A Coward?

Claudius tries to act rather indifferent towards Hamlet. But really, he fears Hamlet for what he is capable of doing. “I do doubt the hatch and the disclose will be some danger”. (iii, i, 176-7) He knows Hamlet would cause harm to him someday. He wants to prevent him in every way, so he looks for any flaws that could allow him to send Hamlet away to another country. In Act 3 scene 1, he wants others to sympathize with him about Hamlet. He makes himself sound like he is doing Hamlet a favor so that he is seen as the “good guy”. Mentioning Hamlet’s trip to England, which basically is expelling him, Claudius tells the reasons to be that different experiences would take away the madness in Hamlet’s mind. (iii, i, 179-183) Since this fear comes from the killing of his brother, there’s poetic justice shown. He lives in fear becuase he knows he will be killed if he does not stop Hamlet beforehand.