|
. the Tragical History of . H A M L E T . Prince of Denmark .
(Notes)
- Scene 11 [~ Closet Scene ~] (Act 3 Scene 4)
hw 2374- Setting: Inside the Castle;
The Queen's Room;
After midnight.
(Gertrude and Polonius enter)
---
This is the Queen's Room in the Royal Suite. It's next door to the King's Room, in their private area of the Castle. It's after midnight, but not yet one o'clock. The Ghost will enter at one o'clock, just as it did on the night Horatio, Marcellus and Barnardo saw it, as Barnardo mentioned the clock beating one.
hw 2375, to hw 2381- Polonius: He will come straight; look you lay home to him;
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that Your Grace hath screened and stood between
Much heat and him; I'll silence me even here;
Pray you, be round!
(Polonius hides behind an arras)
---
Gertrude and Polonius have already been talking for a while, as we enter the Scene. It's a good bet that Polonius has been doing most of the talking, so we haven't missed a thing. This is while Claudius has been next door in the King's Room worrying about his soul, and then trying to pray.
By straight, Polonius means Hamlet will be there straightaway, or "right away," or "very soon."
Lay home means "be very direct" in talking to Hamlet, in the plain reading. In Old English, the word "home" is related to an idea of taxation; this allusion goes back to Polonius saying to Claudius in the Prayer Scene just before this: "I'll warrant she'll tax him home." The allusion provides more characterization of Polonius as a government bureaucrat.
Polonius says pranks, which has its usual meaning, in plain reading. There is also a meaning of "prank" which is: to make a show. Altogether, Polonius is referring to Hamlet's behavior at the Mousetrap play, the "show" they attended. Polonius doesn't understand what happened there as anything other than some sort of stunt by Hamlet that made Claudius mad.
Polonius says Gertrude has screened Hamlet, and stood between him and trouble. This follows what R said after the end of the Mousetrap play, when he mentioned the possibility of the door being barred on Hamlet's liberty. It tells us that when Claudius was threatening to have Hamlet locked up, after the play, Gertrude prevented it.
A hedge is a kind of screen for blocking foot traffic in an area. Then, Polonius's Your Grace line anticipates Claudius's later remark about "the divinity that doth hedge a king" when Gertrude is shielding him from Laertes, by standing between Claudius and Laertes. Gertrude "screened" Hamlet from Claudius, and later she'll "hedge" Claudius from Laertes.
Polonius's remark that he'll silence himself behind the arras anticipates Hamlet's dying words, "the rest is silence." In Polonius's case silence isn't quite true, as he says it here, but pretty close.
In plain reading, round means "blunt." Polonius is telling Gertrude to get right to the point with Hamlet, which is ironic in that Polonius hardly ever gets right to the point with anybody. Polonius is advising "more matter with less art," to Gertrude. The usage of round with a meaning of "to the point" is irony in the word, itself, since a round object, like a ball, doesn't have a point.
Observe that Polonius has said that Hamlet, a man, will "come straight," and then he tells Gertrude, a woman, to "be round." It's a silly little sex joke by the author. Please be aware that this is not any kind of sexual implication involving behavior between Hamlet and Gertrude. There's no such thing in the play. The author has tossed it in as wordplay because he was a bit of a scamp. It would be a mistake to read too much into it. Gertrude doesn't need instruction from Polonius on the basic mechanics of sex. Albeit, it does allude, in a way, to the Nunnery Scene, when Polonius hid behind the arras there, in hopes of arranging a marriage between Hamlet and Ophelia, in which marriage one would suppose Hamlet would "come straight," and Ophelia would "be round."
Bossy old Polonius is all wrapped up in himself again, and he gives orders to the Queen of the nation about what she's supposed to do.
The arras behind which Polonius hides is properly a "king" tapestry, with historical basis in the King Tapestries at Kronborg Castle, which were famous in Elizabethan times.
hw 2382, to hw 2391- (Hamlet enters)
Gertrude: I'll wait you, fear me not;
Withdraw, I hear him coming.
Hamlet: Now, mother, what's the matter?
Gert: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended.
Gert: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
Hamlet: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
(Hamlet draws his sword)
Gertrude: Why, how now Hamlet?
Hamlet: What's the matter now?
---
Hamlet's entry is correctly placed in Q2. As we know, it doesn't matter a bit if he hears Gertrude talking to Polonius. Hamlet already knows Polonius is going to be in the room. Even if Hamlet hadn't heard Polonius say it, Hamlet has a sense of smell. From that alone, he'd know that either Polonius is in the room, or his mother the Queen has stuck a dead hippopotamus behind the dresser.
Wait means "attend," like a servant attending his master. This is irony from the way Polonius behaves, in ordering the King and Queen as though they were his servants instead of vice versa. The Folio word "warrant" is a blunder from somewhere; the Folio editor must have liked the word "warrant" for some reason, since he wrongly substituted it in the playtext twice.
Earlier in the play, when Hamlet had a book and Polonius was trying to converse with him, Polonius asked Hamlet "what's the matter," meaning the subject of the book. It's irony here that Hamlet uses the same phrase to Gertrude, with Polonius in the room.
By father, Gertrude means Claudius, actually Hamlet's stepfather. She's preparing to warn Hamlet that Claudius is quite angry, and was threatening to lock up Hamlet.
Hamlet doesn't like to hear Claudius called his "father," and he plays on the word. Based on what the Ghost said, Hamlet tells Gertrude that she has offended his father, Hamlet Sr.
Gertrude doesn't realize he switched meanings of father, without any warning, so, what he says makes no sense to her. Idle means "meaningless." She knows Claudius is offended at Hamlet, not her. She still takes father to mean Claudius, which is what she meant by it.
Hamlet says wicked tongue because he thinks it's wicked of her to call a reference to his father, Hamlet Sr, "meaningless."
Hamlet's wicked tongue line makes no sense to Gertrude. She's trying to warn him about Claudius being angry, and there's nothing "wicked" about that, and further, she didn't ask him a question.
Hamlet then draws his sword to chase Polonius out of the room, so that he can have a truly confidential talk with her. We know from the dialogue that Hamlet draws his sword at this time. As Gertrude sees it, Hamlet is drawing his sword on her. She doesn't know that Hamlet knows Polonius is in the room.
How now means "what's going on?" She's asking Hamlet why he drew his sword against her.
Hamlet, standing there with his sword in his hand, apparently as a threat to her, innocently asks her, what's the matter now? He sees nothing for her to be worried about.
This is after Gertrude heard Hamlet say, at the end of the Nunnery Scene, "those that are married already, all but one shall live." - and she's married.
hw 2392, to hw 2402- Gert: Have you forgot me?
Hamlet: No, by the rood, not so.
You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife,
And would it were not so, you are my mother.
Gert: Nay, then I'll set those to you that can speak.
Hamlet: Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge!
You go not, till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.
Gert: What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me!
Help ho!
---
Gertrude asks if Hamlet has forgotten who she is. She can't believe he'd kill his own mother.
The rood is the Christian cross. Rood plays on the sword-hilt-as-cross idea, as Hamlet holds his sword, indicating the sword as something to swear on, as Hamlet here swears by the rood. The word rood thus provides confirmation, in addition to the flow of the dialogue, that Hamlet has drawn his sword.
Hamlet calls Gertrude the Queen, says she's her husband's brother's wife, and says he wishes she were not his mother. He says that odd garble of things with his sword in his hand, right in front of her. What he says is true, in its own way, but it sounds very peculiar to her, especially the part about him wishing she were not his mother, as he holds the sword.
She becomes quite fearful, says she'll get somebody who can talk to him so that he'll listen, and starts toward the door to call for the guards. By speak she means speak his language, of armed violence, as he holds the sword apparently as a threat to her.
He grabs her by the arm and stops her, sits her down in a chair, and tells her not to budge from there. He tells her he won't let her leave, until he sets up a mirror - figuratively speaking - and describes to her the condition of her own soul, the inmost part of her. (The word inmost is correct in the Folio.) That is not how she hears it. He is still standing in front of her with his sword in his hand.
How Gertrude hears it, as he stands there with his sword, is that he is going to set up a mirror - literally - and slice her open with the sword he's holding, then have her look at her own insides in the mirror. She takes glass and inmost part literally.
Once more, to be sure this is all clear, here is how Gertrude interprets what Hamlet is doing and saying, with his set you up a glass remark, about her inmost part, when she takes it literally:
* He has made her sit in the chair.- * He is going to set a mirror in front of her.
- * He is going to slice her open with the sword he's holding.
- * He is going to make her look at her own insides in the mirror.
- * Then, he's going to let her leave.
It's the craziest thing she's ever heard, not to mention, frightening.
Hamlet means no such thing, he's talking figuratively. He means he's going to tell her about her soul, and paint an image in words, like looking into a mirror, figuratively speaking. But with the way Hamlet throws words around, Gertrude doesn't realize that he's being figurative, especially as he holds the sword in a way she perceives as threatening.
She cries out, "what will you do?" - emphasis on "what" - and she exclaims, "you will not murder me!" She calls for help as loud as she can.
hw 2403- Pol: What ho! Help!
---
Earlier, before the Mousetrap play, Hamlet called out "What ho," and Horatio suddenly appeared, as if by magic. Polonius had better be careful in yelling "What ho," or he might, by magic, summon somebody . . . or some thing.
Polonius heard Gertrude exclaim, "you will not murder me!" and call for help. He also calls for help, and takes a shuffling step forward to assist.
hw 2404, to hw 2405- Hamlet: How now, a rat! Dead for a ducat, dead!
(Hamlet jabs his sword through the arras)
Polonius: Oh, I am slain!
---
Hamlet sees the arras move, and jabs at it. He knows Polonius is there. He yells the Dead line to scare Polonius, as he jabs, intending to chase Polonius out of the room, so he can have a private talk with his mother.
Hamlet says rat in Gertrude's room; Saint Gertrude of Nivelles is a patron against rats. This is on the association of St Gertrude of N. with Gertrude in the play.
A ducat was a gold or silver coin, used throughout Europe. The name is Italian, applied to a coin that had the image of a duke on it. Gonzago was a duke, as Hamlet mentioned. For a ducat can be read, in undertone, as "for the image of a duke."
