|
. the Tragical History of . H A M L E T . Prince of Denmark .
(Notes)
- Scene 16 [~ Baker's Daughter ~] (Act 4 scene 5)
hw 2744- Setting: Inside the Castle;
The Throne Room;
Daytime.
(Gertrude enters;
Horatio enters, accompanied by a certain Gentleman.)
---
This Scene is in the Throne Room, because when Laertes challenges Claudius it's symbolically required to have the King's Throne in the background for the audience to see. The time is about the middle of the day, giving time in the morning for Laertes to recruit his mob, and with time remaining in the afternoon for Claudius and Laertes to talk to Laertes's friends.
The Folio made a dreadful blunder in leaving out this Gentleman with a capital "G." It's extremely rude to leave the author out of his own play.
hw 2744, to hw 2747- Gertrude: I will not speak with her.
Gentleman: She is importunate,
Indeed distract; her mood will needs be pitied.
---
Gertrude doesn't want to speak to Ophelia because she's very worried about Hamlet, and about her plans going the way she wants them to. She has enough on her mind at this time.
One must pay the strictest attention to exactly what the Gentleman says. He knows what he's talking about.
Importunate means "insistent," or "troublesome," or "forward," as in, "The forward violet . . ." Distract implies madness, and he says she should be pitied, for some reason.
hw 2748, to hw 2758- Gertrude: What would she have?
Gentleman: She speaks much of her father, says she hears
There's tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart,
Spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt
That carry but half sense; her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection; they yawn at it,
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts,
Which as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them,
Indeed would make one think there might be thought,
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
---
Gertrude asks what Ophelia wants, but the Gentleman declines to specify. He says Ophelia speaks much of her father, but he doesn't say in what way.
The Gentleman says There's tricks in the world. When one of the greatest masters of words who has ever lived says, "there's tricks in the world," you had better watch out! - especially when he says it in Hamlet.
For Ophelia, what sort of tricks would she worry about? Well, it would be a horrible trick if Polonius weren't really dead. She thinks Hamlet tricked her when he told her he loved her. When they say Hamlet killed her father, maybe that's a trick, too.
Ophelia goes "hm" and hits herself on the chest. She Spurns enviously at straws, that is, she acts irritable over small things. Ophelia, of all people, being irritable? That's a change. Doubt means "suspicion;" she seems suspicious.
Yawn means "gape." Ophelia says things that the listeners gape at.
The hearers botch the words up. That is a warning, straight from the author. Be extremely careful in trying to understand what Ophelia says, or you'll botch it up.
The author stepped in for a brief appearance to give his readers a warning that what he's done with Ophelia is quite different from what the reader would normally think. He thought a caution was only fair. He was a good man, and a fine Gentleman.
hw 2759, to hw 2761- Horatio: 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
(Gertrude nods;
the Gentleman fades from view, like a ghost in his own Hamlet)
(Horatio continues): Let her come in.
---
Horatio cautions that what Ophelia says and does may strew Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. That's another warning. Keep your ill-breeding mind in check, lest you reach a wrong conclusion about Ophelia.
Gertrude simply nods, and Horatio gives the order to the doorman. The Gentleman picks up his pen and tablet, and continues writing for his characters.
hw 2762, to hw 2765- (Ophelia enters)
Gertrude (aside): `To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
- `Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss,
`So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
`It spills itself, in fearing to be spilt.
---
The marks before each line in Gertrude's speech are there in the original, and identify it as an aside, not spoken to Ophelia. I leave the marks as in the original, but also expressly identify it as an aside.
Gertrude says that the true nature of sin is a sickness in the soul. She's sick at heart about Hamlet. Toy means "idea," something the mind plays with. Prologue goes back to the Mousetrap play, when the "Prologue" there led into Hamlet's great amiss, when the trap missed Claudius, who got away.
Artless goes back to "more matter with less art." Gertrude's feeling of guilt is all matter, no art. In other words, her feeling of guilt is deep and sincere. Jealousy means a feeling of ill will against a person. She now feels guilty, and sinful, about marrying Claudius, under her plan to help Hamlet, but she has to be extremely careful about letting Claudius sense that she blames him for Hamlet's trouble. Gertrude is hoping Fortinbrasse gets there soon.
Ophelia's entry is correct in Q2. She's dancing a little, and looking around, as Gertrude speaks to the audience.
The events leading up to Ophelia's behavior in this Scene are as follows.
* She and Hamlet noticed each other after he returned for his father's funeral. They spent some time together, and fell in love. He proposed, and she accepted. They kept their engagement secret.- * Laertes, when he left for France, cautioned her that Hamlet's only interest in her was sexual. He based his notion on what Polonius had said to him, and on his own expectations of sexual adventure in Paris.
- * Polonius repeated what Laertes had said, and forbade her even to talk to Hamlet.
- * Hamlet, after his nightmare, rushed to her room to see that she was alive and well. His behavior frightened and worried her.
- * She went to her father seeking an explanation for Hamlet's behavior, and hoping for permission to talk to Hamlet again.
- * Polonius's explanation, as best she could understand it, was that Hamlet's love for her had been destroyed, and Hamlet now "hated" her, and it was because she had obeyed her father in not seeing or communicating with Hamlet.
- * Polonius said he would go to the King. That, in itself, meant nothing in particular to her, since he always went to the King about everything.
- * Polonius took away her love letters from Hamlet, including those she had in her clothing next to her heart, tearing her garments in doing so. He then locked her, crying, in her room. He made no understandable explanation.
- * Her father made her give back the precious, small gifts Hamlet had given her, as her father and Claudius listened to the conversation. Hamlet was supposed to refuse the return of the gifts, and announce his love for her, under her father's plan. Hamlet did take the gifts back, however, and behaved hatefully to her, which left her crushed. She then had a deep, unexpressed hatred of her father, and secretly hoped he would die. She wanted Polonius out of her life.
- * She began planning to go to a nunnery, as Hamlet had told her to do. It seemed the best thing.
- * At the Mousetrap play, Hamlet sat beside her, and was much more pleasant to her, although his choice of subject matter was improper. She was very glad to see him happier, and was not much offended by his apparent sexual interest in her, since she loves him.
- * She was told the next day that Hamlet, "in his madness," had killed her father.
- * She was thrilled beyond words. The man she loves has killed her hated father; her knight has slain the dragon. It seemed too good to be true, and she suspected people were trying to trick her somehow with a false story, until she saw Polonius's funeral for herself, with her own eyes.
