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Hamlet Act 4 Scene 5

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The word choice that Claudius uses in Act 4 Scene 5 impacts the actions and behavior of the character as well as the theme. Throughout the lines of Claudius, he keeps saying nice words to her such as "Pretty Ophelia--" (iv.v.60) and "pretty lady" (iv.v.45) in order to not irk her anymore. When Claudius speaks, he talks to Ophelia in a gentle and careful manner. Ophelia has already gone mad so if Claudius speaks to her in a grouchy and threatening tone, she would ultimately go insane.
As Claudius starts his monologue, he says "this is the poison of deep grief" (iv.v.80). Shakespeare uses imagery to paint a picture in our minds saying that grief is poison. Claudius feels sorry for Ophelia as she has been poisoned with all of her hardships and grief. Poison, usually meaning death, has a negative connotation which affects his actions. In addition, because of his quick and selfish actions, he finds himself guilty and calls himself a "beast"(iv.v.93). Beasts are often described as big, scary, powerful, dangerous, and untamed. Just like how Hamlet was mad in the beginning of the play, Claudius became a beast and did those actions for his own good, not thinking …show more content…

King Claudius mentions, "And wants not buzzers to infect his ear/With pestilent speeches of his father's death," (iv.v.98-99). The word "buzzers" is used to imitate the sound of buzzing. In relation to this passage, the term "buzzers" is being used for whispering informers as the footnote declares. The reason that there are whispering informers is that they are trying to give more information about Polonius’ death to Laertes. As Laertes does not want to be informed with this information, Claudius uses "buzzers" to state that the whispering informers are buzzing with little importance. This affects Claudius's behavior in the play because it reveals that he is worried that Laertes will blame him for his father's death and not listen to anyone

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