Hamlet is not intending to kill Polonius - at this time. He intends to scare Polonius and chase him out. Based on his mistaken idea about Polonius using Ophelia to bribe Claudius, Hamlet does want to kill Polonius, but not until after he kills Claudius.
As Hamlet jabs, Polonius takes a step forward, so the sword goes several inches deep into his chest, hitting his heart. Polonius dies. The killing of Polonius by Hamlet is a variation on the swordfight in Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio is killed by a stab under Romeo's arm, as Romeo gets in the way; creatively adapted, by the author.
Poor Polonius, so verbose in life, gets only "I am slain" as his dying speech. For once in his life, he got straight to the point.
Hamlet keeps his sword in his hand. He does not put it away yet.
Hamlet remains standing throughout this Scene, except that he kneels once. He never sits down. It doesn't matter what you've seen onstage or in movies. In the authentic Hamlet, he does not sit down, and he certainly does not lie down.
Polonius, who was moving forward to help Gertrude, falls forward, from behind the arras, into full view.
hw 2406, to hw 2412- Gert: Oh, me, what hast thou done?
Hamlet: Nay, I know not. Is it the King?
Gert: Oh, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
Hamlet: A bloody deed, almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
Gert: As kill a king?
Hamlet: Aye, Lady, it was my word.
---
Gertrude's question is half interrogatory, and half exclamatory. Hamlet replies that he doesn't know. He's telling the truth. He did not mean to kill Polonius, and he does not know exactly how it happened. He only meant to jab at the arras where he knew Polonius was hiding.
Hamlet's question, Is it the King? is wishful thinking. He knows it's Polonius. However, if by some miracle it were Claudius, his revenge would be done. Hamlet is hoping for a miracle, but he doesn't get one.
Gertrude calls it a rash and bloody deed and she's quite right. It was stupid and careless by Hamlet, who shouldn't have had his sword out in the first place. He could easily have chased Polonius from the room without it. He drew his sword simply because he had drawn his sword in Claudius's room, and it was still on his mind.
As far as killing Polonius, Hamlet doesn't really care about the fact of Polonius being dead, since he had intended to kill Polonius anyway, later. The big problem, from Hamlet's point of view, is the timing. (If he had killed Claudius when he had the chance, in the Prayer Scene, he would also have killed Polonius intentionally in this room.)
Not really caring about Polonius, himself, Hamlet continues to lecture Gertrude. He takes off on her phrase, "bloody deed."
When Hamlet says, As kill a king, and marry with his brother, he means Claudius killed Hamlet Sr, and then Gertrude married Claudius. That is not how Gertrude hears it.
When Gertrude heard Hamlet ask, Is it the King?, that told her Hamlet meant to kill Claudius. When Hamlet says king again, she thinks he still means Claudius. So, Gertrude interprets the king in Hamlet's line to mean Claudius, and the brother to be Hamlet Sr. The latter sounds to her as if Hamlet has some murderous objection that she married his father.
She asks, As kill a king?, to try to get confirmation, to be sure if Hamlet means Claudius.
It was my word means "that's what I said." Hamlet is replying that, yes, that's what he said. As Gertrude hears it, Hamlet is insisting he killed Claudius. But she knows it's Polonius and can clearly see it's Polonius on the floor, and Hamlet should also be able to see that.
hw 2413, to hw 2415- (to Polonius):
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell;
I took thee for thy better, take thy fortune;
Thou findest to be too busy is some danger;
---
Hamlet repeats Gertrude's word rash to Polonius's dead body. He puts the "rashness" on Polonius. Hamlet is saying to Polonius's body more-or-less what he had intended to say to Polonius, alive, as he chased Polonius out of the room, after giving Polonius a minor jab with the sword. He's telling the dead Polonius approximately what he had intended to tell the live Polonius.
In saying he mistook Polonius for his better, Hamlet means "rat," in plain reading. He's saying that a rat is a better creature than Polonius was. He doesn't think Claudius is really any better than Polonius. In allusion, however, in the course of the play, Claudius will be the "bettor" at the fencing match, so it's also wordplay on that basis.
The word fortune confirms it was an accident, a matter of luck, and it was not Hamlet's intent to kill Polonius. This is on the Fortune theme.
As Gertrude sees it, it looks very peculiar for Hamlet to be scolding a dead body.
hw 2416, to hw 2420- (to Gertude):
Leave wringing of your hands, peace, sit you down,
And let me wring your heart, for so I shall
If it be made of penetrable stuff;
If damned custom have not braced it so,
That it be proof and bulwark against sense.
---
Hamlet tells Gertrude to sit down so that he can wring her heart. His words are not comforting to her. She is literally wringing her hands, so she's uncertain whether he may be speaking literally.
Hamlet still has his sword in his hand. The reason is, he knows Claudius is next door in the King's Room, and both Gertrude and Polonius called for help. The person most likely to hear the call for help, is Claudius. If Claudius comes through the door, Hamlet is going to kill him. So, Hamlet keeps the sword in his hand, and, as already mentioned, he remains standing.
With his sword in his hand, he says he wonders if Gertrude's heart is "penetrable." It sounds like he's wondering if he'd be able to stab her through the heart with his sword, as she just saw him do to Polonius.
However, Hamlet is speaking figuratively, about appealing to her emotions. He is not really intending to threaten her, but she now views him as a threat.
Braced means "strengthened" or "buttressed." The Folio word "brazed" may have identified an intended pun, but is not the correct word in the playtext. Brace comes from a meaning of "arm," which plays on the Ghost being armed, that is, armored.
Proof comes from a root meaning of "probe," which goes back to Hamlet's statement that he would "tent him (Claudius) to the quick" with the Mousetrap play; "tent" meant "probe" there, as proof implies "probe" here.
A bulwark is a defensive earthwork. This alludes to the platform where the sentinels saw the Ghost; the platform is a kind of bulwark outside the Castle wall.
So, Hamlet is figuratively saying he intends to "attack" Gertrude's heart, like attacking the Castle, and see if he can overcome her defensiveness, and talk sense into her, if she's still a tender-hearted person.
To Gertrude, he seems to be threatening to stab her through the heart with the sword he's holding.
hw 2421, to hw 2430- Gert: What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?
Hamlet: Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love,
And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows
As false as dicers' oaths; O, such a deed,
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
---
Gertrude is now angrily indignant, in addition to being fearful, and wants to know why he's saying such unpleasant things to her, and how he dares to speak to the Queen, and his own mother, in such a way. Wag thy tongue is her attempt at stern chastisement, that Hamlet is speaking foolish, insulting nonsense. She is not too frightened to try to put him in his place.
Rude puns back to "rood," the idea of "cross," and with wordplay. In undertone, the wordplay is that Gertrude wants to know why he's so "cross" with her, and why he's holding the cross up to her, so to speak, as if he thinks she's evil. She's cross at his behavior.
Hamlet doesn't answer her directly. He doesn't know if she had any complicity in his father's death. He doesn't want to say it directly, in case he's wrong, and he doesn't like to think about it explicitly, either. So, he tries his usual method of using allusions and symbolism to test her. He believes, if he makes it clear enough that he's talking about something very bad she's done, but without saying exactly what it is, she should get the hint if she's guilty, and say something about it. He's trying to lead her into confessing, using a roundabout method, rather like using the Mousetrap play to catch Claudius's conscience (which he mistakenly thinks worked.)
Blurs refers to moral stains. Hamlet's words grace, blush, and innocent have allusion to Ophelia, as does his mention of marriage vows, in that he had asked Ophelia to marry him. The rose is symbolic of innocent love. Blister refers to the old-time punishment of harlots, inflicted by pressing a hot iron to the forehead, leaving a scar that everyone could see. Dicers are gamblers, immoral persons; there is allusion to Claudius's wager on the fencing match, and him being immoral. In plain reading, Hamlet is trying to indicate to Gertrude that he means something sinful or criminal to do with her marriage vows to his father, without being explicit about it.
However, Hamlet is overestimating Gertrude's ability to understand his allusions, especially as he continues to hold the sword, and Gertrude is so fearful of him. He's only confusing her, and it sounds to her as if he's raving, mixing up subjects in an irrational way.
Contraction refers to the marriage "contract," that is, the solemn vows of marriage. His mention of plucking the soul out of the body sounds like another threat to her. As Hamlet speaks of soul and body, it's subtle allusion to his father's soul, his spirit, leaving his body, and an allusion thereby to Claudius. Hamlet isn't intending to threaten Gertrude with removing her soul from her body, but she's very uneasy at how he's expressing himself, there with Polonius's dead body on the floor.
hw 2431, to hw 2436- A rhapsody of words; heaven's face does glow
O'er this solidity and compound mass
With heated visage, as against the doom
Is thought-sick at the act . . .
Gert: Aye me, what act?
Hamlet: . . . that roars so loud, and thunders in the Index!
---
Rhapsody means "meaningless jumble." This is irony, in that, as Hamlet speaks, a meaningless jumble of words is all Gertrude perceives. He's making no sense to her.
Heaven's face is the sun, which provides another implicit sun/son pun. The sun in the sky is often depicted as having a face. An example of the sun being pictured with a face, contemporary with Elizabethan England, is the Sun card in the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck. An image of that card should be available from the Tarot link on the home page of this website.
Solidity means "hardness," with allusion back to the "teeth and forehead" mentioned by Claudius in the Prayer Scene. Compound relates to the legal idea of compounding a crime, and with "crime" including sin, in this case, as Hamlet speaks. Hamlet is trying to preach to Gertrude that she's making things harder on herself, in moral terms, by compounding her sins. Mass has allusion to the Church ceremony of Holy Mass, and also refers to the total mass of Gertrude's sins, which Hamlet suspects (without really knowing any facts, for sure.)
The sun's face is heated of course, since, needless to say, the sun is hot. As a staging instruction for Hamlet, this means Hamlet - the "son" - is standing over Gertrude, glaring down at her, as he speaks.
