Hamlet, Act 1, Scene V

[cesario]

Previous post:
Act 1, Scene I: The Crazy Occult Forays of Marcellus and Horatio.
Act 1, Scene II: Claudius is the villain, but he's still hotter than you.
Act 1, Scene III: Ophelia's virginity is a national treasure. Just ask her dad and brother.
Act 1, Scene IV: That a ghoooooooooost?

Comments

calling Hamlet the falcon...

[corbistheca]

In my text it is Marcellus who gets to do the Hillo-ho-ho-ing.

Also, I find it weird -- and maybe arguable as a sign of earlier and perhaps more actual madness -- that Hamlet is so very serious and intense while talking to the ghost, and through the little speech about memory after the ghost leaves, but then very suddenly when Marcellus and Horatio come on the scene becomes just flat out goofy about the whole thing. It's possible it's intentional and he has, in those few seconds it takes Marcellus and Horatio to find him, made the resolution "to put an antic disposition on" -- that all the quick reversals and basically meaningless statements (such as "there's never a villain dwelling in all of Denmark but he's an arrant knave" and "for every man hath business and desire, such as it is") and multiple swearings and clowning with the underground ghost is the start of the act.

But if he's already begun acting bizarre, why does he tell them he's planning to? Maybe Horatio saying "Hey, dude, you're acting a bit weird..." recalls Hamlet to the fact that, if he's going to make people think he's crazy, he really would rather have Horatio in on it than otherwise -- and hence "more things in heaven and earth" becomes a bit of a code for "look, I'll explain later."

Or maybe he really is a bit unhinged, what with the strain of the whole being-confronted-by-the-dead-parent-whose-expectations-you-could-never-live-up-to-and-now-he-wants-you-to-kill-somebody thing he's just been through. Or maybe -- and no, I haven't thought this through, I'm just talking out my ass but it's an interesting idea -- he actually did start to go a bit unhinged here, from the strain of it all, and the goofing and the swearing on the sword is him beginning to lose hold of himself, but the "this is wondrous strange/dude, what the fuck?" from Horatio sort of pulls him back to "oh, right, reality. Hey, I am acting a little weird" and that give him the idea to start playing crazy for the rest of the play...

Like I said, talking out my ass, might be nothing, haven't thought about how it works through the other four acts.

~ c.

Re: calling Hamlet the falcon...

[cesario]

But if he's already begun acting bizarre, why does he tell them he's planning to?

That's an excellent point, and I think the only answer to it is, in fact, that he's not entirely in control of himself in this scene.