hole-heartedly that Hamlet is in mourning and simply needs time to adjust, Claudius is immediately on the defensive, a reaction common among guilty parties. It is true that he [Claudius] does not [...] deny the existence of Hamlets melancholy [], he accepts it was genuine enough.27 He still feels uneasy about Hamlets reactions and remains on guard as to what Hamlets next thought, word, and/or deed will be. Claudius tried to calculate a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion [...]28 The emotion Claudius tries desperately to pinpoint is melancholy, and because of his melancholy, Hamlet affects stereotypical melancholic roles when speaking with Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Claudius, and Ophelia.29 However, it is significant that Hamlet sees this desolate picture of the world as a waste-land from the beginning of the play30 because the characters are not given a chance, that we see, to formulate opinions other than those responding to his emotional and mental state. As stated earlier, Claudius did not want to jump to the conclusion that Hamlet was mad, but what his [Claudius] suspicions centre upon is the cause of the melancholy; seeing that a prince of the blood royal who became melancholy through ambition would grow secretly discontent and look upon matters with an evil eye [...] which is the worst propertie he could have [...]31 J. Dover Wilson is saying here that the only concrete reason that Claudius is suspicious of Hamlet is because he feels threatened, and rightfully so, by Hamlet. However, that Polonius puts it down to disappointed love; Claudius, for his part, ascribes it to thwarted ambition.32 Once again, Claudius is set on his idea that the only reason Hamlet could possibly be acting in the manner he is has to be related to the fact that he is not the king and Claudius is. Claudius opinions are based upon personal gain and what is going to keep him, Claudi...
