Claudius's reaction

[cathysjun]

I also agree with many people above. I think Claudius had different reactions because they were different genders. It was natural for a woman to mourn for her father's loss for a long time because they were considered "weak" without men. Also I also agree with you too. I think Claudius' murder did have some relation to his reaction. He was obviously happy when Hamlet's dad passed away but truly mourned for Ophelia's dad, especially because he was close with Ophelia's dad.

[elijahlee]

I think that he pitied Ophelia. But, I think that Claudius does pity Hamlet too. He feels remorse even for the actions, though delayed. I think Shakespeare wanted to portray how lust for power can drive men to do crazy things, and Claudius realizes the implications of his actions later with the scene of him getting down and praying for forgiveness.

[sarahlee4]

I think the only reason Claudius felt more sympathetic towards Ophelia was because his fathers death had nothingto do wih him. I dont really think that he cared that Ophelia was rreally upset. I think the only thoughts that ran through his head was how do i get rid of hmlet? Also, as julie said, i think that it also could have been because Opheli is a girl and girls can cry because its a ''womanly'' thing to do, while men shouldnt cry.

[minchoi0923]

I also believe that Claudius was reacting differently towards Hamlet and Ophelia. I think he was doing that because, first of all, he was not responsible for Polonius' death which could have put himself into more sympathy while he WAS responsible for Hamlet's father's death. For Hamlet, he couldn't give him sincere encouragement because he was the one who killed his father. Also, during that time period, gender roles were more specific; if you are a man, it's not okay to cry like a woman. So I guess since Hamlet was a man, he was being a little bit too harsh while he thought it was okay for Ophelia to cry like that.

[RegXD]

I think it could be an evidence but then looking at that time period where they have social class system. Ophelia is somewhat of a peasants and Hamlet is prince. So maybe Claudius is just showing kindness to her rather than showing it to hamlet because he is somewhat adopted by Claudius since his father is dead.

[alexkoo]

I think his reaction was different because the consequences of deaths were very different. Claudius actually liked Polonius and felt very sad about his death. I find myself very hard to think that Claudius was sad because of King Hamlet's death. Claudius became a king after King Hamlet's death and i think he should have been happy with it.

[tha0ism]

I think it was different because Claudius actually liked Polonius and was sad that Polonius died. He didn't gain anything from Polonius's death. However, Claudius gained so much from Hamlet's father's death. He got to become King and he also got the queen. So, of course he would have a different reaction.