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The Tragedy of

Hamlet prince of denmark

t h e a n n otat e d s h a k e s p e a r e

Hamlet� William Shakespeare

Fully annotated,with an Introduction, by Burton Raffel

With an essay by Harold Bloom

t h e a n n otat e d s h a k e s p e a r e

Burton Raffel,General Editor

Yale University Press • New Haven and London

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108

of the U.S.Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Essay by Harold Bloom reprinted by permission of Chelsea House.

Printed in the United States of America by R.R.Donnelley & Sons.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shakespeare,William, 1564‒1616.

Hamlet / William Shakespeare ; fully annotated,with an introduction by Burton Raffel ; with an essay by Harold Bloom.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 0-300-10105-8 (paperbound)

isbn 0-300-10175-9 (cloth) 1. Hamlet (Legendary character)—Drama. 2. Murder victims’

families—Drama. 3. Fathers—Death—Drama. 4. Princes—Drama. 5. Revenge—Drama. 6. Denmark—Drama. I. Raffel,Burton.

II. Bloom,Harold. III. Title. pr2807.a2r34 2003

822.3�3—dc21

2003005805

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my four sisters:Catherine,Teresa, Joan, and Martha

co n t e n t s�

About This Book ix

Introduction xv

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 1

An Essay by Harold Bloom 229

Further Reading 245

Finding List 249

a b o u t t h i s b o o k�

Written four centuries ago, in a fairly early form of Modern English, Hamlet is a notoriously dense, complex text of remarkable depth and beauty.Many

of the play’s social and historical underpinnings necessarily need explanation for the modern reader. But what needs even more, and far more detailed, explanation are the very words.

’A did comply with his dug, before ’a sucked it.Thus has he, and many more of the same bevy that I know the drossy age dotes on, only got the tune of the time and, out of a habit of encounter, a kind of yeasty collection, which carries them through and through the most fanned and winnowed opinions.And do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.

This is Hamlet himself, in act 5, scene 2, speaking to his friend and companion, Horatio, about Osric, an outrageously fashion- able courtier who has just left them. Hamlet is profoundly dis- gusted by Osric’s speech and behavior.But in the most basic of all senses of “meaning,” what is this fiercely contemptuous speech all about? What is it (what are its words) saying? Longtime schol-

ars of Elizabethan literature have learned to fully understand; they delight in teaching the play to those less well learned. But what can the unlearned, trying to read Hamlet, make of what surely of- ten seems to them, in passages like that just quoted, a kind of weirdly surrealistic jumble?

Hamlet. ’A1 did comply2 with his dug,3 before ’a sucked it.Thus has he, and many more of the same bevy4 that I know the drossy5 age dotes on, only got6 the tune7 of the time and, out of an habit of encounter,8 a kind of yeasty collection,9 which carries them through and through10

the most fanned and winnowed11 opinions.And do but blow them to their trial,12 the bubbles are out.13

I believe annotations of this sort create the necessary bridges from Shakespeare’s four-centuries-old English across to ours.The only “difficult”word I have not explained is “dote”;the omission is de- liberate. Many readers new to matters Elizabethan will already understand this still-current,and largely unchanged,word.“Tune,”

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1 he 2 observe the formalities of politeness 3 the nipple of his nurse’s breast 4 company, crowd (primarily used with reference to women) 5 scum-filled, rubbish-ridden 6 “only got”�“have/have acquired/caught only” 7 style, frame of mind 8 “an habit of encounter”�“a settled/habitual/rote way of face-to-face

meeting” 9 “yeasty collection”�“fermenting/restlessly turbid/frothy/foaming

collection/summary/abstract” 10 “through and through”�“from beginning to end,over and over again” 11 “fanned and winnowed”�“(long since) thoroughly blown about and

sifted” 12 examination, test, proof 13 popped, extinguished

meaning “melody,” is of course a word familiar to all speakers of the language. But its sense, here, “style, frame of mind,” will not similarly be clear.The same is true of such familiar expressions as “only got” and “through and through.” Some readers, to be sure, will comprehend their unusual, historical meanings without glosses.And when it comes to words like “dote,”those who are not familiar with the modern meaning will easily find a clear, simple definition in any modern dictionary.And they may be obliged to make fairly frequent use of such a dictionary: there are a good many words, in Hamlet, to be found in modern dictionaries and not glossed here. But there are just as surely readers who will not understand Shakespeare’s intended meaning, absent such glosses as I here offer.And it seems to me my editorial responsibility to guarantee as complete verbal accessibility as I am able to provide. I followed the same principle in compiling The Annotated Milton, published in 1999,and classroom experience has validated that de- cision. Classes of mixed upper-level undergraduates and graduate students have more quickly and thoroughly transcended language barriers than ever before.This allows the teacher to move more promptly and confidently to the nonlinguistic matters that have made Milton a great and important poet.Shakespeare’s language is more or less equally difficult.No one who has not understood the words of Hamlet can either fully or properly come to grips with the imperishable matter of the play.

Not all of Hamlet will appear so impenetrable. But the in- evitable forces of linguistic change, operant in all living tongues, have inevitably created wide degrees of obstacles to ready com- prehension—not only sharply different meanings but subtle,par- tial shifts in meaning which allow us to think that we understand when,alas,we do not.Speakers of Dutch and German, too,expe-

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rience this shifting of the linguistic ground.Like Early Modern En- glish (ca. 1600) and the Modern English now current, those lan- guages are too close for those who know only one language, and not the other, to be able readily to recognize just what they cor- rectly understand and what they do not. In the very first scene of Hamlet, for example, when the sentry Francisco directs Barnardo, arriving on the castle’s guard platform in the darkness of night, to “Stand and unfold yourself,” we can pretty reasonably guess what “unfold” might have meant, in Shakespeare’s time.To make things both plain and definite,however, I have in this edition glossed “un- fold” as “reveal, disclose, identify,” giving the neophyte modern reader the security of certainty as well as what is I think a useful sense of the word’s range, in Shakespeare’s time. But I have also glossed “stand,” because it is precisely the sort of misleading “false friend”I have been talking about.It does not in fact mean what we mean by “stand,” which is “stand up” as opposed to “sit down.” Rather, it means “halt, stop”—which might perhaps be guessed at, but equally well might not even be noticed by a modern reader, who knows perfectly well what “stand”means to him or her.

I have sometimes annotated prosody (metrics), though only when that has seemed truly necessary or particularly helpful. My standard for the few prosodic usages I have glossed is not so much ad hoc as it is founded both in long experience in the classroom (I taught my first university class in fall 1948) and my clear per- ception of a powerful paradigm shift in general literacy. Books have been, not surprisingly, the place where people have learned to read. It seems to me apparent that for almost a century books have been losing that position, being to a significant extent re- placed first by movies and now, even more meaningfully, by a va- riety of electronically generated screens. Inevitably, those screens

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are heavily visual and minimally language-oriented.This is not the place to descant on such subjects, but the subtitle of my essay “Freshman Decomposition” seems to me to say what needs say- ing:“not the same freshmen.” (The essay appears in Palo Alto Re- view,Fall 2001.) In glossing prosody, as in glossing words, I believe we have no choice but to deal with the students we actually have, not with the largely no longer extant students we either once had or deeply wish we still had. It is my belief that we will not have such students again.

The notation used in discussing prosody, as in indicating pro- nunciation, follows the extremely simple form used in my From Stress to Stress: An Autobiography of English Prosody (see “Further Reading,”near the end of this book).Syllables with metrical stress are capitalized; all other syllables are in lowercase.

I have annotated, as well, a limited number of such other mat- ters, sometimes of interpretation, sometimes of general or histor- ical relevance, as have seemed to me seriously worthy of inclu- sion.These annotations have been most carefully restricted: this is not a book of literary commentary. It is for that reason that the glossing of metaphors has been severely restricted.There is almost literally no end to discussion and/or analysis of metaphor, espe- cially in Shakespeare. To yield to temptation might well be to double or triple the size of this book—and would also change it from a historically oriented language guide to a work of an un- steadily mixed nature. In the process, I believe, neither language nor literature would be well or clearly served.

In the interests of compactness and brevity,I have employed in my annotations (as consistently as I am able) a number of stylistic and typographical devices:

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• Words or phrases separated by either a comma or a forward slash (/) are supplementary to one another. I have used the former sign in brief (usually one- or two-word) annotations, and the latter sign in longer annotations.

• Alternative but complementary meanings are usually indicated by and; contrasting meanings by or; and meanings that might be both complementary and contrasting by and/or.These meanings are placed in parentheses, to highlight them for the reader. Instances of special interest are set off with lowercase arabic numerals, (1), (2), and so on.

• Except for proper nouns, the word at the beginning of all annotations is in lowercase.

• Unresolved uncertainties are followed by a question mark, set in parentheses (?).Textual differences have been annotated only when the differences seem either marked or of unusual interest.

• Annotations of more common words have not been repeated. The note annotating the first instance of more common words is followed by the sign *.Readers may easily track down the first annotation,using the brief “Finding List” at the back of the book.

• When particularly relevant,“translations” into twenty-first- century English have been added, in parentheses.

The most important typographical device here employed is * placed after the first (and only) gloss of words and phrases very frequently used in Hamlet. I have provided an alphabetically arranged listing of such words and phrases in the “Finding List” at the back of the book.This distinctly telegraphic listing contains no annotations—simply the words or phrases themselves and the page and note numbers where the annotation of the words or phrases can be found.

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i n t r o d uc t i o n�

History is littered with “solutions” to the ineffable, en- trancing, will-o’-the-wisp “meaning” of Hamlet. Per- haps the most charming of all was that of the delight-

fully insane fellow,who shall here go nameless, so convinced that the answer to the perpetual puzzle lay hidden under the stones in Elsinore castle—and he knew just which stones, too—that he persuaded the benevolent Danes to let him turn over exactly those stones, still lying quietly in place after all these centuries.He turned them over,one by one.And he looked.And what he found was dust, and dirt, and a few bugs.

No one, I think, can or ever will “solve” Hamlet. In the first of the three sections that follow, I want to discuss the pre-history of the play—or, more exactly, what we know and what we do not know about that history. It has, as I shall explain, a profound rele- vance for puzzling out the meaning of what William Shakespeare wrote. In the second section, I want to discuss aspects of the play’s two chief characters,Hamlet and Ophelia.There is no need to set out even the general range of more than three hundred years of proposed “solutions.”The earlier period is neatly recorded, with generous (and quite fascinating) excerpts in Horace Howard Fur-

ness’s 1877 Variorum Edition. Modern criticism is summarized and analyzed, with remarkable objectivity, in Gottschalk’s 1972

study. In the third and last section of this Introduction, I will briefly discuss textual sources and the editorial principles respon- sible for the text of the play as here presented.

The Pre-History of Hamlet

The first link in the Hamlet story is the likely but unprovable as- sumption that, at some distant and unknown time, a bloody fam- ily feud much like other bloody family feuds occurred some- where in Scandinavia. Storytelling was without question a prime art, in all ancient heroic societies, and Scandinavia (from Iceland all the way across to Finland) developed some of the world’s finest tales. (We know most of them under the general heading of “sagas.”) The particular blood feud that began the Hamlet story, however, had a rather special twist of high fictive interest.The central figure was seeking revenge against an uncle who had murdered the young man’s father, who was also the murderer’s brother.Too powerless to be able, as yet, to effect that revenge, the young man sought refuge, successfully, in pretended madness.

Amhlaide is how Hamlet was named, in the next link in the story, which is also our first written record of the principal char- acter’s name, though not yet of the tale proper.We do not have a whole work, but only a fragmentary mention in still another ac- count, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, dated to ca. 1230. Snorri’s mention of Amhlaide attributes it to what he tells us us is an Irish lament, probably of the tenth century a.d. Clearly, the name Amhlaide is a Celtic adaptation,based on a Scandinavian original. In this lament, put into the mouth of a mourning widow,Amh-

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laide is described as a Dane, and as the killer, in a historically ver- ified battle that took place in 919, of the widow’s husband, a king named Niall.This first documentary record indicates the living nature of the Hamlet tale, though without further knowledge of the lament itself we have no idea of exactly what its narrative na- ture may have been. Nor do we know what the general shape of the Hamlet tale proper then was, or whether it took something like its later form first in Ireland or after it had been exported back to Scandinavia.Plainly,however, there had been an exporta- tion of the tale to Ireland, whatever form it may have taken: this was yet another link in the haze-filled background of the Hamlet tale. Stories of no large inherent interest do not travel well.This one obviously did.

But by the time of the next link in the story’s development, datable to Denmark and to the early thirteenth century, we can see that the Hamlet story has advanced a large step toward Shake- speare’s play. An ecclesiastic in the service of a Danish bishop, Saxo Grammaticus (ca.1150–1216),compiled a Historia (or Gesta) Danica,“Stories/Deeds of the Danes.”Saxo wrote in Latin;he may have been working from assorted sources also in Latin, though we do not know.Now we are given a prince,Amletha,whose father, the king of Denmark,was murdered by his brother,Fengo.Fengo then married his brother’s widow, Gerutha. Fengo plainly meant to finish his capture of the throne by murdering Amletha,but the prince pretended insanity (one did not, could not, kill the mad) and produced a veritable storm of crazed acts to verify his in- vented but protective madness. He would throw himself into muck and rub filth all over his face and clothes.Taken to a forest by his uncle’s men, to test his sanity more closely, Amletha was careful to mount his horse backwards, setting the reins on the

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horse’s tail.Confronted by an apparently amorous young woman, set in his way at his uncle’s command,Amletha avoids this trap, too,eventually making the hard-pressed young woman (the germ of the character we know as Ophelia) his comrade,though not his lover.

There is the germ of the character we know as Polonius, too.A friend of Fengo’s more subtly tempts Amletha, using the young man’s mother as bait.The friend is hidden in the mother’s cham- bers, lying under a pile of straw. Amletha acts out his “madness”by leaping and jumping and thrashing, and—the moment he “acci- dentally” discovers a “lump” in the straw—Amletha stabs the king’s friend to death.Fengo questions Amletha and is told a fan- ciful (but essentially truthful) story of the friend falling into the castle’s privy sewer.After having drowned in its filth and ordure, reports Amletha craftily,he was finally found and eaten by pigs.By this time exceedingly suspicious of his nephew, Fengo ships Am- letha off to England, accompanied by two courtiers.The Danish king’s message to the English king is direct and simple: kill Am- letha. On the voyage, as in Shakespeare’s play,Amletha steals the escorts’ documents and substitutes his own, which now ask the English king to kill the escorts.

But neither Amletha nor his escorts are promptly killed.And here the story veers sharply from the tale we know.Amletha be- comes a sort of prophet to the English king, then becomes the husband of the king’s daughter, and, as a result, his escorts are in- deed hanged.A year later,Amletha returns to Denmark and, after a renewed masquerade of madness, kills Fengo and assumes the throne himself.

Saxo’s story is brutal and blunt.Many of its details, and a good deal of its narrative, are totally unlike Shakespeare’s tale, and there

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is little subtlety. Other writers subsequently mentioned and sometimes adapted Saxo;we need not examine them, since there is no evidence whatever that either Shakespeare or the writer of the next and final pre-Shakespearean link ever did.

This all-important link in the Hamlet story, alas, is lost, appar- ently beyond recall. It is an earlier Elizabethan play,approximately datable because it was sharply criticized in 1589 by Thomas Nash (1567–1601).The title of this play was Hamlet. We do not know how long it had at that point been on the Elizabethan stage;we do not know for certain who was its author, though circumstantial evidence favors the melodramatist, Thomas Kyd (1558–94), a friend to both Christopher Marlowe and the young Shakespeare. Most seriously of all,we do not have so much as a fragment of this play’s text,nor do we know how it handled the old tale.Knowing what we do of Kyd’s surviving work,and also from what we learn in the documentation on his arrest, in 1593, first on the grounds of public libel and,subsequently,on the added and much more se- rious charge of blasphemy (he was imprisoned, tortured, and fi- nally cleared, though he died just a year and a half after his re- lease),we can perhaps speculate, though only vaguely, about what his Hamlet—if it was indeed his—“must” have been like. But these seem to me fundamentally empty speculations: the “must- have-beens” of history, like the dews of morning, tend to evapo- rate under our breath, as we lean close and try to make ingenious use of them. In matters textual, literary, and above all verbal, inge- nuity is no substitute for reality.

How much of the many “alterations” in Shakespeare’s retelling of the old story come from the old play, or from his own fertile imagination, or from sources of which we have no knowledge, it is therefore quite impossible to say.And as if the picture was not

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muddied enough,there is yet another stage to be accounted for,as best we can, in this pre-history of Hamlet. Once again, there is no exactitude in the dating,but at some point after 1598 Shakespeare appears to have been called upon,as he more than likely often was (being a “house” dramatist), to “update” the lost predecessor- Hamlet.That play had been very popular; Shakespeare’s company owned the “rights”; and so good a “property” fairly called for ex- ploitation.We do not know how long thereafter Shakespeare de- cided, if he did decide,or was asked, to entirely re-do the old play (if—and we do not know for sure—that was what he did in the end do). In a remark more or less datable to the period 1599– 1601, Gabriel Harvey (good friend of Edmund Spenser) noted the popularity of “Shakespeare’s . . . tragedie of Hamlet,Prince of Denmarke . . .” Was this a reference to a revision, or to a “new” version? Shakespeare’s own Hamlet seems to have been on the Elizabethan stage by 1602,when an apparent reference was made to it by George Chapman and, still more concretely,a prepublica- tion notice was filed,describing it as having been “latelie Acted by the Chamberleyne his servantes,” this being a reference to Shake- speare’s company (transformed, somewhat later, into the “King’s company”).

An apparently pirated edition,now known as the First Quarto (a reference to page size and binding style), appeared in 1603. It is clearly what is called a “bad quarto,” though even a bad text can be made use of, in formulating editorial decisions. In 1604, fairly clearly in response to the distinctly mangled First Quarto, ap- peared the Second Quarto, almost twice the length and, it is agreed, a much fairer representation of the play. Reprintings of the latter occurred, until finally, in 1623, the Folio edition was printed, apparently from a manuscript source—though no one

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knows whether this was Shakespeare’s manuscript or (since he had died in 1616), more probably, one owned by his company. Again, there is no way of knowing.The Folio text is the longest of all; it is however not carefully, accurately printed.Textual editors are obliged, accordingly, to work back and forth between it and the Second Quarto, occasionally turning to the First Quarto, in order to arrive as closely as possible to Shakespeare’s text.That process is still going on.How close any modern text actually is to what Shakespeare wrote,or to the final state of what he wrote, re- mains a matter of continued examination and dispute.There is no manuscript material, absolutely nothing in Shakespeare’s own hand.

My procedure, since this an edition primarily intended for use in schools and colleges, and secondarily by those not attending school and desiring more textual help than anything but an an- notated edition can supply,has been as follows: I have focused bi- laterally, on one hand making use of the three seventeenth-cen- tury sources just described, and on the other consulting those modern editions most widely in use. My desire is to include in my finished text everything that, after consideration of the (forever inconclusive) evidence, is likely to have been written by Shake- speare. Fairly extensive passages have been drawn from the Sec- ond Quarto,because the probably more authoritative Folio omits them.Transcription and typesetting errors abound in all the play’s sources, as they usually do in seventeenth-century printed books. To reach a conflated, consensus edition involves constant check- ing, back and forth, in order to produced a unified, historically sensible text.For the reader’s enlightenment, I have footnoted my most severely difficult choices.

A “perfect text” remains an impossibility—not something

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hard to attain, but something forever out of the question. Indeed, editors have sometimes assumed the existence of two quite dis- tinct and somehow equally authoritative Shakespearian Hamlets, or even three,and united them in one volume,as individually dis- tinct reading texts.This seems to me to destroy rather than en- hance reading—much like laying out the basic linguistic and cul- tural elements of a work written in a language other than English and declaring,“Reader, I stop here.These are your essential mate- rials, the stuff from which the literary work you propose to read was in fact constructed. Now that you have these materials, you are on your own. Proceed, therefore, to shape this disassembled book by Zola,or Tolstoy,or Homer,as you please.”E.Talbot Don- aldson introduces his prose translation of the Beowulf poem in ex- actly these terms:“Rather than create a new and lesser poem for the reader, it seems better to offer him in prose the literal materi- als from which he can re-create the poem”(Norton Critical Edi- tion, xvi).

But we are none of us Shakespeare any more than we are Emile Zola or Leo Tolstoy or the Beowulf poet. Breaking Hamlet into what we as editors think are its component parts, and then presenting each of those parts, can be useful to scholars, and to other editors. But it is the exact opposite of what I here try to offer—a cohesive, sensible and unitary text,about as close to what Shakespeare actually wrote as, alas, we are ever going to get. I see no point, from the perspective of the common reader, or the stu- dent, to deliberately de-composing Shakespeare’s play.

The Roles of Hamlet and Ophelia

One of the great theatrical directors of the twentieth century, Konstantin Stanislavsky, said in 1938 that being called upon to

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play the lead role in Hamlet remained (he was addressing theater people) the “greatest stumbling block in our profession” (Shake- speare in the Soviet Union, 148).What other male lead role has been played, over the years, by so many world-famous actresses— among others, Sarah Siddons, in the eighteenth century; Sarah Bernhardt, in the nineteenth century; Judith Anderson and Eva Le Galliene, in the twentieth century? In addition to the charac- terological difficulties (and attractions) of the role, however, there are important structural aspects, as well.

The characters of Hamlet are deftly realized.We as audience (or readers:Charles Lamb famously declared that the play should only be read, for it was impossible ever to stage it) are always aware, precisely and clearly, of what we need to know in order to keep the dramatic action in motion.But the dimensions of the charac- ters vary immensely,and only two—Hamlet and Ophelia—seem to me deeply three-dimensional. That is, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes, Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the many lesser personages are solidly founded, consistent, totally func- tional. In theater terminology, they hold the stage, they work. (The latter must also be said of Gertrude, though in my judgment her portrayal is less convincing as a whole.) There needs to be no particular mystery attached to these characters, nor is there.The greater mystery is of course Hamlet; the lesser and rather ne- glected (or misperceived) mystery is Ophelia.And the actors por- traying these latter two roles are inevitably put in the position of having to deal with, to represent, to make dramatically functional, what is in the end not quite representable.

My 1996 essay,“Hamlet and the Tradition of the Novel,” deals with this from a literary rather than from a dramatic perspective. Let me initially approach the problem,here, from a heavily actor-

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oriented viewpoint.Although Hamlet makes a lessened appear- ance on stage, in the fourth of the play’s five acts, he is neverthe- less by a rough count on stage (usually but not always with other characters) during 66 percent of a performance of the full text. No other character in the play comes close to this large a stage presence. His solo appearances, of course, in his justly famous monologues, are both a special dramatic challenge and a magnif- icent dramatic opportunity.Ophelia, indeed,appears only 17 per- cent of the time, and never alone. Hamlet’s is a strikingly large on-stage presence, especially juxtaposed against similarly derived estimates for some of the others among Shakespeare’s more fa- mous plays. In King Lear, Lear himself is on stage roughly 48 per- cent of the time, and never alone. Othello is on stage 59 percent of the time (and never alone)—but he is not, at least in these terms, the major figure in his play, for Iago is on stage roughly 64

percent of the time. And the play’s famous monologues belong exclusively to Iago. Macbeth appears almost exactly as often as does Othello, but he, too, with characters having on-stage pres- ences very nearly as powerful, namely Lady Macbeth and Mac- duff, who appear, respectively, roughly 30 percent and 25 percent of the time. Not only do all three have solo moments on-stage, but so, too, do two other characters, Banquo and, at the play’s close,Malcolm.Even soaringly preeminent Prospero, in The Tem- pest, appears roughly 52 percent of the time,and once again shares the stage with Ariel, at 31 percent, Miranda, at 27 percent, and Caliban, at 25 percent. Prospero, like Hamlet, has solo appear- ances,but so, too,does Caliban. (Note, too, that while The Tempest is a fairly short play, Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest.) Finally, in a late problem play of more or less the same date as Hamlet (1604), Measure for Measure, we find a distinctly even-handed sharing of

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on-stage time: Isabella and the Duke both are to be seen roughly 44 percent of the time, and Angelo 30 percent.All of these figures are no more than approximations, but they are similarly derived and at least comparable, each to the other.And they emphatically support and emphasize Hamlet’s massive performance visibility.

