Intro Paragraph:

Claudius and Gertrude would not exactly be the best exemplars of an “ideal couple.”  Claudius murdered his own brother and Gertrude’s former husband, the previous king, in order to acquire the throne for himself.  On the other hand, Gertrude ignores her son Hamlet’s wishes to stay a widower and hastily marries her former brother-in-law.  Claudius and Gertrude prominently exhibit their emotions through their respective speech patterns.  Claudius has a certain sense of arrogance in both his actual diction and the delivery of his lines, while Gertrude speaks without a firm sense of authority, even though she is in one of the ultimate positions of such.  Both characters are actually portrayed as villains, obviously Claudius more so than Gertrude.  King Claudius’ attempts to make up for his inadequacy by acting in a manner that he sees fit for a king, which includes speaking in a complex, yet empty manner and having the ability to make quick, decisive decisions.  Gertrude also believes she is inadequate because instead of finding a proper king for the people of Denmark, she ultimately chose the first man she saw in Claudius. Gertrude and Claudius' speech patterns readily reflect each other's attitudes and emotions because both are incapable of expressing how they truly feel about the death of the former king of Denmark, Hamlet Sr.