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. the Tragical History of . H A M L E T . Prince of Denmark .
(Notes)
Scene 15 [~ Fortinbrasse Arrives ~] (Act 4 scene 4)
hw 2734, to hw 2743- Setting: Outside the Castle;
Near the town docks;
Shortly after sunrise.
(Fortinbrasse enters, with his army)
---
The docks are at the nearby town of Elsinore, modern Helsingør. Fortinbrasse has landed his troops at sunrise. "Red sky at morning..."
hw 2734, to hw 2743- Fortinbrasse: Go, Captain, from me greet the Danish King,
Tell him, that by his license, Fortinbrasse
Craves the conveyance of a promised march
Over his kingdom; you know the rendevous;
If that his Majesty would ought with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye,
And let him know so.
Captain: I will do it, my Lord.
Fort: Go softly on.
(Fortinbrasse exits)
---
Fortinbrasse is following up the diplomatic agreement we saw the ambassadors report to Claudius earlier in the play. He's sending the Captain to inform Claudius, and the top Danish officials, that he's there. They will then spread the word among the Danish forces, and people, that it's alright for the foreign troops to be on Danish ground.
According to the events of the play, the rendezvous point is about a day's march away, or so, to the west. On a map, if the rendezvous point were marked with a star, the star would be just west of the pole, that being the flagpole at the Castle.
Fortinbrasse uses the royal us and We as a king would, when a king is standing on his own land.
Fortinbrasse tells the Captain that if Claudius insists on seeing him, he will express his duty to Claudius "in his eye." In undertone, it means if Claudius resists obeying the agreement, Fortinbrasse will attack the Castle promptly, and if he can take it, he will spit in Claudius's eye before he cuts his head off. In plain reading, it means Fortinbrasse will personally appear before Claudius, and pretend to be friendly and subordinate, to get the necessary paperwork.
Fortinbrasse tells the Captain to go softly so as not to arouse any suspicion of aggression.
hw 2743+1, to hw 2743+15- (Hamlet enters;
followed by Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and a couple of guards)
Hamlet: Good sir, whose powers are these?
Captain: They are of Norway, sir.
Hamlet: How purposed, sir, I pray you?
Capt: Against some part of Poland.
Hamlet: Who commands them, sir?
Capt: The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbrasse.
Hamlet: Goes it against the main of Poland, sir,
Or for some frontier?
Capt: Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name;
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.
---
The some part of Poland is the non-Polish part of Poland, the part in Denmark.
Hamlet knows the name, Fortinbrasse.
Hamlet finds it odd that the Norwegian troops would be in Denmark on their way to Poland, thus he asks about some frontier area. This is no way to get to the main body of Poland.
The Captain replies with typical soldier talk about a foreign objective of little personal interest to him, except in service to his nation. He says that, as far as he's concerned, Elsinore has no profit in it but the name, and he, personally, wouldn't give five ducats for the place. All the Castle stonework makes it too rocky to plow, for a farm, he says. The Captain's remarks are the author's satire of Windsor Castle, by the way.
Ranker means "higher," in soldier talk. A higher rank is "ranker."
hw 2743+16, to hw 2743+23- Hamlet: Why, then the Polack never will defend it.
Capt: Yes, it is already garrisoned.
Hamlet: Two thousand souls, & twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate the question of this straw;
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir.
Capt: God buy you, sir.
(the Captain exits)
---
The word Polack was not the insult in Elizabethan times that it later became. It was not a compliment, since the Danes and Poles were traditional enemies, but it's a general reference to Poland as Hamlet uses the term.
The Captain can see from where he's standing that Elsinore is garrisoned.
Hamlet's two thousand and twenty thousand are false precision. The Elizabethans sometimes used specific numbers merely to mean "a lot." The numbers they used for that seem mostly to have involved two and four, so punning is a likely source of the practice: four/for, and two/too/to. Hamlet means "many men" and "much money."
Debate means "argue verbally," and the line is read with stress on debate. Hamlet means the men are not merely going to argue the disagreement verbally, they're going to fight.
All Hamlet has been able to achieve so far is talk. As he sees Fortinbrasse taking action, and not merely talking, Hamlet says it's eating him up inside, it's "killing him" as the saying goes. An impostume is an abscess. Hamlet means it hurts him like a disease abscess growing inside him. This is still "Doctor Hamlet" talking, now diagnosing himself. Hamlet sees Fortinbrasse entering Denmark with an army, while he's being escorted away from the land his father fought for, by R & G, and the difference is pathetic.