We do not know,once again,why Hamlet hesitates as he does. If we speculate that he is neurotically unable to act, what do we do with his instantaneous dispatching of Polonius or his bril- liantly and promptly executed counterplot, in defeating the King’s plan to have his patently dangerous nephew executed immediately upon his landing in England? If we speculate that Hamlet is in love with Ophelia,because he at some points says he is (and what’s more was so all along),how do we deal with his ex- press disclaimers and his clear indication, after the fact, that his graveside declamation of eternal love for her was provoked by Laertes’ ridiculously overblown rhetoric, just before? If Hamlet is the tool, for better or worse, of the Ghost, and spurred by his burning desire to revenge the father-figure that the Ghost says he is, how can it be that, in the final scene, Hamlet does not attack the King,even after his mother’s death,until after he learns that he himself, like Laertes (who informs him of the plot), has been fa- tally poisoned? As he rushes at the King, he still advances no ex- planation for so doing other than his own poisoning.Only when the King, seriously wounded, appeals for help, claiming not to be mortally hurt, does the by-now thoroughly aroused Hamlet de- clare that Claudius is “incestuous [and] murd’rous,” adding, in his fury, that Claudius is also “damnèd,” hardly in truth a revenge is- sue. Hamlet is a marvelously witty man: even in his most “mad- dened” moments, he sparks off puns and bright words like the word-loving human volcano he is.What is it he has visibly lost, in

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his so-called madness—which he himself tells us,as he tells Hora- tio, is faked—other than his garters, his hairbrush, and whatever concern he has previously displayed for others, notably Ophelia and his mother, the Queen?

The questions, the puzzles, can be further prolonged. But the actor representing Hamlet must persuade us at every point that his character’s actions are authentic—not so much “realistic,” for the Elizabethan stage is not that of George Bernard Shaw,but true. And true, that is, in terms of the conventions and dramatic reali- ties of Shakespeare’s stage, not ours. I do not find it possible to doubt Shakespeare, who is at his superb best in this play. Nor is it simply his utterly magnificent ability to deploy the English lan- guage that so completely persuades me, as it has been persuading people for the four centuries of the play’s glowing, brilliant exis- tence. “The play’s the thing,” says Hamlet, and indeed it is.The play is totally convincing—but of what? “Ay, there’s the rub,” as Hamlet also says.

Ophelia has been misperceived,I think,but not from authorial prejudice against women (which in my judgment is not to be found in Shakespeare). Rather, Ophelia has been misperceived because insufficient attention has been paid to her character ac- cording to the standards of her time, rather than ours. She is as I have said on stage less than 20 percent of the time; it is thus nei- ther difficult nor wearying to trace the complete outline of her characterization, appearance by appearance.

We first meet Ophelia in act 1, scene 3,when Laertes, about to take sail for France, says farewell to her. She is young, female, for- mally restricted in many ways by custom and habit to a more or less semi-subservient role—but her very first words to her brother tell us that here is a humble maiden with a difference.“Let

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me hear from you,” says her brother. Does Ophelia tamely, servilely agree? Not a bit of it.“Do you doubt that?” she throws back at him. He tells her at great length, and in conventionally masculine language, to be wary of Hamlet, ending,“No more.” Does she accept his distinctly condescending words? “No more but so?” she challenges. He then launches into almost thirty-five lines of “more,” to which she responds with seven terse, forth- right lines well worth quoting in full: “I shall the effect of this good lesson [mere politeness? Laertes is not very bright and does not ever say much worth remembering] keep / As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, / Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, / Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, / Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine, / Himself the prim- rose path of dalliance treads, / And recks not his own rede.”For a supposedly timid, obsequious female, this is remarkably blunt— and would,I have little doubt,have been so perceived by contem- porary audiences. For Ophelia and Laertes represent, as so often in Shakespeare, a pointed pair in carefully set contrast, he the bold-talking male, she the obviously brainier, necessarily re- strained but at the same time distinctly unimpressed female.

Ophelia is necessarily much less free of her speech, in the fol- lowing exchanges with her father.According to the conventions of Shakespeare’s time, a brother does not exercise the same dis- positive power over a younger, female sibling that a father wields (though once a father dies, the brother, absent a husband, assumes a paternalistic role). “I do not know, my lord,” Ophelia quite properly tells her father, “what I should think.” Polonius is brusque and lordly with her.She does not,however,simply crum- ple, nor does she fawn.“My lord,” she tells him,“he hath impor- tuned me with love / In honorable fashion.”Her father is scorn-

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ful.“And [he has] given countenance to his speech, my lord,” she presses on,“With almost all the holy vows of heaven.” Her father harangues her at length and she bows, as in the end she and the audience know she must,with a simple “I shall obey,my lord.”

In act 2, scene 1, she rushes to her father, frightened and un- derstandably dismayed by Hamlet’s wild behavior and appear- ance.“O my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted.” She pro- ceeds to tells all: Hamlet has appeared before her, looking “as if he had been loosèd out of hell / To speak of horrors.” “Did you cause this, he demands? “No,my good lord,” she says.“But as you did command, / I did repel his letters and denied / His access to me.” She is at no point obsequious, but she is, nevertheless, a se- questered, inexperienced girl. There are serious questions, as I have said, about Hamlet’s love for her.There do not seem to be any such questions about her love for him—and his sudden wild appearance ought under all the circumstances to be frightening.

We do not next see Ophelia until act 3, scene 1, in which after a polite pair of brief speeches by her and a pair of abrupt,unpleas- ant ones from Hamlet—the second one denying ever making presents to her—she confronts him,quietly but firmly:“My hon- ored lord, you know right well you did, / And with them words of so sweet breath composed / As made the things more rich. Their perfume lost, / Take these again, for to the noble mind / Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. / There, my lord.”And she hands him back his presents, obliging him thereby to grudgingly accept them.This is clearly forceful in both lan- guage and action. Hamlet continues his rude, abrupt speech, but Ophelia still meets him ably,matching him on his own high stan- dard of eloquent argument. (He has been trained in a university; she of course has not.) “Could beauty, my lord, have better com-

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merce than with honesty?”Hamlet admits,“I did love you once.” Her response, once again, is direct and stalwart:“Indeed,my lord, you made me believe so.” He reprimands her for having believed him.She is sadly but bravely up to this retort, too:“I was the more deceived.”As Hamlet works himself into an apparent (?) fit, she grows desperate—for it is as I have noted plain that she has loved him all along. “O, help him, you sweet heavens!” she cries, and then,“O heavenly powers, restore him!”These, too, are not the speeches of a feeble-willed woman; their agitation is easy both to understand and to appreciate. And when at last Hamlet storms out, she speaks twelve nobly mournful lines, ending:“O, woe is me, / T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see!” Where is the weakness in any of this?

Later in scene 2 of the same act,Hamlet sprawls next to her, as they watch the play within a play. She meets his overexcited repartee with dignified, courteous cordiality.When he asks if she thinks he is talking “dirty” to her, she replies only,“I think noth- ing, my lord.” He wisecracks on; “you are merry, my lord,” she observes.When he (deliberately?) mistakes how long ago his fa- ther died, she quietly corrects him.When the play within a play begins, he comments liberally, and very freely; she patiently dis- avows his remarks: “You are naught [wicked, naughty], you are naught. I’ll mark [pay attention to] the play.”Later, she remarks, as he chatters on,“You are as good as a chorus,my lord,”she tells him. “You are keen,my lord,you are keen.”As he waxes both witty and bawdy, and becomes explicitly licentious (in speech, at least), she turns it and him away with “Still better, and worse.” Hers is, in short, a sturdy, sane, courageous stand under very heavy male fire.

Hamlet kills her father; Ophelia, deeply shaken, unravels.Act 4, scene 5, her mad scene, does not show us the same young

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woman earlier and consistently encountered. Is this anything but a sadly appropriate response from a young woman of Shake- speare’s time, not of ours, deprived,first, of the man she loves and then of her father? (For whatever use he might be in these cir- cumstances, her brother is abroad.) Ophelia’s world has been shaken, and then it has been cracked. There is, for her and for other Elizabethan women in similar circumstances, no pathway out of despair and hopelessness.As Horatio says of Hamlet, im- mediately after his death,“Now cracks a noble heart.” In Shake- speare’s time, as in ours and all other times, the paths of men and women do not often run in exactly the same directions,except to the common graves that hold us all.

This Text

As I have said, I present, here, a conservative and consensual text of the play. I have not followed any single seventeenth-century or any modern text, but in a sense I have followed all of them.That is, there is no radical departure, in this edition, from what seem to me the agreed-upon editorial standards of this time, most espe- cially in the United States. Choices, of course, have had to be made, and I have made them, using the textual resources cited in “Further Reading,” at the end of this book. I have carefully con- sulted those resources. I have however not noted each and every such choice, but only those that seem, for one reason or another, particularly worth attention in an edition meant primarily for nonscholar readers.

I have been free only with what might be called the lesser and more mechanical aspects of the play. As in virtually all modern editions, I have modernized spelling,except where that might in-

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terfere with Shakespeare’s prosody. Final -ed is given an accent— è—when, and only when, -ed is syllabified.Absence of that accent mark indicates nonsyllabification.There are in a few cases accent marks on other words, once again for prosodic reasons.

I have repunctuated wherever I thought it necessary, and sometimes reparagraphed. I have added occasional minor stage directions,mostly indications for the general reader as to just who is speaking to whom.There is no firm Elizabethan standard in any of these matters, though I have tried to be as respectful as possible of what is to be found in the early-seventeenth-century texts of Hamlet. Elizabethan printers cannot be equated with modern ones. Neither can the standards of modern authorship be retro- actively applied to writers who did not, in the modern sense of the word, consider themselves to be “authors.”

Having many times taught this play, and many others by Shakespeare, my single goal has been to make an edition that readers and, in particular, students (and students at all levels) will find as fully accessible as this somewhat disordered early-seven- teenth-century text can be faithfully made.

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The Tragedy of

Hamlet the prince of denmark

characters (dramatis personae )

Hamlet (Prince of Denmark) Claudius (King of Denmark,Hamlet’s uncle, brother of the

recently dead King) Ghost (Hamlet’s father, the former King) Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother, now married to Claudius) Polonius (councillor/adviser to the King) Laertes (Polonius’s son) Ophelia (Polonius’s daughter) Horatio (friend, companion, and fellow-student of Hamlet) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (fellow-students and former friends

of Hamlet) Fortinbras (Prince of Norway. n.b.: just as Hamlet’s father is also

named Hamlet, so Fortinbras’s father, too, is named Fortinbras)

Voltemand and Cornelius (Danish councillors, ambassadors to Norway)

Marcellus,Barnardo,Francisco (members of the King’s guard) Osric (a singularly foppish courtier) Reynaldo (Polonius’s servant) Players (actors) Gentlemen (courtiers) Priest Clown 1 and Clown 2 (gravediggers) Captain (in the army led by Fortinbras) English ambassadors (to Denmark) Others

Act 1�

s c e n e 1 The castle, in Elsinore: a guard platform—that is, a raised surface

enter (at opposite ends of the stage) Barnardo

and Francisco, two sentinels

Barnardo Who’s there? Francisco Nay, answer me.Stand and unfold1 yourself. Barnardo Long live the king!2

Francisco Barnardo? Barnardo He. Francisco You come most carefully3 upon your hour.4

Barnardo ’Tis now struck twelve.Get thee to bed,Francisco. Francisco For this relief much thanks: ’tis bitter cold,

And I am sick at heart.5

Barnardo Have you had quiet guard? Francisco Have you had quiet guard? Not a mouse stirring.

1 halt and reveal/disclose/identify* 2 a password? a declaration of loyalty? More likely the latter. 3 attentively, dutifully 4 on time 5 inwardly weary

Barnardo Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals6 of my watch, bid them make haste.

enter Horatio and Marcellus

Francisco I think I hear them.Stand,ho!7Who’s there? Horatio Friends to this ground.8

Marcellus Friends to this ground.8 And liegemen9 to the Dane.10

Francisco Give you good night.11

Marcellus Give you good night.11 O, farewell, honest12 soldier: Who hath relieved you?

Francisco Barnardo has my place. Give you good night.

exit Francisco

Marcellus Holla!13 Barnardo! Barnardo Say,14

What, is Horatio there?

act 1 • scene 1

6 partners, colleagues 7 halt 8 land, region, country 9 faithful subjects/followers

10 kings were spoken of as identical with the countries/regions they ruled: “Norway”� both the king and the country;“Denmark”or “the Dane”� Denmark

11 may God give you a good night (farewell) 12 virtuous, honorable 13 not “hello,”but an exclamation of pleasure 14 “say”� the stress of the final iambic foot:GIVE you good NIGHT. /

HolLA barNARdo. / SAY. What is printed as three lines is thus,metrically (prosodically), only one iambic pentameter line.The lines are separated and differently indented in order to indicate (1) the separate speakers and (2) the prosody.

Horatio A piece of him. Barnardo Welcome,Horatio.Welcome, good Marcellus. Marcellus What, has this thing appeared again to-night? Barnardo I have seen nothing. Marcellus Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy,15

And will not let belief take hold of him Touching16 this dreaded sight, twice seen of us; Therefore I have entreated him along With us, to watch the minutes17 of this night, That if again this apparition come, He may approve18 our eyes and speak to it.

Horatio Tush, tush, ’twill not appear. Barnardo Tush, tush, ’twill not appear. Sit down awhile;

And let us once again assail19 your ears, That are so fortified against our story What we have two nights seen.

Horatio Well, sit we down, And let us hear Barnardo speak of this.

Barnardo Last night of all,20

When yond same star that’s westward from the pole21

Had made his course t’illume22 that part of heaven Where now it burns,Marcellus and myself,

act 1 • scene 1

15 fancy, imagination* 16 concerning, about 17 probably not literally “minutes,”but “moments, small stretches of time” 18 confirm, attest to with authority 19 address, attack 20 most of all 21 pole star 22 to light up (the apostrophe is here a metrical convention, indicating that the

consonant which it follows is not to be scanned—that is, is not included in the metrical accounting)

The bell then beating one23 –

enter Ghost

Marcellus Peace,24 break thee off. Look where it25 comes again! Barnardo In the same figure like26 like the king that’s dead. Marcellus Thou art a scholar;27 speak to it,Horatio. Barnardo Looks ’a28 not like the king? Mark29 it,Horatio. Horatio Most like. It harrows30 me with fear and wonder. Barnardo It would31 be spoke to. Marcellus It would31 be spoke to. Speak to32 it,Horatio. Horatio What art thou that usurp’st this time of night,

Together with that fair33 and warlike form In which the majesty of buried Denmark34

Did sometimes march?35 By36 heaven I charge37 thee, speak! Marcellus It is offended. Barnardo It is offended. See, it stalks38 away! Horatio Stay!39 speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!

act 1 • scene 1

23 public clocks were largely unknown; the hours were generally told [“tolled”] by bells

24 hush, be silent 25 the use of “it” rather than “he”emphasizes the Ghost’s non-humanness 26 shape/form 27 a university student, an educated person 28 he* 29 observe, notice* 30 pierces, cuts through (the harrow, set with iron teeth, is attached to a plow) 31 wants to 32 some texts have “question it” 33 pleasing* 34 again, the dead king of Denmark,Hamlet’s father, also named Hamlet 35 march,walk 36 in the name of 37 command, exhort* 38 walks proudly 39 stop*

exit Ghost

’Tis gone, and will not40 answer. Barnardo How now,41 Horatio! You tremble and look pale.

Is not this something more than fantasy? What think you on’t?42

Horatio Before my God, I might not this believe Without the sensible and true avouch43

Of mine own eyes. Marcellus Is it not like the king? Horatio As thou art to thyself.

Such was the very armor he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated;44

So frowned he once,when in an angry parle,45

He smote the sledded Polacks46 on the ice. ’Tis strange.

Marcellus Thus twice before, and jump at this dead47 hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.

Horatio In what particular48 thought to work49 I know not; But in the gross and scope of my opinion,50

This bodes some strange eruption to our state.51

act 1 • scene 1

40 does not wish to 41 ah-ha! 42 of it 43 perceptible and truthful confirmation 44 COMbaTED 45 conference with an enemy 46 Polish troops on sledges 47 exactly/precisely at this profoundly quiet, still 48 single/individual/private* 49 accomplish, carry out 50 so far as I am able to understand 51 this indicates/predicts some violent outbreak in our state

Marcellus Good now,52 sit down, and tell me,he that knows,53

Why this same strict and most observant watch54

So nightly toils the subject55 of the land, And why such daily cast of brazen56 cannon, And foreign mart57 for implements of war, Why such impress58 of shipwrights,whose sore59 task Does not divide the Sunday from the week60 – What might be toward61 that this sweaty62 haste Doth make the night joint-laborer63 with the day? Who is’t that can inform me?

Horatio That can I – At least, the whisper64 goes so.Our last king, Whose image even but now appeared to us, Was, as you know,by Fortinbras of Norway Pricked on by a most emulate65 pride, Dared to the combat, in which our valiant Hamlet – For so this side of our known world esteemed66 him – Did slay this Fortinbras,who,by a sealed compact,67

act 1 • scene 1

52 good/honored sir, now 53 if you know 54 the same watch that he and his fellows keep every night is being enforced all

over Denmark 55 encloses/entangles the subjects/inhabitants 56 casting (as in a foundry) of brass 57 trade 58 conscription, involuntary service 59 laborious, painful 60 Sunday, the traditional day of rest, is for them only another working day 61 coming, approaching, impending 62 laborious 63 co-worker 64 rumor 65 envious, covetous, imitative 66 considered, judged 67 an agreeement/covenant/contract attested/certified by a formal wax seal

Well ratified by law and heraldry,68

Did forfeit with his life69 all those his lands Which he stood seized of,70 to the conqueror: Against the which, a moiety competent71

Was gagèd72 by our king,which had73 returned To the inheritance of Fortinbras, Had he been vanquisher – as, by the same cov’nant74

And carriage of the article designed75

His fell to Hamlet.Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimproved mettle76 hot and full, Hath in the skirts77 of Norway here and there Sharked up78 a list of lawless resolutes79

For food and diet80 to some enterprise That hath a stomach in’t;81 which is no other – As it doth well appear unto our state82 – But83 to recover of us, by strong hand And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So by his father lost.And this, I take it,

act 1 • scene 1

100

68 “heraldry”probably means, here, the traditional practices of knighthood 69 along with his life 70 possessed 71 an equal amount 72 wagered, risked, staked 73 would have 74 agreement, contract 75 and meaning of the intended/planned terms/conditions 76 untried/wild temperament/spirit 77 outskirts, borders 78 collected hastily/indiscriminately 79 a roster of men of determination/desperadoes 80 as the means to provide meat/substance for 81 relish, boldness, courage, bravery (“food and diet” are keyed to “stomach,”

then regarded as the center of passion and emotion) in it 82 realm, country* 83 except

Is the main motive of our preparations, The source of this our watch and the chief head84

Of this post-haste and romage85 in the land. Barnardo I think it be no other but e’en86 so:

Well may it sort87 that this portentous88 figure Comes armèd through our watch so like the king That was and is the question89 of these wars.

Horatio A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye.90

In the most high and palmy91 state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead92

Did squeak and gibber93 in the Roman streets, As94 stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters95 in the sun, and the moist star96

Upon whose influence97 Neptune’s empire98 stands Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse.99

act 1 • scene 1

105

110

115

120

84 source, origin 85 hurry/speed and commotion/bustle 86 even 87 be appropriate 88 ominous, awesome 89 subject 90 Matthew 7.3:“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye,

but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” 91 triumphant, flourishing 92 winding sheets/shrouds were usually white 93 unintelligible/inarticulate speech 94 while 95 unfavorable astrological aspects/positions 96 the moon 97 ethereal fluids were thought to flow from astral bodies, influencing people,

things, and events 98 the ocean 99 almost to darkness (Matthew 24.29: on Christ’s return “shall the sun be

darkened, and the moon shall not give her light”)

And even the like precurse100 of fierce101 events, As harbingers preceding still102 the fates103

And prologue to the omen coming on,104

Have heaven and earth together demonstrated Unto our climatures105 and countrymen.

enter Ghost

But soft, behold! Lo,where it comes again! I’ll cross it,106 though it blast107 me.Stay, illusion!108

Ghost spreads its arms

If thou hast any sound,or use of voice, Speak to me. If there be any good thing to be done, That may to thee do ease and grace to me, Speak to me. If thou art privy to thy country’s fate, Which,happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak! Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted109 treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,

act 1 • scene 1

125

130

135

100 presaging, foreshadowing 101 some texts have “feared” 102 always* 103 the three goddesses controlling human destiny 104 advancing 105 region, climate 106 intersect its path, confront it 107 blight,wither, curse 108 deception, delusion 109 acquired illicitly, by force

the cock crows

Speak of it. Stay, and speak! Stop it,Marcellus. Marcellus Shall I strike at it with my partisan?110

Horatio Do, if it will not stand. Barnardo Do, if it will not stand. ’Tis here! Horatio Do, if it will not stand. ’Tis here! ’Tis here!

exit Ghost

Marcellus ’Tis gone! We do it wrong, being111 so majestical, To offer it the show of violence,112

For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery.

Barnardo It was about to speak,when the cock crew. Horatio And then it started like a guilty thing

Upon113 a fearful summons. I have heard The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of day, and at his warning, Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,114

The extravagant and erring spirit115 hies To his confine.116 And of the truth herein This present object made probation.117

act 1 • scene 1

140

145

150

155

110 long-handled weapon with lateral blade(s) 111 it being 112 VIoLENCE 113 because of, after 114 fire,water, earth, air: then considered the four basic elements 115 straggling, fantastically absurd/excessive and wandering ghost 116 hurries to his place of confinement (usually the grave) 117 proof

Marcellus It faded on the crowing of the cock. Some say that ever ’gainst118 that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long, And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad, The nights are wholesome, then,no planets strike,119

No fairy takes,120 nor witch hath power to charm,121

So hallowed and so gracious122 is the time. Horatio So have I heard and do in part believe it.

But, look, the morn, in russet123 mantle clad, Walks o’er the dew of 124 yon high eastward hill. Break we our watch up;125 and by my advice, Let us impart what we have seen to-night Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us,will speak to him. Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, As needful in our loves, fitting our duty?

