Hamlet: Act 4, Scene I
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:
Scene I: Happy families are all alike---they're totally fucked up.
Scene II--Part One: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are creepy. and Part Two: Hamlet was a high school drama geek.
Third Act:
Scene I: Hamlet and Ophelia get couple's counseling, Elsinore style.
Scene II: But what he really wants to do is direct.
Scene III: Claudius isn't just hot---he's got depth!
Scene IV: In which Hamlet completely loses his shit.
Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ, and GUILDENSTERN
KING CLAUDIUS
There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves:
You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Bestow this place on us a little while.
Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN
"We're only going to be sending you off on a trans-oceanic voyage with Hamlet in about an hour, no need for you to know anything about his mental state!"
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!
KING CLAUDIUS
What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend
Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat, a rat!'
And, in this brainish apprehension, kills
The unseen good old man.
Gertrude recasts the event, not untruthfully, but subtly, so that Hamlet appears less culpable than he really is. Because, despite it all, she is his mother.
She does make him sound a bit crazier than he actually was. I wonder how crazy she thinks he is? She's definitely not confessing her every thought and misgiving to Claudius here, but being very deliberate and careful.
KING CLAUDIUS
O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there:
I love how Derek Jacobi says that last---"had we been there!" Like it's just occurred to him that he very nearly went in Polonius's stead.
His liberty is full of threats to all;
To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
It will be laid to us, whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,
This mad young man:
Yes, that's...fair, really. Although I suppose to you it would have seemed that prior to the events of this evening the only liberal display of madness Hamlet made that had any hint of violence in it was in his exchange with Ophelia---and threats to Ophelia naturally aren't going to count.
but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit;
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of Life. Where is he gone?
Which is the same image that Hamlet used a few seconds ago when urging Gertrude to cut Claudius out of her heart. Claudius uses the infection metaphor to refer to Hamlet, Hamlet uses it to refer to Claudius, WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done.
Now that is definitely an exaggeration. Again, she makes him sound madder, and also more remorseful, than he actually showed himself to be. I wonder how much of her strategy Claudius suspects?
KING CLAUDIUS
O Gertrude, come away!
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern!
Re-enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN
He calls one, they both appear. CEREBELLUM.
Friends both, go join you with some further aid:
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:
Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.
I like how they just turn and go without saying anything. "I'm about to put Hamlet in your hands. Incidentally, he's just proved himself homicidal. How do you feel about that?" You know, if I were a spy in Claudius's employ and he asked me to bring Hamlet in and dispose of his victim's body, I would have a few questions. Like, "why can't the guards do it?" Claudius naturally wants to keep the details of Polonius's death secret for as long as possible, but if I---a student, with no special qualifications for the job but a former friendship with Hamlet---were the one the king was depending on to keep his affairs in order? That's where I'd start thinking I should maybe look for a new boss. So I'm guessing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel the dregs of a personal loyalty to Claudius or to Hamlet or both that keeps them on board with this.
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends;
And let them know, both what we mean to do,
And what's untimely done. O, come away!
My soul is full of discord and dismay.
Who are your wisest friends, Claudius? The only one of your advisors we ever see you talking to is Polonius, and OOPS, he's dead.
Aaaaaand that's the end of the scene, actually. The next one is, likewise, extremely short. Therefore I'll extend this post for a few lines by expressing my sense of WTF over the structure of this play. I'd been told before that it was weird, but I've never read it as closely before as I'm doing now, and I can't help thinking that Act 3 closed in a really weird spot. If it was me I'd have ended the action in a scene or two here, where Claudius sends Hamlet to England. But then, I'm not Shakespeare. If anyone has any thoughts on the whys or wherefors of the structure, though, I'd love to hear them.
Tomorrow: Act 4, scene II---it's a thankless job, being the flunkies.
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:
Scene I: Happy families are all alike---they're totally fucked up.
Scene II--Part One: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are creepy. and Part Two: Hamlet was a high school drama geek.
Third Act:
Scene I: Hamlet and Ophelia get couple's counseling, Elsinore style.
Scene II: But what he really wants to do is direct.
Scene III: Claudius isn't just hot---he's got depth!
Scene IV: In which Hamlet completely loses his shit.
Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ, and GUILDENSTERN
KING CLAUDIUS
There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves:
You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Bestow this place on us a little while.
Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN
"We're only going to be sending you off on a trans-oceanic voyage with Hamlet in about an hour, no need for you to know anything about his mental state!"
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!
KING CLAUDIUS
What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend
Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat, a rat!'
And, in this brainish apprehension, kills
The unseen good old man.
Gertrude recasts the event, not untruthfully, but subtly, so that Hamlet appears less culpable than he really is. Because, despite it all, she is his mother.
She does make him sound a bit crazier than he actually was. I wonder how crazy she thinks he is? She's definitely not confessing her every thought and misgiving to Claudius here, but being very deliberate and careful.
KING CLAUDIUS
O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there:
I love how Derek Jacobi says that last---"had we been there!" Like it's just occurred to him that he very nearly went in Polonius's stead.
His liberty is full of threats to all;
To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
It will be laid to us, whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,
This mad young man:
Yes, that's...fair, really. Although I suppose to you it would have seemed that prior to the events of this evening the only liberal display of madness Hamlet made that had any hint of violence in it was in his exchange with Ophelia---and threats to Ophelia naturally aren't going to count.
but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit;
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of Life. Where is he gone?
Which is the same image that Hamlet used a few seconds ago when urging Gertrude to cut Claudius out of her heart. Claudius uses the infection metaphor to refer to Hamlet, Hamlet uses it to refer to Claudius, WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done.
Now that is definitely an exaggeration. Again, she makes him sound madder, and also more remorseful, than he actually showed himself to be. I wonder how much of her strategy Claudius suspects?
KING CLAUDIUS
O Gertrude, come away!
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern!
Re-enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN
He calls one, they both appear. CEREBELLUM.
Friends both, go join you with some further aid:
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:
Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.
I like how they just turn and go without saying anything. "I'm about to put Hamlet in your hands. Incidentally, he's just proved himself homicidal. How do you feel about that?" You know, if I were a spy in Claudius's employ and he asked me to bring Hamlet in and dispose of his victim's body, I would have a few questions. Like, "why can't the guards do it?" Claudius naturally wants to keep the details of Polonius's death secret for as long as possible, but if I---a student, with no special qualifications for the job but a former friendship with Hamlet---were the one the king was depending on to keep his affairs in order? That's where I'd start thinking I should maybe look for a new boss. So I'm guessing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel the dregs of a personal loyalty to Claudius or to Hamlet or both that keeps them on board with this.
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends;
And let them know, both what we mean to do,
And what's untimely done. O, come away!
My soul is full of discord and dismay.
Who are your wisest friends, Claudius? The only one of your advisors we ever see you talking to is Polonius, and OOPS, he's dead.
Aaaaaand that's the end of the scene, actually. The next one is, likewise, extremely short. Therefore I'll extend this post for a few lines by expressing my sense of WTF over the structure of this play. I'd been told before that it was weird, but I've never read it as closely before as I'm doing now, and I can't help thinking that Act 3 closed in a really weird spot. If it was me I'd have ended the action in a scene or two here, where Claudius sends Hamlet to England. But then, I'm not Shakespeare. If anyone has any thoughts on the whys or wherefors of the structure, though, I'd love to hear them.
Tomorrow: Act 4, scene II---it's a thankless job, being the flunkies.