- * Although it seemed Hamlet no longer loved her, he apparently did want sex with her. That's now fine with her, and instead of going to the nunnery, she now waits at Elsinore for Hamlet to return.
hw 2766, to hw 2770- Ophelia: Where is the beauteous Majesty of Denmark?
Gertrude: How now, Ophelia?
Ophelia (sings):
How should I your true love know from another one?
By his cockle hat and staff, and his sendal shoon.
---
Gertrude is the beauteous Majesty of Denmark of the moment, so in plain reading Ophelia is addressing her. Ophelia additionally alludes to Hamlet, whom she earlier called the "expectancy of the fair state." There is further allusion to Elsinore, which has become hardly beauteous with the way things are. (There might also be topical allusion to King James's Queen Anne, of Denmark. Queen Anne was in Britain as early as 1590 or so, and was in England at the time Q2 was printed, where Hamlet has gone in the play. If Anne were taken to be the "beauteous Majesty of Denmark," in a topical allusion, the answer to the question would be: in England.)
Ophelia sings the first line of her song to Hamlet, asking how she, his true love, should know him from someone else. In this undertone, of her singing to Hamlet, the word "you" is implicit after know. In the second line of her verse, Ophelia answers her own question, saying she would know Hamlet by the things mentioned.
A cockle is a seashell, and here a scallop shell is meant. The scallop shell is a symbol of a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James of Compostela. A pilgrim is one who journeys; Ophelia is saying that her true love, Hamlet, has gone on a journey, which she casts as a pilgrimage. (The scallop shell, implying a "James," might be topical allusion to King James I of England.)
A staff or walking stick would be typical of pilgrims.
Sendal is a silken fabric known since the Middle Ages, and which is mentioned by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales General Prologue. Shoon is an archaic plural of "shoe," so it simply means "shoes." The phrase sendal shoon means "silk slippers."
Ophelia says that Hamlet would have the scallop shell on his hat, the same as all the other pilgrims. He would also have a staff, or walking stick, the same as the rest. However, if one looked at the feet, all of the other pilgrims would be wearing ordinary sandals, but Hamlet would be wearing silk slippers. Ophelia says that's how she would know Hamlet from another one. Among all the sandals, she would see a pair of silk slippers, and that would be Hamlet.
This "silk slippers" mention by Ophelia goes along with Hamlet mentioning "turning Turk" when he was talking to Horatio after the Mousetrap play. The classic turkish slipper, or "persian slipper," is a cloth shoe of satin or silk.
Ophelia has sought out Gertrude to sing to, about Hamlet being on a journey, because Saint Gertrude of Nivelles is a patron of pilgrims and travelers. It's Ophelia's way of "praying" - to (Saint) Gertrude - for Hamlet to have a safe trip. This is another "Gertrude" name association in the play. Also, Ophelia will sing about her dead father, and St Gertrude of N is additionally a patron of the recently dead.
Ophelia sings your true love to Gertrude, because she has perceived that Gertrude loves Hamlet, but not Claudius. Ophelia knows that only Gertrude's love for Hamlet is true.
hw 2771, to hw 2774+1- Gertrude: Alas, sweet Lady, what imports this song?
Ophelia: Say you? Nay, pray you, mark:
(sings):
He is dead & gone, Lady, he is dead and gone;
At his head a grassgreen turf, at his heels a stone.
(exclaims): Oh ho!
---
Gertrude asks what the song means; Ophelia tells her to pay attention. Ophelia then sings about her father being dead and buried.
When Ophelia exclaims Oh ho! the actress should, if she's athletic enough, jump and click her heels. If the actress is not that athletic, she should hop and raise her hands in the air, or do some other action that suggests "jumping for joy."
Her phrase, Oh ho! is an exclamation of delight.
hw 2775, to hw 2782- Gertrude: Nay, but Ophelia . . .
Ophelia: Pray you, mark!
(sings):
White his shroud as the mountain snow.
(Claudius enters)
Gertrude: Alas, look here, my Lord.
Ophelia (sings):
Larded all with sweet flowers,
Which bewept to the ground did not go
With true love showers.
---
Ophelia continues singing about her father being dead, asking Gertrude to pay attention. After asking Gertrude to pay attention, Ophelia adds the word not to the song. Her tears for Polonius were not a shower of love. But she liked the flowers.
There's more than one kind of tears - tears of joy, for example.
Ophelia says mark! to Gertrude; Ophelia has become a little bossy to the royalty, like Polonius was.
Larded appears to offer a slight undertone to the Danish story of Amleth, where the character analogous to Polonius was fed to the pigs.
Ophelia is so overjoyed that her mean, hateful father is dead, that she can't suppress it. Social standards, and her own conscience, prevent her from saying it openly. Her feelings emerge through song and symbol.
hw 2783, to hw 2786- Claudius: How do you, pretty Lady?
Ophelia: Well; God dild you; they say the owl was a baker's daughter;
Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.
God be at your table.
---
The word dild is, apparently, from the Italian "diletto," meaning "delight." Ophelia's remark sounds nice to Claudius.
However, the word dild, in more familiar form, is correctly "dildo." Lest anybody faint, it's an obsolete term for the refrain of a song, used by the author elsewhere, in The Winter's Tale. Ophelia has just sung about her father's death, as the verse to her song. She is saying to Claudius that she hopes God will make his death the refrain to her song, or in other words, she's saying she hopes God will kill Claudius, so that she can sing about it. Her father's death, followed by Claudius's death, would make her song complete, both stanza and refrain, she says. Here, her remark is read, "God refrain you," that is, "may God make your death the refrain to my song about my father's death."
That being said, the use of the word "dildos" in The Winter's Tale is in a sexually suggestive context, where there is mention of "scurrilous" words being used in songs. People may sometimes suppose the more unseemly words they know were invented last year; not true. The more common modern word is not irrelevant. In this allusion, Ophelia's remark can be read simply as "God f--k you." She has just said that straight to the King's face.
And then Ophelia does a little dance step. And Claudius stands there and smiles.
The Gentleman did warn you: There's tricks in the world.
In legend, a baker's daughter gave too little bread to Jesus, and was turned into an owl for her lack of charity. Ophelia means she gave too little to her "saviour" earlier, but now she's an owl, she's wiser. When she gets another chance, she's going to give everything she has to her saviour. Her "saviour" now is Hamlet, who has saved her from her hated father by killing him.