Marcellus Let’s do’t, I pray; and I this morning know Where we shall find him most convenient.126

exeunt

act 1 • scene 1

160

165

170

175

118 always near/in anticipation of 119 smite (as with a weapon), afflict, attack,wound,kill 120 bewitches 121 enchant 122 holy/sanctified and full of grace 123 reddish/yellowish brown 124 on (dew was thought to fall from the heavens) 125 let us stop, interrupt our watch 126 conveniently

s c e n e 2 The castle

enter Claudius (King of Denmark), Gertrude

(the Queen), Hamlet (son of the Queen and the

recently deceased King, also named Hamlet),

Polonius (Councillor of State), Laertes

(Polonius’s son), Cornelius and Voltemand

(ambassadorial messengers), and others

Claudius Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted1

To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted2 in one brow of woe, Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him, Together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime3 sister, now our queen, The imperial jointress4 to this warlike state, Have we, as ’twere with a defeated5 joy, With an auspicious and a dropping6 eye, With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole,7

Taken to wife.Nor have we herein barred

act 1 • scene 2

1 was proper/appropriate 2 narrowed, shrunken 3 previously, formerly 4 legal heir of property (not power) settled on her, upon her marriage to her

late royal husband 5 spoiled, defaced, disfigured 6 a propitious/favored by fortune and a depressed/sunken 7 sorrow,grief,mourning

Your better wisdoms,which have freely gone With this affair along.For all, our thanks. Now follows that you know young Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth,8

Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,9

Colleagued10 with this dream of his advantage,11

He hath not failed to pester us with message Importing12 the surrender of those lands Lost by his father,with all bonds13 of law, To our most valiant brother. So much for him. Now for ourself and for this time of meeting. Thus much the business is:we have here writ To Norway,uncle of young Fortinbras, – Who, impotent14 and bed-rid, scarcely hears Of this his nephew’s purpose, – to suppress His further gait15 herein, in that the levies,16

The lists and full proportions,17 are all made Out of his subject:18 And we here dispatch You, good Cornelius, and you,Voltimand, For bearers of this greeting to old Norway;

act 1 • scene 2

8 a weak opinion of our (my) character/qualities 9 coming apart and out of order

10 joined (colLEAGUed) 11 superiority, superior position 12 with messages (or messengers/envoys) carrying/conveying 13 according to all agreements, covenants, contracts 14 decrepit,weak 15 Fortinbras’s further movement 16 because the enlistments 17 the rolls and (their) abundant/copious size/numbers 18 Norway’s subjects

Giving to you no further personal power To business with the king,more than the scope Of these delated articles19 allow. Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.

Cornelius,Voltimand In that and all things will we show our duty. Claudius We doubt it nothing.Heartily farewell.

exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius

And now,Laertes,what’s the news with you? You told us of some suit.20What is’t, Laertes? You cannot speak of reason to the Dane21

And lose your voice.22What wouldst thou beg,Laertes, That shall not be my offer, not thy asking?23

The head is not more native24 to the heart, The hand more instrumental25 to the mouth, Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. What wouldst thou have,Laertes?

Laertes My dread26 lord, Your leave and favor27 to return to France,28

From whence though willingly I came to Denmark To show my duty in your coronation,

act 1 • scene 2

19 expanded/explanatory writings/documents 20 petition, request 21 Claudius himself 22 waste your breath 23 that would not be given to Laertes by the King,without Laertes having to

ask 24 naturally connected, closely related 25 useful, of service 26 revered* 27 permission and indulgence 28 guests customarily required an aristocratic host’s permission to leave

Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon.29

Claudius Have you your father’s leave? What says Polonius? Polonius He hath,my lord,wrung from me my slow30 leave

By laborsome petition,31 and at last Upon his will I sealed my hard32 consent. I do beseech you, give him leave to go.

Claudius Take thy fair33 hour,Laertes.Time be thine, And thy best graces34 spend it at thy will! But now,my cousin Hamlet, and my son – 35

Hamlet (aside) A little more than kin, and less than kind.36

Claudius How is it that the clouds37 still hang on you? Hamlet Not so,my lord. I am too much i’ the sun.38

Gertrude Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color39 off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailèd40 lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust.

act 1 • scene 2

29 permission, indulgence 30 reluctant 31 entreaty, supplication 32 upon his desire I granted (figuratively,“set my seal upon”) my difficult-to-

give 33 advantageous, favorable 34 luck 35 cousin: used freely for relatives less close than a brother or sister; son: a son by

marriage was termed a son, just as a daughter by marriage was termed a daughter*

36 kin: relative; kind: kindly, showing goodwill (and having the same nature) 37 darkness, gloom 38 the light of royal attention (and in the position of “son”) 39 dark appearance 40 lowered, cast down

Thou know’st ’tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.41

Hamlet Ay,madam, it is common.42

Gertrude If it be, Why seems it so particular with43 thee?

Hamlet Seems,madam! nay it is; I know not “seems.” ’Tis not alone my inky44 cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits45 of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced46 breath, No,nor the fruitful47 river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior48 of the visage, Together with all forms,moods, shapes of grief, That can denote49 me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play,50

But I have that within which passeth51 show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe.

Claudius ’Tis sweet and commendable in your nature,Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father, But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term

act 1 • scene 2

41 iyTERniTIE/ 42 universal (and vulgar) 43 personal/peculiar to 44 black (the color of mourning) 45 clothing 46 sighing of artificial/laborious/constrained 47 copious, abundant 48 bearing, deportment 49 describe, distinguish 50 act the part of, trifle/sport with 51 exceeds, surpasses*

To do obsequious52 sorrow:But to persever In obstinate condolement is a course53

Of ímpious stubbornness. ’Tis unmanly grief, It shows a will most incorrect54 to heaven, A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschooled.55

For what we know must be, and is, as common As any the most vulgar thing to sense,56

Why should we in our peevish opposition Take it to heart? Fie, ’tis a fault to heaven, A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, To reason most absurd,whose common theme Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried, From the first corse57 till he that died to-day, “This must be so.” We pray you, throw to earth This unprevailing58 woe, and think of us As of a father, for let the world take note You are the most immediate59 to our throne, And with no less nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his son Do I impart60 toward you.For your intent In going back to school in Wittenberg,

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52 obsequious: that which is appropriate for funerals (obsequy: funeral rites) 53 lamentation/grieving is a way of acting 54 uncorrected,unchastened 55 feeble/weak and undisciplined 56 common/ordinary to the senses 57 corpse* 58 ineffectual, useless 59 direct successor 60 make this known, relate, tell

It is most retrograde61 to our desire, And we beseech you:bend you62 to remain Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye, Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.

Gertrude Let not thy mother lose63 her prayers,Hamlet. I pray thee, stay with us, go not to Wittenberg.

Hamlet I shall in all my best64 obey you,madam. Claudius Why, ’tis a loving and a fair reply:

Be as ourself in Denmark.Madam, come. This gentle65 and unforced accord of Hamlet Sits smiling to my heart, in grace66 whereof No jocund health67 that Denmark drinks to-day, But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell, And the king’s rouse68 the heavens shall bruit69 again, Re-speaking earthly thunder.Come away.

trumpets. exeunt all but Hamlet

Hamlet O, that this too too solid70 flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve71 itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon72 ’gainst self-slaughter! O God,God,

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61 contrary, repugnant, opposed 62 turn your mind 63 waste, forfeit 64 as best I can 65 gentlemanly,well-bred* 66 thanks, thanksgiving 67 cheerful toast 68 full draught/bumper of liquor 69 clamor, create a din,make a great noise 70 some texts have “sullied” 71 dissolve 72 rule, law

How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses73 of this world! Fie on’t, ah fie, ’tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed: things rank and gross in nature74

Possess it merely.75That it should come to this – But two months dead – nay,not so much,not two – So excellent a king,76 that was to this77

Hyperion to a satyr,78 so loving to my mother That he might not beteem79 the winds of heaven Visit80 her face too roughly.Heaven and earth! Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite81 had grown By what it fed on – and yet,within a month – Let me not think on’t: frailty, thy name is woman! A little month,or ere82 those shoes were old With which she followed my poor father’s body Like Niobe,83 all tears – why she, even she – O God, a beast that wants discourse84 of reason Would have mourned longer – married with my uncle,

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73 habits, practices, customs 74 of nature/character 75 absolutely, altogether, unconditionally 76 Hamlet’s father 77 Hamlet’s uncle 78 the Sun God compared to a wood demon (half beast, half human) 79 allow, think fit/proper 80 come to, afflict 81 desire, craving 82 before* 83 mother of six sons and six daughters,who taunted the gods because of her

fertility; they responded by killing all her children;Niobe was turned to stone but went on weeping

84 lacks the faculty/power

My father’s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules.Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous85 tears Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes,86

She married.O,most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity87 to incestuous88 sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good. But break,my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo

Horatio Hail to your lordship! Hamlet I am glad to see you well.

Horatio! Or I do forget myself.89

Horatio The same,my lord, and your poor servant ever. Hamlet Sir,my good friend; I’ll change that name90 with you:

And what make you from Wittenberg,91 Horatio? (turning) Marcellus.92

Marcellus My good lord. Hamlet I am very glad to see you.93 Good even, sir.94

But what, in faith,make you from Wittenberg?

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165

85 wicked 86 stopped creating the rushing of blood to her sore/irriated eyes 87 to hurry with such facility 88 Leviticus 20.21:“And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean

thing” 89 unless I have forgotten myself/who I am 90 exchange the name of “servant”with you: to put oneself in the role of a

“servant”was an expression of good manners, a form of greeting or leave- taking

91 what are you doing away from Wittenberg? 92 an acknowledgment of recognition and a greeting 93 spoken to Marcellus 94 spoken to Barnardo? or to Marcellus? or both?

Horatio A truant disposition,95 good my lord. Hamlet I would not hear96 your enemy say so,

Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, To make it truster97 of your own report Against yourself. I know you are no truant. But what is your affair98 in Elsinore? We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.99

Horatio My lord, I came to see your father’s funeral. Hamlet I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student.

I think it was to see my mother’s wedding. Horatio Indeed,my lord, it followed hard upon. Hamlet Thrift, thrift,Horatio! The funeral baked meats100

Did coldly furnish forth101 the marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven102

Or103 ever I had seen that day,Horatio! My father! Methinks104 I see my father.

Horatio Where,my lord? Hamlet Where,my lord? In my mind’s eye,Horatio. Horatio I saw him once. ’A was a goodly105 king. Hamlet ’A was a man, take him for all in all,

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185

95 a lazy/loitering nature/mood 96 listen to 97 believer, reliant on 98 business* 99 a negative comment on the King’s “deep drinking”

100 meat pies 101 with cold feeling/cold temperatures supply/provide for 102 meeting a “dearest foe” in heaven would mean he is not in hell,where one

wishes him to be 103 “or,”here �“ere,”before 104 I think, it seems to me* 105 gracious, courteous, kindly

I shall not look upon his like again. Horatio My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. Hamlet Saw? Who? Horatio My lord, the King your father. Hamlet The King my father! Horatio Season your admiration106 for awhile

With an attent107 ear, till I may deliver,108

Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.

Hamlet For God’s love, let me hear. Horatio Two nights together109 had these gentlemen,

Marcellus and Barnardo,on their watch In the dead vast and middle of the night, Been thus encountered.A figure like your father, Armèd at point110 exactly, cap-a-pe,111

Appears before them, and with solemn march112

Goes slow and stately by them.Thrice he walked By their oppressed113 and fear-surprisèd eyes, Within his truncheon’s length,114 whilst they, distilled Almost to jelly with the act115 of fear, Stand dumb and speak not to him.This to me In dreadful116 secrecy impart they did,

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106 moderate your wonder 107 attentive 108 set forth, describe 109 consecutively 110 at the ready 111 head to toe 112 step,movement 113 startled, overwhelmed 114 in the space of a spear-shaft 115 melted/dissolved by the operation 116 fearful, reverential

And I with them the third night kept the watch, Where, as they had delivered – both in time, Form of the thing, each word made true and good – The apparition comes. I knew117 your father: These hands118 are not more like.

Hamlet But where was this? Marcellus My lord,upon the platform where we watched. Hamlet Did you not speak to it? Horatio Did you not speak to it? My lord, I did,

But answer made it none.Yet once methought It lifted up its head and did address119

Itself to motion, like as it would speak, But even120 then the morning cock crew loud, And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, And vanished from our sight.

Hamlet ’Tis very strange. Horatio As I do live,my honored lord, ’tis true,

And we did think it writ down in our duty121

To let you know of it. Hamlet Indeed, indeed, sirs.But this troubles me.

Hold122 you the watch to-night? All We do,my lord. Hamlet Armed, say you? All Armed,my lord. Hamlet From top to toe?

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215

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225

117 recognized 118 his own,held out in front of him 119 commit, turn 120 just 121 part of our office/responsibility 122 keep

All From top to toe? My lord, from head to foot. Hamlet Then saw you not his face? Horatio O,yes,my lord.He wore his beaver123 up. Hamlet What, looked he frowningly? Horatio A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Hamlet Pale or red? Horatio Nay,very pale. Hamlet Nay,very pale. And fixed his eyes upon you? Horatio Most constantly. Hamlet Most constantly. I would I had been there. Horatio It would have much amazed you. Hamlet Very like, very like. Stayed it long? Horatio While one with moderate haste might tell124 a hundred. Marcellus,Barnardo Longer, longer. Horatio Not when I saw’t. Hamlet Not when I saw’t. His beard was grizzled, no? Horatio It was, as I have seen it in his life,

A sable silvered.125

Hamlet I will watch to-night; Perchance ’twill walk again.

Horatio I warrant126 it will. Hamlet If it assume my noble father’s person,

I’ll speak to it, though hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, If you have hitherto concealed this sight, Let it be tenable127 in your silence still,

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235

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245

123 bottom of a helmet’s face-guard 124 count 125 a silvered sable 126 guarantee, promise 127 kept, held

And whatsoever else shall hap128 to-night, Give it an understanding, but no tongue: I will requite your loves. So, fare you well. Upon the platform, ’twixt eleven and twelve, I’ll visit you.

All Our duty129 to your honour. Hamlet Your loves,130 as mine to you.Farewell.

exeunt all but Hamlet

My father’s spirit – in arms! All is not well. I doubt131 some foul play.Would the night were come! Till then sit still,my soul. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o’erwhelm132 them, to men’s eyes.

exit

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255

128 chance to happen 129 respect (a formulaic greeting or farewell) 130 Hamlet rejects the formula.He wishes more than “duty”: as he has already

said, he wants to have their “love,”meaning affectionate rather than obligatory loyalty

131 fear, suspect* 132 cover, bury

s c e n e 3 A room

enter Laertes and Ophelia

Laertes My necessaries are embarked.Farewell. And, sister, as the winds give benefit1

And convoy is assistant,2 do not sleep, But let me hear from you.

Ophelia Do you doubt that? Laertes For3 Hamlet and the trifling of his favor,4

Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,5

A violet in the youth of primy nature,6

Forward,7 not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance8 of a minute. No more.

Ophelia No more but so? Laertes Think it no more.

For nature crescent does not grow alone9

In thews and bulk,10 but, as this temple waxes,11

The inward service12 of the mind and soul

act 1 • scene 3

1 when the winds are favorable 2 means of transportation are available 3 as for 4 dallying of his attention 5 a pretense and fooling about of disposition/mood (modern usage:“of young

hormones”) 6 a flowering of a young man in his prime 7 precocious, ahead of its time 8 diversion, pastime 9 for growing nature does not grow only

10 bodily strength/muscles and size 11 this body grows* 12 performance, duties

Grows wide withal.13 Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel14 doth besmirch15

The virtue of his will.16 But you must fear: His greatness weighed,17 his will is not his own, For he himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons18 do, Carve19 for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole state, And therefore must his choice be circumscribed Unto the voice and yielding of that body20

Whereof he is the head.Then if he says he loves you, It fits your wisdom so far to believe it As he in his particular act and place May give his saying deed,21 which is no further Than the main voice22 of Denmark goes withal.23

Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain, If with too credent ear you list24 his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open To his unmastered importunity.25

Fear it,Ophelia, fear it,my dear sister,

act 1 • scene 3

13 increased in range/extent along with the rest 14 moral stain/tarnish nor trickery/craftiness 15 discolor, dim the luster of 16 desire 17 his high rank considered 18 people not of high rank 19 take his pleasure 20 consent of that body (the state) 21 may transform his words into actions 22 principal voice (the King) 23 goes along with 24 trusting ear you listen to 25 untamed relentless urging

And keep you in the rear of 26 your affection, Out of the shot27 and danger of desire. The chariest28 maid is prodigal enough, If she unmask29 her beauty to the moon. Virtue itself ‘scapes not calumnious strokes.30

The canker galls31 the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,32

And in the morn and liquid dew of youth Contagious blastments are most imminent.33

Be wary, then; best safety lies in fear. Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.

Ophelia I shall the effect34 of this good lesson keep, As watchman to my heart.But, good my brother, Do not, as some ungracious35 pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puffed36 and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, And recks not his own rede.37

enter Polonius

Laertes O, fear me not.

act 1 • scene 3

26 in the back ranks (a military reference continued in the next line) 27 shooting 28 most cautious 29 uncover, reveal 30 slanderous blows 31 the rotting disease injures 32 their buds are opened 33 diseases are most threatening 34 meaning, drift, tenor 35 unattractive, graceless, discourteous 36 vain, inflated 37 pays no attention to his own advice

I stay too long.But here my father comes. A double blessing is a double grace:38

Occasion smiles upon a second leave.39

Polonius Yet here,Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame! The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, And you are stayed for.40There – my blessing with thee, And these few precepts in thy memory Look thou character.41 Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned thought his act.42

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.43

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,44

Grapple45 them to thy soul with hoops of steel, But do not dull thy palm46 with entertainment47

Of each new-hatched,unfledged courage.48 Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in Bear’t49 that the opposèd may beware of thee. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment. Costly thy habit50 as thy purse can buy,

act 1 • scene 3

38 having had his father’s blessing, he is about to have it again 39 circumstances smile upon a second leave-taking 40 waited for 41 be attentive/careful that you engrave/write 42 disproportionate/out-of-balance thought its action/deed 43 affable/courteous, but never coarse/lacking in good taste 44 association with you tested 45 grasp, take hold of 46 but do not blunt/tarnish your grip/success 47 receiving, accommodating 48 callow/crude/undeveloped person 49 carry/acquit yourself 50 clothing, dress*

But not expressed in fancy51 – rich,not gaudy; For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief52 in that. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.53

This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell:my blessing season54 this in thee!

Laertes Most humbly do I take my leave,my lord. Polonius The time invites you.Go, your servants tend.55

Laertes Farewell,Ophelia; and remember well What I have said to you.

Ophelia ’Tis in my memory locked, And you yourself shall keep the key of it.

Laertes Farewell.

exit Laertes

Polonius What is’t,Ophelia, be hath said to you? Ophelia So please you, something touching56 the Lord Hamlet. Polonius Marry,57 well bethought.58

act 1 • scene 3

51 whims, caprices 52 a most excellent and gallant/noble chief position 53 thrift* 54 ripen,mature 55 await you 56 relating to, concerning* 57 an exclamation (originally an oath employing the Virgin Mary’s name)* 58 considered

’Tis told me,he hath very oft of late Given private time to you, and you yourself Have of your audience been most free and bounteous.59

If it be so, as so ’tis put on60 me, And that in way of caution, I must tell you You do not understand yourself so clearly As it behooves61 my daughter and your honor. What is between you? Give me up the truth.

Ophelia He hath,my lord, of late made many tenders62

Of his affection to me. Polonius Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,

Unsifted63 in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

Ophelia I do not know,my lord,what I should think. Polonius Marry, I will teach you.Think yourself a baby

That you have ta’en64 these tenders for true pay,65

Which are not sterling.66Tender yourself more dearly;67

Or – not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, Running it68 thus – you’ll tender me a fool.69

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59 of your reception of visits been most generous and liberal 60 told to, confided in 61 befits, is appropriate for 62 offers 63 inexperienced 64 taken 65 payment (Polonius is punning on commercial “tenders”; in commerce

“payment”�“satisfaction”) 66 (1) English currency (as in “pound sterling”); (2) pure, excellent 67 (1) worth more, as a person; (2) worth more,more costly, in commercial

terms 68 one “cracks the wind”of a horse by “running it” too hard:Polonius not only

puns incessantly, but comments on himself punning 69 (1) a fool (Ophelia herself ); (2) a baby

Ophelia My lord,he hath importuned me with love In honorable fashion.70

Polonius Ay, fashion you may call it.Go to, go to.71

Ophelia And hath given countenance72 to his speech,my lord, With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

Polonius Ay, springes to catch woodcocks.73 I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal74 the soul Lends the tongue vow.75These blazes, daughter, Giving more light than heat, extinct76 in both, Even in their promise, as it is a-making, You must not take for fire. From this time Be something scanter of your maiden presence.77

Set your entreatments78 at a higher rate Than a command to parley.79 For80 Lord Hamlet, Believe so much in him, that he is young And with a larger tether81 may he walk Than may be given you. In few,82 Ophelia, Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers,83

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115

120

125

70 (1) manner; (2) making, shaping, forming 71 you can’t be serious! 72 moral support 73 snares, traps to catch (1) foolish birds, (2) fools 74 lavishly, recklessly 75 the emotions/passions bestow on the tongue solemn promises 76 extinguished 77 more restricted of your virginal presence 78 (1) conversations; (2) negotiations 79 hold discussions, as for a truce or treaty 80 as for 81 the rope/cord with which an animal is tied 82 in a few words, in short 83 middlemen,pimps

Not of that dye84 which their investments85 show, But mere implorators of unholy suits,86

Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,87

The better to beguile.This is for all:88

I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so slander any moment leisure,89

As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. Look to’t, I charge you.90 Come91 your ways.

Ophelia I shall obey,my lord.

exeunt

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84 color, nature 85 (1) clothing; (2) money or capital put into a business 86 entreators of unholy causes 87 speaking like sanctified and pious pimps/brothel keepers 88 in sum,finally, once and for all 89 disgrace any moment of leisure 90 attend to it, I command you 91 recover, change

s c e n e 4 The castle in Elsinore—a guard platform

enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus

Hamlet The air bites shrewdly;1 it is very cold. Horatio It is a nipping and an eager2 air. Hamlet What hour now? Horatio What hour now? I think it lacks of twelve. Marcellus No, it is struck. Horatio Indeed? I heard it not. It then draws near the season3

Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk.4

a flourish of trumpets, and two pieces

(of ordnance) go off

What does this mean,my lord? Hamlet The king doth wake to-night and takes his rouse,5

Keeps wassail and the swagg’ring up-spring reels,6

And as he drains his draughts of Rhenish7 down, The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge.8

Horatio Is it a custom? Hamlet Ay,marry, is’t,

But to my mind, though I am native here

act 1 • scene 4

1 fiercely,wickedly 2 sharp and a keen 3 time 4 made it his habit/custom to walk 5 is awake tonight and is having his drinking bout 6 observes/celebrates sitting and drinking and the showy, leaping, lively dances 7 Rhenish wine 8 toast, drinking to someone’s health

And to the manner9 born, it is a custom More honored in the breach10 than the observance. This heavy-headed revel east and west Makes us traduced and taxed of 11 other nations. They clepe12 us drunkards, and with swinish13 phrase Soil our addition,14 and indeed it takes From15 our achievements, though performed at height,16

The pith and marrow of our attribute.17

So oft it chances in particular men That for some vicious mole of nature18 in them, As19 in their birth,wherein they are not guilty, (Since nature cannot choose his20 origin) By the o’ergrowth of some complexion,21

Oft breaking down the pales and forts22 of reason, Or by some habit that too much o’er-leavens23

The form of plausive manners that24 these men – Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,

act 1 • scene 4

9 custom,usage 10 breaking 11 maligned/slandered by 12 call 13 gross, coarse 14 name 15 injures 16 though carried out at the highest level 17 the essence and vital part of our reputation 18 defective/debased fault/blemish of character/disposition 19 as if 20 its 21 habit of body or mind (comPLEXiON) 22 fences/boundaries and fortified positions 23 permeates, ferments, corrupts 24 the form of behavior that can be approved of, so that

Being nature’s livery or fortune’s star,25

Their virtues else,26 be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo27 – Shall in the general28 censure take corruption From that particular fault.The dram29 of evil Doth all the noble substance often doubt,30

To his own scandal.31

Horatio Look,my lord, it comes!

enter Ghost

Hamlet Angels and ministers32 of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health,33 or goblin damned, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable,34

Thou com’st in such a questionable35 shape That I will speak to thee. I’ll call thee Hamlet, King, father, royal Dane.O, answer me! Let me not burst in ignorance, but tell Why thy canonized bones, hearsed36 in death, Have burst their cerements,37 why the sepulcher

act 1 • scene 4

25 badge/outerwear, or controlling astrological influence 26 otherwise 27 enjoy, partake of 28 overall 29 small quantity 30 the noble essence call into question 31 to its own discredit, disgrace 32 servants 33 goodness 34 loving God and man 35 capable of being asked questions (QUEStionABle) 36 thy consecrated bones, coffined 37 waxed wrappings/shrouds

Wherein we saw thee quietly inurned38

Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws, To cast thee up again.What may this mean, That thou,dead corse, again in cómplete steel,39

Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon,40

Making night hideous and we fools of nature41

So horridly to shake our disposition42

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? Say,why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?