(The word "tristful" appears in the Folio where the word heated appears in the Q2 text. On the Visconti-Sforza Sun card, there are two faces. One is the face of the Sun, and the other is the face of a human figure, perhaps Hyperion, a name mentioned by Hamlet early in the play. In mythology, Hyperion was the father of Helios, the Sun. On the V-S Sun card, the face of the human figure has more-or-less a tristful (sad/melancholy) expression, while the face of the sun is red hot. The difference of "tristful"/"heated" is approximately the difference in expressions on the V-S Sun card. That card picture may be related to the difference in wording between Q2 and the Folio; that's a subject for scholarly consideration, not appropriate to go into more here. For the general reader, the point is only that if a reader has the V-S tarot cards on hand, he should look at the Sun card at this point in the play to have an emblematic illustration for Hamlet's remark about heated visage.)
Hamlet's phrase thought-sick is unfortunate, as Gertrude hears it. It sounds to her as if he's admitting his mind is diseased. He only means he has angry, "fevered" thoughts of what he suspects her to have done.
Doom has reference to doomsday, the day of judgment. Gertrude asks what act Hamlet is talking about. Her line is a quick interjection as Hamlet talks over her. He fails to expressly answer her question, as he goes on with more allusions.
Index means the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. It was a list, in Catholic history, of books that the Church forbade its members to read. The Index L.P. took on special religious force in about 1571, and was maintained by the Church as an official guide until being abolished in 1966. Q2 is correct in capitalizing Index, and it should always be capitalized in printing. The mention of the Index L.P. follows from Hamlet's sweet religion phrase. Hamlet, as he speaks, doesn't means books, specifically; he's using Index to mean something against religious principles, in the general way.
The phrasing of Hamlet's Index line, within itself, is ambiguous as to character assignment. Q2 gives it to Hamlet; the Folio gives it to Gertrude. In emotion, it serves as an emphatic by Hamlet in response to Gertrude's attempt to interrupt, as he talks over her. It's incorrect to depart from Q2; it's Hamlet's line. There is additionally a point in relation to Hamlet's comment, back when he was first told of the Players by R & G, that the Lady would speak her mind freely; it's irony that Hamlet prevents Gertrude from speaking freely in this Scene. The play is relentlessly ironic, and Hamlet's Index line, as he talks over Gertrude, is more of that.
Hamlet refuses to let Gertrude's question interrupt him, and he continues trying to tell her about what he thinks she's done wrong, still using symbolism and allusions.
hw 2437, to hw 2451- Look here upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See what a grace was seated on this brow:
Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove, himself,
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command,
A station like the herald Mercury,
New lighted on a heave, a kissing hill;
A combination, and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal
To give the world assurance of a man;
This was your husband. Look you now what follows:
Here is your husband, like a mildewed ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha, have you eyes?
---
In an authentic production of Hamlet the pictures are on king tapestries, large enough for the theater audience to see when Hamlet points to them (using his bloody sword as a pointer, waving it around in front of Gertrude.)
Kronborg Castle, on which Elsinore Castle is based, was famous in Elizabethan times for its king tapestries, commissioned by King Frederick II. The tapestries showed 113 Danish kings, some real, some legendary. Fourteen of the tapestries are still in existence. Of much interest, one of the surviving tapestries is of King Abel; a suggestion of the Cain and Abel story in the Bible is obvious, from the name. Also, it was said of King Abel that he was "an Abel in name, but a Cain in deed." It was alleged King Abel had his brother killed. Abel ruled Denmark from A.D. 1250-1252. Both the name, and the historical allegation against King Abel are suggestive in relation to Hamlet, with its basis in brother killing brother. It's clear the author knew quite a bit about Kronborg Castle. He knew of the chapel, the lobby being on the second floor, the earthen platforms around the Castle, etc. It is not credible to try to assert he did not know of the king tapestries. King tapestry replicas would be fully appropriate for this Scene, in any production of Hamlet.
Miniature pictures, that Hamlet would be showing Gertrude, held in Hamlet's hand, are not appropriate because, as we've learned, Hamlet has his sword in his hand at this time, not to mention that miniatures, which the audience can only imagine, deprive them of the visual experience of theater. Historically, the idea of miniature pictures in staging Hamlet was introduced either through ignorance, or as a very low budget makeshift, and perhaps both.
Additionally in support that the author intended king tapestries, is Horatio's line about "sleided Polacks" earlier in the play. The author used "sleided" twice in his other writings, both times in reference to silk. Stowe's Annals describe the king tapestries at Kronborg as being made of silk, (Wilson 1936,) and Polonius is the "Pole" character in the play. Horatio's "sleided Polacks" line becomes advance allusion to Hamlet "smiting" Polonius behind the silken arras, a king tapestry, albeit the allusion is indirect in its phrasing, and not conclusive merely through wording.
As to production of a replica king tapestry for stage display in the author's time, that should have been no problem. London was a major port for sailing vessels, so old sailcloth ought to have been available in abundance at low prices. Take a piece of old sailcloth, some 6 x 4 feet or so, wash it, paint a "king" on it, tack a board at the top, and hang it up, and there we are, a "king tapestry." Burbage, for one, was a painter. It would only need to look respectable from a distance. They could have done it, certainly, with the skills and materials at hand.
Appropriately, the arras Polonius hides behind, is the tapestry with King Claudius on it. In stabbing Polonius, Hamlet stabs through the heart of the portrait of Claudius on the tapestry. This adds additional irony to Hamlet's question of whether it's the King, when he has just stabbed the King's picture. Further, Claudius will later ask Laertes if he's a picture without a heart. This supports that Hamlet stabs the tapestry of Claudius through the heart, making it a "picture without a heart."
Counterfeit means "not the real thing." The pictures are not the real persons, of course. Since the Ghost will soon appear, there is an undertone of the question of whether the Ghost is genuine, or a "counterfeit presentment." The word "present" has a root meaning of "essence," referring to inward nature, the spirit or soul, which indicates allusion to the Ghost.
With grace and brow Hamlet is pointing out the handsomeness of his father's face. In allusion, grace implies innocence; Hamlet is pointing out the innocence of his father's brow, innocent of sin, as opposed to the "blister" he suspects on Gertrude's forehead.
Station means "upright posture," or "pose," in plain reading. The picture shows King Hamlet standing on high ground, a tall hill. There is allusion, in the line, to Hamlet Sr's high station in life, his high status as King.
A herald is a forerunner, or a harbinger. Allusion is to Hamlet Sr being Hamlet's forerunner; then, to the Ghost being an omen. Also, allusion to Hamlet Sr being Claudius's predecessor.
The Q2 phrasing, a heave, a kissing hill, is correct to an absolute certainty. The Folio is in error. The author defined "heave" = "kissing hill" for purposes of "translation." More about that in the next Scene, where we will see "heave" again. In plain reading, a heave is a hill on the landscape.
Combination means "combination of good features." Form means "shape," or "image." There is allusion to the Ghost, the form of Hamlet Sr. The phrase combination and form anticipates Hamlet's later phrase "form and cause conjoined" in speaking of the Ghost.
The phrase did seem to set his seal is intricately allusive. Later, when Hamlet will forge a king's order to England for the deaths of R & G, he will make it seem Claudius set his seal to the order when he did not. The phrase also relates back to Hamlet's "seems" argument to Gertrude about his grief.
The word world alludes to Denmark and Elsinore, Hamlet's world. It again indirectly indicates the King, since "Denmark" is a word for the King of the world of Denmark. The word has its usual meaning, in plain reading.
Mildewed means "diseased," in plain reading. It is a remarkably chosen word, and phrase, connecting back to Hamlet's expressed wish to be dew, when he wished he could rise to Heaven, also going back to the peculiar original spelling of "adieu" at the Ghost's farewell to Hamlet: "adew." Dew rises. Hamlet earlier spoke of his father being taken "grossly full of bread." So, Claudius has "milled dew," that is, he has made his brother's spirit to rise from his body, like milling that "bread" into dew. Claudius "milled" his brother's "bread" into "dew" . . . with poison in the ear.
Blasting means "destroying," with implications of disease and poison, and contagion.
The use of plant metaphor by Hamlet to Gertrude is on the association of Gertrude with Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, who is a patron of gardeners.
Hamlet likens his father to a beautiful mountain, and Claudius to a moor, a low-lying wasteland. Batten means to eat well, so as to be plump and healthy. The idea is of Gertrude as a deer or sheep, who has foolishly wandered from the nourishing mountain pastures, down to a low wasteland that cannot sustain her. Fair and moor have racial and religious undertones reflecting the historical strife in Europe and Africa. From the point of view of those in Northern Europe and England, the Moors were a dark, untrustworthy and irreligious people; Hamlet uses the stereotype to denigrate Claudius.
hw 2452, to hw 2455- You cannot call it love, for at your age
The heyday in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment, and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure you have
---
Hamlet should stop talking, and start thinking. He has just said a mouthful. He fails to realize the implications of his assertion.
Heyday means the high point, and blood refers to passionate emotion. Hamlet means the height of Gertrude's passion for a man, at her age, is less than it used to be. He's right, but he doesn't follow through on his own words.
Gertrude did marry Claudius as judgment, to try to achieve a particular goal. Hamlet doesn't know that, and she can't tell him. Gertrude's marriage to Claudius will be discussed, further along.
hw 2455+1, to hw 2457- Else could you not have motion, but sure that sense
Is apoplexed, for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thralled,
But it reserved some quantity of choice
To serve in such a difference. What devil was it
That thus hath cozened you at hoodman blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands, or eyes, smelling sans all . . .
Or, but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope. O shame, where is thy blush?
Rebellious hell!
---
Sense means intelligence. The association of motion with sense comes from Aristotle. Hamlet's training as a scholar is showing. Hamlet is making an attempt to lecture Gertrude like the way a lecture would be done in a university class. He's trying to "prove" Gertrude must have intelligence that she ought to use. So, Hamlet is trying to give Gertrude a philosophy lecture, based on Aristotle, to "prove" to her she shouldn't have married Claudius. Gertrude hasn't the slightest idea of what he's trying to do. She can't follow him. To her, he seems to be throwing words together in a more-or-less random way, for no good reason.