Ophelia says she knows what she is now - she's the owl - but she doesn't know what she'll be in the future. She uses the royal "we." She's dreaming of being Hamlet's queen, but she doesn't know if Hamlet will marry her.
Table is from Latin "tabula," meaning a flat surface for inscriptions. An inscribed slab, in Hamlet, is a gravestone, of course. At means "at work on;" the usage is the same as in a familiar phrase such as, "you should be at your homework." Ophelia means, as she speaks to Claudius, "I hope God is at work on your gravestone (now.)" She's telling Claudius she hopes he dies soon. To Claudius, it sounds like she's blessing his dinner.
hw 2787, to hw 2793- Claudius: Conceit upon her father.
Ophelia: Pray, let's have no words of this, but when they ask you
what it means, say you this:
(sings):
Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day,
All in the morning, betime,
And I, a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donned his clothes, and 'dupt the chamber door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid, never departed more.
---
Claudius is right that it has something to do with Polonius's death, but he's mistaken as to how.
When Claudius mentions her father, Ophelia replies that she doesn't want to hear a word about him. She then says that if a person wants to know what the "baker's daughter" statement meant, the Valentine song is the answer.
Ophelia sings that when Hamlet returns, it's going to be his Valentine's Day. She'll go to his window and knock, be admitted, and she'll leave his room no longer a maiden, no longer a virgin. She's wishing it could be as soon as Tomorrow.
There was a superstition that the first girl a fellow saw on Valentine's Day would be his true love. Ophelia intends to try to make Hamlet love her again, however she can.
hw 2794, to hw 2803- Claudius: Pretty, Ophelia.
Ophelia: Indeed! Without an oath, I'll make an end on it;
(sings):
By gis and by Saint Charity,
alack, and fie, for shame,
Young men will do't if they come to't,
by cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she: Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed;
(He answers): So would I 'a done by yonder sun,
And thou hadst not come to my bed.
---
Claudius compliments Ophelia's song about wanting to have sex with Hamlet, calling it Pretty. She emphatically agrees.
Oath means a marriage vow, and it means virginity. Ophelia says she'll end her virginity without a marriage vow from Hamlet.
Gis is a corrupted form of "Jesus." Saint Charity was tortured and killed as a child; this alludes to the earlier mentions of Jephthah, who killed his daughter as a burnt offering.
Cock means both "God," and also what one would suppose it means. Ophelia says, they are to blame; she does not say "he." She is saying she won't blame Hamlet for his sexual behavior, but rather the nature of young men in general.
Yonder means "distant," and sun provides another sun/son pun. Hamlet, the son, is far away.
Bed has a "grave" undertone. Instead of Hamlet's bed for Ophelia, it will be the grave, and the eternal sleep of death.
In undertone, the He, who answers Ophelia's song, is god, the god of Hamlet, the aforementioned Gentleman. He would have wed her, to "far away son, Hamlet," except that Ophelia must go to the bed He has prepared for her, her grave. In this undertone, the exchange between Ophelia and "god," in the she - he part, is as follows.
~~~~~~~- Quoth she (Ophelia): Before you tumbled me, from the willow tree
- into the brook, and drowned me, you promised me as wife
to wed to Hamlet.
- He, the god of Hamlet, answers: If I could have, I would have done so, wed
- you, as you stood beside the faraway son, Hamlet, and then you
wouldn't have come to my "bed," the grave I've prepared for you.
- ~~~~~~~
So, the undertone is a dialogue between Ophelia and the author, where she complains about him killing her, after engaging her to Hamlet, and the author answers that he would have wed her to Hamlet, if he could have, but that isn't how the story has to go.
In plain reading, tumbled means touseled in bed by sexual activity.
You promised me to wed is further confirmation that Hamlet and Ophelia were engaged. She has doubts now that Hamlet will marry her after his Valentine's Day, but that won't stop her from knocking at Hamlet's window when he returns.
hw 2704, to hw 2810- Claudius: How long hath she been thus?
Ophelia: I hope all will be well; we must be patient; but I cannot choose
but weep to think they would lay him in the cold ground; my brother
shall know of it; and so, I thank you for your good counsel. Come
my coach; God night, Ladies, god night.
Sweet Ladies, god night, god night.
(Ophelia exits)
---
Gertrude doesn't know how long Ophelia has been that way. Ophelia was crying quietly at Polonius's funeral, and taking an interest in the flowers, particularly the rosemary, for remembrance.
Ophelia says she hopes all will be well with her and Hamlet. She says she must be patient for Hamlet's return.
She says she can't choose but weep to think of Polonius dead and buried. However, there are different kinds of tears: tears of joy, for one.
Ophelia says Laetes will hear about it. We'll see later what she "tells" Laertes.
In her next sentence, in undertone, the word you means Hamlet, and counsel refers to Polonius. Good counsel means "dead Polonius." The your goes back to Hamlet saying "mine own" when talking to R & G, when they were trying to get him to tell where Polonius's body was. Ophelia is thanking Hamlet for presenting her with his dead Polonius.
I leave the phrase god night as in the original Q2 printing of Hamlet. The words "god" and "good" were much closer in Elizabethan times than they are now, and occasionally amounted to the same word. There is no real point to changing it, and the author wanted the phrase that way. There is plausible allusion to a night/knight pun, and to Hamlet, the "black knight," playing god by killing Polonius.
Ophelia calls for her coach, and departs like a princess in a fairy tale. Such a fairy tale would be about a downtrodden maiden whose dreams have come true.
Ophelia's exit is left implicit in Q2. I add it explicitly. Once could surmise, the author did not like making Ophelia exit, and he left it out intentionally.
hw 2811, to hw 2812- Claudius: Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you.
---
Claudius's instruction is to nobody in particular. It is best addressed to Gertrude's ladies-in-waiting. The ladies-in-waiting are present without an entry in the original playtext printing, since they are in the background, not in a speaker's position on the stage. One must always keep in mind what the entries mean in the original playtext. Characters can be onstage without an enter, and especially extras.
The Gentleman must not have an exit in any Hamlet printing. It would not be proper to give him an exit in any Shakespeare play. Although usually unseen, he is always there.
Watch has allusion to the watch of the sentinels, and Hamlet and Horatio, when they saw the Ghost. Ophelia is now under watch. The earlier watch led to a ghost.
