Hamlet: Act 3, Scene IV

[cesario]

Previous posts:

First Act:
Scene I: The Crazy Occult Forays of Marcellus and Horatio.
Scene II: Claudius is the villain, but he's still hotter than you.
Scene III: Ophelia's virginity is a national treasure. Just ask her dad and brother.
Scene IV: That a ghoooooooooost?
Scene V: "'Who's your daddy?' Now that's just inappropriate."

Second Act:

Comments

[cesario]

he later decided it was a sin when he didn't want to be married to Anne anymore.

Katherine was actually the wife he inherited from his brother, Anne the one he made room for. Which, now I think of it, probably makes this yet another instance of Elzabeth-flattery---carefully removing Anne Boleyn from blame for Henry getting rid of Katherine, since their marriage was an abomination in Hamlet's eyes. Umm. Yeah, it's fun how the flattery is never quite as flattering as it seems at first blush. I like to think Elizabeth saw through that, and appreciated it.

Which kind of undermines Hamlet's moral outrage a little, but I think the incest charge is, to him, a legitimate issue, even if he is special like the bus, and even if it's the lesser crime.

I think you're right, and I think this is yet another piece of evidence for why this play makes so much more sense of Hamlet is 16.

I think it's really weird that we don't ever get back to, "so, when you said 'kill a king,' what the holy hell were you talking about?"

Yeah, it is weird. I can only attribute it to Gertrude having had her suspicions of Claudius all along, without ever allowing herself to dwell on them, and now she's both reminded of them, and suddenly for the first time realizing that God might hold her responsible for marrying Claudius despite those suspicions. Basically, I think there's this whole thing going on in HER head, and while Hamlet provoked it, it's not really related to the stuff he's going on about it---so she's doing the classic mother thing of listening to him with one ear.

[catechism]

Katherine was actually the wife he inherited from his brother, Anne...

Right, right? So when Anne didn't work out, didn't he say it was because he'd committed the sin in the first place and was being punished? Argh, Henry. Don't remember. No, okay, there was an incest thing with Anne, but it was trumped-up against her brother. So, never mind! I was backwards. But that IS a good point about Elizabeth-flattery; I hadn't thought of that.

Also, I love Gertrude.