Ghost beckons Hamlet

Horatio It beckons you to go away with it, As if it some impartment43 did desire To you alone.

Marcellus Look,with what courteous action44

It waves you to a more removèd ground.45

But do not go with it. Horatio No,by no means. Hamlet It will not speak.Then I will follow it. Horatio Do not,my lord. Hamlet Why,what should be the fear?

I do not set my life at a pin’s fee,46

act 1 • scene 4

38 motionlessly entombed 39 a full suit of armor 40 the transient/flickering traces/flashes of the moon 41 making night dreadful and we playthings/toys of nature 42 that we shake our constitutions 43 communication 44 gesture 45 distant/secluded place 46 cost, price

And for my soul,what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself ? It waves me forth again. I’ll follow it.

Horatio What if it tempt you toward the flood,47 my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o’er his base48 into the sea, And there assume some other horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of49 reason And draw you into madness? Think of it. The very place puts toys of desperation,50

Without more motive,51 into every brain That looks so many fathoms to the sea And hears it roar beneath.

Hamlet It waves me still. (to Ghost) Go on; I’ll follow thee.

Marcellus You shall not go,my lord. Hamlet Hold off your hands. Horatio Be ruled.52 You shall not go. Hamlet My fate cries out

And makes each petty artere53 in this body As hardy54 as the Nemean lion’s nerve.55

act 1 • scene 4

47 sea 48 scowls over its bottom/foundation 49 your control over 50 tricks/fantastic notions of despair/recklessness 51 without more cause 52 guided, restrained 53 sinew,muscle (ARtere) 54 bold, vigorous 55 muscles/strength of the [magically invulnerable] lion killed by Hercules

Still am I called.Unhand me, gentlemen. By heaven, I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me!56

I say, away! (to Ghost)

Go on. I’ll follow thee.

exeunt Ghost and Hamlet

Horatio He waxes desperate with imagination.57

Marcellus Let’s follow. ’Tis not fit thus to obey him. Horatio Have after.58To what issue59 will this come? Marcellus Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Horatio Heaven will direct60 it. Marcellus Heaven will direct60 it. Nay, let’s follow him.

exeunt

act 1 • scene 4

56 stops me 57 fancy, fantasy 58 let’s go after him 59 outcome, result 60 guide, regulate, straighten out

s c e n e 5 On the upper walls of the castle

enter Ghost and Hamlet

Hamlet Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak. I’ll go no further. Ghost Mark me. Hamlet Mark me. I will. Ghost My hour is almost come,

When I to sulf ’rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself.

Hamlet Alas, poor ghost! Ghost Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing

To what I shall unfold. Hamlet Speak; I am bound1 to hear. Ghost So art thou to revenge,when thou shalt hear. Hamlet What?2

Ghost I am thy father’s spirit, Doomed for a certain term3 to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast4 in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature5

Are burnt and purged away.But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest6 word Would harrow7 up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,

act 1 • scene 5

1 duty bound 2 revenge what? 3 condemned/sentenced for a fixed period 4 “Flesh triumphed in the wicked on earth, and hell is of the flesh, though the

spirit also be agonized” (H.O.Taylor,The Mediaeval Mind, 1:471) 5 sins committed in my earthly life 6 slightest 7 cut through,pierce, lacerate

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start8 from their spheres,9

Thy knotted and combinèd10 locks to part11

And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.12

But this eternal blazon must not be13

To ears of flesh and blood.List, list,O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father love –

Hamlet O God! Ghost Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Hamlet Murder! Ghost Murder most foul, as in the best it is,

But this most foul, strange and unnatural. Hamlet Haste me to know’t, that I,with wings as swift

As meditation14 or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.

Ghost I find thee apt, And duller15 shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,16

Wouldst thou not stir17 in this.Now,Hamlet, hear. ’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,18

A serpent stung me.So the whole ear of Denmark

act 1 • scene 5

8 leap, burst 9 in Ptolemaic astronomy, the stars are planets and exist inside hollow spheres

10 interconnected and joined 11 separate, divide 12 irritable/peevish porcupine 13 eternal description must not be given to/heard by 14 thought 15 more listless/lethargic 16 bank of the River Lethe (in Hades: one sip and the drinker’s entire past is

forgotten) 17 if you did not propose/want to act/move 18 garden

Is by a forgèd process19 of my death Rankly abused.20 But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.

Hamlet O my prophetic soul! My uncle!

Ghost Ay, that incestuous,21 that adulterate22 beast, With witchcraft of his wit,with traitorous23 gifts – O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power So to seduce! – won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. O Hamlet,what a falling-off was there From me,whose love was of that dignity24

That it went hand in hand even with25 the vow I made to her in marriage – and to decline26

Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor To27 those of mine! But virtue, as it never will be moved, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel28 linked, Will sate itself in a celestial bed, And prey29 on garbage.

act 1 • scene 5

19 story 20 corruptly/grossly deceived/imposed upon 21 see act 1, scene 2, note 88 22 adulterous 23 treacherous 24 excellence,worth, honor 25 exactly in accord/parallel with 26 sink, descend 27 compared to 28 Satan 29 feed

But soft! methinks I scent the morning air. Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard, My custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure30 hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon31 in a vial, And in the porches32 of my ears did pour The leperous distilment,33 whose effect Holds such an enmity34 with blood of man That swift as quicksilver it courses35 through The natural gates and alleys36 of the body, And with a sudden vigor it doth posset37

And curd, like eager38 droppings into milk, The thin39 and wholesome blood. So did it mine, And a most instant tetter barked40 about, Most lazar-like,41 with vile and loathsome crust, All my smooth body. Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand Of 42 life, of crown,of queen, at once dispatched,43

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,

act 1 • scene 5

30 unsuspecting 31 a never precisely identified poisonous plant 32 vestibules, outer approaches to the ear 33 tainted distilled drops/liquid 34 hostility, hatred 35 runs, flows 36 openings/entrances and passages 37 strength/force it doth curdle 38 acrid, acidic 39 feeble,weak 40 pustule/scablike crustiness broke out/erupted 41 as in leprosy 42 “of ” is used three times, in this line, in the sense of “from” 43 removed/dismissed by death

Unhouseled, disappointed,unaneled,44

No reckoning45 made, but sent to my account With all my imperfections46 on my head. O,horrible! O,horrible,most horrible! If thou hast nature47 in thee, bear48 it not, Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch49 for luxury and damnèd incest. But howsoever thou pursuest this act, Taint not thy mind,nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught.Leave her to heaven And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, To prick and sting50 her. Fare thee well at once! The glow-worm51 shows the matin to be near, And ’gins to pale his uneffectual52 fire. Adieu, adieu, adieu.Remember me.

exit

Hamlet O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple53 hell? O,fie! Hold,54 hold,my heart, And you,my sinews,55 grow not instant old,

act 1 • scene 5

44 not having received communion,unprepared,not having received the sacrament of extreme unction

45 an account to God of one’s life and conduct 46 faults, blemishes 47 natural human feeling/affection 48 tolerate, endure 49 (1) a bed; (2) an animal’s lair 50 pierce, cut 51 firefly 52 now relatively ineffective light 53 add on 54 stand fast, stay steady 55 nerves,muscles, strength

But bear me stiffly56 up.Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost,while memory holds a seat In this distracted globe.57 Remember thee? Yea, from the table58 of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond59 records, All saws of books,60 all forms, all pressures61 past, That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume62 of my brain, Unmixed with baser matter.63 Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain! My tables64 – meet65 it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain. At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.

Hamlet writes

So,uncle, there you are.Now to my word: It is “Adieu, adieu, remember me.” I have sworn ’t.

voices from within

act 1 • scene 5

100

105

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56 firmly, resolutely 57 in his confused/perplexed/deranged skull 58 writing tablet, slate 59 unimportant/paltry, foolish 60 maxims/sayings/proverbs from books 61 shapes/images/impressions/stamps 62 record and mass 63 (1) substance; (2) thought, topic; (3) things written 64 writing tablets, slates 65 proper,fitting, appropriate*

Marcellus,Horatio My lord,my lord! Marcellus Lord Hamlet! Horatio Heavens

secure66 him! Hamlet So be it! Horatio Hillo, ho,ho,67 my lord! Hamlet Hillo, ho,ho, boy! Come,bird, come.

enter Horatio and Marcellus

Marcellus How is’t,68 my noble lord? Horatio How is’t,68 my noble lord? What news,my lord? Hamlet O,wonderful! Horatio Good my lord,69 tell it. Hamlet Good my lord,69 tell it. No, you will reveal it. Horatio Not I,my lord, by heaven. Marcellus Not I,my lord, by heaven. Nor I,my lord. Hamlet How say you, then? Would heart of man once70 think

it? But you’ll be secret?

Horatio,Marcellus Ay,by heaven,my lord. Hamlet There’s ne’er a villain dwelling in all Denmark (pause)

But he’s an arrant knave.71

Horatio There needs no ghost,my lord, come from the grave To tell us this.

Hamlet Why, right, you are in the right –

act 1 • scene 5

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66 protect, guard 67 a falconer’s call to his bird 68 what’s happened 69 my good lord 70 ever 71 downright/unmitigated/notorious rogue

And so,without more circumstance72 at all, I hold it fit that we shake hands and part, You, as your business and desire shall point you; For every man has business and desire, Such as it is, and for mine own poor part, Look you, I’ll go pray.

Horatio These are but wild and whirling words,my lord. Hamlet I am sorry they offend you – heartily.

Yes, ’faith, heartily. Horatio There’s no offense,my lord. Hamlet Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is,Horatio,

And much offense, too.Touching this vision here, It is an honest73 ghost, that let me tell you. For74 your desire to know what is between us, O’ermaster ’t75 as you may.And now,good friends, As you are friends, scholars and soldiers, Give me one poor76 request.

Horatio What is’t,my lord? We will. Hamlet Never make known what you have seen to-night. Horatio,Marcellus My lord,we will not. Hamlet Nay,but swear’t. Horatio In faith,

My lord, not I. Marcellus Nor I,my lord, in faith. Hamlet Upon77 my sword.

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72 particulars, details 73 creditable, virtuous, respectable* 74 as for 75 overcome/conquer it 76 small, humble, insignificant 77 swear it upon

Marcellus We have sworn,my lord, already. Hamlet Indeed,78 upon my sword, indeed. Ghost (beneath the stage) Swear. Hamlet Ah,ha, boy! Say’st thou so? Art thou there,

Truepenny?79

Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage. Consent to swear.

Horatio Propose the oath,my lord. Hamlet Never to speak of this that you have seen.

Swear by my sword. Ghost (beneath the stage) Swear. Hamlet Hic et ubique?80Then we’ll shift our ground.81

Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my sword. Swear by my sword Never to speak of this that you have heard

Ghost (beneath the stage) Swear by his sword. Hamlet Well said, old mole! Canst work i’ the earth so fast?

A worthy pioner!82 Once more remove,83 good friends. Horatio O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! Hamlet And therefore as a stranger84 give it welcome.

There are more things in heaven and earth,Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.85

act 1 • scene 5

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78 in truth 79 trustworthy/honest person 80 Here and everywhere/anywhere? 81 location 82 soldier armed with a shovel 83 change position 84 Horatio is a stranger in Denmark 85 the philosophy studied at the university where both have studied

But come. Here, as before: never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd some’er I bear myself 86 – As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on,87

That you, at such times seeing me,never shall, With arms encumbered88 – thus – or this headshake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful89 phrase, As “Well,well,we know,”or “We could, an if we would,” Or “If we list90 to speak,”or “There be, and if they might,”91

Or such ambiguous giving out,92 to note That you know aught of me – this do swear, So grace and mercy at your most need93 help you.

Ghost (beneath the stage) Swear.

they swear

Hamlet Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit! So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me94 to you, And what so poor a man as Hamlet is May do, to express his love and friending to you, God willing, shall not lack.Let us go in together –

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86 how strange or odd however I behave 87 to assume/pretend to a grotesque/fantastic/clownish mood 88 folded 89 questionable 90 wished 91 there be those who, if they could 92 saying, reporting, pronouncing 93 greatest need 94 entrust/commit myself

And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. The time is out of joint.95 O cursèd spite,96

That ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come, let’s go together.

exeunt

act 1 • scene 5

190

95 order 96 fortune

Act 2�

s c e n e 1 A room

enter Polonius and Reynaldo

Polonius Give him this money1 and these notes,Reynaldo. Reynaldo I will,my lord. Polonius You shall do marvell’s2 wisely, good Reynaldo,

Before you visit him, to make inquire Of his behavior.

Reynaldo My lord, I did intend it. Polonius Marry,well said; very well said.Look you, sir,

Inquire me first what Danskers3 are in Paris, And how, and who,what means,4 and where they keep,5

What company, at what expense,6 and finding

1 these coins 2 marvelously 3 Danes 4 financial resources,money,wealth 5 reside, lodge 6 cost

By this encompassment7 and drift8 of question That they do know my son, come you9 more nearer Than your particular demands10 will touch it. Take you,11 as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him, As thus:“I know his father and his friends, And in part him.”Do you mark this,Reynaldo?

Reynaldo Ay,very well,my lord. Polonius “And in part him,but” – you may say – “not well:

But, if ’t be he I mean,12 he’s very wild, Addicted13 so and so.”And there put on14 him What forgeries you please – marry, none so rank15

As may dishonor him.Take heed of that. But, sir, such wanton,wild and usual slips16

As are companions noted and most known17

To youth and liberty.18

Reynaldo As gaming,19 my lord. Polonius Ay,or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,

Drabbing20 – you may go so far. Reynaldo My lord, that would dishonor him.

act 2 • scene 1

7 circling about 8 purpose, plan 9 you will come

10 detailed questions/requests 11 assume 12 if this is the man I’m talking about 13 prone to 14 attribute to 15 foul 16 such undisciplined/frolicsome errors/blunders 17 things associated with and most familiar 18 unrestrained conduct, free opportunity 19 like gambling 20 whoring

Polonius ’Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.21

You must not put another scandal22 on him, That he is open to incontinency.23

That’s not my meaning.But breathe his faults so quaintly24

That they may seem the taints of liberty, The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, A savageness in unreclaimèd25 blood Of general assault.26

Reynaldo But,my good lord – Polonius Wherefore should you27 do this? Reynaldo Ay,my lord,

I would know that. Polonius Marry, sir, here’s my drift,28

And I believe, it is a fetch of warrant.29

You laying these slight sullies on my son, As ’twere a thing a little soiled i’ the working30 – Mark you: Your party in converse,31 him you would sound,32

Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes33

The youth you breathe of be guilty, be assured

act 2 • scene 1

21 adjust it in the accusation 22 rumor, injurious report 23 utter licentiousness 24 cleverly, cunningly 25 a wildness in unrestrained,uncultivated 26 universal onset 27 why are you supposed to 28 purpose, aim,goal 29 trick/contrivance that is justified 30 something that has become a little soiled, in performing some labor/process 31 person with whom you are conversing 32 the one you wish/want to probe 33 at any time having seen the youth you speak be guilty of the specified sins

He closes with you in this consequence,34

“Good sir,”or so,35 or “friend,”or “gentleman” – According to the phrase or the addition36

Of man and country – Reynaldo Very good,my lord. Polonius And then, sir, does ’a this – ’a does –

What was I about to say? By the mass, I was About to say something! Where did I leave?

Reynaldo At “closes in the consequence,” at “friend Or so” – and “gentleman.”

Polonius At “closes in the consequence,” ay,marry; He closes thus:“I know the gentleman; I saw him yesterday, or t’ other day, Or then,or then,with such,or such, and, as you say, There was a’ gaming, there o’ertook in’s rouse,37

There falling out38 at tennis.”Or perchance, “I saw him enter such a house of sale,”39

Videlicet,40 a brothel, or so forth. See you now:41

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp42 of truth, And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,43

act 2 • scene 1

34 logical result, conclusion 35 something like that 36 form of address 37 I came upon him in his drinking bout/carousing 38 quarreling 39 place where commodities were sold cheaply 40 for example 41 think/take note 42 your bait of falsehood catches this fish 43 scheming, trickery

With windlasses44 and with assays of bias,45

By indirections find directions out. So by my former lecture and advice,46

Shall you my son.You have me,47 have you not? Reynaldo My lord, I have. Polonius My lord, I have. God bye48 ye, fare ye well. Reynaldo Good my lord. Polonius Observe his inclination in yourself.49

Reynaldo I shall,my lord. Polonius And let him ply his music.50

Reynaldo And let him ply his music.50 Well,my lord. Polonius Farewell.

exit Reynaldo

enter Ophelia

How now,Ophelia! What’s the matter? Ophelia O,my lord,my lord, I have been so affrighted! Polonius With what, i’ the name of God? Ophelia My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,51

Lord Hamlet,with his doublet all unbraced,52

act 2 • scene 1

44 roundabout paths taken, in hunting, to surprise game animals 45 deliberately off-center attempts (for example,making a curved throw, in

bowling, to hit something not as readily hittable by a straight throw) 46 discourse/lesson and counsel 47 you have understood me 48 redeem (some texts emend to “goodbye”) 49 follow his propensities for yourself 50 (1) apply himself to/work at his music or (2) yield to his way of doing things 51 small private room 52 close-fitting body garment, all unfastened

No hat upon his head,53 his stockings fouled,54

Ungarterèd, and down-gyved55 to his ankle, Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purpórt56

As if he had been loosèd out of hell To speak of horrors – he comes before me.

Polonius Mad for57 thy love? Ophelia Mad for57 thy love? My lord, I do not know;

But truly, I do fear it. Polonius What said he? Ophelia He took me by the wrist and held me hard;

Then goes he to the length of all his arm58

And,with his other hand thus o’er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face As ’a would draw it. Long stayed he so. At last, a little shaking of mine arm, And thrice his head thus waving up and down, He raised a sigh so piteous59 and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk60

And end his being.That done,he lets me go, And with his head over his shoulder turned, He seemed to find his way without his eyes, For out o’ doors he went without their helps, And, to the last, bended their light on me.

act 2 • scene 1

100

53 hats were worn universally and everywhere, indoors and out 54 disgraceful, dirty 55 hanging down 56 outward bearing, effect 57 as a result/because of 58 then he straightens out his arm 59 PITyus 60 body

Polonius Come,go with me. I will go seek the king. This is the very ecstasy61 of love, Whose violent property fordoes itself 62

And leads the will to desperate undertakings As oft as any passion under heaven That does afflict our natures. I am sorry. What, have you given him any hard words of late?

Ophelia No,my good lord.But as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied His access to me.

Polonius That hath made him mad.63

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not quoted him.64 I feared he did but trifle, And meant to wrack65 thee – but beshrew my jealousy!66

By heaven, it is as proper to our age To cast67 beyond ourselves68 in our opinions As it is common for the younger sort To lack discretion.Come,go we to the king. This must be known,which, being kept close,might move69

More grief to hide than hate to utter love.70

Come.

exeunt

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105

110

115

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61 frenzy, rapture,madness 62 whose violent nature ruins/destroys itself 63 crazed 64 care/attention and judgment I did not take notice of 65 ruin 66 a plague upon my mistrust 67 as peculiar/distinctive to older men to calculate 68 more than we are capable of 69 being kept from sight/secret might cause 70 more harm to be be hidden than it would cause hate to speak of love (as he

and Ophelia are about to do,with the King)

s c e n e 2

flourish.1 enter Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz,

Guildenstern, and attendants

Claudius Welcome,dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Moreover2 that we much did long to see you, The need we have to use you did provoke Our hasty sending.3 Something have you heard Of Hamlet’s transformation: so call it, Sith nor th’ exterior nor the inward man Resembles that it was.4What it should be, More than his father’s death, that thus hath put5 him So much from th’understanding of himself, I cannot dream of. I entreat you both, That, being of so6 young days brought up with him, And sith so neighboured to his youth and havior,7

That you vouchsafe your rest8 here in our court Some little time, so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather, So much as from occasion you may glean,9

Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus,

act 2 • scene 2

1 fanfare, usually of brass instruments 2 besides 3 to employ you gave rise to our hurried sending of a message/messenger 4 since neither the outer nor the inner man resembles what it was 5 thrust, pushed 6 from such 7 so close to his behavior/deportment 8 grant/bestow your stay 9 as much as from circumstances/the course of events you may gather/ pick up

That, opened,10 lies within our remedy.11

Gertrude Good gentlemen,he hath much talked of you; And sure I am two men there are not living To whom he more adheres.12 If it will please you To show us so much gentry13 and good will As to expend your time with us awhile, For the supply and profit14 of our hope, Your visitation shall receive such thanks As fits a king’s remembrance.

Rosencrantz Both your Majesties Might, by the sovereign power you have of15 us, Put your dread pleasures more into command Than to entreaty.

Guildenstern But we both obey, And here give up ourselves, in the full bent,16

To lay our service freely at your feet, To be commanded.

Claudius Thanks,Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. Gertrude Thanks,Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz.

And I beseech you instantly to visit My too much changèd son.Go, some of you, And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is.

Guildenstern Heavens make our presence and our practices17

act 2 • scene 2

10 uncovered, exposed 11 ability to cure 12 remains attached to 13 generosity, courtesy 14 support/assistance and advantage/good 15 over 16 full inclination, propensity,willingness 17 actions, performance

Pleasant and helpful to him! Gertrude Ay, amen!

exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern,

and some attendants

enter Polonius

Polonius The ambassadors from Norway,my good lord, Are joyfully returned.

Claudius Thou still hast been the father of good news. Polonius Have I,my lord? Assure you,my good liege,

I hold18 my duty, as I hold19 my soul, Both to my God and to my gracious king – And I do think,or else this brain of mine Hunts not the trail of policy so sure20

As it hath used to do, that I have found The very21 cause of Hamlet’s lunacy.

Claudius O, speak of that! That do I long to hear. Polonius Give first admittance to th’ ambassadors.

My news shall be the fruit22 to that great feast. Claudius Thyself do grace23 to them, and bring them in.

exit Polonius

He tells me,my dear Gertrude,he hath found The head24 and source of all your son’s distemper.25

act 2 • scene 2

18 abide by,observe 19 keep watch over 20 does not hunt the tracks/traces of diplomacy/statecraft as reliably/steadily 21 true, real* 22 dessert 23 favor 24 chief part 25 disordered/deranged condition, illness, disease

Gertrude I doubt it is no other but the main,26

His father’s death, and our o’erhasty marriage. Claudius Well,we shall sift27 him.

enter Polonius, with Voltimand and Cornelius

Welcome,my good friends! Say, Voltimand,what28 from our brother Norway?

