KingBlogs

From last year's student Blogs on Claudius’ speech patterns:

Claudius's speech shows that he's a true snake in the grass, discouraging anything directed toward him. For example, he loves to keep mentioning the dead and most importantly the dead brother.

Claudius "asks" that Hamlet not return to school as it goes against his and the queen's "wishes."

He then proves to be very swift in moving past the proper mourning time of his brother and scolds Hamlet's so-called elongated mourning period.  In this case, Claudius is thinking solely of himself.

Claudius is actually apathetic to the death of his brother, only caring about the power he could gain. In particular, Hamlet's naive honesty in his sorrow highlights the dishonesty in Claudius' otherwise true words. Indeed, Claudius' speech would seem almost comforting in an odd way, seemingly proclaiming an attitude of "life goes on," without this contrast. However, Claudius does reveal his intentions of gaining power at the end of his speech, saying "think of us as a father."

Claudius responds with somewhat comforting words that he does not fully feel. His words seem empty and cold, whereas he intends for the context of those words to be warm and cozy. He says to Hamlet to view him as a new father figure in his life, although that action itself would be "unmanly." His tone is contradicting and fake.

Yet the Queen shows great love for both her son and husband, yet, she seems weak and shallow- whereas the King seems strong and certain. In Hamlet lies massive and beautiful paradoxes that give way to a deeper meaning- one i've yet to find, but will hopefully give way deeper into this work.

each character is essentially given a different language, or way to speak. When Hamlet speaks, he speaks honestly (no matter how sad or rude the comment is) and he speaks sarcastically  ("Ay, madam, it is common"). On the other hand, Claudius speaks in codes almost. He is very deceptive in his speech. He can also at times be very rude and to the point. He tells Hamlet that the only reason that Hamlet is still mourning the loss of his father is because it is "duty" and an "obligation" not simply because it was a hard loss.

Claudius seems to refuse to consider or inquire about Hamlet’s thoughts and fails to properly converse, rather than preach, to him. He seems to demand rather ask of Hamlet’s cooperativeness. On the other hand, Hamlet’s language seems to carry a melancholy tone throughout this act due to his perturbation with his mother’s marriage.

Hamlet's speeches are more easily understood whereas Claudius' diction seems more to impress. They both use very long sentences but Hamlet at times replies with short responses while Claudius is usually long-winded.

both parents view his mourning as an obligation and not as true emotions for the loss of his father, further illuminating the moral differences between both characters.