Q2 leaves the Captain's exit implicit; I add it explicitly.
hw 2743+24, to hw 2743+38- Rosencrantz: Will it please you go, my Lord?
Hamlet: I'll be with you straight, go a little before.
(Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the guards walk ahead a distance)
(Hamlet continues):
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge. What is a man
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused; now whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
(A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom,
And ever three parts coward,) I do not know
Why yet I live to say "this thing's to do,"
---
Occasions are happenings, events. Inform is used to mean "take form," or "take shape." Hamlet says that everything which happens shapes up against him. He's unsure what Fortinbrasse is doing, but he has suspicion of the Poland story.
Spur takes more the meaning of "spurn," (I do not suggest it's a misprint.) "Spur away" from him, is the idea. Hamlet, the "steed," is being spurred farther away from the object of his revenge. Dull is on the "edge" concept. He's being spurred away, and the "edge" of his revenge is dull.
Fust means to grow moldy, from disuse. Hamlet means that with the intelligence God gave him, he should be able to think of some good idea to get Claudius.
Craven mean "cowardly." Of means "from," and too precisely means "in too much detail." Hamlet ascribes his failure, so far, to either being as stupid as a beast, or cowardice. He's berating himself.
Hamlet says he doesn't know why he hasn't achieved revenge against Claudius yet, and that's exactly it. There's too much he doesn't know, including things he thinks he knows, which aren't true. He has high intelligence, but intelligence without facts is useless. For example, if he knew that Claudius is Gertrude's King Pork Chop, it would be a different story.
hw 2743+39, to hw 2743+60- Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do it; examples gross as earth exhort me;
Witness this army of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed,
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal, and unsure,
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare;
Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great,
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honor's at the stake; how stand I, then,
That have a father killed, a mother stained,
Excitements of my reason, and my blood,
And let all sleep, while to my shame I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain; O from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth.
(Hamlet exits)
---
Sith means "because." Hamlet does have a cause, and the desire, and the strength, and his own sword, but what he has not had, is a good opportunity. This is on the Fortune theme.
Delicate and tender means "mortal and young." Fortinbrasse is young, and an ordinary mortal, like Hamlet, and could be killed in battle. The great advantage which Fortinbrasse has, and Hamlet doesn't know about, is that crafty old Norway is providing Fortinbrasse with whole-hearted material and financial support. It's vastly different from Hamlet's relationship with Claudius, and it makes a vast difference in achievement. There's a difference in whether an uncle gives you an army, or he tries to kill you.
Spirit, with divine ambition alludes to the Ghost. Invisible event means one's own death, which one cannot foresee. There is also allusion to the Ghost in Gertrude's closet, which she couldn't see.
Eggshell means "a trivial thing, of little value." It refers to what the Captain said about the army's goal, that it was something of little value. There is also allusion to the human body as an eggshell.
Hamlet says that greatness is not found only in great causes, but also in small causes when honor is at stake. There's nothing great about the mere fact of killing Claudius. Claudius, in his age and condition, wouldn't make a serious opponent for any soldier in battle, and it's hardly a great deed only to dispose of Claudius. For Hamlet, the only greatness about killing Claudius is that it's a point of honor. Hamlet has trouble motivating himself on that, alone. Hamlet, like Fortinbrasse, has his youthful dreams of glory, but Hamlet's "dragon" to slay, is a mouse.
With how stand I, then Hamlet means both how he stands in relation to things, and also why he's standing at all, why he isn't dead. On the latter, he's questioning why he hasn't killed Claudius even where it would result in his own death.
Fantasy means "dream" or "daydream." Trick means "allure," although the word usage is ironic. Hamlet is talking about the dreams of glory of Fortinbrasse and his men, but Hamlet says "trick." He has doubts about such glory.
Twenty thousand is another instance of false precision. The number is not to be taken literally. Hamlet means "many men."
Graves like beds is on the concept of death being like sleep. Continent means "land area," for the graves of those slain in battle.
Not tomb enough . . . To hide the slain is allusion to the Ghost emerging from the tomb of Hamlet Sr, which is what Hamlet believes.
Bloody means "murderous." Using the example of Fortinbrasse and his army, Hamlet encourages himself, that if he gets another chance at Claudius, he'll take it.
End of Scene 15
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