In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia enters insane. She sings fragments of folk songs—some bawdy. What is Claudius' reaction to this new problem?

When Claudius enters to see Ophelia—who has lost her
mind—in Act Four, scene five, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, he seems
very concerned for her.

He greets her
first:

readability="6">

KING:

How
do you, pretty lady?
(46)

Ophelia responds that
she is well and calls God's blessing down on him, but then continues speaking
nonsense.

Claudius tells Gertrude that he expects Ophelia's
actions are caused by the death of Polonius. Surprisingly, when she recites part of a
song, Claudius finishes the last two lines of the song. This might
be perceived as a softer, more sympathetic side of the King that we have not seen
before—however, in Ophelia's madness, some of the songs she sings
are bawdy, filled with inappropriate content that she would never
sing if she were in her right mind. While it might appear that he
genuinely cares for Ophelia, Claudius sings the remainder of a song that would have been
considered vulgar at that time: for a young maiden,
and for a King in the company of
women.

Ophelia's song laments that the singer's lover
promised to marry her before she slept with him. Claudius finishes by singing the
remainder of the verses, which is the lover's response to the singer: he
would have married her if she hadn't slept
with him.

By
Gis and by Saint Charity,

Alack, and fie for shame!
(65)

Young men will do't if they come
to't

By Cock, they are to
blame.

Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled
me,

You promis'd me to
wed.'

([Claudius]
answers:)

readability="9">

'So would I 'a' done, by yonder sun,
(70)

An thou hadst not come to my
bed.'

When Claudius asks how
long she has been in such a condition, we can assume that her deterioration is a
surprise to him. He then asks Horatio to follow Ophelia when she leaves and keep an eye
on her.

Claudius then speaks with Gertrude, sharing his
belief again that Ophelia suffers because of the loss of her
father.

readability="8">

KING:

O,
this is the poison of deep grief; it springs

All from her
father's death. (78-79)

This
is a particularly ironic moment in that Claudius himself is also
guilty of this particular sin, having deprived another child of a father:
Hamlet. And while Claudius shows seeming concern for Ophelia, this
is still a man who will do anything possible to keep the throne he
received when he murdered his brother.