Hamlet has a reason for everything he says. However, Gertrude has no idea what he's trying to communicate to her. Paradoxically, Hamlet's ability with words is ruining his attempt to communicate. In the heat of his emotion, Hamlet has made the foolish oversight of neglecting to "define his terms" for Gertrude. Hamlet naively supposes that, since he can say it, she must understand it, but she can't, since she can't read his mind.
Apoplexed means "struck," rendered useless, as in reference to a medical stroke which affects the brain.
The madness - choice lines contain allusion to Hamlet's own choice of whether to obey the Ghost's call for revenge. His "madness" did reserve him the choice of not to kill Claudius in the Prayer Scene; Hamlet is correct in what he says. Ecstasy has the general meaning of a disturbance of the mind. Also, the Greek root of ecstasy means for something to be out of place, as for the soul to be out of the body; this is additional allusion to the Ghost. Thralled indicates being enslaved, as in being under a spell that makes a person do something.
Cozened means "tricked." Hamlet speaks of being tricked by a devil. He intends to speak of Gertrude being tricked by the devilish Claudius, but that isn't quite what he says. Hoodman blind refers to the game of blind man's buff/bluff, where a person is blindfolded and led around, or let to wander blindly.
In the Eyes - smelling lines, Hamlet is going into detail with his Aristotelian "lecture" to Gertrude, speaking of the various human senses and sense organs. He sounds crazy to Gertrude when he speaks of ears without hands, or eyes, as though he thinks ears ought to have hands, or else eyes. In stage performance, the Hamlet actor should hold his hand close to his ear, with his fingers spread, and wiggle his fingers slightly, and then open his eyes wide, when he gets to that phrase. In undertone, the ears - hands - eyes phrase has some allusion to Claudius using his hands to pour the poison into Hamlet Sr's ears when there were no eyes to see it.
Smelling sans all means "by smell alone," and has allusion to Polonius. The Hamlet actor should look at Polonius as he says it.
Mope refers to being dull, or dazed, and basically means to be stupid. As far as Gertrude can tell, that's how Hamlet is acting, since she can't follow his "lecture" and his elaborate allusions.
Hamlet says, O shame, where is thy blush? as he speaks, with his face flushed with emotion, and the sword still in his hand, as she watches him in pale anxiety. He then exclaims, Rebellious Hell! which looks to her like a fair description of what she's seeing. The exclamation has allusion to Lucifer's rebellion against God.
hw 2458, to hw 2463- If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax
And melt in her own fire, proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardor gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn,
And reason pardons will.
---
Mutine is an alternate form of "mutiny," and was used here to preserve poetic rhythm. The sense is of a revolt against proper moral authority. A matron is a married woman of mature age. Bones is synecdoche for "body."
Flaming youth means "passionate youth." There is a hint of a certain youth getting a little too close to "sulfurous and tormenting flames" for his own good.
Hamlet is, himself, wrapped up in compulsive ardor as he tries to persuade Gertrude to repent what she's done in marrying Claudius, and what he suspects she's done beyond that. Charge has allusion to the military term, as Hamlet stands waving his sword.
In the frost - burn line, burn means to change to vapor; frost sublimates similarly to wax changing to vapors when a candle burns. To Gertrude, he seems to be saying frost burns like wax, which only sounds like more lunacy, as she hears it.
Reason pardons will, means rationalization excuses what desire does, when desire is strong. Hamlet is objecting to any rationalization that excuses immoral behavior. Related to specifics, Hamlet means that the "rich gifts" Claudius gave Gertrude, as Hamlet observed and included in the Dumb Show, and her own physical desires, should not make her rationalize her conduct to excuse it. The Folio word "panders" is wrong for the playtext, although the word is interesting in relation to the "scholarly" question of why the Folio editor used it, which need not detain the general reader.
Hamlet is trying to say that Gertrude is a bad example for him, morally, because of her behavior, as he suspects it. He means, if an older person such as her can ignore moral principles, why should he, a younger and more passionate person, obey those moral principles? Hamlet is lacking certain facts that Gertrude knows, however.
hw 2464, to hw 2467- Gert: Oh, Hamlet, speak no more,
Thou turn'st my very eyes into my soul,
And there I see such black and grieved spots
As will leave there, their tinct.
---
Gertrude means that it grieves her soul that her son, whom she loves, has lost his mind. To her, his obscure "lecture" sounds like raving, and it hurts her, emotionally, that he has become a lunatic, as far as she can tell.
Coincidentally, she uses certain words that lead Hamlet to believe he's communicated with her on the point he wished to make. She did not understand him a bit, however. By chance, her words sound to him as being responsive. This accidental coincidence is on the Fortune theme.
Very eyes is correct. Very is from a meaning of "true;" Gertrude means that she is seeing truly into her soul. The Folio change is error.
Grieved is the correct word in the playtext. The phrase black and grieved continues the association of the color black with grief, prominently begun when Hamlet made his first appearance in the play wearing his black mourning clothes in grief for his father. The Folio word "grained" need not really be accounted for, but is, perhaps, the editor's personal attempt at creative interpretation, most inappropriately. The association of "black" and "grief" is inarguable in the play.
The word "spot" comes from the meaning "a small plot of ground." Allusion is to a grave plot. In her soul, Gertrude's true son is "dead and buried," in a grave, as she sees it, just like his true father is dead and buried, in a grave. The black and grieved spots, in the world of her soul, are the graves of those she's loved, whose loss she grieves, and whose graves she shrouds in black. Gertrude has added another "black grave" in her soul, for Hamlet, after hearing his raving. As far as she can tell, the gentle, intelligent son she has always loved is "dead and gone."
So, Gertrude is saying that her happy, charming, polite, intelligent son is "dead," and has somehow been replaced with the raving madman she sees before her, and she will grieve for him, in the churchyard of her soul, forever.
Gertrude's there, their reveals her motherly impulse to say "there, there" to comfort her upset son. She wants to soothe Hamlet. The Folio is in error.
Tinct means "tincture," and provides dye/die wordplay, in allusion.
Gertrude perceives that her marriage to Claudius has apparently caused Hamlet to lose his mind. She now feels extremely guilty for marrying Claudius, even though she did it for the best of reasons at the time. Instead of helping her beloved son, as she planned, she has hurt him, destroyed him, she thinks - and it isn't possible for her to tell Hamlet the real reason she married Claudius.
hw 2468, to hw 2471- Hamlet: Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an inseamed bed
Stewed in corruption, honeying, and making love
Over the nasty sty.
---
Inseamed means "adjoined," in plain reading. Two single beds are "sewn together," figuratively speaking, to make a double bed. In Elizabethan times, smaller mattresses and pieces of bed linen would literally be sewn together, inseamed, to make larger mattresses and linens. In allusion, there is reference to fat, in the figurative sense; "seam" refers to hog fat. A "fat" bed means a rich, luxurious one, as opposed to a thin, poor bed. The idea follows from the Ghost's remark about the bed of Denmark becoming a couch for luxury. The "greasy" idea in historical commentary is merely a peculiarly inept, and rather repulsive misinterpretation resulting from the failure to see that the idea of "fat" is, of course, being used in the figurative sense of "rich." There is anticipatory allusion to Hamlet's subsequent phrase about the fatness of the pursy times.
Stewed has allusion to a brothel, in slang expression; also allusion to drunkenness. Nasty sty has reference to Hell; also with some allusion to the story of Amleth which provided the author with a crude sketch of a few ideas for his play.
Hamlet is declaiming against Gertrude sharing a bed with Claudius, which is something he mistakenly believes. His thoughts are greatly influenced by his mistake about Ophelia and Claudius, as well. Beyond his moral indignation, Hamlet has a specific reason for so declaiming, which he will not tell Gertrude.
The last apparent reference to a person Gertrude heard was "flaming youth," which she took to be a reference to Hamlet, himself, as indeed it was. Hamlet failed to indicate he's changing the subject here, intending to talk about Claudius. So, Gertrude takes it that in the above he's still talking about himself. With no idea Hamlet means Claudius, it sounds to her as if Hamlet is abruptly announcing that he likes to make love like a pig.
hw 2472, to hw 2480- Gert: Oh, speak to me no more!
These words like daggers enter in my ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet.
Hamlet: A murderer and a villain,
A slave that is not twentieth part the kith
Of your precedent Lord, a Vice of kings,
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole
And put it in his pocket.
---
Gertrude begs Hamlet to stop, because she can't stand it that her beloved son has lost his mind. Her word daggers is coincidental with Hamlet's earlier use of "dagger" in the Prayer Scene. This, again, is on the Fortune theme, that she accidentally uses a word which gives Hamlet the impression he's communicating with her, and achieving his goal, when he isn't.
A cutpurse is a pickpocket, or just a thief. Hamlet's line, A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, antcipates his remark to Horatio in the final Scene, where he will speak of taking R & G's packet of official documents including the order to England written and sealed by Claudus.
Gertrude implores Hamlet to stop raving, and calls him "sweet Hamlet."
Hamlet declaims against Claudius, and Claudius's crimes. However, he has once again failed to inform Gertrude that he means Claudius. "Flaming youth" is still the last personal reference she's heard, and she takes it that Hamlet is still talking about himself.
To Gertrude, it sounds as if Hamlet is proclaiming that he, Hamlet, is a murderer and a villain, who is proud that he is not even a twentieth part of what his father was, that he is a "cutpurse of the empire," and that he, Hamlet, is claiming that he has stolen the crown and put it in his pocket - by killing Polonius, which he has just done.
hw 2481, to hw 2496- Gert: No more.
(the Ghost enters)
Hamlet: A king of shreds and patches!
Save me and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
Gert: Alas, he's mad!
Hamlet: Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That lapsed in time and passion lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O say!
Ghost: Do not forget! This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose;
But look, amazement on thy mother sits,
O step between her, and her fighting soul;
Conceit, in weakest bodies, strongest works;
Speak to her, Hamlet.
Hamlet: How is it with you, Lady?
---
Gertrude again implores Hamlet to stop raving.
The Ghost enters, for a fantastic reason that will be discussed. Gertrude cannot see or hear the Ghost, for a reason that will be mentioned. There is no honest question that the Ghost actor appears onstage in this Scene in any authentic production of Hamlet; that is also provable, albeit in an odd way.