Voltimand Most fair return of greetings and desires.29

Upon our first, he sent out30 to suppress His nephew’s levies,31 which to him appeared To be a preparation ‘gainst the Polack, But better looked into, he truly found It was against your highness.Whereat grieved, That so his sickness, age and impotence Was falsely borne in hand,32 sends out arrests33

On Fortinbras;which he, in brief, obeys, Receives rebuke from Norway, and in fine34

Makes vow before his uncle never more To give the assay35 of arms against your majesty. Whereon old Norway,overcome with joy, Gives him threescore thousand36 crowns in annual fee37

act 2 • scene 2

26 the principal/essential/chief one 27 test, question, examine 28 what response/news 29 requests 30 upon our first interview/meeting,he sent out orders 31 enrollment of men as soldiers 32 alleged, pretended 33 orders to stop/halt 34 finally 35 make a trial 36 3,000 times 20 (a “score”) � 60,000 monetary units of significant size, not

readily converted to modern terms 37 annual payment, allotment

And his commission to employ those soldiers, So levied as before, against the Polack – With an entreaty, herein further shown, (giving a paper) That it might please you to give quiet pass38

Through your dominions for this enterprise, On such regards of safety and allowance39

As therein are set down. Claudius It likes us well,40

And at our more considered time41 we’ll read, Answer, and think upon this business. Meantime,we thank you for your well-took42 labour. Go to your rest; at night we’ll feast together. Most welcome home!

exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius

Polonius This business is well ended. (Polonius pauses) My liege, and madam, to expostulate43

What majesty should be,what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,44

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,45

act 2 • scene 2

38 peaceful/untroubled passage 39 such particulars of safeguards and approval/permission 40 that much pleases me 41 when I have the time for more deliberate thought 42 usefully expended 43 discuss 44 reason, intelligence* 45 embellishments, florid expressions

I will be brief. Your noble son is mad. Mad call I it; for to define true madness What is’t but to be nothing else but mad? But let that go.

Gertrude More matter,46 with less art.47

Polonius Madam, I swear I use no art at all. That he is mad, ’tis true: ’tis true ’tis pity; And pity ’tis ’tis true – a foolish figure48 – But farewell it, for I will use no art. Mad let us grant him, then.And now remains That we find out the cause of this effect,49

Or rather say, the cause of this defect, For this effect defective comes by cause.50

Thus it remains, and the remainder thus. Perpend.51

I have a daughter – have while she is mine – Who, in her duty and obedience,mark, Hath given me this: (shows a letter)

Now gather, and surmise.52

(reads) “To the celestial and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia” – That’s an ill phrase, a vile phrase;“beautified” Is a vile phrase – but you shall hear.Thus:

act 2 • scene 2

100

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46 substance* 47 learning, acquired skills 48 figure of speech 49 result 50 happens because it is caused to happen 51 consider 52 now infer/deduce and conceive/imagine

“In her excellent53 white bosom, these,&c.” Gertrude Came this from Hamlet to her? Polonius Good madam, stay a while. I will be faithful.54

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.

“O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers,55

I have not art to reckon56 my groans.But that I love thee best,O most best, believe it.Adieu. ’Thine evermore,most dear lady,whilst this machine is57 to him,HAMLET.”

This, in obedience, hath my daughter shown me, And,more above,58 hath his solicitings, As they fell out59 by time,by means and place, All given to mine ear.

Claudius But how hath she Received his love?

Polonius What do you think of me? Claudius As of a man faithful and honorable. Polonius I would fain60 prove so.But what might you think,

When I had seen this hot love on the wing –

act 2 • scene 2

115

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125

130

53 exalted, honored 54 conscientious, reliable 55 unskilled/bad at this poetry 56 count, calculate 57 while this structure/body belongs 58 in addition 59 proceeded 60 rejoice to

As I perceived it, I must tell you that, Before my daughter told me – what might you, Or my dear Majesty your queen here, think, If I had played the desk or table-book,61

Or given my heart a-winking,62 mute and dumb, Or looked upon this love with idle63 sight? What might you think? No, I went round64 to work, And my young mistress65 thus I did bespeak:66

“Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star;67

This must not be.”And then I precepts gave her, That she should lock herself from his resort,68

Admit no messengers, receive no tokens.69

Which done, she took the fruits of 70 my advice, And he, repelled – a short tale to make – Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Thence to a watch,71 thence into a weakness, Thence to a lightness,72 and by this declension73

Into the madness wherein now he raves, And all we74 mourn for.

act 2 • scene 2

135

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61 a book containing tablets used for writing memoranda 62 allowed my heart to wink (that is, closed his eyes) 63 trifling, lazy 64 thoroughly 65 lady 66 speak to 67 beyond your rank/social sphere 68 visits 69 gifts 70 she profited from 71 vigil,wakefulness 72 lightheadedness 73 declining, falling away 74 all of us

Claudius (to Gertrude) Do you think ’tis this? Gertrude It may be, very like.75

Polonius Hath there been such a time, I would fain know that, That I have positively said “’Tis so,” When it proved otherwise?

Claudius Not that I know. Polonius (pointing to his head and shoulder)

Take this from this, if this be otherwise. If circumstances76 lead me, I will find Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed Within the center.77

Claudius How may we try78 it further? Polonius You know, sometimes he walks four hours together79

Here in the lobby.80

Gertrude So he does indeed. Polonius At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him.

Be you and I behind an arras81 then. Mark the encounter. If he love her not, And be not from his reason fall’n thereon,82

Let me be no assistant83 for a state, But keep a farm and carters.84

act 2 • scene 2

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75 likely, probably 76 facts, circumstantial evidence 77 the center of the earth 78 test, sift, examine 79 continuously, at a time 80 corridor 81 tapestry, hanging screen 82 because of that 83 aide 84 conduct/maintain a farm and cart drivers (meaning “mere”cart-drivers, or

“low fellows, boors”)

Claudius We will try it.

enter Hamlet, reading

Gertrude But look where sadly85 the poor wretch comes, reading.

Polonius Away, I do beseech you,both away: I’ll board him presently.86 O,give me leave!87

exeunt Claudius, Gertrude, and attendants

How does my good Lord Hamlet? Hamlet Well,God-a-mercy. Polonius Do you know me,my lord? Hamlet Excellent well.You are a fishmonger.88

Polonius Not I,my lord. Hamlet Then I would you were so honest a man. Polonius Honest,my lord! Hamlet Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man

picked out of ten thousand. Polonius That’s very true,my lord. Hamlet For if the sun breed89 maggots in a dead dog, being a

good90 kissing carrion91 – Have you a daughter?

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85 soberly, gravely 86 on the spot, immediately 87 leave me 88 literally, one who sells fish.But “fish”�“flesh,” and “monger”�“dealer/

trafficker in a disreputable trade”:what Hamlet is saying, slyly, is that Polonius is a pimp

89 if the sun hatch, produce (it was thought to make dead matter “give birth to” living matter)

90 some texts have “god,” referring to the sun-god 91 being good at kissing a dead body/rotting flesh/worthless flesh

Polonius I have,my lord. Hamlet Let her not walk i’ th’ sun.Conception is a blessing: but

as your daughter may conceive, friend, look to ’t.92

Polonius (aside) How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter.Yet he knew me not at first. ’A said I was a fishmonger. ’A is far gone, far gone.And truly, in my youth I suffered much extremity93 for love – very near this. I’ll speak to him again. – What do you read,my lord?

Hamlet Words,words,words. Polonius What is the matter,my lord? Hamlet Between who? Polonius I mean, the matter that you read,my lord. Hamlet Slanders, sir, for the satirical rogue says here that old

men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber94 and plum-tree gum95 and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams.96

All which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently97

believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for yourself, sir, should be old as I am – if like a crab you could go backward.

Polonius (aside) Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.Will you walk out of the air,98 my lord?

Hamlet Into my grave. Polonius Indeed, that is out o’ the air. (aside) How pregnant

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92 beware 93 severe urgency 94 their eyes leaking thick spermaceti (made from sperm whale oil) 95 resin, sap 96 muscles in the back of the thigh and buttocks 97 strongly,with good reason 98 the outside air (thought to be unhealthy for those who were ill)

sometimes his replies are! A happiness that often madness hits on,which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of. I will leave him, and suddenly contrive99 the means of meeting between him and my daughter. – My honorable lord, I will most humbly take my leave of you.

Hamlet You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal – except my life – except my life – except my life.

Polonius Fare you well,my lord.

enter Guildenstern and Rosencrantz

Hamlet These tedious old fools! Polonius (leaving) You go to seek the Lord Hamlet? There

he is. Rosencrantz (to Polonius) God save you,100 sir!

exit Polonius

Guildenstern My honored lord! Rosencrantz My most dear lord! Hamlet My excellent good friends! How dost thou,

Guildenstern? Ah,Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do ye both? Rosencrantz As the indifferent101 children of the earth. Guildenstern Happy, in that we are not over-happy.

On Fortune’s cap we are not the very button.102

Hamlet Nor the soles of her shoe? Rosencrantz Neither,my lord.

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99 instantly plan 100 a formal acknowledgment 101 unimportant 102 topmost ornament

Hamlet Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favors?103

Guildenstern ’Faith, her privates104 we. Hamlet In the secret parts105 of Fortune? O,most true! She

is a strumpet.What’s the news? Rosencrantz None,my lord, but that the world’s grown honest. Hamlet Then is doomsday near: but your news is not true.

Let me question more in particular:what have you,my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune, that she sends you to prison hither?

Guildenstern Prison,my lord? Hamlet Denmark’s a prison. Rosencrantz Then is the world one. Hamlet A goodly 106 one; in which there are many

confines,wards,107 and dungeons,Denmark being one o’ the worst.

Rosencrantz We think not so,my lord. Hamlet Why, then, ’tis none to you,108 for there is nothing

either good or bad but thinking makes it so.To me it is a prison.

Rosencrantz Why then, your ambition makes it one. ’Tis109 too narrow for your mind.

Hamlet O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space,were it not that I have bad dreams.

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103 attractions, charms 104 low-ranking men/soldiers (and private parts/genitalia) 105 in the hidden/unseen regions/portions 106 large 107 places of confinement/prisons, divisions within a prison 108 it is not one to you 109 Denmark is

Guildenstern Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.110

Hamlet A dream itself is but a shadow. Rosencrantz Truly, and I hold111 ambition of so airy and light a

quality that it is but a shadow’s shadow. Hamlet Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs

and outstretched112 heroes but the beggars’ shadows.113 – Shall we to the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason.114

Rosencrantz,Guildenstern We’ll wait upon you.115

Hamlet No such matter: I will not sort116 you with the rest of my servants, for, to speak to you like an honest man, I am most dreadfully attended.117 But, in the beaten way118 of friendship,what make you at Elsinore?

Rosencrantz To visit you,my lord; no other occasion.119

Hamlet Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks, but I thank you – and sure, dear friends,my thanks are too dear a halfpenny.120Were you not sent for? Is it your own inclining?

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110 the dream precedes the substance: ambition dreams of what it does not yet possess, and when (and if ) it possess the dream, it has nothing more than its “shadow” (the reflected image)

111 consider, think, believe 112 stretched out/overextended men of vast ambition (heroes can be great

shadows without any substance) 113 beggars, being unambitious, have substance rather than mere “dreams” 114 argue, discourse (as university students,which all three men were, had been

taught to do) 115 we will attend/serve you 116 classify 117 waited on, served 118 well-traveled road/path 119 cause, reason 120 too costly/expensive at a halfpenny

Is it a free121 visitation? Come,deal justly with me.Come, come.Nay, speak.

Guildenstern What should we say,my lord? Hamlet Why, anything, but to the purpose.122 You were

sent for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties123 have not craft enough to color.124 I know the good king and queen have sent for you.

Rosencrantz To what end,my lord? Hamlet That you must teach me.But let me conjure you,

by the rights of our fellowship,125 by the consonancy126 of our youth, by the obligation of our ever-preserved love, and by what more dear a better proposer could charge you withal, be even127 and direct with me,whether you were sent for or no.

Rosencrantz (aside to Guildenstern) What say you? Hamlet (aside) Nay, then, I have an eye of you.128 – If you

love me,hold not off. Guildenstern My lord,we were sent for. Hamlet I will tell you why: so shall my anticipation prevent

your discovery,129 and your secrecy to130 the king and queen

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121 voluntary, unrestricted 122 except on the subject being discussed 123 self-control/honesty of thought and feeling 124 skill/cunning enough to misrepresent, disguise 125 students were members of the “corporate” fellowship of a university 126 harmony, concord 127 what more precious someone better equipped to frame an argument could

lay upon/command you with, be straight 128 I am keeping an eye on you 129 revealing/disclosing it 130 being in the confidence of

moult131 no feather. I have of late – but wherefore I know not – lost my mirth, foregone all custom of exercise, and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition132 that this goodly frame,133 the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory,134 this most excellent canopy,135 the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament,136 this majestical roof fretted137 with golden fire,why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.138What a piece of work is a man,how noble in reason,how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable,139

in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god – the beauty140 of the world, the paragon141 of animals! And yet, to me,what is this quintessence142 of dust? Man delights not me – nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

Rosencrantz My lord, there was no such stuff143 in my thoughts. Hamlet Why did you laugh, then,when I said “man delights

not me”?

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131 cause to fall off 132 sluggishly/laboriously/woefully with my mood/turn of mind 133 lovely/huge structure 134 barren projection of land, jutting out into the sea 135 shelter/covering 136 this splendid/handsome arch/vault of heaven 137 adorned 138 mass of exhalations (very negative connotation) 139 exact and to be wondered at/astonished by 140 ornament 141 supreme model 142 most essential essence 143 matter, rubbish, nonsense

Rosencrantz To think,my lord, if you delight not in man,what lenten entertainment the players144 shall receive from you. We coted145 them on the way; and hither are they coming, to offer you service.146

Hamlet He that plays the king shall be welcome;his majesty shall have tribute147 of me; the adventurous knight shall use his foil and target;148 the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous149 man shall end his part in peace; the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o’ the sere;150 and the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt151 for’t.What players152 are they?

Rosencrantz Even those you were wont153 to take delight in, the tragedians of the city.154

Hamlet How chances it they travel? Their residence,155

both in reputation and profit,was better both ways. Rosencrantz I think their inhibition156 comes by the means of

the late innovation.157

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144 meager/dismal reception/welcome the actors 145 overtook,outstripped (a term used of hunting dogs) 146 their work/performance 147 homage,usually fiscal, paid to a king by one of his subjects; here used to

mean “money” 148 small sword, blunt edged,with a button on the sharp point, and a small,

round shield 149 odd,moody, capricious (that is, full of “humors”) 150 loose/easy on the catch of a gun-lock (in current usage,“easy on the

trigger”) 151 go lame/limp,be defective 152 troop/company of actors 153 precisely those you were used/accustomed to 154 London 155 usual place (location and status) 156 prohibition? trouble? (see note 157, immediately below) 157 change, revolution, rebellion, insurrection (referring either to the success of

Hamlet Do they hold the same estimation158 they did when I was in the city? Are they so followed?159

Rosencrantz No, indeed, are they not. Hamlet How comes it? Do they grow rusty? Rosencrantz Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace,160

but there is, sir, an eyrie161 of children, little eyases, that cry out162 on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped163 for’t.These are now the fashion, and so berattle164

the common stages165 – so they call them – that many wearing rapiers166 are afraid of goose-quills167 and dare scarce come thither.

Hamlet What, are they children? Who maintains168 ’em? How are they escoted?169Will they pursue the quality170 no longer than they can sing?171Will they not say afterwards, if they should grow themselves to common172 players – as it is

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the children’s acting companies or the earl of Essex’s rebellion;most probably the former, in which case licensing problems could be the cause of the “inhibition”)

158 appreciation, esteem, reputation 159 in the same way attended /admired 160 usual course 161 a bird of prey’s nest 162 young,untrained hawks/falcons (shrill-voiced and noisy) who exclaim/

croak at the very highest level of speech 163 arbitrarily/vehemently applauded 164 rattle away at (in current usage,“put down”) 165 the public (and adult) playhouses (“common”:“low,vulgar”) 166 who wear swords (as adult males of any standing did) 167 pens (wielded by those who support the children’s acting companies) 168 supports, sustains 169 paid for (maintained) 170 profession,occupation 171 that is, once their boy soprano voices change 172 to become standard/adult

most like, if their means are no better173 – their writers do them wrong to make them exclaim against their own succession?174

Rosencrantz ’Faith, there has been much to do175 on both sides, and the nation holds it no sin to tarre176 them to controversy. There was, for a while, no money bid for argument,177 unless the poet and the player went to cuffs178 in the question.

Hamlet Is’t possible? Guildenstern O, there has been much throwing about of brains. Hamlet Do the boys carry it away?179

Rosencrantz Ay, that they do,my lord – Hercules and his load180 too.

Hamlet It is not very strange, for mine uncle is King of Denmark, and those that would make mouths181 at him while my father lived, give twenty, forty,fifty, an hundred ducats182 a-piece for his picture in little.183 ’Sblood,184 there is something in this more than natural, if philosophy185 could find it out.

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173 no better than other adults/adult actors 174 line of succession 175 fuss 176 incite, provoke, irritate 177 offered for subjects/themes 178 blows 179 gain the day, triumph 180 that is, the world: having sent Atlas to fetch the golden apples of the

Hesperides, in Atlas’s absence Hercules held up the world; the Globe Theatre had a sign showing Hercules with the “globe”on his shoulders

181 grimaces 182 gold coins 183 in miniature 184 God’s blood (an oath) 185 wisdom,knowledge

a flourish of trumpets186

Guildenstern There are the players. Hamlet (to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) Gentlemen, you

are welcome to Elsinore.Your hands, come then: th’ appurtenance of welcome is fashion and ceremony.187 Let me comply188 with you in this garb, lest my extent189 to the players,which, I tell you,must show fairly190 outwards, should more appear like entertainment191 than yours.192 You are welcome. – But my uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived.

Guildenstern In what,my dear lord? Hamlet I am but mad north-north-west.When the wind is

southerly I know a hawk193 from a handsaw.194

enter Polonius

Polonius Well be195 with you, gentlemen! Hamlet Hark you,Guildenstern, and you196 too: at each

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186 traveling actors thus introduced themselves,when arriving in a new locale 187 that which belongs to/is properly an accessory to the act of welcoming

someone (manners, custom,gestures, actions) involves the proper observance of respectful forms of behavior

188 observe the forms of civility/politeness/courtesy 189 in this style/manner, lest my scope/degree of welcome 190 clearly, distinctly 191 hospitality,welcoming 192 your welcome (to Elsinore) 193 quadrangular tool,with a handle, used by plasterers (also a bird trained for

hunting) 194 one-handed saw 195 may it be well 196 Rosencrantz

ear a hearer.197That great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts.198

Rosencrantz Happily199 he’s the second time come to them, for they say an old man is twice200 a child.

Hamlet I will prophesy he comes to tell me of the players. Mark it. – You say right, sir.201 A Monday morning, ’twas so indeed.

Polonius My lord, I have news to tell you. Hamlet My lord, I have news to tell you.When Roscius202

was an actor in Rome – Polonius The actors are come hither,my lord. Hamlet Buzz, buzz. Polonius Upon mine honor – Hamlet Then came each actor on his ass203 – Polonius The best actors in the world, either for tragedy,

comedy,history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable,204 or poem unlimited.205 Seneca206 cannot be

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197 Hamlet here lowers his voice, to prevent Polonius from hearing, and warns Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to listen carefully

198 narrow,protective bandages wound around newborn infants, to prevent free movement

199 haply, perhaps* 200 for the second time 201 Hamlet invents a supposedly ongoing conversation 202 famous Roman comic actor 203 donkey 204 observing the classically derived three unities – place, time, and scene/

setting 205 play free from restrictions (for example, the three unities) 206 Roman philosopher and author of distinctly rhetorical, often

melodramatic tragedies

too heavy,nor Plautus207 too light. For the law of writ208 and the liberty,209 these are the only men.

Hamlet O Jephthah,210 judge of Israel,what a treasure hadst thou!

Polonius What a treasure had he,my lord? Hamlet Why,

“One fair daughter and no more, The which he lovèd passing well.”

Polonius (aside) Still on my daughter. Hamlet Am I not i’ the right, old Jephthah? Polonius If you call me Jephthah,my lord, I have a daughter

that I love passing well. Hamlet Nay, that follows211 not. Polonius What follows, then,my lord? Hamlet Why,“As by lot,God wot,”212 and then, you know,“It

came to pass, as most like it was.” The first row of the pious chanson213 will show you more – for look here my abridgement214 comes.

enter four or five Players

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207 Roman comic playwright 208 something written (and/or a legal document: the sense is obscure) 209 whether what these actors put on is conservative-classical or less-

conservative-classical (?) 210 who sacrificed his daughter,most unwillingly – and accidentally – to

fulfill a vow (see Judges 11) 211 Polonius having a daughter, as Jepthah did, does not necessarily mean that,

like Jepthah,he loves her exceedingly well; after all, the Bible describes Jepthah as a “mighty man”

212 as by chance/fortune,God knows:Hamlet quotes, as he did a few lines earlier, from a then-familiar ballad,“Jepthah, Judge of Israel”

213 line of the devout/faithful song 214 those who will wile away the time for Hamlet

You are welcome,masters215 – welcome, all. I am glad to see thee well.Welcome, good friends.O,old friend! Why, thy face is valenced216 since I saw thee last.Com’st thou to beard me in Denmark? What,my young lady217 and mistress! By’r218

lady, your ladyship is nearer to heaven219 than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine.220 Pray God, your voice, like a piece of uncurrent gold,221 be not cracked within the ring.222 – Masters, you are all welcome.We’ll e’en to’t223 like French falconers,224 fly at any thing we see.We’ll have a speech straight.225 Come,give us a taste of your quality.226 Come, a passionate speech.

First Player What speech,my lord? Hamlet I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was

never acted,or, if it was, not above227 once, for the play, I remember, pleased not the million.228 ’Twas caviare to the

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215 distinguished artists,models of their art (and possibly also learned men, worthy of the Master of Arts [M.A.] degree)

216 draped, bordered, fringed (the actor thus addressed now has a beard) 217 a boy:no women appeared in public on the Elizabethan stage 218 by our 219 closer (the boy has grown taller) 220 height of a shoe with thick sole, often of cork 221 valid/acceptable/legal coin of gold 222 from the coin’s outer edge all the way through to the circle/ring set

around the king’s head (the crack shows that some of the gold had been clipped away);Hamlet puns on the “ring” (sound) of a voice

223 we’ll go directly/straight/at once to it 224 a slur on French, as opposed to English, falconers/huntsmen using falcons 225 correctly done, recited all the way through 226 art 227 not more than 228 the multitude, the crowd

general,229 but it was – as I received230 it, and others,whose judgments in such matters cried in the top of 231 mine – an excellent play,well digested232 in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning.233 I remember one234 said there were no sallets235 in the lines to make the matter savory, nor no matter in the phrase236 that might indict237 the author of affectation, but called it an honest method, as wholesome as sweet, and, by very much,more handsome than fine.238 One speech in’t I chiefly loved. ’Twas Aeneas’ tale to Dido, and thereabout of it239 especially where he speaks of Priam’s slaughter. If it live in your memory, begin at this line – let me see, let me see –

“The rugged Pyrrhus, like th’Hyrcanian beast”240 –

’Tis not so241 – It begins with Pyrrhus –

“The rugged242 Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms,243

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229 caviar was then new to England and not widely popular with the general public/multitude

230 accepted, regarded, believed,understood 231 were strongly uttered and above/better than 232 divided, arranged 233 as much control as skill, cleverness, art 234 someone 235 savory ingredients (from “salads”) 236 style, language, diction 237 charge, accuse 238 suitable/apt/reliable rather than fashionable/elegant/ornamented 239 somewhere near where 240 the tiger 241 it does not go like that 242 rough,unpolished,harsh 243 black armor

Black as his purpose, did the night resemble When he lay couchèd244 in th’ ominous horse,245

Hath now this dread and black complexion246 smeared With heraldry more dismal.247 Head to foot Now is he total gules,248 horridly tricked249

With blood of fathers,mothers, daughters, sons, Baked and impasted with the parching250 streets, That lend a tyrannous251 and a damnèd light To their lord’s252 murder.Roasted in wrath and fire, And thus o’er-sized with coagulate gore,253

With eyes like carbuncles,254 the hellish Pyrrhus Old grandsire255 Priam seeks.” So, proceed you.