One could take it that Horatio follows Ophelia, however, that conflicts with something later in the play, a small remark by Hamlet. Horatio remains, as a witness to Laertes's behavior.
hw 2813, to hw 2823- Oh, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs all from her father's
death, and now behold; O Gertrude, Gertrude,
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions. First her father slain,
Next, your son gone, and he most violent Author
Of his own just remove; the people muddied,
Thick and unwholesome in thoughts, and whispers
For good Polonius' death. And we have done but greenly
In huggermugger to inter him. Poor Ophelia
Divided from herself, and her fair judgment,
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts;
---
Claudius's poison line has an undertone of truth, as far as the poison is concerned, that his poisoning of his brother is spreading death and madness throughout Elsinore. His poisoning was Wormwood, which has fallen into the river of time at Elsinore, and is poisoning all the "rivals" who drink from the river of the night.
Claudius is wrong that it all springs from Polonius's death. What Ophelia's behavior springs from, is Polonius's life the way he lived it.
The word springs apparently has advance allusion to Ophelia's fatal brook, likely spring fed. Poison of deep grief has allusion to Hamlet, in Claudius's slander campaign against Hamlet, characterizing Hamlet's normal grief as a dangerous, abnormal, poisonous thing.
For Claudius, it's all a good opportunity to whine, and he does.
Claudius's remark about not single spies, but battalions is allusion to what Fortinbrasse is doing. When the Captain was in the Castle he used the opportunity to have a good look at whatever he could see of it, to provide information to Fortinbrasse's battalions.
Claudius can't pass up the opportunity to mention that it was Hamlet's own fault he was sent away. That is hardly the whole truth.
We see that Thick follows muddied, giving a figure of speech of dark, dirty water versus light, pure water; this confirms the "dark" meaning of "thick" when Claudius spoke of his hand in the Prayer Scene. Thick and unwholesome thoughts are dark and unhealthy thoughts.
Claudius says good Polonius. Since Polonius died, everybody is calling him good. Greenly means "recently." There is allusion to a new, green plant; Polonius is a new, recently set "plant." This is on the gardening motif of the play, in association of St Gertrude of N, a patron of gardeners. In huggermugger means "secretly." First Hamlet hid Polonius's body, then Claudius hid it as best he could while having some kind of funeral service. Claudius might as well have left Polonius hidden under the stairs where Hamlet put him. This is an irony, intended in the play, that first Claudius insisted on knowing where Polonius's body was, and then he tried as best he could to hide it, himself.
Pictures and beasts allude to things Hamlet has said.
hw 2824, to hw 2833- Last, and as much containing as all these:
Her brother is in secret come from France,
Feeds on this wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speechs of his father's death,
Wherein necessity, of matter beggared,
Will nothing stick our person to arraign
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this,
Like to a murdering piece, in many places
Gives me superfluous death.
(loud noises are heard inside the Castle)
---
The offstage travel times are adjusted for dramatic purposes in coordination with the onstage flow of events, so the duration of an actual trip from Paris to Elsinore is irrelevant for Laertes's arrival, and the real calendar amount of time spent by Laertes in Paris is also of no consequence.
The wonder is everybody's wonder, their curiosity, about the way Claudius has handled the death of Polonius. Laertes is feeding on that wonder, as he hears all sorts of speculation about it.
Clouds means Laertes is keeping out of sight from Claudius. It goes back to Claudius asking Hamlet why the clouds still hung on him, during Claudius's first day of business as King. Claudius means he can't "see" Laertes to understand him.
Buzzers are gossipers and rumormongers. Infect his ear is allusion to Claudius's poisoning of his brother.
Claudius says the gossips, who have no facts, are blaming him, because of their ignorance. Necessity means "as a necessary conclusion," arrived at because they don't know of any other possibilites. Of matter beggared means that the gossips have no facts, that they're "poor" on facts.
Will nothing stick means they'll stop at nothing, and arraign means to accuse, in plain reading. The gossips will stop at nothing, to accuse Claudius, as the rumors go from one person's ear to another. There is allusion to Reynaldo in Paris, as he went around slandering Laertes, under Polonius's orders.
Arraign puns with "a reign." Claudius says the gossips will not adhere his person to a reign, meaning the talk is a threat to him keeping himself "stuck" to his throne.
A murdering piece was a cannon that fired many pieces of small shot, like a huge shotgun. Claudius complains that the rumors are hitting him all over, figuratively speaking, and "killing" his good name. In reference to the rumors going to many ears, there is the undertone of Claudius's knowledge that a murder once in the ear is adequate for the job, and more in more ears is superfluous.
The rumor going around is that Claudius is responsible for Polonius's death, and Hamlet was sent away because he knew that.
hw 2834, to hw 2837- (a Messenger enters)
Claudius: Attend! Where is my Swissers? Let them guard the door!
---
The Swissers are Swiss mercenary soldiers. The Swiss were active throughout Europe as mercenaries. Claudius has hired Swiss as his personal guard. He doesn't trust the native Danes to guard him. At this time, Claudius's Swiss guards are being held outside by Laertes's mob. The modern spelling is "Switzers," but there is no overwhelming need to change the spelling, to convey the meaning, so I leave it as originally printed. Attend! means "attention!"
hw 2838, to hw 2848- What is the matter?
Messenger: Save yourself, my Lord!
The ocean, over-peering of his list
Eats not the flats with more impiteous haste
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
O'er-bears your officers. The rabble call him "Lord,"
And, as the world were now but to begin,
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
(The ratifiers and props of every word;)
The cry: "Choose we! Laertes shall be King!"
Caps, hands, and tongues applaud it to the clouds.
"Laertes shall be King, Laertes, King!"
---
Over-peering means "rising above," and list means "proper boundaries." The imagery is as though the ocean and the land were "peers," meaning equals in height, but the ocean has unjustly risen above its fellow peer, the land, and is overflowing the land. Eats is on the "feasting" motif of the play. Flats are flat, low-lying areas of land.
Riotous head means both that Laertes, himself, is hot headed and is in a riotous mood, and also refers to Laertes being the head, the leader, of the riotous mob he's recruited.
The word is the word of law. Antiquity refers to tradition, and custom refers to customary legal and political procedures. Claudius, when he murdered his brother, ignored the traditions and customs of the word of law, and now he's threatened by disregard of the law.
The messenger shouts it out, three times, about Laertes being King, as though he were advocating it, himself. Perhaps he does. He is shouting, Laertes shall be King! right in front of Claudius.
hw 2849, to hw 2852- Gertrude: How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!
(more loud noises are heard)
(Gertrude continues):
Oh, this is counter, you false Danish dogs!