Hamlet's shreds and patches line is another "dual use" line in the play, that fits with either what goes before it, or after it. In reference to Claudius, Hamlet means the Vice character, a standard character in some types of plays, who was typically depicted in performance wearing patchwork clothing; this follows Hamlet's phrase "Vice of kings." In allusion to the Ghost, in plain reading, the line means the Ghost is what's left of Hamlet Sr, like the faded, patched-up remnant of an old shirt. However, in allusion, the Vice idea is not separate from the reference to the Ghost. In the traditional "Morality Plays," the Vice character was the Devil's henchman.
To Gertrude, it seems as if Hamlet has suddenly exclaimed himself to be "a king of shreds and patches." There is an undertone of allusion to Elsinore after Hamlet Sr's death.
Just for the sake of argument, why would a Devil's henchman be there, at this time? Well, a man has been killed, Polonius that is, who was perhaps not a good man. His soul is free from his body, available for the taking. Could that be it? We shall see.
Hamlet believes the Ghost has appeared to chide him for passing up the opportunity to kill Claudius in the Prayer Scene. Hamlet thinks that's his "lapse," and what he has let go by. Chide means "scold," like scolding a naughty child.
The Ghost doesn't scold Hamlet for that in particular, but in the general way, tells him not to forget what he's supposed to do.
Whet and blunted are on the "edge" idea in the play, which overall, has anticipatory allusion to the executioner's axe waiting for Hamlet in England under Claudius's scheme to be revealed later, and perhaps also the axe waiting for Hamlet in Denmark, should he blunder in trying to kill Claudius. Also, there is allusion to the sword, one of which Hamlet is still holding in his hand.
Conceit has a root meaning of "to take." This relates back to Marcellus mentioning that at the time of the Saviour's birth "no fairy takes," with "a taking" meaning a malicious or an evil enchantment. In plain reading, the Ghost is musing that imagination is strongest in the weakest persons. In undertone, the Ghost is revealing that he has placed Gertrude under an enchantment so that she can't see or hear him; the Ghost has "taken" Gertrude's perception of him. Hamlet, so adept at his own allusions, does not apprehend the Ghost's allusion.
The Ghost instructs Hamlet to comfort Gertrude. The Ghost's choice of words is odd. If Hamlet literally stepped between Gertrude and her soul, he would separate her soul from her body; that is, it would kill her. But of course the Ghost wouldn't want Gertrude dead. Of course not. My goodness.
In obedience to the Ghost, Hamlet puts his sword away, goes to Gertrude, and kneels by her chair.
On the theme of Putting On A Show, here is what Gertrude, as the audience, has seen Hamlet "perform" for her in this Scene, up to now, from her point of view.
* Hamlet walks in, and is immediately insolent to her.- * She tries to warn him to behave himself, because Claudius is angry at him and threatening to lock him up.
- * He tells her she's "wicked" for trying to warn him, and he objects to being questioned, when she hasn't asked him a question.
- * He draws his sword against her.
- * She asks him what's going on, and he very innocently asks her, "what's the matter?"
- * She asks if he knows who she is, and he says he doesn't like it that she's his mother.
- * Feeling threatened, she tries to go to the door and call for the guards.
- * He stops her, and makes her sit down in a chair.
- * He tells her he's going to set a mirror in front of her, slice her open with the sword, and make her look at her insides in the mirror . . . and then she can leave.
- * She stands up to try to run away, exclaims he isn't allowed to murder her, and she calls for help.
- * Polonius calls for help from behind the arras.
- * Hamlet yells "a rat" and stabs Polonius to death. Shocked, she stops.
- * Hamlet asks her if Polonius is the King.
- * Hamlet speaks of killing a king, and says he hated it that she married his father.
- * Hamlet scolds Polonius's dead body.
- * Hamlet makes her sit down again, saying he wants to wring her heart.
- * She indignantly asks what she's done to make him so rude and angry at her.
- * He makes a speech about modesty, roses, marriage, souls, and religion.
- * Then he lectures her about pictures in her room, of Hamlet Sr and Claudius, using his bloody sword as a pointer.
- * He continues to lecture her, about love, judgment, ears not having hands or eyes, virtue, and fire.
- * She tries to tell him that his raving is grieving her soul.
- * He announces he likes to make love like a pig.
- * She tries to calm him down, and she calls him "sweet Hamlet."
- * He proclaims that he's a murderer and a villain, and says he has stolen the crown, and put it in his pocket . . . by killing Polonius.
- * Hamlet turns, announces that he's a "king of shreds and patches," and suddenly - whoosh - his hair stands on end . . . for no reason.
- * He asks nobody-at-all something about chiding a tardy son.
- * He stands there for a while, then puts his sword away - thank goodness!
- * He walks over to her, kneels by her chair, and says, "how are you?"
That's the "show" Gertrude has seen, so far.
Hamlet has had a reason for everything he has said and done. However, from Gertrude's point of view, he appears to be absolutely the craziest person she has ever seen.
hw 2497, to hw 2505- Gert: Alas, how is it with you?
That you do bend your eye on vacancy,
And with the incorporeal air do hold discourse;
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep,
And as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Start up and stand on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
---
Gertrude doesn't think that the question of how she is, is the most urgent point. She's wondering more about how he is.
When the Ghost first talked to Hamlet, it mentioned Hamlet's eyes bulging, and his hair standing on end "like the fearful porcupine." The Ghost has accomplished that here.
There is allusion back to Hamlet's comments after the Player's recital, when Hamlet mentioned making a speech that would "amaze indeed the very faculties of eyes and ears." Hamlet has accomplished that with Gertrude here, with his "performance" for her. She is quite amazed, bewildered, as the Ghost observed.
Gertrude uses a figure of speech about soldiers reacting to an alarm. One wonders why she'd think of that, almost as though it might be something on her mind, for some reason.
She requests Hamlet to calm down, and she asks what he's looking at.
hw 2506, to hw 2511- Hamlet: On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares;
His form and cause conjoined, preaching to stones
Would make them capable.
(to the Ghost):
Do not look upon me,
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects, then what I have to do
Will want true color, tears perchance for blood.
(tears run down Hamlet's face)
---
The person Gertrude sees, who is pale and glaring at something, is Hamlet.
The Ghost's form is the image of Hamlet's father, and his cause, as far as Hamlet knows, is revenge. The combination is fearsomely impressive to Hamlet.
By capable, Hamlet means capable of seeing the Ghost. He can't understand why Gertrude can't see it, since it's so impressive to him that he exaggeratedly thinks even a stone could perceive it. Preaching is a figurative reference to the Bible. For Hamlet, the Ghost is like a vision out of the Old Testament: "an eye for an eye." Capable is another "take" or "seize" word, at its root. The allusion is to enchanting, or seizing the attention of, even a soulless stone, so that even stones should see the Ghost.
Stern effects means "stern resolve." Effects are personal effects, like the clothes one wears. Hamlet means he had put on a stern resolve for revenge against Claudius, like putting on a suit of armor. Convert is used somewhat in the legal sense.
Hamlet looks at the Ghost, whose armor has "melted and resolved itself" into ordinary clothing. As he gazes at the sight, Hamlet's stern resolve for revenge is "melting and resolving itself" into ordinary feelings of pity and grief, for his father.
Hamlet implores the Ghost not to look at him, or instead of pursuing his hard-hearted quest for bloody revenge, he'll break down in tears over his father's death. A few tears then run down his face, as we know because Gertrude will mention it in the next Scene.
hw 2512, to hw 2519- Gertrude: To whom do you speak this?
Hamlet: Do you see nothing there?
Gertrude: Nothing at all, yet all that is, I see.
Hamlet: Nor, did you nothing hear?
Gertrude: No, nothing but ourselves.
Hamlet: Why, look you there, look how it steals away;
My father, in his habit as he lived;
Look where he goes, even now, out at the portal.
(the Ghost exits)
---
The Ghost is so obvious to Hamlet that he has trouble believing Gertrude can't see it or hear it. Steals away is an allusion to the "taking" concept. Habit is both reference to clothing, and also means "inhabit," that is, the Ghost's form is the form Hamlet Sr inhabited when he was alive.
hw 2520, to hw 2521- Gertrude: This is the very coinage of your brain;
This bodiless creation, ecstasy is very cunning in.
---
Coinage goes back to when the Players first arrived, and Hamlet said he hoped the lad's voice was not "cracked within the ring." Gertrude is saying she thinks Hamlet's mind is "cracked within the ring," so that what he says does not "ring true." She remarks that abnormal mental states can cause hallucinations.
hw 2522, to hw 2527- Hamlet: My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music; it is not madness
That I have uttered; bring me to the test,
And the matter will reword, which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
---
Hamlet's pulse remark is ironic. Gertrude's pulse is racing. She's worried and afraid, and she's sure he's insane. If Hamlet's pulse is now "temperate," he's a lot calmer than she is.
Gambol means to shy away from, like a horse shying away from something that startles it. This alludes to the "horse" idea that appears here and there in the play. Hamlet means his mind is not running away, like a lost or wild horse.
After being terrified at first by seeing the Ghost again, Hamlet is indeed calmer now. Seeing the Ghost again has confirmed to him that he wasn't crazy or hallucinating when he saw it the first time. In that way, as he gets over the initial shock, it's reassuring to him that he's seen it again.
With his reword line, Hamlet means he can express the same concept or phenomenon in different words, proving he understands what he's saying, and isn't just talking. It's something students in school are told to do: "express the topic in your own words." This is Hamlet's scholarship showing again. It isn't really a test of madness, as such, but rather a test of a person's ability to pay attention, learn things, and express concepts reasonably, in his own words.
It's pointless of Hamlet to mention such a test here, though. Gertrude didn't see or hear the Ghost, and couldn't tell if he was right or wrong in what he might say about it, in any words, whether he can rephrase his words meaningfully or not. The Ghost was so obvious and dramatic to Hamlet, he doesn't easily appreciate how much difference it makes that she didn't see it.
Hamlet doesn't wait to be put to the test he mentions. He doesn't give Gertrude a chance to test him. He keeps right on talking. It's just as well, as far as that goes, since Gertrude is in no mood to test him like a professor testing a student, anyway.
