character project claudius
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Emily Chen, Sean Lerkvikarn,
Emily Kelley, Courtney Timmins
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What new information did you learnabout your character in Act 4 that would help
an actor or actress understand him better?
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Claudiuss guilt is turning into fear. Fear for his own safety
Fear for reputation Fear of public opinion
Fear of Hamlets antic disposition
Suppressed guilt reemerging Claudius sees the consequences
of regicide Hamlets madness
Polonius murder Laertes anger
Ophelias death
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Authority
Assert control as the king of
Denmark. Reassure his people and
himself.
Decisiveness
Sending Hamlet to
England.
Hamlets execution.
Confrontational Reasoning with Hamlet.
Searching for information.
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Fear of Religion
Unclean conscience.
Cannot be truly forgiven.
Biblical reference to
Abel and Cain
Hesitation Never faced consequences
of murder
Seeks advice of Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern
Hamlets good reputation
with the public.
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Split personalities Inner conscience
(praying when alone, evidentin his asides, full awareness ofconsequences)
Outward appearance
(confident, caring father andhusband)
Mixed emotions to portray Guilt
Anxiety Intimidation
Greed
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In each scene where your character appears, what ishis or her motivation and objective? In other words,
what does he or she really want?
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Claudiuss objective is to send
Hamlet off to England. His motivation is to protect
himself.
Hamlet is a more threateningpresence
Physical Danger
Psychological Danger to Claudius
and People of Denmark
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Claudiuss objective is to obtain Poloniuss body.
His motivation is to remain in control and maintain hispublic appearance.
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Claudiuss objectives are still to obtain the corpse, and
also to reason with Hamlet and inform him that he isgoing to England.
His motivation is to kill Hamlet, which is revealed in his
aside on page 199.
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Claudiuss objective is to make
Laertes murder Hamlet. His motivation is the
restoration of order.
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How does your character feel about the events in Act 4?About Hamlet?
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Poloniuss murder
Ophelias insanity and death Laertes returns from France
Hamlet being sent off to
England
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Claudius plotting to kill
Hamlet with LaertesWicked plans consisting
of poisons, sharp blades
(guaranteeing death for
Hamlet)
Hamlets letters back to
Claudius/Gertrude,
Hamlet evading Death
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
report that Hamlet is
completely mad.
Had Claudius been behind the
arras, then Hamlet would just
have easily killed Claudius.
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Claudius decides Hamlet is a threat and sends Hamletoff to England for his own safety and keeping a public
image of control intact.
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Feels uneasy around Hamlet
and threatened by Hamlet;hasty to defend his own
safety.
Feels a duty to maintain hispublic image.
Hopeful that his problems
with Hamlet will be quickly
resolved by using Laertes
rage.
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Hamlet identifies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as spies,
but agrees to go with them to see Claudius.
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The king first reveals his plans for Hamlet to his
attendants.
After Hamlet reveals the location of Polonius body and
agrees to go to England, their discussion ends.
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This discourse by Hamlet is
an insight into the nature of
death.
Claudius demands Hamlet
reveal the location of
Polonius body... Hamlet talks about death as
an equalizer.
Worms do not discriminate
between bodies.
Hamlet says the lawyers
witty words are gone
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Firm resolve in his actions.
Claudius sticks to his plans forHamlet, and commands Hamlet,
as opposed to conversing with
Hamlet.
Feels hopeful that England will
be the last chapter in Hamlets
life, and maybe relieved that
things will calm down.
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Hamlet crosses paths with Young Fortinbras, who is onhis way to attack Poland.
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The major event of this scene is Laertes return and
anger towards Claudius for the death of Polonius.
Claudius addresses Polonius death bluntly, and does not
panic in dealing with Laertes rage.
Claudius implies that Hamlet is responsible for Polonius
death, and attempts to direct Laertes anger towards
Hamlet.
Again, manipulation of Laertes by Claudius
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Still fears Hamlet and tries to turn Laertes into another
defense against Hamlet.
Remains collected despite the mob outside his castle,
showing his ability to conceal his inner guilt and remain
focused on the situation at hand.
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Claudius schemes with
Laertes against Hamlet, andturns his hints towards
killing Hamlet into plans for
action.
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Manipulative of others
Tool for his success resides in others
Using Laertes as an easy way out.
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What do other characters say about your characterand how do they react to him or her? How does your
character feel about other characters?
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Most of the characters in the play (e.g. Gertrude,
Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes) are oblivious to Claudiuss
true intentions.
Hamlet is the only exception.
When Hamlet reveals the truth to Gertrude, she realizes
how much Claudius cant and doesnt compare to King
Hamlet.
Although a wicked man and the murderer of her husband,
Gertrude is still showing greed.
