The development of Claudius the character in Act 3 Scene 1 up to Act 4 Scene 4
...nds it is to watch Hamlets madness, but in fact the King wants to see how much Hamlet knows. Act 3 Scene 2 is where the Players perform their play with the additional lines added by Hamlet, the reaction from Claudius shows his first sign of true worry in regards to Hamlet, his seemingly rash and instinctive reaction to stop the play shows his guilt: “Give me some light: away!”. Act 3 Scene 3 is where we are given a complete confession of the King’s deeds of killing his brother, he attempts to pray and repent his sins. When the King is delivering his soliloquy in his pray, for the first time we almost feel sympathy for the King despite his murderous acts. Claudius show his genuine regret for what he has done, however in the same speech we also see his genuine selfishness. Claudius shows his regret in the lines: “Thanks, dear my lord. / O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; / It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, / A brothers murder.” This line shows that he truly knows what he has done is wrong and desire for forgiveness, it also has the Biblical connotation of the Abel and Kane story. The sympathy that we feel for Claudius is sharply undone when we see his true greed and his not wanting to give up his throne when he says he is not prepared to give up his position as King: “I am still possess’d Of those effects for which I did the murder, My crown, mine own ambition and my queen May one be pardon’d and retain the offence?” We also see his wanting to be forgiven in the line: “Help angels! Make assay!”, he cries out to the angels for help. In Act 4 Scene 2 we see the King’s insistence on knowing what it is that Hamlet has said: “You must translate: ‘tis fit we understand them. / Where is your son?” Claudius’ worry of what Hamlet knows shines through here also in that he is so forceful in his wanting to send Hamlet off to England, we feel that he is panicking now – this is something that we do not see often. Claudius still tries to portray his fake concern for Hamlet: “This mad young man: but so much was our love, We would not understand what was most fit; But, like the owner of a foul disease, To keep it from divulging, let it feed Even on the pith of life” Act 4...