(Laertes enters, escorted by town ruffians)
Claudius: The doors are broke.
---
A dog that's following a scent trail goes counter when it gets confused and goes the wrong direction, back toward the start. Gertrude means the Danish rabble led by Laertes is going the wrong way according to her plan for Hamlet to become King.
Observe Claudius's remark that the Castle doors are broken. If a hostile military force attacked the Castle, in the next day or two, they could charge right in.
hw 2853, to hw 2856- Laertes: Where is this King? Sirs, stand you all, without.
Ruffians: No, let's come in!
Laertes: I pray you, give me leave.
Ruffians: We will, we will.
---
Earlier, when Hamlet took notice of the word "mob-led" during the Player's recital, he rejected the idea of trying to raise a mob to take action against Claudius, because of the potential threat to Gertrude. However, as it turns out, Laertes easily controls his mob, so Hamlet could have done the same. This is an intentional irony in the play. Hamlet could have done the same as Laertes does here, but Hamlet didn't know that.
hw 2857, to hw 2859- Laer: I thank you; keep the door; O thou vile King,
Give me my father.
(Gertrude steps between Laertes and Claudius)
Gertrude: Calmly, good Laertes.
---
Laertes tells his followers to control the door.
Gertrude moves to protect Claudius. It is not that she's concerned about the personal safety of King Pork Chop, for his own sake, but if Laertes deposes Claudius, and becomes King, it will ruin her plan for Hamlet to be King. Her bold action is on her son's behalf.
hw 2860, to hw 2864- Laertes: That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard,
Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot
Even here between the chaste, unsmirched brow
Of my true mother.
---
Laertes says he has only one drop of blood that's calm, and describes that drop as an insult to his family. His verbiage somewhat reflects Hamlet's lecture to Gertrude in the Closet Scene.
hw 2865, to hw 2872- Claudius: What is the cause, Laertes,
That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
Let him go, Gertrude, do not fear our person;
There's such divinity doth hedge a King,
That treason can but peep to what it would;
Act's little of his will; tell me, Laertes,
Why thou art thus incensed; let him go, Gertrude.
Speak, man.
---
Claudius says giant-like as a denial that the rebellion Laertes is leading is a true threat to him. There is allusion to the Titans trying to take Olympus, in mythology.
Claudius tells Gertrude to let go of Laertes. Claudius doesn't care if Gertrude has hold of Laertes or not, as long as she's between them.
The divinity that's protecting Claudius at the moment is Gertrude. In undertone, Claudius is thanking God that Gertrude is there, otherwise he'd be a dead duck. Claudius is acting brave because he knows Laertes won't hit a woman.
Gertrude is the same "divinity" who protected Claudius in the Prayer Scene, in the sense that Hamlet's desire to talk to her before killing Claudius was a factor that kept Claudius alive then. Claudius's language alludes back to the Prayer Scene, when Hamlet refrained from killing Claudius at prayer.
Act is a poetic absolute, the idea of "act" personified. The line means that Act, the facility of action, is only a small part of its own will, it's own desire. It's a roundabout or poetic way of saying that desire is greater than action, that people want to do more than they really do.
Hedge means to protect, like a hedge fence. Incensed means "inflamed," with anger. There is allusion to incense, a substance that, when burned, produces more smoke than fire.
Claudius again tells Gertrude to let go of Laertes, but Claudius is not moving to get any closer to Laertes.
hw 2873, to hw 2883- Laer: Where is my father?
Claudius: Dead.
Gertrude: But not by him!
Claudius: Let him demand his fill.
Laer: How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with!
To Hell allegiance, vows to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged
Most throughly for my father.
---
Claudius is entirely confident he can talk his way out of the situation, since he is indeed not directly responsible for Polonius's death. He answers Laertes briefly and directly.
Gertrude speaks up to protect Claudius for Hamlet's sake.
Laertes embarks on boisterous rhetoric, instead of asking sensible questions. He does ask how Polonius died, but then he makes a speech instead of listening for the answer.
Juggled with means "toyed with," or "manipulated." Both the worlds are both the world of the living, and the afterlife of the soul. There is the ominous undertone that Laertes's negligence could cost him both his life and soul.
hw 2883, to hw 2887- Claudius: Who shall stay you?
Laer: My will, not all the world's!
And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far with little.
---
Claudius asks who will stop Laertes, and Laertes replies that the only one who can stop him, is himself. However, Gertrude is standing there, and she has big, tough Laertes stopped like he hit a stone wall.
Husband means "manage," and means means "resources." Laertes is already beginning to surrender, admitting he has little in the way of resources to challenge Claudius for the crown.
hw 2888, to hw 2897- Clau: Good Laertes, if you desire to know the certainty
Of your dear father, is it writ in your revenge,
That sweepstake, you will draw both friend and foe,
Winner and loser?
Laer: None but his enemies.
Claudius: Will you know them, then?
Laer: To his good friends, thus wide I'll ope' my arms,
And like the kind, life-rendering pelican,
Repast them with my blood.
---
Sweepstake is reference to a gambling game where the winner takes all the money bet, no matter if money was wagered by friend or foe of the winner. The idea of a wager alludes to the later fencing match.
Laertes replies that he will take only from his enemies. Claudius asks if Laertes will know his enemies.
Instead of replying to the point, Laertes makes a speech about a pelican. Claudius is assured by Laertes's reply that the answer to his question is essentially: no. There was a myth about the pelican that it fed its chicks with its own blood. The idea of Laertes feeding his "friends" with his own blood anticipates the fencing match.
Laertes opens his arms wide, unintentionally imitating the posture of Christ on the cross. It's reminiscent of the Ghost's gesture when Horatio "crossed" the Ghost.
hw 2898, to hw 2903- Claudius: Why, now you speak
- Like a good child, and a true gentleman.
That I am guiltless of your father's death,
And am most sensibly in grief for it,
It shall as level to your judgment 'pear
As day does to your eye.
---
A good child is an obedient child. Ophelia was obedient to Polonius, and we've seen what that brought her. Gertrude and Claudius both call Polonius "good" when he's dead, so Claudius's good child hints of "dead child," which anticipates Laertes's fate.
Claudius observes that Laertes did not answer his question, about Laertes knowing his enemies, in a sensible way. Claudius is now confident that he can manipulate Laertes.