Polonius ’Fore God,my lord,well spoken,with good accent256 and good discretion.

First Player “Anon257 he finds him, Striking too short258 at Greeks.His ántique sword, Rebellious259 to his arm, lies where it falls,

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244 lying in ambush 245 of ill omen, indicative of disaster-to-come Trojan horse 246 appearance 247 armorial signs/symbols more prophetic of disastrous, calamitous 248 stained red 249 adorned, decked 250 and encrusted with the hot, dry, scorching 251 oppressive, severe 252 Priam,king of Troy: the murder is just about to occur 253 covered over with clotted/congealed blood 254 sapphires and other reddish precious stones 255 grandfather, forefather 256 emphasis, stress 257 soon* 258 with limited/inadequate reach 259 resistant

Repugnant260 to command.Unequal matched, Pyrrhus at Priam drives,261 in rage strikes wide, But with the whiff and wind of his fell262 sword Th’unnervèd263 father264 falls.Then senseless Ilium,265

Seeming to feel this blow,with flaming top266

Stoops to his base,267 and with a hideous crash Takes prisoner Pyrrhus’ ear.268 For lo, his sword, Which was declining on the milky269 head Of reverend270 Priam, seemed i’ the air to stick.271

So as a painted tyrant272 Pyrrhus stood, And like a neutral to his will and matter273

Did nothing. But as we often see, against274 some storm, A silence in the heavens, the rack275 stand still, The bold winds speechless and the orb276 below

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260 hostile, antagonistic 261 rushes, hurries, dashes 262 but because of the gust and rush of air of his savage/cruel/relentless 263 enfeebled, incapable 264 Hector’s father, among others 265 the fortress of Troy, incapable of feeling/perception 266 the Greeks have set fire to the fortress, and at this moment, its “flaming”

heights collapse 267 descends to its foundation 268 the sound is so overwhelming that Pyrrhus’s ear is taken captive: he is

literally stunned, for a moment 269 falling on the white/gentle 270 aged and venerable 271 to be rendered immobile/fixed 272 like a painting of a villain/despot 273 like a noncombatant, someone indifferent/uninvolved in his business/

occupation 274 drawing toward, in preparation for 275 clouds 276 globe/earth

As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder Doth rend the region,277 so after Pyrrhus’ pause Arousèd vengeance sets him new a-work, And never did the Cyclops’278 hammers fall On Mars’s armor, forged for proof eterne,279

With less remorse than Pyrrhus’ bleeding sword Now falls on Priam. Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you gods In general synod280 take away her power; Break all the spokes and fellies281 from her wheel, And bowl the round nave282 down the hill of heaven, As low as to the fiends!”

Polonius This is too long. Hamlet It shall to the barber’s,with your beard. – Prithee,

say on.He’s for a jig283 or a tale of bawdry,or284 he sleeps. Say on: come to Hecuba.285

First Player “But who,O,who had seen the mobled286 queen – ” Hamlet “The mobled queen?” Polonius That’s good.“Mobled queen” is good.

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277 the heavens/air 278 one-eyed giants, sons of Uranus 279 eternal invulnerability/impenetrability 280 assembly of your entire ranks 281 the curved pieces composing the outer rim of the wheel 282 hub 283 in for of a lively, comical performances at intermissions or at the end of a

play 284 or else 285 old Priam’s wife, the queen of Troy 286 having the face or head muffled

First Player “– Run barefoot up and down, threat’ning the flames With bisson rheum;287 a clout upon that head Where late the diadem288 stood, and for a robe About her lank and all o’er-teemèd loins,289

A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up – Who this had seen,with tongue in venom steeped290

’Gainst Fortune’s state would treason have pronounced.291

But if the gods themselves did see her, then When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport In mincing with his sword her husband’s limbs, The instant burst of clamor292 that she made, Unless things mortal move them not at all Would have made milch293 the burning eyes of heaven, And passion294 in the gods.”

Polonius Look,whe’r295 he has not turned his color, and has tears in’s eyes.Prithee, no more.

Hamlet ’Tis well. I’ll have thee speak out the rest of this soon. (to Polonius) Good my lord,will you see the players well

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287 blinding tears (the vast flow of which might extinguish the fires) 288 a piece of cloth/rag upon that head on which recently the crown 289 shrunken/flabby and overbred genitals (having experienced an excess of

child-bearing) 290 have spoken bitter/virulent words 291 against Fortune’s greatness/power have treason spoken 292 outcry, din 293 pour like a nursemaid’s milk (“milch”: pronounced “miltch”) 294 would have made/created passion (“intense feelings”) 295 whether

bestowed?296 Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are the abstract297 and brief chronicles of the time.After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live.

Polonius My lord, I will use them according to their desert.298

Hamlet God’s bodkin,299 man,much better! Use every man after300 his desert, and who shall ’scape whipping?301 Use them after your own honor and dignity.The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty.302Take303 them in.

Polonius Come, sirs. Hamlet Follow him, friends.We’ll hear a play to-morrow.

(aside to First Player) Dost thou hear me,old friend; can you play “The Murder of Gonzago”?

First Player Ay,my lord. Hamlet We’ll ha’t to-morrow night.You could, for a need,

study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines,which I would set down and insert in’t, could you not?

First Player Ay,my lord. Hamlet Very well. Follow that lord – and look you mock

him not.

exit Polonius with all the players

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296 put up, lodged 297 compendium, summary 298 deserving 299 God’s dear body 300 according to 301 vagabonds were, by law, sentenced to whipping; traveling actors were often

so accused and punished 302 virtue, kindness, generosity 303 escort, lead

(to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) My good friends, I’ll leave you till night.You are welcome to Elsinore.

Rosencrantz Good my lord!

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Hamlet Ay, so.God be w’ye.304 – Now I am alone. O,what a rogue and peasant305 slave306 am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit307

That from her working all his visage wanned,308

Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspéct,309

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting310

With forms311 to his conceit? And all for nothing! For Hecuba! What’s Hecuba to him,or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do, Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears And cleave the general ear312 with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty and appal the free,313

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540

545

304 “w’ye”�“with you” (a plural form of “you”) 305 low fellow, rustic, boor, clown 306 servile rascal 307 imagination, conception 308 became pale, sickly 309 madness/confusion in his face/countenance 310 physical bearing adapted/falling in with 311 physical/bodily expressions 312 split/pierce the public ear 313 guiltless

Confound the ignorant, and amaze314 indeed The very faculties315 of eyes and ears. Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled316 rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams,317 unpregnant of318 my cause, And can say nothing – no,not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat319 was made.Am I a coward? Who calls me villain?320 Breaks my pate across?321

Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face? Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i’ the throat As deep as to the lungs?322Who does me this? Ha! ’Swounds,323 I should take it, for it cannot be But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall324

To make oppression bitter, or ere this I should ha’ fatted all the region kites325

With this slave’s offal.326 Bloody, bawdy villain!

act 2 • scene 2

550

555

560

565

314 put to shame the ignorant and astound/overwhelm with wonder indeed 315 even the faithful powers/capacities 316 and vague/confused 317 slink/droop like a proverbial dreamy fellow 318 not spurred on by 319 damned undoing, destruction, ruin 320 a base, low-born man 321 cracks/lays open my head from one side to the other 322 calls me a liar of profound,unmitigated proportions, a liar down to my very

depths 323 God’s ( Jesus’) wounds 324 meek/mild-tempered: pigeons were thought to lack “gall,”or bile, a liver

secretion, and therefore to be devoid of the spirit/capacity to resent insult/ injury

325 hawks (and other scavenger birds) of the air/in the skies 326 this contemptible rascal [the King]’s entrails/intestines

Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless327 villain! O,vengeance! Why,what an ass am I! This is most brave,328

That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must like a whore unpack329 my heart with words, And fall a-cursing like a very drab,330

A scullion! Fie upon’t, foh! About,331 my brains! Hum – I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play Have by the very cunning332 of the scene Been struck so to the soul that presently333

They have proclaimed their malefactions.334

For murder, though it have no tongue,will speak With most miraculous organ.335 I’ll have these players Play something like the murder of my father Before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks, I’ll tent him to the quick.336 If he but blench,337

I know my course.The spirit that I have seen May be a devil, and the devil hath power

act 2 • scene 2

570

575

580

585

327 unnatural, devoid of natural feeling 328 courageous, splendid 329 open,unload 330 whore 331 attend to it, do it (?) or turn about/go in the opposite direction (?) 332 skill, cleverness 333 at once, promptly* 334 evil doings 335 means of action/operation 336 probe him to the central/vital/most sensitive part 337 flinch, start

T’ assume a pleasing shape – yea, and perhaps Out of 338 my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits,339

Abuses340 me to damn me. I’ll have grounds More relative341 than this.The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch342 the conscience of the king.

exit

act 2 • scene 2

590

338 from,because of 339 he is very powerful/effective with such emotions (that is,weakness and

melancholy) 340 ill-uses,wrongs 341 reasons more credible/substantial 342 surprise, ensnare, lay hold of

Act 3�

s c e n e 1 The castle

enter Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia,

Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern

Claudius And can you,by no drift of conference,1

Get from him why he puts on2 this confusion, Grating so harshly3 all his days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous4 lunacy?

Rosencrantz He does confess he feels himself distracted,5

But from what cause he will by no means speak. Guildenstern Nor do we find him forward to be sounded,6

But with a crafty7 madness keeps aloof

1 purposeful direction of speech 2 assumes (either honestly or deceptively) 3 irritating so disagreeably, unpleasingly 4 with violent and risky, injurious 5 perplexed, confused,mentally unstable 6 eager to be questioned, examined 7 skillful, ingenious

When we would bring him on to8 some confession Of his true state.

Gertrude Did he receive you well? Rosencrantz Most like a gentleman. Guildenstern But with much forcing9 of his disposition. Rosencrantz Niggard of question,10 but of our demands11

Most free in his reply. Gertrude Did you assay him

To any pastime?12

Rosencrantz Madam, it so fell out13 that certain players We o’er-raught14 on the way.Of these we told him, And there did seem in him a kind of joy To hear of it.They are about15 the court And, as I think, they have already order16

This night to play before him. Polonius ’Tis most true,

And he beseeched me to entreat your majesties To hear and see the matter.17

Claudius With all my heart, and it doth much content me To hear him so inclined. Good gentlemen, give him a further edge18

act 3 • scene 1

8 persuade/induce him to 9 strain, effort

10 stingy of talk/speech 11 questions 12 tempt him to any amusement, entertainment, sport 13 chanced to happen 14 overtook, came past 15 around,near 16 an order 17 thing, business 18 keenness of desire

And drive his purpose19 into these delights. Rosencrantz We shall,my lord.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Claudius Sweet Gertrude, leave us too, For we have closely 20 sent for Hamlet hither, That he, as ’twere by accident,may here Affront21 Ophelia. Her father and myself, lawful espials,22

Will so bestow23 ourselves that, seeing,unseen, We may of their encounter frankly judge And gather by him, as he is behaved, If ’t be th’ affliction24 of his love or no That thus he suffers for.

Gertrude I shall obey you. And for your part,Ophelia, I do wish That your good beauties 25 be the happy26 cause Of Hamlet’s wildness. So shall I hope your virtues Will bring him to his wonted way27 again, To both your honors.

Ophelia Madam, I wish it may.

exit Gertrude

act 3 • scene 1

19 propel/urge on his intention, determination, resolution 20 privately, secretly 21 meet face to face with 22 permissible/justifiable/legitimate spies 23 locate, stow away 24 pain, calamity 25 including both her visual and her intellectual and moral beauties 26 fortunate, blessed 27 usual/customary path,manner

Polonius Ophelia,walk you here.28 – Gracious,29 so30 please you, We will bestow ourselves. (to Ophelia) Read on this book,31

That show of such an exercise may color32

Your loneliness.We are oft to blame33 in this: ’Tis too much proved that with devotion’s visage34

And pious action we do sugar o’er The devil himself.

Claudius (aside) O, ’tis too true! How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience! The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plastering art, Is not more ugly to the thing35 that helps it Than is my deed to my most painted36 word. O heavy burden!

Polonius I hear him coming.Let’s withdraw,my lord.

exeunt Claudius and Polonius

enter Hamlet (thinking himself alone)

Hamlet To be,or not to be: that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer37

act 3 • scene 1

28 off to the very side of the stage:Elizabethan theatrical convention made her inconspicuous – almost invisible – and,while thus placed,not a participant in the action or discourse,which she cannot hear

29 my gracious King 30 if it 31 read in a book of a visibly religious nature 32 that the appearance/display of such an act of devotion may make plausible/

believable 33 at fault 34 face, false appearance 35 ugly to the unpainted/natural beauty (which remains primary) 36 my deed compared to my most pretended, artificial 37 endure, submit to, be damaged/pained/destroyed by

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,38

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep No more, and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. ’Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.39To die, to sleep – To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub,40

For in that sleep of death what41 dreams may come When we have shuffled off42 this mortal coil43

Must give us pause.There’s the respect44

That makes calamity of so45 long life – For who would bear the whips and scorns46 of time, The oppressor’s wrong,47 the proud man’s contumely,48

The pangs of despisèd49 love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office50 and the spurns51

That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,52

When he himself might his quietus53 make

act 3 • scene 1

38 of excessive, furious, violent, cruel fortune 39 a completion/conclusion/end devoutly to be wished for 40 obstacle, difficulty 41 what kind of 42 “shuffled off”�“removed, gotten rid of” 43 when we have gotten rid of this clutter/fuss (and coil of rope/cable) 44 issue,matter, point, detail 45 a calamity of such a 46 lashes/thrusts (rapid movements in fencing) and mockery/contempt 47 wrongdoing 48 the arrogant/lordly/exalted man’s insolent/insulting abuse 49 some texts have “desprized,”meaning “unvalued” 50 officeholders, officialdom 51 disdainful/contemptuous rejections 52 common/ordinary person receives/endures 53 discharge from debt/life

With a bare bodkin?54Who would fardels55 bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn56

No traveller returns, puzzles57 the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of ? Thus conscience58 does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue59 of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast60 of thought, And enterprises61 of great pitch and moment62

With this regard their currents turn awry63

And lose the name of action. – Soft you now, The fair Ophelia!64 – Nymph, in thy orisons65

Be all my sins remembered. Ophelia Good my lord,

How does your honor for this many a day?66

act 3 • scene 1

54 dagger 55 burdens of sin/sorrow 56 unknown country from whose borders/boundaries 57 overwhelms, confounds 58 consciousness, inner knowledge/thought (and awareness of moral

considerations) 59 natural color/appearance 60 shade 61 tasks,work 62 great height (a term from falconry: the moment before the falcon swoops

down) and importance/weight 63 from/because of this consideration turn their active movement (as of a

flowing stream) crooked/out of the right path/perverted/wrong 64 the probable course of events is that (1) he sees her, and (2) he approaches

and speaks to her 65 maiden/damsel, in your prayers (Hamlet recognizes the nature of her book) 66 considering how long it has been since she has seen him

Hamlet I humbly thank you.67Well,well,well.68

Ophelia My lord, I have remembrances69 of yours, That I have longèd long to re-deliver. I pray you now receive them.

Hamlet No,not I I never gave you aught.

Ophelia My honored lord, you know right well you did, And with them words of so sweet breath composed70

As made the things more rich.Their perfume lost, Take these again, for to the noble71 mind Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. There,my lord.

she gives him back his gifts

Hamlet Ha,ha! Are you honest? Ophelia My lord? Hamlet Are you fair?72

Ophelia What means your lordship? Hamlet That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should

admit no discourse to73 your beauty. Ophelia Could beauty,my lord, have better commerce74 than

with honesty? Hamlet Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform

act 3 • scene 1

100

105

110

67 a very formal, aloof acknowledgment 68 in part an answer to her query? 69 keepsakes, tokens, gifts 70 in such sweet speech/volition/will,written 71 idealistic, highly moral 72 beautiful 73 should allow/receive no familiar intimacy with 74 dealings

honesty from what it is to a bawd75 than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness.76This was sometime a paradox,77 but now the time gives it proof.78 I did love you once.

Ophelia Indeed,my lord, you made me believe so. Hamlet You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so

inoculate our old stock79 but we shall relish of it.80 I loved you not.

Ophelia I was the more deceived. Hamlet Get thee to a nunnery.Why wouldst thou be a breeder

of sinners? I am myself indifferent81 honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious,with more offences at my beck82 than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape,or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do,83 crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves,84 all: believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.Where’s your father?

Ophelia At home,my lord. Hamlet Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the

fool nowhere but in’s own house. Farewell. Ophelia O,help him,you sweet heavens!

act 3 • scene 1

100

115

120

125

130

75 pimp,procuress 76 can transform/transmute beauty into its likeness 77 this was once something contrary to received opinion/belief 78 the current state of things shows that it has been proven 79 engraft a trunk/stem of a tree (or a human lineage/family line) 80 preserve traces of the “old stock,”our original natures 81 more or less, tolerably 82 command 83 fellows (negative/low connotations) like me work at/be actively involved in 84 notorious/downright/unmitigated rogues

Hamlet If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.85 Get thee to a nunnery, go: farewell.Or, if thou wilt needs marry,marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters86 you87make of them.To a nunnery, go, and quickly too.Farewell.

Ophelia O heavenly powers, restore him! Hamlet I have heard of your paintings88 too,well enough.God

has given you one face, and you make yourselves another. You jig, you amble, and you lisp,89 and nickname God’s creatures,90 and make your wantonness your ignorance.91 Go to,92 I’ll no more on’t;93 it hath made me mad. I say,we will have no mo94 marriage.Those that are married already – all but one95 – shall live.The rest shall keep96 as they are.To a nunnery, go.

exit Hamlet

Ophelia O,what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye – tongue – sword,

act 3 • scene 1

101

135

140

145

150

85 slander 86 cuckolds (because cuckolds were supposed to grow horns on their heads) 87 women in general (as in Hamlet’s next speech) 88 cosmetic painting of a woman’s face 89 you dance a lively, up-and-down dance, you dance in a smooth, easy

manner, you pretend to lisp (affectation of childlike nature) 90 another affectation 91 you pretend that your lewdness/unchastity is ignorance 92 come, come! (exclamation of disapproval) 93 I want no more to do with it 94 more 95 the king 96 remain

Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,97

The glass of fashion98 and the mold of form,99

Th’observed of100 all observers, quite, quite down!101

And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, That sucked the honey of his musicked102 vows, Now see that noble and most sovereign reason,103

Like sweet bells jangled,out of tune and harsh, That unmatched form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy.104 O,woe is me, T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see!

enter Claudius and Polonius

Claudius Love? His affections do not that way tend, Nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little, Was not like madness.There’s something in his soul, O’er which his melancholy sits on brood, And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose105

Will be some danger,which for to prevent I have in quick determination Thus set it down.106 He shall with speed to England,107

act 3 • scene 1

102

155

160

165

97 the source of hope and the peerless/matchless person of an unblemished nation

98 mirror of behavior/demeanor 99 pattern/model of rank, quality, excellence,manners

100 he who was celebrated/respected by 101 descended, fallen 102 harmonious 103 most superlative mental power 104 that unmatched image of blossoming/flowering youth and comeliness

blighted by madness 105 hatching, and I do fear/suspect that what will emerge from this hatching 106 authoritative decision decided (and written) 107 he must and will hurry to England

For the demand of our neglected tribute.108

Haply the seas and countries different, With variable objects,109 shall expel This something-settled110 matter in his heart, Whereon111 his brains still beating puts112 him thus From fashion of himself.113What think you on’t?

Polonius It shall do well.But yet do I believe The origin and commencement of his grief Sprung from neglected love. (to his daughter) How now,

Ophelia! You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said: We heard it all. (to the King) My lord, do as you please, But, if you hold it fit,114 after the play Let his queen mother all alone entreat him To show his grief. Let her be round115 with him; And I’ll be placed, so please you, in the ear116

Of all their conference. If she find him not,117

To England send him,or confine118 him where Your wisdom best shall think.

act 3 • scene 1

103

170

175

180

185

108 for the urgent/peremptory request of our disregarded/still unpaid tax/ homage (the “Danegeld”)

109 different countries and diverse material things 110 to some extent fixed/established 111 on which 112 always thrashing/dashing upon pushes, shoves 113 away from his normal behavior 114 think it proper/suitable 115 blunt, straightforward 116 within hearing 117 does not find out/learn about him 118 shut up, banish, imprison

Claudius It shall be so: Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.

exeunt

act 3 • scene 1

104

s c e n e 2 The castle

enter Hamlet and Players

Hamlet Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly1 on the tongue.But if you mouth it2 as many of your players3 do, I had as lief 4 the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw5 the air too much with your hand – thus – but use all gently,6 for in the very torrent, tempest, and – as I may say – the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.7 O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow8 tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings,9 who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable10 dumbshows and noise.11 I would

act 3 • scene 2

105

1 lightly, nimbly 2 declaim it, pompously/oratorically 3 players in general (that is, not necessarily speaking of these players) 4 as willingly 5 also do not gesticulate to and fro 6 perform everything like men of good breeding/birth/gentlemen 7 come to possess/get and generate/create a restraint/moderation that may

give your words/speech smoothness 8 boisterous,wig-wearing fellow (negative/low connotation) 9 burst the ears of those in the cheap places, on the bare ground in front of the

stage,without seating (implying less wealth and less education/learning) 10 nonverbal (and therefore unable to be explained in words) 11 acting without any words (in current usage,“mime-shows”) and clamor/

loud shouting

have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant.12 It out-herods Herod.13 Pray you, avoid it.

First Player I warrant14 your honor. Hamlet Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion

be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action—with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature.15 For anything so o’erdone is from the purpose of playing,whose end, both at the first and now,16

was and is, to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature, to virtue her own feature,17 scorn18 her own image, and the very age and of the time his form and pressure.19 Now this overdone, or come off,20 though it make the unskilful laugh cannot but21 make the judicious grieve – the censure of the which one must in your allowance22 o’erweigh a whole theater of others.O, there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly – not to speak it profanely23 –

act 3 • scene 2

106

12 a violent character in the Mystery Plays, biblical folk-dramas popular in England, thirteenth–sixteenth centuries

13 ruler of Galilee,who presided at the trial of Jesus: represented in the Mystery Plays as almost hysterically violent

14 promise, guarantee 15 rule, do not transgress against the moderation of nature 16 aim/goal, both originally and now 17 shape, form 18 (a noun) 19 the age and essence/reality of the time itself its printed (“pressed-down-

on”) stamp/image/character 20 come off sluggishly/sloppily 21 though it make the ignorant/unwise laugh, can only 22 the condemnation/critical disapproval of whom must in your balancing of

pro and con 23 to treat the sacred irreverently (that is, that God and only God created

humankind)

that, neither having th’ accent of Christians nor the gait24 of Christian, pagan,nor man,have so strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of nature’s journeymen25 had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably.