Hamlet drops any further attempt to persuade Gertrude that the Ghost was there, and he begins trying to lecture her, again, in his own eccentric, allusive way, and still without realizing he hasn't made it clear he's talking about Claudius.
hw 2528, to hw 2529- Lay not that flattering unction to your soul
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks;
---
Except, Hamlet has not specified any trespass that Gertrude has done, as far as she has been able to tell from what he's said. The word trespass here tends to support that Claudius's prayer in the Prayer Scene is appropriately the Lord's Prayer.
Unction is used as both the religious term and the medical term. It means both "to annoint" and "to soothe." Flattering means "being untruthfully complimentary." He's trying to tell her, more or less, that she shouldn't try to soothe her soul by pretending her sins are no problem - but still without specifying what her alleged sins are, which leaves her in the dark, as to what he's trying to talk about.
hw 2530, to hw 2533- It will but skin and film the ulcerous place
While rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen; confess yourself to heaven,
Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,
---
The ulcerous line is "Doctor Hamlet" trying to find a good metaphor to express himself to her. It follows from the "purgation" idea he mentioned to G, about being Claudius's "doctor," and Hamlet has now continued the "doctor" idea to here in talking to Gertrude.
There is anticipatory allusion to what Hamlet will say after talking to Fortinbrasse's Captain, later.
Hamlet's Repent remark sounds to Gertrude like the stereotype of a religious madman, who goes around telling everybody to "Repent, because the end is nigh!"
hw 2534, to hw 2538- And do not spread the compost on the weeds
To make them ranker; forgive me this my virtue,
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
---
Regarding compost and weeds, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles is a patron of gardeners. This is another instance on the association of the play Gertrude with St Gertrude of N.
Ranker means "higher." We'll confirm this meaning when Hamlet talks to the Captain. Hamlet is unknowingly alluding to Gertrude making Claudius "higher" when she worked so hard to make him King. Hamlet characterized Claudius as a "weed" in Scene 2.
Hamlet's phrase my virtue is ambiguous. It can be taken as Hamlet speaking of his own virtue, or as him calling Gertrude "My Virtue."
Hamlet means he wants Gertrude to forgive him for taking his virtuous stance in warning her about what he presumes to be her vice. He's trying to ask her to forgive him for preaching at her. That is not how she hears it.
As Gertrude hears it, she thinks Hamlet has called her "My Virtue." She recalls Hamlet calling himself "a Vice of Kings," as she took it. She understands it here that Hamlet is calling her, Virtue, and himself, Vice. She thinks he's saying that she must beg his pardon for permission to do him any good, in other words, that Virtue must beg Vice's pardon, meaning that virtue is subordinate to vice. It sounds to her like the opposite of correct morality, which only sounds like more madness.
hw 2539, to hw 2540- Gert: Oh, Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
---
Gertrude is still referring to Hamlet's raving, as she perceives it. It's breaking her heart that her beloved son is a lunatic, who has put vice ahead of virtue. She's simply using a figure of speech that her heart is broken, meaning no more than that, as she intends it, although her choice of words does proceed from her earlier fear that he was going to stab her in the heart, as he did Polonius.
hw 2541, to hw 2544- Hamlet: Oh, throw away the worser part of it,
And leave the purer with the other half,
Good night, but go not to my uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue if you have it not;
---
Leave is the correct word in the playtext. Hamlet engages in metaphor, again, trying to tell Gertrude she should discard her affection for Claudius (that Hamlet presumes exists) and then leave Claudius behind her, with her heart pure. Byleave, Hamlet means she should leave Claudius.
Gertrude doesn't hear it that way. She hears it as him saying she should discard the worse part of her heart, then keep the purer half of her heart with the other half, which altogether adds up to more than one heart. It's another remark that makes no sense to her, sounding as though Hamlet thinks a heart has more than two halves.
Then he tells her to assume a virtue if she has none, and this is just after he called her "My Virtue," as she heard it. To her, it sounds as if he can't remember from one sentence to the next what he's said.
Assume is another "take" word, at root. There is irony in the notion of taking, stealing, virtue. Hamlet is, in that way, telling Gertrude that if she doesn't have virtue, she should steal some, which sounds crazy. The notion of stealing virtue conceptually anticipates the "Thieves of Mercy" Scene.
Hamlet doesn't know there isn't the slightest chance she'd ever be in Claudius's bed.
Hamlet now wants to ensure Gertrude will stay in her room this night, because he's thought of something.
Hamlet tells Gertrude Good night for the first time.
hw 2544+1, to hw 2544+5- That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat
Of habit's devil, is angel yet in this
That to the use of actions fair and good,
He likewise gives a frock or livery
That aptly is put on to refrain night,
---
In his first two lines, Hamlet means that habit, itself, causes a person to lose awareness of his own bad habits. In other words, people have no awareness of their own habits. That's what a "habit" is, something people do automatically, without awareness of it. As a person develops a bad habit, he loses awareness that it's bad, and simply does it automatically.
Hamlet then says the same phenomenon can be used to develop good habits. Good behavior can also be a habit, so that a person behaves well, automatically.
So, that's what he's trying to say. But the way he expresses it is hopeless, for Gertrude to follow his meaning.
Hamlet says, rephrased, that "custom" is a monster that eats the perception of what a devil habits can be, however, that same "monster," custom, can "dress" a person in appropriate clothing that is aptly donned to refrain darkness, figuratively speaking. Real easy to follow, right? Gertrude has no idea.
Habit's devil has undertone back to "my father in his habit as he lived." The author is hinting something. A monster has "eaten all sense" of habit's devil.
The word custom comes from Old French "costume," which is wordplay with "frock" and "livery." The concept of "costume" is on the Acting theme, Putting On A Show.
Observe that Hamlet tries to express himself in a "devil-angel" epigram; such epigrams, contrasting opposites, were a speech habit of Polonius. It's almost as if Hamlet was standing too close to Polonius when he died, when Polonius's spirit arose, and Polonius's spirit was contagious. It's like Hamlet has caught a touch of Polonius.
hw 2545, to hw 2546- And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence, the next more easy.
For, use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either {fetch} the devil, or throw him out
With wonderous potency: once more good night,
---
Hamlet is trying to tell Gertrude to stay away from Claudius tonight, and that will make it easier for her to stay away from him the next night, and so on. But Hamlet still has not revealed that he's talking about Claudius, or that his remarks have anything to do with Claudius. Gertrude is only hearing him talk about devils and angels, like a religious fanatic.
A word is missing in the original playtext where I print {fetch}. The line exists only in Q2. There is no editorial alternative but to guess what the word should be. The author's word is unknown. I use fetch for the following reasons.
* Fetch has meaning appropriate to the context.- * Fetch is used elsewhere in the play, so it's a known word in the play.
- * Fetch was used by the author some 124 times in his writings, so it's a well-established word in the Shakespearean canon. It's reasonable to "play the odds" by using a frequent Shakespearean word.
- * Fetch has a meaning that refers to an apparition in human form, providing allusion to the Ghost. Further, "fetching" means "charming," which accords with the ideas of witchcraft, magic, etc., and accords with Hamlet calling the Ghost a "gracious figure."
- * Polonius spoke the word "fetch" earlier in the play, and the Ghost's appearance here involves Polonius. There is agreement with Polonius's phrase to Reynaldo, "fetch of wit."
That being said, it must be reiterated that the author's word is unknown. I offer fetch as a reasonable guess, which provides both plain meaning, and significant allusion.
Stamp of nature relates back to "stamp of one defect," when Hamlet was talking to Horatio before the Ghost appeared that night.
Hamlet tells Gertrude good night for the second time.
hw 2547, to hw 2551- And when you are desirous to be blessed,
I'll blessing beg of you; for this same Lord
I do repent; but Heaven hath pleased it so
To punish me with this, and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister,
---
Hamlet tells Gertrude that when she wishes to be blessed by him, he'll do so, and then he'll beg her to bless him, also. Unfortunately, he truncates the statement so much that she can't understand it. He makes it sound as though, if she wishes to be blessed by him, he'll refuse, and instead he'll beg her to bless him. It sounds like another irrational statement from him, as she hears it.
Hamlet's line, for this same Lord, can be read in two different ways. It can be read, "for this same, Lord, I do repent," meaning that he repents to God for killing Polonius. Or, it can be read, "for this same Lord (Polonius) I do repent," spoken to Gertrude.
Hamlet has gotten stuck in using religious metaphor - blessed, blessing, Lord, repent, Heaven - which to Gertrude sounds like more religious delusion. Hamlet uses scourge and minister figuratively, but to Gertrude it sounds like more lunacy, that Hamlet believes he's the "scourge of God," or some such. It's now at the point, for her, that she will view with suspicion any unusual thing he says.
hw 2552, to hw 2556- I will bestow him and will answer well
The death I gave him; so again, good night;
I must be cruel only to be kind,
This bad begins, and worse remains behind.
One word more good Lady.
Ger. What shall I do?
---
Hamlet tells Gertrude good night for the third time. And keeps talking.
Bestow is wordplay, going back to when Polonius said he'd bestow himself behind the arras, in the Nunnery Scene. Hamlet will now bestow Polonius elsewhere.
Hamlet again says an epigram, contrasting cruel and kind, which again sounds like Polonius. Earlier, when talking to R & G, Hamlet caught himself speaking a proverb, the "grass" - "steed" saying, and stopped in the middle, when he realized he was sounding like Polonius. But here, he keeps going with sayings, without thinking about it.
And, like Polonius, he keeps talking, wanting "one more word." It's almost as though he has been infected by Polonius's spirit. He may have caught Polonius disease. Let's hope he gets over it.
Gertrude's question is not addressed to Hamlet. She is asking herself, in despair, what she's going to do about her crazy son, and the fact that he's killed a man for no good reason she knows of.
hw 2557, to hw 2563- Hamlet: Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat King tempt you again to bed,
Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse,
And let him for a pair of reeky kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damned fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
---
Hamlet takes it that Gertrude was speaking to him, and answers her question. Bloat King is a reference to Claudius, but she does not know of any King of Bloat, and Hamlet has still not clarified that he has been talking about Claudius.