Claudius carefully speaks of his grief for Polonius's death as "sensible." Claudius has to be careful on the subject of grief, since he has cast Hamlet's grief for his father as "madness." Claudius doesn't want people to think, based on his own propaganda about grief, that he's mad. However, a sincere person doesn't pause to classify his grief when he really feels it; he simply feels it, in the normal, human way. With his excuse, Claudius is unintentionally revealing that he feels no real grief about the death of Polonius.
'Pear puns with "peer," and goes back to the messenger's line about the ocean, with the idea of a peer as an equal. Claudius means both that he will appear guiltless to Laertes, and that he's equal to the task of proving his guiltlessness.
hw 2804, to hw 2916- (A noise is heard at the door;
Ophelia enters)
Laertes: Let her come in.
How now, what noise is that?
Oh, heat, dry up my brains, tears seven times salt
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
By Heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight
Till our scale turn the beam. O Rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
Oh, heavens, is it possible a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as a poor man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
---
It has sometimes been taken that Let her come in should be Claudius's line, (and the line is mistakenly made part of the stage direction in the Folio,) but that's an obvious editorial blunder. We know with certainty that it's Laertes's line - exactly as Q2 shows - because his followers control the door. Just above, after Laertes entered the room, he told them, "keep the door." Claudius is not in control of the door, Laertes is.
Ophelia enters looking a bit disheveled, dancing, and singing. She has always been very neat and prim, proper, and quiet, as Laertes has seen her. Laertes is astonished at Ophelia's appearance and behavior, and he immediately, before even talking to her, jumps to the conclusion that she has gone mad with grief over the death of Polonius.
The last three lines are only in the Folio. I accept them as credibly authorial, since they offer both relevant meaning and undertone. Instance means "part." As Laertes speaks the lines, he means Ophelia's rationality has died with Polonius because of the love Laertes presumes Ophelia had for Polonius. In undertone, there is allusion to Ophelia "sending" her heart after Hamlet on his trip to England.
In undertone, fine has the legal sense of "final," and the precious instance of nature is Hamlet. Nature is final about Hamlet loving Ophelia, and will send Hamlet after the thing he loves, Ophelia, into the grave.
hw 2817, to hw 2926- Ophelia (sings):
They bore him bare-faced on the bier,
And in his grave rained many a tear;
(speaks):
Fare you well, my dove!
Laer: Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge
It could not move thus.
Ophelia: You must sing a down, a down,
And you call him a down a. Oh, how the wheel becomes it!
It is the false steward that stole his master's daughter.
Laer: This nothing's more than matter.
---
With his last line, Laertes says that the meaninglessness he sees and hears tells him more than an explanation would. He's quite wrong about that.
Ophelia sings that they bore Polonius bare-faced. She could therefore recognize him and know that he was dead, so the news of his death was not a mean trick people were trying to play on her. She saw it for herself, that her hated father was really dead.
She sings that many tears fell into Polonius's grave, but there are different kinds of tears.
Ophelia says Fare you well, and symbolically releases a dove. A dove in flight is traditionally a good omen. She is symbolically showing Laertes that she thinks the death of Polonius is a good omen.
Laertes doesn't understand it.
Ophelia tells Laertes to sing a down. The letter "a" is used in the original printing of Hamlet to mean "he." So, a down means "he down," which in turn means, "he's dead (and buried.)" Down means "in a lower place," down in the ground. She wants Laertes to sing that Polonius is dead and buried.
She tells Laertes to call Polonius a down a. The first a means "a" and the second a means "he." Laertes is supposed to call Polonius "a down he" = a dead and buried man.
Wheel means "refrain." Ophelia is telling Laertes that his refrain, that he's supposed to sing, is becoming, or suitable, for her song about Polonius being borne on the bier. If Laertes would sing with her as she wants, the song would go as follows.
~~~~~~~- Ophelia: They bore him bare-faced on the bier,
- And in his grave rained many a tear.
- Laertes: He's dead and buried;
- He's dead and buried.
- ~~~~~~~
Ophelia is right, the refrain does suit the song. But Laertes won't sing with her. He's no fun.
The word wheel also alludes to the Wheel of Fortune. Ophelia thinks the Wheel has done a good turn for her with the death of Polonius.
There is a song construction where the verse is the "question" and the refrain is the "answer." In telling Laertes to sing the refrain, Ophelia is trying to get an "answer" from Laertes that she deems suitable, but he doesn't understand.
Ophelia says, It is the false steward that stole his Master's daughter. The word Master means "Jesus" and is properly capitalized. Ophelia was planning to go to the nunnery where she would be Jesus's daughter, instead of Polonius's. She was "stolen" from the nunnery when Hamlet killed Polonius, and she decided to stay at Elsinore to await Hamlet's return. She, Jesus's daughter, was "stolen" from the nunnery.
The false steward is Hamlet. Hamlet is a steward of Jesus, a servant of Jesus, as are all Christian men. Ophelia calls Hamlet false because he lied to her; she believes Hamlet lied when he said he loved her, and promised to marry her. So, false steward means "lying Hamlet."
Her statement means that lying Hamlet has stolen her, Jesus's daughter, from the nunnery.
The most infamous false steward of Jesus, or God, is Lucifer. Epithets such as "false servant" are euphemisms for the Devil. This is another hint about the Ghost.
Ophelia then gives Laertes flowers.
hw 2927, to hw 2936- Ophelia: There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you love,
remember; and there is pansies, that's for thoughts.
Laer: A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted.
Ophelia: There's fennel for you, and columbines; there's rue for
you, & here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace on Sundays;
you may wear your rue with a difference; there's a daisy; I would
give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died;
---
To know what the flowers mean, it is necessary to understand that Ophelia gives all the flowers to Laertes. All of the flowers are mentioned in two brief speeches by Ophelia, both of which are spoken to Laertes. The other characters only watch. The passage has been, and is, played differently in stage performance, but such stage performance is not correct to the authentic Hamlet.
The rosemary, as Ophelia states, is symbolic of remembrance, and especially so at funerals. The rosemary is flowers Ophelia has saved from Polonius's funeral. She gives all the rosemary to Laertes, keeping none for herself. She is telling Laertes that he can have all the remembrance of Polonius, and she doesn't want any remembrance of her father.
In sad undertone, the author is having Ophelia give Laertes the rosemary, and other flowers, so he'll have flowers for her funeral. Otherwise, Laertes, the foolish oaf, might not have any flowers for his sister, so the author was making sure that he would.