First Player I hope we have reformed that indifferently26 with us, sir.

Hamlet O,reform it altogether.And let those that play your clowns27 speak no more than is set down for them, for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren28 spectators to laugh too, though, in the meantime, some necessary question29 of the play be then to be considered.That’s villanous,30 and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it.Go,make you ready.

exeunt Players

enter Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern

(to Polonius) How now,my lord! Will the king hear this piece of work?

Polonius And the queen too, and that presently. Hamlet (to Polonius) Bid the players make haste.

exit Polonius

act 3 • scene 2

107

24 carriage,manner of walking 25 a worker out of his apprenticeship but not yet certified as a master craftsman 26 corrected/improved that to a considerable/tolerable degree 27 fools, jesters 28 dull 29 subject,matter 30 shameful, atrocious, detestable

Will you two help to hasten them? Rosencrantz Ay,my lord.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Hamlet What ho! Horatio!

enter Horatio

Horatio Here, sweet31 lord, at your service. Hamlet Horatio, thou art e’en as just32 a man

As e’er my conversation coped withal.33

Horatio O,my dear lord – Hamlet Nay,do not think I flatter,

For what advancement34 may I hope from thee That no revenue hast but thy good spirits, To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered? No, let the candied tongue lick absurd35 pomp, And crook the pregnant36 hinges of the knee Where thrift may follow fawning.37 Dost thou hear? Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice And could of men distinguish her election,38

S’ hath sealed39 thee for herself, for thou hast been

act 3 • scene 2

108

31 dear 32 uniformly/regularly impartial/even-tempered 33 my experience in society/acquaintance has encountered/met with 34 promotion, preferment (political profit) 35 let the sugared/flattering/fawning/lying tongue lick ridiculous/silly 36 bend/bow the ready 37 there where prosperity/success may follow pretense of servile fondness (as a

dog wags its tail) 38 make distinctions about her careful choice 39 she hath marked/decided on

As one, in suff ’ring all, that suffers40 nothing, A man that Fortune’s buffets41 and rewards Hast ta’en with equal thanks.And blest are those Whose blood42 and judgment are so well commeddled43

That they are not a pipe44 for Fortune’s finger To sound45 what stop she please.Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart, As I do thee. – Something46 too much of this. – There is a play to-night before the king. One scene of it comes near47 the circumstance Which I have told thee, of my father’s death. I prithee,when thou seest that act afoot,48

Even with the very comment49 of thy soul Observe mine uncle. If his occulted50 guilt Do not itself unkennel51 in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost52 that we have seen,

act 3 • scene 2

109

40 like one who,while experiencing/passing through everything,has been damaged/injured

41 blows 42 disposition, temper,mood,passion 43 commingled,mixed together 44 tube-like musical instrument made of reed or wood,blown on at one end,

while the fingers cover and uncover holes (“stops”) to produce variable pitches

45 blow,play 46 rather, a little 47 close to 48 performance/scene going on 49 true/reliable critical powers 50 hidden, secret 51 bring out into the light (literally, to come out of a lair, like a hunted animal) 52 a spirit from hell

And my imaginations are as foul53

As Vulcan’s stithy.54 Give him heedful55 note, For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, And after we will both our judgments join In censure of his seeming.56

Horatio Well,57 my lord. If ’a steal aught the whilst this play is playing, And ’scape detecting, I will pay the theft.

enter trumpets and kettledrums

flourish sounds

Hamlet They are coming to the play; I must be idle.58

Get you a place.

enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia,

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, lords attendant,

and guards carrying torches

Claudius How fares59 our cousin Hamlet? Hamlet Excellent, i’ faith, of the chameleon’s dish.60 I eat the

air, promise-crammed.You cannot feed capons61 so. Claudius I have nothing with62 this answer,Hamlet.These

words are not mine.

act 3 • scene 2

110

53 dirty, polluted 54 the god of metalworking’s smithy/forge 55 careful/attentive/watchful notice 56 judgment/opinion (negative connotations) of his appearance 57 that’s good/fine 58 frivolous, lightheaded 59 does (or eats ) 60 air (which chameleons had long been thought to feed upon) 61 castrated cocks, crammed with food to make them better eating 62 I obtain, understand nothing by/from

Hamlet No,nor mine now. (to Polonius) My lord, you played63 once i’ the university, you say?

Polonius That did I,my lord, and was accounted a good actor. Hamlet What did you enact? Polonius I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed i’ the

Capitol.64 Brutus killed me. Hamlet It was a brute part of him to kill so capital65 a calf

there.—Be the players ready? Rosencrantz Ay,my lord.They stay upon your patience.66

Gertrude Come hither,my dear Hamlet. Sit by me. Hamlet (approaches Ophelia) No, good mother.Here’s metal

more attractive.67

Polonius (to King) O,ho! Do you mark that? Hamlet Lady, shall I lie in your lap?68

he lies at Ophelia’s feet

Ophelia No,my lord. Hamlet I mean,my head upon your lap? Ophelia Ay,my lord. Hamlet Do you think I meant country matters?69

Ophelia I think nothing,my lord. Hamlet That’s a fair thought to lie70 between maids’ legs. Ophelia What is,my lord?

act 3 • scene 2

111

100

105

110

63 acted 64 Roman temple, located on a hill 65 it was a cruel/coarse role/affair for him to kill so preeminent, important 66 wait for your leave/permission 67 magnetic 68 a clearly sexual allusion 69 rural/peasantlike matters (another sexual allusion,with a pun on “cunt”) 70 put/place (with an unmistakable pun )

Hamlet Nothing Ophelia You are merry,71 my lord. Hamlet Who, I? Ophelia Ay,my lord. Hamlet O God, your only jig-maker.72What should a man do

but be merry? For look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within’s73 two hours.

Ophelia Nay, ’tis twice two months,my lord. Hamlet So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black,74 for I’ll

have a suit of sables.75 O heavens! Die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there’s hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half a year.But by’r Lady,he must build churches,76 then,or else shall ’a suffer not77 thinking on,with the hobby-horse,78 whose epitaph is “For O, for O, the hobby-horse is forgot.”

Hautboys79 play. the dumb-show 80 enters

enter a King and a Queen very lovingly, the Queen

embracing him, and he her. she kneels, and makes show

act 3 • scene 2

112

115

120

125

71 pleasant, cheerful (with possibly a pun on “merry”�“tipsy”) 72 the only composer of comic interludes 73 within this 74 the devil indeed wore black 75 black (though the soft, rich fur is dark brown;“black” is of course the color

of mourning clothes) 76 he (the dead man) must have financed/arranged for the building of

churches 77 not be permitted/allowed to be thought about 78 along with the hobby horse, a character in the traditional May games (and

also the morris dance), popularly thought of as likely to be forgotten; the performer wore a wickerwork representation of a horse around the waist

79 oboes 80 mime

of protestation81unto him. he takes her up, and

declines82 his head upon her neck. he lies him down

upon a bank of flowers. she, seeing him asleep, leaves

him. anon comes in a fellow, takes off his83crown,

kisses it, and pours poison in the sleeper’s ears, and

exits. the Queen returns, finds the King dead, and

makes passionate action.84 the Poisoner, with some

three or four,85 comes in again. they seem to

condole86 with her. the dead body is carried away. the

Poisoner woos the Queen with gifts. she seems harsh87

awhile, but in the end accepts love.

exeunt

Ophelia What means this,my lord? Hamlet Marry, this is miching mallecho.88 It means mischief. Ophelia Belike this show imports the argument89 of the play.

enter Prologue90

Hamlet We shall know by this fellow.The players cannot keep counsel;91 they’ll tell all.

Ophelia Will ’a tell us what this show meant?

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81 a solemn oath/request 82 helps/raises her up and lowers 83 the sleeping king’s 84 strongly emotional motions/gestures 85 three or four men 86 grieve, lament, express sympathy 87 disinclined 88 skulking/sneaking mischief/misdeeds:MEECHing MALecko 89 perhaps/possibly this performance/spectacle introduces/expresses the

theme/subject 90 an actor who delivers/speaks the prologue of the play 91 keep a secret, hold their tongues

Hamlet Ay,or any show that you’ll show him.Be not you ashamed to show,he’ll not shame to tell you what it means.

Ophelia You are naught,92 you are naught: I’ll mark the play. Prologue For us, and for our tragedy,

Here stooping93 to your clemency, We beg your hearing patiently.

exit

Hamlet Is this a prologue,or the posy of 94 a ring? Ophelia ’Tis brief,my lord. Hamlet As woman’s love.

enter two Players, King and Queen

Player King Full thirty times hath Phoebus’ cart95 gone round Neptune’s salt wash and Tellus’ orbèd ground,96

And thirty dozen moons with borrowed sheen97

About the world have times twelve thirties98 been, Since love our hearts, and Hymen99 did our hands, Unite commutual in most sacred bands.100

Player Queen So many journeys may the sun and moon Make us again count o’er ere love be done! But woe is me, you are so sick of late,

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140

145

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92 wicked,naughty 93 bowing, submitting 94 inscription on 95 the sun’s chariot 96 the sea god’s salt waves/water and the earth god’s rounded lands 97 gleam, radiance 98 “times twelve thirties”�“twelve times thirty” (360 months� 30 years) 99 Greek god of marriage

100 mutually, reciprocally in most sacred bonds

So far from cheer and from your former state, That I distrust you.101Yet though I distrust, Discomfort you,my lord, it nothing must,102

For women fear too much, even as they love, And women’s fear and love hold quantity103

In neither aught, or in extremity.104

Now,what my love is, proof hath made you know; And as my love is sized,my fear is so.105

Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; Where little fears grow great, great love grows there.

Player King ’Faith, I must leave thee, love, and shortly too; My operant powers their functions leave to do,106

And thou shalt live in this fair world behind,107

Honored, beloved – and haply one as kind For husband shalt tho –

Player Queen O,confound108 the rest! Such love must needs be treason in my breast. In second husband let me be accurst! None wed the second but who killed the first.

Hamlet (aside) That’s wormwood.109

Player Queen The instances that second marriage move110

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101 doubt you,worry about you 102 the fact that she worries ought not to worry him (“discomfort”:“sadden,

deprive of comfort”) 103 preserve/keep proportion (to each other) 104 neither in little things nor in large ones 105 just as my love is large,my fear is the same 106 my vital forces stop their work 107 after me 108 to hell with 109 bitter/unpleasant (wormwood: a singularly bitter herb) 110 causes/motives that second marriage originate

Are base respects of thrift,111 but none of love: A second time I kill my husband dead When second husband kisses me in bed.

Player King I do believe you think what now you speak, But what we do determine oft we break.112

Purpose is but the slave to memory, Of violent birth, but poor validity;113

Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree, But fall, unshaken,when they mellow114 be. Most necessary ’tis that we forget To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt. What to ourselves in passion we propose, The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. The violence115 of either grief or joy Their own enactures with themselves116 destroy: Where joy most revels,117 grief doth most lament: Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident.118

This world is not for aye,119 nor ’tis not strange That even our loves should with our fortunes change, For ’tis a question left us yet to prove, Whether love lead120 fortune,or else fortune121 love.

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111 shabby/degrading/selfish considerations of an economic nature 112 decide upon/resolve often we fail to act upon 113 of vivid/intense birth, but poor soundness 114 ripe,mature 115 VIoLENCE 116 performance/actuation with their own violence/extreme natures 117 takes pleasure, enjoys itself,makes merry 118 slight/trifling chance/fortune 119 ever 120 shows the way for, guides 121 fortune leads

The great man down,you mark his favorite flies;122

The poor advanced123 makes friends of enemies. And hitherto124 doth love on fortune tend,125

For who not needs shall never lack a friend, And who in want a hollow friend doth try126

Directly seasons127 him his enemy. But orderly128 to end where I begun, Our wills and fates do so contrary129 run That our devices130 still are overthrown: Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own. So think thou wilt no second husband wed, But die131 thy thoughts when thy first lord132 is dead.

Player Queen Nor earth to me give food,nor heaven light, Sport and repose lock from me day and night – To desperation turn my trust and hope, An anchor’s133 cheer in prison be my scope134 – Each opposite that blanks the face of joy Meet what I would have well, and it destroy135 –

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195

200

205

210

122 the person on whom he has showered regard and favors flees 123 the poor man raised up/promoted 124 thus far (in the long history of humanity) 125 attend,wait upon 126 an insincere friend puts to the proof 127 ripens,matures 128 in a disciplined/well-conducted manner 129 conTRAry 130 purposes, intentions 131 expire, perish 132 husband 133 anchorite/hermit’s fare/food/entertainment 134 goal, desired end 135 may each adverse force that turns pale the face of joy have an encounter

with what I want, and destroy it

Both here and hence136 pursue me lasting strife – If once a widow,ever I be wife!

Hamlet If she should break it137 now! Player King ’Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here awhile.

My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile The tedious day with sleep.138

he sleeps

Player Queen Sleep rock thy brain,139

And never come mischance between us twain!140

exit

Hamlet (to Gertrude) Madam,how like you this play? Gertrude The lady doth protest too much,methinks. Hamlet O,but she’ll keep her word. Claudius Have you heard the argument?141 Is there no

offence in ’t? Hamlet No,no, they do but jest, poison in jest – no

offence i’ the world. Claudius What do you142 call the play? Hamlet “The Mouse-trap.”Marry, how? Tropically.143This

play is the image144 of a murder done in Vienna.Gonzago is

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136 here on earth (in this life) and afterward (in life eternal) 137 her vow 138 listless/depressed, and I want to turn the wearisome day in a more

pleasant/cheerful direction by sleeping 139 sleep soothe thy brain (as a child is soothed by being rocked) 140 bad luck, disaster between the two of us 141 the contents/story 142 what’s the play called 143 metaphorically 144 copy, likeness, imitation

the duke’s name;his wife,Baptista.You shall see anon. ’Tis a knavish piece of work – but what o’ that? Your Majesty, and we that have free145 souls, it touches us not.Let the galled jade wince:146 our withers147 are unwrung.148

enter Lucianus

This is one Lucianus, nephew to the King. Ophelia You are as good as a chorus,149 my lord. Hamlet I could interpret150 between you and your love, if I

could see the puppets dallying.151

Ophelia You are keen,152 my lord, you are keen. Hamlet It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.153

Ophelia Still better, 154 and worse.155

Hamlet So you mistake156 your husbands. (to Player) Begin, murderer. Leave thy damnable faces,157 and begin.Come: the croaking raven doth bellow for revenge.

Lucianus Thoughts black,hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing,158

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230

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145 honorable, innocent 146 let a chafed (made sore by harness/saddle rubbing),worn-out,worthless

horse wince (in current usage,“if the shoe fits – and on us it doesn’t – wear it”)

147 high on a horse’s back, between the shoulder blades 148 not hurt/wracked 149 an onstage performer who explains and annotates a play’s action 150 supply the dialogue (as does a puppeteer, speaking on behalf of his puppets) 151 sporting (in current usage,“making out”) 152 (1) sharp, bitter, (2) sexually aroused 153 at the loss of her virginity, to ease off/remove his sharpness/sexual desire 154 as a witticism 155 as a personal/social comment 156 miss take (“take in error”) 157 leave off/stop making your horrible/worthy of damnation faces 158 appropriate, suitable/harmonious

Confederate season, else no creature seeing:159

Thou mixture rank,of160 midnight weeds collected, With Hecate’s161 ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,162

Thy natural magic and dire property163

On wholesome life usurp immediately.164

he pours poison into the sleeper’s ears

Hamlet He poisons him i’ the garden for’s estate.165 His166

name’s Gonzago.The story is extant, and written in very choice167 Italian.You shall see anon how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago’s wife.

Ophelia The king rises. Hamlet What, frighted with false fire?168

Gertrude How fares my lord? Polonius Give o’er169 the play. Claudius Give me some light.Away! Polonius Lights, lights, lights!

exeunt all but Hamlet and Horatio

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159 cooperative time/occasion,no other creature seeing 160 coarse/loathsome/violent, from 161 deity of ghosts and magic (properly pronounced HECaTEE, the name is

here pronounced HEcate) 162 curse three times blighted/balefully affected, three times imbued/

saturated/impregnated 163 innate magic and dreadful/terrible characteristic/nature 164 take immediate control/seize possession of healthy life 165 for his rank, fortune 166 the King’s 167 fine, excellent 168 blank bullets 169 leave off, finish, stop

Hamlet Why, let the strucken170 deer go weep, The hart ungallèd171 play,

For some must watch,while some must sleep: So runs the world away.

Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers172 – if the rest of my fortunes Turk173 with me – with two Provincial roses on my razed174 shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players?175

Horatio Half a share. Hamlet A whole one, I.176

For thou dost know,O Damon177 dear, This realm dismantled was

Of Jove himself,178 and now reigns here A very, very – pajock.179

Horatio You might have rhymed.180

Hamlet O good Horatio, I’ll take181 the ghost’s word for a thousand pound.Didst perceive?

Horatio Very well,my lord.

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170 wounded 171 undistressed stag 172 actors’ costumes included befeathered hats 173 change completely (the basis of the phrase is conversion from Christianity

to Islam) 174 roses from Provence on my shoes, decorated with slashes 175 a partnership (as a playwright) in a pack of actors 176 say I 177 Hamlet is not being capricious:Damon and Pythias were proverbial friends

in ancient Greece 178 of Hamlet’s Jove-like father 179 peacock 180 the comment is not aimed not at Hamlet’s poetic abilities but at the King:

the predictable rhyme for “was” – and Hamlet visibly delays, at this point – would have been “ass”

181 accept a bet on

Hamlet Upon182 the talk of the poisoning? Horatio I did very well note him. Hamlet Ah,ha! Come, some music! Come, the recorders!183

For if the king like not the comedy, Why then, belike184 he likes it not, perdy.185

Come, some music!

enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Guildenstern Good my lord, vouchsafe186 me a word with you. Hamlet Sir, a whole history. Guildenstern The king, sir – Hamlet Ay, sir,what of 187 him? Guildenstern Is in his retirement188 marvellous distempered.189

Hamlet With drink, sir? Guildenstern No,my lord, rather with choler.190

Hamlet Your wisdom should show itself more richer to signify191 this to his doctor – for, for me to put him to his purgation192 would perhaps plunge him into far more choler.

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182 right after 183 wooden flutes played in a vertical position (modern flutes are made of

metal and played transversely) 184 probably 185 by God (par dieu) 186 grant 187 about 188 withdrawal from this public location 189 astonishingly disordered/out of temper 190 anger 191 better/of more worth, to communicate 192 “choler” can mean (though here it obviously does not) an excess of bile

(“biliousness”),which was treated by use of a cathartic; purgation: emptying the bowels

Guildenstern Good my lord, put your discourse into some frame and start193 not so wildly from my affair.194

Hamlet I am tame,195 sir. Pronounce.196

Guildenstern The queen, your mother, in most great affliction of spirit, hath sent me to you.

Hamlet You are welcome. Guildenstern Nay, good my lord, this courtesy is not of the right

breed.197 If it shall please you to make me a wholesome198

answer, I will do your mother’s commandment. If not, your pardon199 and my return shall be the end of my business.

Hamlet Sir, I cannot. Rosencrantz What,my lord? Hamlet Make you a wholesome answer.My wit’s diseased.

But, sir, such answer as I can make, you shall command – or, rather, as you say,my mother.Therefore no more, but to the matter.My mother, you say –

Rosencrantz Then thus she says: your behavior hath struck her into amazement and admiration.200

Hamlet O wonderful son, that can so stonish201 a mother! But is there no sequel at the heels of this mother’s admiration? Impart.202

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193 order/logic and do not leap/jump 194 business 195 under control 196 speak 197 strain, species 198 sound 199 permission to leave 200 wonder 201 O son full of wonder,who can so astonish 202 communicate

Rosencrantz She desires to speak with you in her closet,203 ere you go to bed.

Hamlet We shall obey,were she ten times our mother.204

Have you any further trade205 with us? Rosencrantz My lord, you once did love me. Hamlet So I do still, by these pickers and stealers.206

Rosencrantz Good my lord,what is your cause of distemper?207

You do surely bar the door upon your own liberty, if you deny208 your griefs to your friend.

Hamlet Sir, I lack advancement.209

Rosencrantz How can that be,when you have the voice of the King himself for your succession210 in Denmark?

Hamlet Ay,but sir,“While the grass grows”211 – the proverb is something musty.212

enter Players with recorders

O, the recorders! Let me see one. (to Rosencrantz) To withdraw213 with you – why do you go about to recover the

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203 private room 204 a quixotic observation that no one appears to quite understand 205 commerce, dealings (an insult: someone who is “in trade” is of inferior

social status) 206 hands: the catechism in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer warns,

“keep my hands from picking and stealing” 207 mental disorder, derangement 208 refuse to admit/acknowledge 209 progress in status, upward movement, promotion 210 expressed will/choice of the King himself for your succession to the

throne 211 while the grass grows, the horse starves 212 a bit antiquated/stale 213 to be intimate/private

wind of me, as if you would drive me into a toil?214

Guildenstern O,my lord, if my duty be too bold,215 my love is too unmannerly.216

Hamlet I do not well understand that.Will you play upon this pipe?

Guildenstern My lord, I cannot. Hamlet I pray you. Guildenstern Believe me, I cannot. Hamlet I do beseech you. Guildenstern I know no touch of it,217 my lord. Hamlet ’Tis as easy as lying.Govern these ventages218 with

your fingers and thumb,give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse219 most eloquent music.Look you, these are the stops.

Guildenstern But these cannot I command to any utterance of harmony.220 I have not the skill.

Hamlet Why, look you now,how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery;221 you would sound222 me from my lowest note to

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214 to get upwind of me (from hunting: smelling a person upwind of it, the hunted animal runs in the other direction, right into the “toil,” a net or nets placed for capture)

215 actions/words be too daring/presumptuous 216 my love makes me rude/discourteous/wanting in good manners 217 I do not know how to touch/play on it 218 manage/work these finger holes/stops 219 utter 220 control,master to any harmonious/pleasing/agreeable effect 221 secrets 222 measure, plumb, examine

the top of my compass223 – and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ,224 yet cannot you make it speak. ’Sblood,do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret225 me, yet you cannot play upon me.

enter Polonius

God bless you, sir! Polonius My lord, the Queen would speak with you, and

presently. Hamlet Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a

camel? Polonius By the mass, and ’tis like a camel, indeed. Hamlet Methinks it is like a weasel. Polonius It is backed like226 a weasel. Hamlet Or like a whale. Polonius Very like a whale. Hamlet Then I will come to my mother by and by.227 (aside)

They fool me to the top of my bent.228 (to Polonius) I will come by and by.

Polonius I will say so. Hamlet “By and by” is easily said.

exit Polonius

Leave me, friends.

