Smart And Manipulative Claudius In Shakespeare's Hamlet

In act IV scene 7, we continue to see how smart and manipulative Claudius can be. Every one of his moves seems to be calculated. He didn’t want to punish Hamlet for Polonius’s murder because it would hurt Gertrude. It might seem like Claudius actually cares about her in this scene. He says that, “She [Gertrude] is so conjunctive to my life and soul” (IV, vii, 15). But this care seems far from genuine. Claudius is definitely acting in this scene. He doesn’t genuinely care for Gertrude. The only thing he genuinely cares about is remaining in power. After all, he is only in power because he married Gertrude. Another reason why I believe Claudius’s caring emotions for Gertrude are acted is because he only cares about himself. Claudius says that another reason he didn’t prosecute Hamlet is because it would hurt him. He doesn’t think to do what is right morally. Instead, everything he does is well thought out. He does things for his own gain, which makes me think that Claudius is just acting when he says he cares about Gertrude. …show more content…
This seems to be a rather odd question to ask because a son usually loves his father, especially if he is trying to get revenge for his death. Claudius says that “But I know love is begun by time / And that I see, in passages of proof, / Time qualifies the spark and fire of it” (IV, vii, 127-129). Is Claudius speaking from personal experience? After all, he did kill his brother King Hamlet. He probably felt the love for his brother wear off. Therefore, he murdered him to seize power. Also, why is Claudius asking Laertes this question? Is he trying to gain a sense of Laertes’s desire for revenge? Claudius probably wants to have all the bases covered. He wants to make sure that Laertes will actually kill Hamlet. He is very thorough in his