Also, Ophelia is spoken of as "Rose of May," and "mary" puns with "marry." The fact that Ophelia gives away all the rosemary is the author telling us that his Rose of May will never marry. Ophelia ends up with no "Rose marry" for herself.
In traditional flower meanings, the pansy does symbolize thoughts, as Ophelia states. Ophelia gives all the thoughts of Polonius to Laertes; she does not want any thoughts of her father, either.
The author had Ophelia expressly state the meanings of the rosemary and pansy to inform the reader that traditional flower meanings are being used for the flowers. So, to get the basic meanings for all of Ophelia's flowers, we must look to the traditional meanings in English folklore. The author was not limited to those traditional meanings, as we've already seen with the rosemary/"Rose marry" pun, but it's the first place to look, to decipher the flowers.
Laertes's word fitted means "tangled in a fit (of madness.)" He doesn't understand the flowers, and Ophelia's behavior looks like madness to him.
Fennel has the traditional meaning of "have open eyes" or "see clearly." Ophelia is telling Laertes to open his eyes, and see clearly that the flowers she is giving him are symbolic messages to him. The author is also telling the reader to open his eyes about the flowers.
The traditional meaning of columbine is "folly." In giving the columbine to Laertes, Ophelia is telling him that he's a fool.
The columbine has additional meaning, in that the word "columbine" means "dovelike." The name is from Latin, and is based on the shape of the flower, which is taken to resemble a flock of doves. Ophelia spoke the word "dove" earlier, so look back at that for the additional meaning of the columbine that the author has provided in association with the word "dove." There, Ophelia said "fare you well," and released the dove, symbolically, as a sign of good omens, or good luck.
Thus, the full meaning of the columbine is: you're a fool, my brother, so farewell, and good luck.
The rue has the traditional meaning of "sorrow" or "regret," which is also the word meaning. Ophelia says Laertes may wear his rue with a difference; the difference is the negative, that is, "no regret." Ophelia is telling Laertes he shouldn't regret that she's leaving.
(The idea of heraldic "difference," which sometimes appears in Hamlet interpretations, is quite wrong. Laertes is the senior male, with Polonius dead, so Laertes does not use a heraldic "difference." A heraldic "difference" is used for the special purpose of distinguishing other males from the senior male of the family or clan. At the time Ophelia speaks, there is no heraldic "difference" in existence for Laertes.)
Ophelia calls the rue "herb of grace" in allusion to Hamlet and herself. Sundays is another sun/son pun, and the difference is still the negative. She says she'll have no regrets when she has sex with Hamlet on his "son days." She further means that she'll pray for forgiveness in church on Sundays, for her anticipated immoral behavior, and for not loving her father or brother; she'll ask God's grace, for that.
The daisy is a sun symbol. The name comes from the phrase "day's eye," which means the sun. This is another sun/son pun. Ophelia is telling Laertes he's the "son" of Polonius. This is not the vacuous meaning that he's the biological son of Polonius, but rather means that, as Ophelia views Laertes, he's just like Polonius was. We saw the similarity of attitude, between Laertes and Polonius, towards Ophelia, when Laertes left for France. They lectured her almost identically, and neither paid attention to her attempts to reply.
Ophelia says she has no violets for Laertes, and that they withered when her father died. Traditionally, the violet symbolizes faithfulness. Ophelia means she no longer has any faithfulness to Laertes as a member of his family. The author added the further meaning of the violet, in the play, to symbolize love. When Laertes mentioned the violet, when he was leaving for France, he certainly did not mean faithfulness. Also, we will see later in the Graveyard Scene that Laertes speaks of the violet to symbolize love. Thus, the author, himself, adds the meaning of "love" for the violet. However, Ophelia says the violets withered when her father died. When Polonius was alive he would make Ophelia says things whether she felt like it or not; that included telling her brother she loved him, whether she felt so or not. With Polonius dead, that's over. She will not tell Laertes she loves him when she doesn't feel so, and her father is not there to make her say it.
In sum, the flower meanings are:
~~~~~~~- Rosemary = you take the remembrance of Polonius, Laertes, I don't want any remembrance of him. (Also, the author's "no Rose marry" for Ophelia.)
Pansies = you may also have the thoughts of Polonius, Laertes, I don't want those, either.
Fennel = Open your eyes, brother, and see clearly that these flowers are symbolic messages to you. (Likewise, from the author to the reader: open your eyes, see clearly, about the flowers.)
Columbine = You're a fool, my brother, so farewell and good luck.
Rue (with a difference, the negative) = don't be sorry when I'm gone.
Daisy = you're the son of Polonius, you're just like he was, as far as I'm concerned.
Violets (withered) = I'm not faithful to you as the head of the household, Laertes. Further, I don't love you, Laertes, and with Polonius dead, I don't have to say that I do.- ~~~~~~~
Moreover, about rue "with a difference:" rue was traditionally hung at doors and windows to keep evil spirits out of a house. But Ophelia has given Laertes rue with a difference. In this undertone, the "difference" means the opposite effect. Instead of keeping evil out, for Laertes, the rue, with a difference, will let evil into his soul. We'll see that, when Laertes plots with Claudius to murder Hamlet.
hw 2937- they say he made a good end.
---
Ophelia means that she approves for people to say the end of Polonius was good. Both Gertrude and Claudius have called Polonius "good" - after he's dead.
hw 2938- (sings):
For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy!
---
Bonny means "handsome and fine." Robin has several allusions.
Robin is a traditional name for a lover in English folklore. The robin is a blessed bird in legend, because it was said a robin removed the crown of thorns from Christ's head to ease his suffering. There was a popular song: "Robin is to the Greenwood Gone." England is a green, wooded country, and the song is an English song.
Thus, Ophelia means her lover, her Robin, is handsome and fine, has removed her "crown of thorns" - by killing Polonius - and has gone to the greenwood, the green, wooded country of England. We also learn here Ophelia's nickname for Hamlet: Robin. It's the undertone to Hamlet's mention in the Nunnery Scene that she nicknamed God's creatures; he meant she had nicknamed him, Robin.
Further, the old ballad Greensleeves is relevant to Ophelia's Robin line. Observe particularly the last line of the verses below. Greensleeves was first printed in 1584, apparently. It is mentioned in Merry Wives of Windsor. Here are two verses.
Well I will pray to God on high,
That thou my constancy mayst see,
And that yet once before I die
Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.
Greensleeves was all my joy...
Greensleeves, now farewell! adieu!
God I pray to prosper thee!
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
Greensleeves was all my joy...