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With the death of their father, Ophelia and Laertes are
extremely vulnerable to manipulation
Minds are occupied by grief, anger, and confusion.
Laertes comes back from France with a mob, storms the
castle.
Believes it was Claudius who murdered Polonius.
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Hamlet feels triumphant
because he was able to trick
Claudius with the play.
Hamlet feels confident that he
can overcome Claudius
obstacles. Gained confidence from
confirming Claudius' guilt.
Finally, his plan can commence.
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With Gertrude, he is stubborn and refuses to give her up
along with the crown and power.
With Hamlet, Claudius acts cautiously, suspecting that
Hamlet is knowledgeable about the murder.
Laertes and Ophelia do not hold a particular importance
to Claudius
Mere tools he can use to achieve his own goals.
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How does your character affect the events of each scenein which he or she appears? How is he or she affected
by the events in which he or she appears?
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Claudius is informed by Gertrude that Hamlet is indeed
mad and has killed Polonius.
This news is unsettling to Claudius because he would
then need to figure out a way to handle this problem
without inflicting damage on his reputation.
Claudius takes immediate action (e.g. finding Hamlet) to
ensure that the problem is solved as efficiently as
possible.
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Claudius announces Polonius death
and his plans to send Hamlet away to
England to a group of attendants.
After Hamlet enters, Claudius is able
to discover the location of Polonius
body. In doing so, he trying to asserthis role as a leader and restore order.
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Claudius experiences relief because
once he gets rid of Hamlet for good,
his secret will remain undiscovered
and his reputation, untouched.
He also experiences stress in his haste
to repair what damage has been donewhen Polonius was killed.
These two emotions conflict and
Claudius must find a way to resolvethem.
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Claudius believes that Ophelia has gone mad when he
hears her singing nonsensical songs.
Laertes storms the castle with a mob, in anger and
vengeance for the murder of his father.
Claudius is able to calm Laertes down and even
manipulate his anger to benefit his own purposes.
Claudius feels renewed hope when he spots this
opportunity to use Laertes as his puppet.
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Claudius begins to formulate his plans for Hamlets
death; he and Laertes discuss the details of Polonius
death. While doing so, word arrives with news of
Hamlets swift return from England.
Based on Claudius explanation of Polonius death burial,
Laertes is eager and ready to take revenge on Hamlet forkilling his father.
Claudius feels triumphant.
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How is your character important to this act? In other
words, do you learn something new about the plotthrough him or her? Do you gain any insights about
Hamlet by comparing/contrasting him to yourcharacter?
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The readers gain further insight into the mind of
Claudius (through asides).
Gain insights to other characters through his
perspective.
As king, Claudius makes important decisions
Impact characters.
Incites major events in the act.
Indirectly steers the plot.
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Claudius plans to send Hamlet to England.
Hamlet will be sentenced to death.
Polonius did not have the proper burial that was expect
of someone with his social status.
Laertes, outraged by the death of his father, ismanipulated by Claudius to take revenge on Hamlet.
Horatio is respected by both the king and Hamlet.
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We learn that Hamlet has become more dangerous
Mental tricks/Logic Physical Action
Hamlet is losing patience
Insults Rosencrantz
Insults Claudius by saying
Claudius is a phony father.
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Claudius: Selfish, motives are power and lust.
Hamlet: Looks outwards, motives are justice and loyalty.
Sees value in true friends, praises Horatio.
Hamlet: Sees life as pessimistic, says ones position never
matters come the end
Claudius: Content in worldly desires.
Both are cunning.
Both are manipulative.
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Gertrude is an interesting
presence.
Conflict between Claudius
and Hamlet.
Different types of affection
towards her.
Neither can let the other
win.
How?
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What questions are raised by your characters wordsand/or behavior in this act?
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Did Claudius marry Gertrude for love
or power? Will Claudius attempt to repent
before Hamlet kills him?
What will Claudius do with Laertesafter Hamlet is dead?
What will become of Claudius' andGertrudes marriage after all the
chaos in this act? Will Gertrude ever find out that
Claudius sentenced Hamlet to
death? Will the king continue to use
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Act 4 is a fast paced
act; a series of
events occurs
quickly.
This undoubtedly
leaves the excited
reader/audience
with great
anticipation.
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What questions that youve previously had areanswered by your characters words and/or behaviorin this act?
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What Claudius will do to preserve order in the country? He will bury Polonius quietly and handle the situation
with caution because he knows Hamlet is beloved by thepublic.
What will to happen to Hamlet after he murdered aperson of great public influence? Claudius orders Hamlets murder under the guise of exile.
Will the ghost appear again and will Hamlet actually killClaudius?
The ghost does not appear again in Act 4, and Hamlet isstarting to lose the chance to kill Claudius because he isbeing sent to England.