Pinch wanton means to pinch playfully. Mouse is another instance of St Gertrude of N association. No such thing could happen with Gertrude and Claudius, but Hamlet doesn't know that. Gertrude has no idea what he's talking about.
Hamlet tries to explain that he is not mad. After what Gertrude has seen and heard, from her point of view, she does not believe him. She thinks he is truly crazy.
hw 2564, to hw 2567- But mad in craft; 'twere good you let him know?
For, who that's but a queen - fair, sober, wise -
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? Who would do so?
---
Hamlet still fails to clarify who him is. Gertrude does not know what Hamlet means, and still can't follow his peculiar allusions.
Paddock, bat and gib relate back to "witchcraft of his wits" that the Ghost mentioned in first talking to Hamlet. Paddock means "toad," and gib means "tomcat." Toads, bats, and cats were used by witches in black magic rites.
Hamlet is asking a rhetorical question to which he thinks the answer is obvious: a wise woman. He's telling Gertrude that she'd be wise not to reveal what he's said. She has no idea why he's mentioned toads and bats, except that he must be bats.
Hamlet is trying to warn Gertrude that Claudius could be a danger to her, but he's so involved in wordplay that he obscures his meaning, and Gertrude can't follow him. This is not a point Hamlet should be playing guessing games with, because it's quite true that Claudius is a physical danger to those around him. Caught up in his word games, Hamlet is being very foolish here - not crazy, but extremely unwise, in putting word games ahead of sincere, direct warning, when his mother's safety could be at stake. Also, Hamlet is now rambling from simple fatigue; it's very late at night, he hasn't slept, and he has talked a great deal (but still without ever mentioning Claudius explicitly.)
hw 2564, to hw 2572- No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top,
Let the birds fly; and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.
---
Letting the birds fly is reference to revealing a secret, as in the common phrase "a little bird told me." Fortunately, Hamlet does say secrecy, which is a word Gertrude can understand.
The famous ape is probably reference to the Socrates character in the Aristophanes play Clouds, in which Socrates was killed while suspended aloft in a basket.
Traditional interpretation has attempted to combine the birds and the ape into a single reference, of which no such fable is known to exist. A single reference is not impossible, however, they are easily interpreted as two different references, particularly since the relevance of Clouds has already been demonstrated.
To try conclusions means "just to see what will happen."
Gertrude hears "break your neck" as another threat from Hamlet.
hw 2573, to hw 2575- Gert: Be thou assured, if words be made of breath
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.
---
In response to the apparent threat, Gertrude assures Hamlet she'll never breathe a word of whatever in the world he's been trying to say.
As a practical matter, Gertrude would never breathe a word of what Hamlet has said, because she hasn't any idea of what it all means, and she couldn't repeat it if she was paid to.
hw 2576, to hw 2577- Hamlet: I must to England, you know that?
Gert: Alack, I had forgot.
'Tis so concluded on.
---
Hamlet speaks a plain, understandable sentence for nearly the only time in the entire Scene.
Gertrude knows about the trip to England because it was decided between her and Claudius after the Mousetrap play. When Claudius left the play, he went to his room, the King's Room. Gertrude, Polonius, and R & G followed. Having had time to collect himself, Claudius simply told them he left because of Hamlet's disruptive behavior, which kept him from enjoying the play. He threatened to have Hamlet locked up. Gertrude said she would not allow that. She instructed Polonius and R & G to tell Hamlet she wanted to talk to him, and she walked out and went to her room, the Queen's Room. Claudius followed her, to talk more about it. He told Gertrude that at least Hamlet should be sent away for a while, and mentioned the trip to England, that he had thought of at the end of the Nunnery Scene. She agreed that the trip might do Hamlet good. So, the trip to England was concluded on. When R & G returned, to tell Gertrude Hamlet had agreed to talk to her, Claudius then took them back to the King's Room. We saw the ensuing conversation in the Prayer Scene.
hw 2577+1, to hw 2577+9- Hamlet: There's letters sealed, and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work,
For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his owne petard, and it shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon. O 'tis most sweet
When in one line, two crafts directly meet;
---
Hamlet's speech here is how we know he was present in the Prayer Scene from the beginning. That's the only way he could know what he says. As already discussed, the "dialogue entry" in the playscript allows an actor to be onstage without an "enter" when he is not supposed to be in his speaking position on the stage. The entries in the playscript are especially coordinated with what the characters say.
The passage is omitted in the Folio. The Folio editor may have omitted it because he did not understand how Hamlet knows what he says, or the Folio could simply reflect a stage modification.
Adders fanged has reference to the false story of snakebite causing Hamlet Sr's death.
Mandate is allusion to R & G being the "hands" of Claudius.
A marshal was originally a horse groom, or a master of the horse, in a royal household. Hamlet is saying R & G are assigned to lead him like a horse. This relates to Claudius's mention of "fetters" in the Prayer Scene, and Hamlet's use of "gambol" earlier in this Scene, continuing the occasional "horse" idea in the play.
Mines refers to digging a mine shaft under a castle wall when attacking the castle. The mine, itself, could weaken the foundation, causing the wall to collapse, or gunpowder could be placed in the mine to blow a breach in the wall. This has an undertone going back to Hamlet calling the Ghost "old mole" and referring to the Ghost as a "pioneer," as though the Ghost were undermining the walls of Elsinore.
Two crafts directly meet has several undertones and allusions. It's advance allusion to the pirate ship meeting the ship that will carry R & G and Hamlet. It's a nice undertone to the favor that the pirates will want Hamlet to do for them. Most immediately, it anticipates what Hamlet plans to do with Polonius's body.
hw 2578, to hw 2579- This man shall set me packing;
I'll lug the guts into the neighbor room;
---
From Gertrude's room, the Queen's Room, the "neighbor room" is the King's Room. Hamlet's first decision is to drag Polonius's body to Claudius's room, the King's Room. This is why Hamlet is so insistent, now, that Gertrude stay out of Claudius's bed, and stay in her room this night. He intends to take Polonius's body to the King's Room, kill Claudius, too, and try to make it look like Claudius and Polonius killed each other (a la Macbeth - a setup to make it look like a king killed by a servant.) Hamlet knows it'll look highly dubious, that old Polonius and Claudius would have killed each other, and people will be extremely sceptical, but with Polonius's body on his hands it's the best he can think of at the moment. He has to try something.
Packing is wordplay on the idea of Hamlet packing for his trip to England.
Hamlet says neighbor room because he can't stand to say the name, Claudius, and he doesn't like to think of Claudius as the King, so he avoids those terms.
As we'll see in the next Scene, R & G have finished their packing for the trip to England, and have returned to the King's Room to get the commission that Claudius has finished and sealed. Claudius won't be alone in the King's Room. So, Hamlet will think of something else, as we'll also see.
hw 2580, to hw 2583- Mother, good night indeed; this counselor
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave,
Who was in life a most foolish prating knave.
Come sir, to draw toward an end with you.
---
Hamlet says good night for the fourth time. And he still says more. Counselor means "advisor."
Foolish prating strikes a chord with Gertrude. As far as she can tell, it was about all she heard from Hamlet in the entire Scene.
By end, Hamlet means the end of the whole business, including killing Claudius. He's dragging Polonius's body toward that end which he now plans.
~~~~~~~
Scene Note 1.
About the Ghost's appearance in this Scene.
Why did the Ghost appear? Recall that Hamlet called the Ghost "Truepenny" in the earlier Scene after the Ghost first spoke to him. As was pointed out there, the name, Truepenny, comes from the old English comedy play, Ralph Roister Doister, which I'll abbreviate as "RRD." RRD was far better known in Elizabethan times than now. Look at this brief excerpt from RRD, with modernized spelling.
Dame Custance:
... I will call for help. What ho! Come forth, Truepenny!
(Enter Truepenny.)
In RRD, the Dame Custance character needs assistance, so she calls her loyal servant, Truepenny. She does so by saying that she needs help, and then shouting, "What ho!" The result is that Truepenny enters.
The form of Custance's utterance resembles an incantation of the kind that would be used to summon a spirit, with "What ho!" being the magic phrase. Read her utterance with "Presto!" or "Alacazam!" in place of "What ho!" and you should see what I mean.
Dame Custance is a widow. Gertrude is a widow, remarried. And again, "Truepenny" is what Hamlet called the Ghost, who is a spirit.
Now, go back to the early part of this Closet Scene, and look at the dialogue where Polonius is killed. Gertrude called for help, and Polonius shouted, "What ho!"
In the context of a widow calling for help, when Polonius yelled, "What ho!," he accidentally shouted the "magic words" of the secret formula in the arcane magic book, Ralph Roister Doister, that are used to summon Truepenny.
The author summoned the Ghost in the Closet Scene, in honor of Ralph Roister Doister, the first comedy play printed in English. Help - What ho! - (Enter Truepenny.)
So, for the play, the reason the Ghost appeared in this Closet Scene is that Polonius summoned him, purely by accident, as the last thing Polonius did in his life. Polonius then dropped dead on the floor.
It took the Ghost a while to arrive, since he wasn't expecting the summons. When he did arrive he didn't know why he was summoned. The man who summoned him was dead, and couldn't tell the Ghost what he wanted. Even if Polonius had been alive, he wouldn't have been any help, since he never knew he summoned the Ghost. The Ghost terrified Hamlet so that Hamlet's hair stood on end. It served Hamlet right, for killing Polonius.
Notice how little the Ghost said, only one short speech. First, he repeated back the same idea that Hamlet said to him, in different words. Then, he could see Gertrude was upset, and he told Hamlet to speak to her. Then he only stared for a while, in a ghostly way, and he left. He didn't know why he was there, so he had nothing further to say. And there wasn't any real reason for him to be there. It was an accident.
It's an incident on the Fortune theme.
The author did not do this merely for levity. He had Polonius accidentally summon the Ghost - using the occult magic of RRD, of all things - to tell us something important.
Would the spirit of Hamlet Sr respond to a summons for Truepenny? No. Even if the spirit of Hamlet Sr would respond to some kind of summons, he wouldn't respond to the summons here. Hamlet Sr's name is not Truepenny.