Sendal fabric is mentioned in the old lyrics of Greensleeves. Also, it was said the first line of an early printing was: "The bonniest lass in all the land." That would be Ophelia.
The name "Hamlet" is formed from the name "Amleth" simply by moving the last letter to the front of the word. Let us say we begin with the Greek prefix "philo-" which means "loving." Then, move the last letter to the front, and it gives "ophil." Make it a woman's name by adding a suffix of "-ia" as in "Cordelia" and some other Shakespearean names for women. Then, change the middle "i" to "e" for better euphony. You can get the name, Ophelia, like that. The name means: "a loving woman."
hw 2939, to hw 2950- Laer: Thought and afflictions, passion, Hell itself!
She turns to favor and to prettiness.
Ophelia (sings):
And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead; go to thy death bed!
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow,
Flaxen was his pall,
He is gone, he is gone, and we cast away moan.
(speaks):
God 'a mercy on his soul, and of all Christian's souls,
God buy you.
---
Laertes understands none of it. He thinks she's only giving him flowers as "favors," and that she's merely acting "pretty."
The first line of Ophelia's song is sung to her Robin she just mentioned, Hamlet, in longing for him.
Thinking of who might come again, she sings the second line to Polonius. He won't come again, he's dead. She adds a "drop dead" remark for her father - but it's also spoken to Laertes, which is advance allusion to Laertes's fate - and she reassures herself that Polonius will never come again. She confirms to herself that Polonius is dead by thinking of his white beard she saw as they carried him, bare faced, on the bier. She saw his face, and recognized that it was him; so, it wasn't a mean trick on her as she first suspected, when people told her.
Pall means "pallor." In addition to everything else, Ophelia saw that Polonius looked dead, with a pallid face. This goes back to Hamlet's question to Horatio about the Ghost's complexion: "red or pale?" In that connection, and with reference to the colors in Moth's song in Love's Labors Lost, Polonius's pallor is an omen of "fear." Ophelia does not know that. Further, in the writings of Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, the word pall refers to lifelessness.
Pall is spelled "pole" in the original. This is "pol-" wordplay on the name "Polonius." Also, in the illustration on the Visconti-Sforza Old Man/ Hermit card, the old man has a walking stick, a pole, that is approximately flaxen in color.
Ophelia says he is gone twice. Once is for Polonius, and once is for Hamlet. With respect to Polonius, she discards the moans of sadness she so often voiced, alone in her room, under his oppression; she doesn't need those moans of sadness any more, with Polonius dead. For Hamlet, she casts moans of longing in the direction of England for him.
Ophelia says a proper goodbye, with blessings on everyone, even her father, like the good Christian young women she is, and she departs. We will not see her again. O Rose of May! God bless you, too, Ophelia.
The author did not like dropping Ophelia from the play. She was so insistent to remain, but he couldn't do another Romeo and Juliet ending, so she had to depart early. He "argued" with her about it in a different writing, where he chided his forward violet, and told her that he had given her the best funeral flowers that he could.
The author did not give Ophelia an exit, so I do not, either. She withdraws, dancing a little, and looking around. She is not too active, not so active as to divert attention too much from Claudius and Laertes as they continue to talk. Gertrude withdraws also, to keep watch on Ophelia. This is in keeping with Gertrude being the one who later reports Ophelia's death. It is also in keeping with Laertes's characterization that after exclaiming so dramatically about Ophelia, he then simply ignores her as he talks to Claudius.
hw 2951- Laer: Do you this, O God?
---
Laertes expresses his outrage and confusion profanely to God. The answer to his question is: yes, the god of Hamlet did do that, and even put the question into his mouth. Why the god of Hamlet did all that, is a more remote question, and an ultimately unanswerable one, for mortal man, but for Laertes, himself, we know the answer. Yes, his "god" did do that.
hw 2952, to hw 2962- Claudius: Laertes, I must commune with your grief,
Or you deny me right; go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me;
If by direct, or by collateral hand
They find us touched, we will our kingdom give,
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours
To you in satisfaction; but if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us,
And we shall jointly labor with your soul
To give it due content.
---
Claudius did not commune with Hamlet's grief over the death of his father, but Claudius says he'll commune with Laertes's grief. Claudius only sympathizes with those he thinks he can use.
In undertone, Claudius's deny me right means "rightly deny me." Since Claudius has no sincere grief over the death of "good Polonius," Laertes would rightly deny his hypocrisy from participation in any communion, but Laertes doesn't know that.
In plain reading, Claudius is asserting a right to share Laertes's grief. A sincere person doesn't pompously proclaim a right to express grief if he really feels it, he simply goes ahead and grieves in the normal way. Claudius has created a problem for himself on the subject of grief. He's slandered Hamlet's normal grief as madness, but now Claudius has to claim grief, himself. He doesn't want people to think he's mad, for saying that he grieves, so he carefully points out that he has a right to grieve, as his legal excuse, to avoid getting caught in his own propaganda. Claudius is sly. He is also insane.
Wisest friends is irony. Claudius means people he's confident he can fool and manipulate.
In plain reading, touched means touched by guilt, in Polonius's death. There is an undertone going back to when Hamlet gave G the recorder, and G said he knew no touch of it. Claudius is saying he is not a pipe to be played upon by Laertes. There is advance allusion to the contact of the foil being called a "touch" at the fencing match, later.
In genealogy, collateral refers to descent from the same ancestors, but in a different line. Hamlet is collateral to Claudius. The collateral hand of Hamlet will "touch" Claudius, with the foil at the later fencing match, whereupon Claudius will give up all that he mentions, as he dies. There is further connotation of collateral as an issue in a debt to be paid.
Claudius will work jointly with Laertes's soul, to give Laertes's soul its due content, of black and grievous spots, of deadly sin.
hw 2963, to hw 2971- Laer: Let this be so.
His means of death, his obscure funeral,
No trophy sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,
No noble rite, nor formal ostentation,
Cry to be heard as 'twere, from Heaven to earth,
That I must call it in question.
Claudius: So you shall,
And where the offense is, let the great axe fall.
I pray you go with me.
(all exit)
---
Laertes complains of not knowing how Polonius died, and the lack of proper funeral services for him. Laertes's description of Polonius's funeral is exactly what Claudius has planned for Hamlet's funeral in England.
Claudius and Laertes leave together. Gertrude follows Ophelia. Horatio follows them all; he scratches his head once, on the way out.
End of Scene 16
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