing Hamlet, and doesn't really seem to give any thought about why Claudius isn't against his murder of Hamlet. If Claudius cares for Hamlet as he says he does, then he should be against Hamlet's death, but Laertes doesn't realize this seeing as though revenge is all he can think about at the moment.
5) This scene is driven mostly by Claudius's manipulation of Laertes. He manages to compliment Laertes and praise his swordsmanship, but he only does so in order to convince Laertes to kill Hamlet in a duel later on. This is the first scene where we Claudius forming a plan to kill Hamlet (we didn't see this development previously, only the plan that was a result of it), and we see that he is intent on making sure that he won't have Hamlet's blood directly on his hands.
6) Claudius is like Hamlet in the fact that he can't bring himself to personally kill Hamlet. He wants Laertes or strangers in England to kill him. Hamlet is similar in the fact that he can't bring himself to kill Claudius. However, the two are different in the fact that Claudius doesn't want to kill Hamlet personally due to political reasons, but Hamlet can't kill Claudius due to moral reasons. Claudius is driven more by political consequences whereas Hamlet is driven more by morals and personal vendettas. Plot wise, we learn that there is going to be a duel between Hamlet and Laertes, and it seems as if it is going to be the final showdown. The end is near.
7) Does Claudius really know the soldier named Lamord, or does he just use him as a way to manipulate Laertes? Also, is he afraid to kill Hamlet personally because of the possible political ramifications, or is he simply too chicken to do it himself?
8) I'm curious to see how Claudius's plan to kill Hmalet using Laertes is going to work out. Seeing as though I know that everyone is going to die at the end, I'm interested to see (more specifically) how the plan fails.
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