This Ghost responded to a summons that's especially for Truepenny, so its name really is "Truepenny." When Hamlet was joking, in the earlier Scene, and called the Ghost "Truepenny" he accidentally got the name right. Fortune theme, again.
The Ghost is not Hamlet Sr.
The Ghost is some evil, non-human creature, that seeks the blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, and which has snared Hamlet, and is trying to destroy him, and is using him to try to torment and kill them all. It's trying to turn Claudius's murder into more sin and murder.
The brilliant author has told us that by "accident."
~~~~~~~
Scene Note 2.
Why did Gertrude marry Claudius?
Was it gifts, as we saw in the Dumb Show? Hardly likely. Gertrude is a Renaissance Queen of a nation, for 30 years. She already had spectacular jewels, and she lives in a palatial castle, with servants at her beck and call. There's nothing significant in a material way that Claudius could give her, beyond what she had.
Hamlet said at Gertrude's age passion is subservient to judgment, and he was quite right - and Claudius is nobody's dream lover boy. That can't be it.
So, what is it?
Claudius mentioned on his first day of official business as King, as we saw in an earlier Scene, that Fortinbrasse was "pestering" him with a message. Before that, we heard from Horatio about Fortinbrasse raising an army, and there was worry that Fortinbrasse would attack Denmark to get the land back that his father had lost in single combat against Hamlet Sr.
The "pestering" message from Fortinbrasse to Claudius was a challenge to single combat, again, similar to the challenge from Fortinbrasse Sr to Hamlet Sr. Fortinbrasse was repeating what his father had done, to try to get the land back. Claudius turned down the personal challenge, because he didn't want to get his head sliced off. Claudius would stand no chance at all in combat against Fortinbrasse, and he knew it.
At the same time Fortinbrasse issued the challenge, he was also raising an army. He had decided that if the challenge were turned down, he'd do battle with an army to recover the land. Either way, he was determined to get back what he thought he should have inherited.
When did the challenge from Fortinbrasse first arrive? He first issued it before the new Danish King was selected. Fortinbrasse, like everyone else, expected the next King to be Hamlet. Fortinbrasse thought he was challenging Hamlet, and he would fight the son of the man who killed his father, to gain vengeance, recover the land, and set things right.
Gertrude was still Queen after Hamlet Sr died, at least until the new King was chosen. When the challenge from Fortinbrasse first arrived, the message was delivered to her hand, and she read it. At that time, she also expected Hamlet to be the next King. That's how it always was, the son would succeed the father.
The message frightened Gertrude, and worried her greatly. Hamlet was a university scholar. As fine as that is for the mind, it's no training for personal combat in armor with an axe. She knew her son was both out of shape, and had never seriously trained as a warrior. From her life of being married to a great warrior king, she knew how hard Hamlet Sr had worked, to keep himself in shape, and in good training. Hamlet had never done that. His parents wanted him to be a scholar king, especially after he showed a fine talent for it, so they sent him to the university. Hamlet spent his days studying abstruse subjects. But Fortinbrasse spent his days practicing chopping up people, ambitious to be a warrior like his father, and even better. In scholarly debate, Hamlet could have crushed Fortinbrasse like a bug - but combat is not scholarly debate.
Further, Gertrude knew Hamlet. She knew he'd accept the challenge to personal combat, thinking he had to do it, to uphold the honor of the family and the nation, and be a credit to his father. That's just the way her son was. So, he'd squeeze his pudgy body into the armor, pick up the big Danish war axe - not even quite sure exactly how to hold it - and go out and try to fight Fortinbrasse. And get himself killed.
Gertrude faced the prospect of losing both her husband and her son, both of the men in her life whom she loved, in a very short space of time, only a couple of months. What was she to do? She fretted over it, agonized over it, and prayed for some answer.
Then, lo and behold, here came Claudius. He was smiling at her, trying to be nice to her, trying to be charming. It was almost laughable. She never had any use for Claudius. He gave her gifts (that Gertrude didn't really want - she gave them to her maid.) But, you could see it a mile away: Claudius wanted to be King. Claudius? It was ludicrous.
Or, was it?
If Claudius did become King, the challenge from Fortinbrasse wouldn't even be to Hamlet. It would be to Claudius. The question of Hamlet squeezing himself into the armor, and trying to pick up the big axe, would never even arise. Suddenly, Claudius looked to Gertrude like a gift from Heaven, to save her son's life.
So, Gertrude married Claudius, and she worked behind the scenes, using her 30 years of built-up influence, persuading the electors, to make Claudius King. She told Claudius simply that she thought he'd make the best King, and she wished to remain Queen, so it would be a nice political arrangement. He agreed.
Gertrude personally prevented Hamlet from becoming King. She can't breathe a word of that to him. He'd be devastated, that she didn't think he could handle it, and she doesn't want to hurt her son, especially after she married Claudius to help Hamlet.
It's only temporary, anyway.
There's more Gertrude knew. She knew Claudius would turn down the personal challenge. Claudius fight Fortinbrasse? Talk about sliced bacon.
She knew Fortinbrasse wouldn't shrug his shoulders and quit upon receiving the rejection of the challlenge from Claudius. It would mean war, instead. She knew all about the Fortinbrasse clan, both from her own knowledge, and from what Hamlet Sr told her. He had told her the reason he had to fight Fortinbrasse Sr, and try to kill him, was because otherwise there would be war. We've seen Horatio describe Fortinbrasse Jr as "just like his father."
So, Gertrude expects war. When the ambassadors to Norway returned from their mission, and proudly announced the "peaceful" agreement, she spotted it instantly. Fortinbrasse is coming into Denmark with his army, very near Elsinore, and he is not going to Poland. She knew it, right away, and didn't say a word. It isn't that she has sympathy for Fortinbrasse, or sneaky old Norway; she wishes they'd both drop dead.
With Claudius leading the defense, she doesn't think Denmark can hold Elsinore Castle. Claudius is no war leader, not even close. Gertrude lived, and ate, and slept with a war leader for all those years, and she knows one when she sees one. Claudius is not one. Fortinbrasse will attack, Claudius will try to lead the defense, and Fortinbrasse will win. Then, Fortinbrasse will kill Claudius, and proclaim that he takes back Elsinore Castle and the land. That is what Gertrude expects to happen.
Gertrude married Claudius for him to die.
This is why she told Hamlet, on the first day of official business that we saw earlier, to "let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark (Claudius.)" She meant, "Hamlet, Claudius is your friend - because I've arranged for him to die instead of you." Fortinbrasse will kill Claudius, instead of killing Hamlet, she plans.
She cannot allow the slightest suspicion of this. She can only keep silent about it, and pray that it all works out as she expects.
With Hamlet Sr gone, she, personally, no longer has that much use for Elsinore. It was great with him there, but now it's only a remote outpost, without much interest to her. She can't say that, either; it would be like the Queen of England saying she had no use for Wales. Elsinore has some good memories for her, but she'd rather be elsewhere now, with more social life and more to do. She'll regret the loss, when Fortinbrasse takes it. She'd rather he didn't, but if it can't be helped, so be it.
When Fortinbrasse kills Claudius, will he hurt her or Hamlet? No. He'll honor chivalry and the heraldic code, as his father did in making the agreement with Hamlet Sr. Fortinbrasse may hold her and Hamlet for ransom, which she and the nation can afford, and then he'll send them away. Cast out, oh dear, where will she and Hamlet go?
Copenhagen! The big city, with lots of social life, and the theater, and with its fine palace there for the new king - Hamlet! Hamlet can be the King, then, nice and safe, with the land issue all settled, in the wonderful palace, in the fine city of Copenhagen. That's Gertrude's plan.
So, Claudius is Gertrude's "King Pork Chop" that she cooked up in the skillet to feed to Fortinbrasse. Then, Hamlet can safely be King in Copenhagen.
And Claudius stepped right into the skillet with a smile on his face. He thought he charmed Gertrude into marrying him. He thought it was his political skill that persuaded the electors to choose him King. Claudius has no clue that he's only King Pork Chop, simmering in Gertrude's skillet, until he's "done."
Does Gertrude know Claudius killed Hamlet Sr? No. She married Claudius to die, anyway, for Hamlet's sake.
Gertrude has to keep it all to herself. Hamlet wouldn't understand that it was she who kept him from becoming King, especially since he seems to have lost his mind. And she can't allow the slightest hint to Claudius that he's King Pork Chop.
When Hamlet was waving his sword around as a pointer, in this Scene, talking about the pictures, and valiantly trying to explain to Gertrude the difference between Hamlet Sr and Claudius, he didn't know he was trying to explain to her the difference between his father and King Pork Chop. Um, she kinda already knew there was a difference.
Gertrude thinks it won't be long now. When she used the figure of speech, in this Scene, about soldiers responding to an alarm, it was because she expects Fortinbrasse to attack the Castle very soon.
But Gertrude doesn't know about the Ghost. She's very sharp, but she can only go by what she knows, like anybody else. The Ghost put the spell on her to keep her from seeing or hearing him because he was afraid of her. The Ghost knew she'd spot him quickly as an imposter. Gertrude knows too much about Hamlet Sr for the Ghost to fool her. There's good acting, and bad acting, and shades of gray. The Ghost could act the part of Hamlet Sr well enough to fool Hamlet, but not Gertrude, and the Ghost knew that, and took precautions.
~~~~~~~
hw 2584, to hw 2585- Good night, mother.
(Hamlet exits)
(One or two minutes later, Gertrude exits)
---
Hamlet says Good night for the fifth time. This time he means it. He departs, dragging Polonius's body, intending to take Polonius's body to Claudius's room, kill Claudius, and try to make it somehow look like they've killed each other.
Gertrude, in this Queen's Room, paces the floor, fretting over what to do about her crazy son. After a minute, it suddenly strikes her that when Hamlet said neighbor room he meant the King's Room. It's such a vague phrase she didn't catch that right away. She rushes out, expecting to find Hamlet in the King's Room, under arrest for murder, caught red-handed with Polonius's body, and sorely in need of her to defend him.
End of Scene 11
|
Back to Scene 10:
Both Text and Notes, in Frames
Scene 10 Text, only
Scene 10 Notes, only
|
(Regained)