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223 range of musical tones 224 sounds/musical capacity in this little musical instrument 225 (1) distress, gnaw at, (2) put fret bars on (like a guitar) 226 forms a back similar to 227 soon, right away 228 make a fool of/dupe me to the fullest degree of tension in my bow

exeunt all but Hamlet

’Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn229 and hell itself breathes out Contagion230 to this world.Now could I drink hot blood And do such bitter231 business as the day Would quake to look on. Soft! Now to my mother. O heart, lose not thy nature.Let not ever The soul of Nero232 enter this firm233 bosom. Let me be cruel, not unnatural. I will speak daggers to her, but use none. My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites.234

How in my words somever she be shent,235

To give them seals236—never,my soul, consent!

exit

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229 gape open 230 moral pestilence/plague/poison 231 painful, cruel, virulent 232 emperor of Rome,who murdered his mother,Agrippina 233 constant, steadfast 234 must be dissemblers/pretenders 235 howsoever she be disgraced in what I say 236 carry words into effect,/transform them into deeds (as seals legitimate and

complete written documents)

s c e n e 3 The castle

enter Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern

Claudius I like him not, nor stands it safe with us1

To let his madness range.2Therefore prepare you. I your commission will forthwith dispatch,3

And he to England shall along with you. The terms of our estate4 may not endure Hazard so near us as doth hourly grow Out of his brows.

Guildenstern We will ourselves provide.5

Most holy and religious6 fear it is To keep those many many bodies safe That live and feed upon7 your majesty.

Rosencrantz The single8 and peculiar life is bound, With all the strength and armor of the mind, To keep itself from noyance,9 but much more That spirit upon whose weal10 depends and rests The lives of many. The cess11 of majesty Dies not alone; but, like a gulf12 doth draw

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1 I do not approve of him,nor does it remain safe for me 2 roam at large, extend itself 3 complete immediately 4 the circumstances of my rank/place 5 prepare/ready ourselves 6 pious/conscientious 7 by reliance on 8 individual 9 vexation,molestation (“annoyance”)

10 welfare,well-being 11 cessation (death) 12 whirlpool

What’s near it with it. It is a massy wheel, Fixed on the summit of the highest mount, To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things Are mortised and adjoined,13 which when it falls, Each small annexment (petty consequence!) Attends the boist’rous14 ruin.Never alone Did the king sigh, but with a general15 groan.

Claudius Arm16 you, I pray you, to this speedy voyage, For we will fetters17 put upon this fear, Which now goes too free-footed.

Rosencrantz,Guildenstern We will haste us.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

enter Polonius

Polonius My lord,he’s going to his mother’s closet. Behind the arras I’ll convey myself To hear the process.18 I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home,19

And as you said – and wisely was it said – ’Tis meet that some more audience than a mother (Since nature makes them partial) should o’erhear The speech,of vantage.20 Fare you well,my liege. I’ll call upon you ere you go to bed,

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13 fastened/secured and united 14 adjunct/accessory of small, trivial/minor importance/little weight

accompanies the painfully rough 15 universal 16 prepare yourselves for 17 chains, shackles 18 behind the hanging tapestry screen I’ll place myself to hear what goes on 19 guarantee/predict she’ll censure/reprove him pointedly/effectively/

directly 20 from an advantageous location

And tell you what I know. Claudius Thanks, dear my lord.

exit Polonius

O,my offence is rank,21 it smells to heaven, It hath the primal eldest curse22 upon’t, A brother’s murder.Pray can I not, Though inclination be as sharp23 as will. My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, And like a man to double24 business bound I stand in pause25 where I shall first begin, And both neglect.What if this cursèd hand Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood, Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy26

But to confront the visage of offence?27

And what’s in prayer but this two-fold force, To be forestalled28 ere we come to fall, Or pardoned being down?29Then I’ll look up, My fault is past.But O,what form of prayer Can serve my turn?30 “Forgive me my foul murder?”

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21 gross, excessive, exceedingly great 22 Cain’s murder of his brother,Abel 23 disposition/propensity/liking be as keen/eager/intense 24 deceitful, two-faced 25 ready/embarking on I stand in hesitation 26 what use is mercy 27 but to stand up to/defy the face/appearance of sin,wrong 28 for us to be prevented/stopped 29 or to be pardoned having fallen 30 purpose

That cannot be, since I am still possessed Of those effects31 for which I did the murder, My crown,mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned and retain th’ offence? In the corrupted currents32 of this world Offence’s gilded hand may shove by33 justice, And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize34 itself Buys out the law.But ’tis not so above. There is no shuffling,35 there the action lies In his36 true nature, and we ourselves compelled, Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,37

To give in38 evidence.What then? what rests?39

Try what repentance can:40 what can it not? Yet what can it when one can not repent? O wretched state! O bosom41 black as death! O limèd42 soul, that, struggling to be free, Art more engaged!43 Help, angels! Make assay!44

Bow, stubborn knees; and,heart with strings45 of steel,

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31 contemplated results/purposes 32 course of events 33 hand covered with gold may shove to the side/away 34 reward 35 there, there is no trickery/evasion 36 the act/deed is spread out in its 37 even confronting, face to face, our sins 38 deliver, hand in 39 remains 40 can do 41 not the physical chest, but the thoughts harbored inside: in the heart 42 trapped/snared (as birdlime spread on branches catches birds) 43 entangled 44 try 45 sinews,fibers

Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe! All may be well.

retires and kneels

enter Hamlet

Hamlet Now might I do it pat,46 now he is praying; And now I’ll do’t. (draws his sword ) And so47 ’a goes to heaven; And so am I revenged.That would be scanned.48

A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. O, this is hire and salary,49 not revenge. ’A took my father grossly, full of bread,50

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;51

And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? But in our circumstance and course of thought,52

’Tis heavy with53 him.And am I then revenged, To take him in the purging of his soul,54

When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?55

No!

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46 readily, conveniently 47 thus 48 that needs to be examined/considered 49 being hired to do a job, and then being paid for it 50 took my father indecently, in the midst of life’s sensual indulgences 51 his sins plainly/amply/emphatically in bloom 52 our earthly condition and usual/customary way of thinking 53 serious, gloomy 54 to catch him in the midst of cleansing/purifying his soul 55 ready and prepared/ripened for the transition from this world to the next

Up, sword,56 and know thou a more horrid hent.57

(he sheathes his sword ) When he is drunk asleep,or in his rage, Or in th’incestuous pleasure of his bed; At gaming, a-swearing,or about some act That has no relish58 of salvation in’t; Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,59

And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell,whereto it goes.My mother stays:60

This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.

exit

Claudius (rising) My words fly up,my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

exit.

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56 back in your sheathe, sword 57 plan 58 trace, tinge, flavor 59 so he is facing in the proper direction,which for him is toward hell 60 waits

s c e n e 4 The queen’s closet

enter Gertrude and Polonius

Polonius ’A will come straight. Look you lay home to him. Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that your grace hath screened1 and stood between Much heat2 and him. I’ll silence me even here.3

Pray you,be round with him. Hamlet (within) Mother,mother,mother! Gertrude I’ll warrant you.Fear me not.Withdraw, I hear him

coming.

Polonius hides behind the arras

enter Hamlet

Hamlet Now,mother,what’s the matter? Gertrude Hamlet, thou hast thy father4 much offended.5

Hamlet Mother, you have my father6 much offended. Gertrude Come, come, you answer with an idle7 tongue. Hamlet Go,go, you question with a wicked tongue. Gertrude Why,how now,8 Hamlet! Hamlet Why,how now,8 Hamlet! What’s the matter now?

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1 protected, sheltered 2 anger 3 be still/silent exactly/precisely here 4 the King 5 sinned against/wronged (and/or displeased/angered/pained) 6 the deceased king 7 frivolous, trifling 8 what’s this

Gertrude Have you forgot me?9

Hamlet Have you forgot me?9 No,by the rood,10 not so! You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife; And – would it were not so – you are my mother.

Gertrude Nay, then, I’ll set those to you that can speak.11

Hamlet Come, come, and sit you down.You shall not budge.

( he prevents her from rising )

You go not till I set you up a glass12

Where you may see the inmost part of you. Gertrude What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?

Help,ho! Polonius (behind the arras) What, ho! Help, help, help! Hamlet (drawing his sword ) How now! A rat?13 Dead for a

ducat,14 dead!

( he thrusts his sword through the arras)

Polonius (behind ) O, I am slain! Gertrude (behind) O, I am slain! O me,what hast thou done? Hamlet Nay, I know not. Is it the king? Gertrude O,what a rash and bloody deed is this! Hamlet A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother,

As kill a king, and marry with his brother.

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9 forgotten who I am 10 the crucifix, the true cross 11 I’ll have you dealt with by those in authority 12 mirror 13 (perhaps referring to the noises rats made, attracting men to seek them out

and kill them) 14 I’ll kill whoever it is, for the price of a ducat (or “I’ll bet a ducat this kills

whoever it is”)

Gertrude As kill a king! Hamlet As kill a king! Ay, lady, ’twas my word.

( lifts up the array and reveals Polonius, dead)

Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! I took thee for thy better.Take thy fortune.15

Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger.16

(to his mother) Leave17 wringing of your hands.Peace!18 Sit you down And let me wring your heart, for so I shall, If it be made of penetrable stuff, If damnèd custom have not brazed19 it so That it be proof and bulwark against sense.20

Gertrude What have I done, that thou dar’st wag thy tongue In noise so rude against me?

Hamlet Such an act That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,21

Calls22 virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose23

From the fair forehead of an innocent love And sets a blister24 there,makes marriage-vows

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15 accept your luck 16 you’ve discovered/learned that to be prying/meddlesome/officious

involves/carries with it a degree of risk 17 stop 18 be still/silent 19 habit has not hardened it (like brass) 20 of tested and experienced strength (like armor) and a fortification against

emotion/feeling 21 stains/disfigures/befouls the attractive/becoming quality and glow of

proper womanly behavior 22 proclaims 23 beauty, fragrance (a sign of pure and virtuous love) 24 brand (prostitutes were branded on the forehead)

As false as dicers’ oaths.25 O, such a deed As from the body of contraction26 plucks The very soul, and sweet religion makes A rhapsody27 of words.Heaven’s face doth glow O’er this solidity and compound mass28

With tristful visage,29 as against the doom,30

Is thought-sick31 at the act. Gertrude Ay me,what act,

That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?32

Hamlet ( producing pictures) Look here, upon this picture, and on this, The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.33

See what a grace was seated on this brow: Hyperion’s34 curls, the front35 of Jove himself, An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; A station36 like the herald Mercury37

New-lighted on a heaven-kissing38 hill –

act 3 • scene 4

137

25 gamblers’ vows/promises 26 marriage (which is a contract) 27 is turned/transformed into a confused mass/an exalted expression without

rational, connected thought 28 this solid and composite mass (that is, the earth) 29 with sad/sorrowful face/features 30 as it would be if in full view of/facing the day of judgment 31 compare heart-sick or soul-sick 32 this prologue (of yours) (compare the pointing index finger, scanning down a

listing/a table of contents) 33 imitated/copied image/likeness of two brothers:Hamlet’s father and his

father’s brother, the King 34 Hyperion: a Titan, father of Helios, the sun god 35 face 36 stance,way/manner of standing 37 messenger/herald of the gods 38 newly alighted on a hill so very high that it touches the skies/heaven

A combination and a form39 indeed Where every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man. This was your husband.Look you now what follows. Here is your husband, like a mildewed40 ear, Blasting his wholesome41 brother.Have you eyes? Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed And batten on this moor?42 Ha! Have you eyes? You cannot call it love, for at your age The hey-day43 in the blood is tame, it’s humble And waits upon44 the judgment, and what judgment Would step from this to this? Sense sure45 you have, Else could you not have motion,46 but sure that sense Is apoplexed,47 for madness would not err,48

Nor sense to ecstasy was ne’er so thralled But it reserved some quantity of choice49

To serve in such a difference.50What devil was’t That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?51

act 3 • scene 4

138

39 shape, body 40 fungus-ridden 41 blighting (like an infectious disease) his healthy brtoher 42 give over/stop feeding and glut yourself on this waste ground/marsh 43 time of life with the highest level of excitement 44 of lowered urgency and waits for/defers to/serves 45 reliable perceptive faculties 46 be able to move 47 arrested, interfered with (an affliction believed to be caused by a sudden flow

of blood to the brain) 48 go astray/wrong (that is, you cannot be mad,because this is not the sort of

error that madness makes) 49 nor were the faculties of perception ever so enslaved by the raptures of

passion that sense did not retain a certain amount of choice 50 to assist in such a dispute/quarrel 51 cheated/defrauded you at blindman’s buff

Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight, Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,52

Or but a sickly part of one true sense,53

Could not so mope.54

O shame,where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, If thou canst mutine55 in a matron’s bones, To flaming youth let virtue be as wax And melt in her own fire.Proclaim no shame When the compulsive ardor gives the charge,56

Since frost itself as actively doth burn57

And reason panders will.58

Gertrude O Hamlet, speak no more. Thou turn’st mine eyes into59 my very soul, And there I see such black and grainèd spots60

As will not leave their tinct.61

Hamlet Nay,but to live In the rank sweat of an enseamèd bed, Stewed in corruption,62 honeying and making love

act 3 • scene 4

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52 without everything 53 even just a feeble/weak/unhealthy portion of real/genuine/honest sense 54 could not be so aimless/spiritless 55 incite to revolt, rebel,mutiny 56 the enforced/coercive heat of passion/desire signals/sounds the impetuous

attack 57 even the frigidity/coldness (of a “matron” like Gertrude) burns just as

actively 58 reason serves as a pimp/pander for emotion/will 59 “into”expresses a direction, rather than a destination:Gertrude’s vision has

been redirected to look inward 60 the blemishes created by grain-produced dyes (colorfast and very durable) 61 which will not give up/lose their hue/color 62 greasy bed, steeped,overheated (“stew”�“whore”; “the stews”�“whore-

houses”)

Over the nasty sty63 – Gertrude O, speak to me no more.

These words like daggers enter in mine ears. No more, sweet Hamlet!

Hamlet A murderer and a villain, A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe Of your precedent lord64 – a Vice65 of kings, A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,66

That from a shelf the precious diadem67 stole And put it in his pocket –

Gertrude No more! Hamlet A king of shreds and patches68 –

enter Ghost

Save me, and hover o’er me with your wings, You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?69

Gertrude Alas, he’s mad! Hamlet Do you not come your tardy son to chide,

That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by70

Th’ important acting71 of your dread command? O, say!

act 3 • scene 4

140

100

105

63 sweet-talking and making love over the foul/filthy place of bestial lust, a whorehouse

64 a rascal/fellow who is not a twentieth of a tenth (an exceedingly small percentage) of your prior husband

65 Vice was a villainous clown in the Morality Plays 66 a pickpocket/thief of the kingdom and the kingship 67 crown 68 of fragments/bits and pieces and botched-up/clumsy repairs 69 form, shape 70 son to scold,who, fallen away both in time and in passion, allows to slip by 71 weighty/grave/urgent execution

Ghost Do not forget.This visitation Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.72

But, look, amazement73 on thy mother sits. O, step between her and her fighting soul! Conceit74 in weakest bodies strongest works. Speak to her,Hamlet.

Hamlet How is it with you, lady? Gertrude Alas, how is’t with you,

That you do bend your eye on vacancy75

And with th’ incorporal air do hold discourse?76

Forth at77 your eyes your spirits wildly peep,78

And as the sleeping soldiers in th’ alarm,79

Your bedded hair like life in excrements Start up, and stand an end.80 O gentle son, Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper81

Sprinkle cool patience.82Whereon do you look? Hamlet On him,on him! Look you,how pale he glares!

His form and cause conjoined,83 preaching to stones, Would make them capable.84 (to Ghost) Do not look upon me,

act 3 • scene 4

141

110

115

120

125

72 sharpen,urge on your almost dulled purpose 73 bewilderment, distraction 74 thoughts, ideas 75 you direct/turn your eye on nothingness 76 and speak/talk with the immaterial/disembodied air 77 through, from 78 out of control/violently show themselves 79 at the call to arms 80 your hair, spread flat, rises and stands on end like living forms that spring up

in outgrowths/outshoots 81 disordered/deranged condition 82 composure 83 his figure and motives combined 84 able to understand/respond

Lest with this piteous85 action you convert My stern effects.86Then what I have to do Will want true color87 – tears perchance for88 blood.

Gertrude To whom do you speak this? Hamlet Do you see nothing

there? Gertrude Nothing at all.Yet all that is89 I see. Hamlet Nor did you nothing hear? Gertrude No,nothing but ourselves. Hamlet Why, look you there! Look how it90 steals away!

My father, in his habit as he lived! Look,where he goes, even now,out at the portal!91

exit Ghost

Gertrude This is the very coinage of your brain, This bodiless creation ecstasy Is very cunning92 in.

Hamlet Ecstasy? My pulse as yours doth temperately93 keep time, And makes as healthful music. It is not madness That I have uttered.Bring me to the test,

act 3 • scene 4

142

130

135

140

85 compassionate, tender (possibly “full of piety”?) 86 you turn back/away my severe/rigorous intended deeds 87 will be deprived of/lose/fall short of genuine reason/excuse/justification 88 instead of 89 is there 90 his continued use of “it,” rather than “he,”underlines Hamlet’s profound

ambiguity toward the Ghost 91 doorway 92 in which madness is very sly/crafty/clever 93 moderately,mildly

And I the matter will re-word,94 which madness Would gambol95 from.Mother, for love of grace, Lay not that flattering unction96 to your soul, That not your trespass,97 but my madness speaks. It will but skin and film the ulcerous98 place, Whiles rank corruption,mining99 all within, Infects unseen.Confess yourself to heaven, Repent what’s past, avoid what is to come; And do not spread the compost100 on the weeds, To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue, For in the fatness of these pursy101 times Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg – Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.102

Gertrude O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. Hamlet O, throw away the worser part of it

And live the purer with the other half. Good night—but go not to mine uncle’s bed. Assume103 a virtue, if you have it not. That monster, custom,who all sense doth eat, Of habits devil,104 is angel yet in this,

act 3 • scene 4

143

145

150

155

160

94 say again, repeat 95 leap, bound, spring away 96 self-gratifying soothing ointment (the action of anointing with oil, in

certain rites of the church) 97 sin, fault (“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass

against us”) 98 it will only cover and film over the infected open sore (inner or outer) 99 digging under/away,undermining

100 mold,manure 101 purse-proud,wealthy 102 bow/cringe and woo for permission to do good for vice 103 adopt, simulate, pretend to 104 the devil (Satan) of habits

That to the use105 of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery,106

That aptly107 is put on.Refrain to-night, And that shall lend a kind of easiness To the next abstinence, the next more easy, For use almost can change the stamp108 of nature, And either [. . . . . . . . .]109 the devil, or throw him out With wondrous potency.110 Once more, good night, And when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you.For this same lord, ( pointing to Polonius) I do repent, but heaven hath pleased111

it so, To punish me with this112 and this with me, That I must be their scourge and minister.113

I will bestow him, and will answer well114

The death I gave him.So again, good night. I must be cruel, only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.115

One word more, good lady. Gertrude What shall I do?

act 3 • scene 4

144

165

170

175

180

105 performance, practice 106 gives a frock coat/long cloak/cassock/gown/dress or servant’s garb 107 appropriately, suitably 108 imprinting (in current usage,“genetic character”) 109 a word is missing, probably “welcome,” “bring in,”or something of the sort 110 power, strength, authority 111 chosen,wanted 112 Polonius’s corpse 113 be the heavens’ lash/whip and he who administers justice/law/

punishment 114 dispose of/lodge him and take appropriate responsibility for 115 has yet to come,will follow after

Hamlet Not this, by no means, that I bid116 you do: Let the bloat117 king tempt you again to bed, Pinch wanton118 on your cheek, call you his mouse,119

And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, Or paddling120 in your neck with his damned fingers, Make you to ravel121 all this matter out, That I essentially122 am not in madness, But mad in craft.123 ’Twere good you let him know, For who, that’s but a queen – fair, sober,wise – Would from a paddock,124 from a bat, a gib,125

Such dear concernings hide?126Who would do so? No, in despite of sense127 and secrecy, Unpeg128 the basket on the house’s top, Let the birds fly129 and, like the famous130 ape, To try conclusions,131 in the basket creep,

act 3 • scene 4

145

185

190

195

116 forbid 117 flabby, swollen (as a result of self-indulgence) 118 pinch lewdly/lasciviously 119 then, and later, a common term of endearment 120 squalid kisses, or toying, idly/fondly/playfully fingering 121 unwind, reel out (that is, give Hamlet away on “this matter”) 122 at bottom, intrinsically 123 but only mad in cunning/guile/ingenuity 124 toad 125 a castrated cat 126 hide such worthy/precious/glorious matters of importance 127 in contempt/disdain of sanity/intelligence/wisdom 128 unfasten,open 129 fly off/away 130 perhaps “famous” then, but unknown now: clearly, however, the

experimentally minded ape crawls into the bird basket and falls off the housetop to his death

131 test the results, conduct an experiment

And break your own neck down.132

Gertrude Be thou assured, if words be made of breath, And breath of life, I have no life to breathe133

What thou hast said to me. Hamlet I must to England.You know that? Gertrude Alack,134

I had forgot. ’Tis so concluded on.135

Hamlet There’s letters sealed, and my two schoolfellows, Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged, They bear the mandate.136They must sweep my way And marshal me to knavery.137 Let it work, For ’tis the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petard138 – and ’t shall go hard But I will delve one yard below their mines And blow them at139 the moon.O, ’tis most sweet When in one line two crafts directly meet.140

This man shall set me packing.141

act 3 • scene 4

146

200

205

210

132 on the way down 133 speak (that is,“repeat”) 134 alas 135 decided 136 will trust as I will adders with fangs, carry the king’s commission/orders 137 they must clear my way/provide me with an escort and usher/guide/

conduct me to trickery/roguery;Hamlet is clear that these things are to be practiced on him,not by him

138 let it come to pass/be done, because it’s fun and games to make the designer/maker of military devices (bombs) be lifted/blown into the air by his own bomb

139 it will turn out badly if I don’t dig a yard below their barrels of gunpowder, used like bombs, emplanted below a wall or fort and blow them nearly to

140 in a single/straight line two boats (and/or two ingenious/cunning/sly arts/skills) come face to face (each traveling directly at the other)

141 this corpse will start me carrying/storing a load (and plotting, scheming)

I’ll lug the guts into the neighbor room. Mother, good night. Indeed, this counsellor Is now most still,most secret and most grave,142

Who was in life a foolish, prating knave.143

Come, sir, to draw toward an end144 with you. Good night,mother.

exeunt severally, first Gertrude, then Hamlet,

dragging Polonius

act 3 • scene 1

147

215

act 3 • scene 4

142 heavy,of great weight (and highly serious, requiring serious thought, as well as headed to his “grave”)

143 chattering,/blabbing servant,menial 144 move (and pull) (and lead to) the completion of an action/purpose (and

your death)

Act 4�

148

s c e n e 1 The castle, that same night

enter Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz,

and Guildenstern

Claudius There’s matter in these sighs.These profound heaves1

You must translate: ’tis fit we understand them. Where is your son?

Gertrude (to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) Bestow2 this place on us a little while.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Ah,my good lord,what have I seen to-night! Claudius What,Gertrude? How does Hamlet? Gertrude Mad as the sea and wind,when both contend

Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, Behind the arras hearing something stir,

1 “profound heaves”�“deep, swelling sigh/wordless utterings” 2 leave us

Whips out his rapier, cries,“A rat, a rat!” And in this brainish apprehension3 kills The unseen good old man.

Claudius O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we4 been there. His liberty is full of threats to all, To you yourself, to us, to everyone. Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answered? It will be laid to us,whose providence Should have kept short, restrained and out of haunt5

This mad young man.But so much was our love We would not6 understand what was most fit, But like the owner of a foul disease, To keep it from divulging, let it feed Even on the pith7 of life.Where is he gone?

Gertrude To draw apart8 the body he hath killed, O’er whom his very madness, like some ore9

Among a mineral of metals base,10

Shows itself pure. ’A weeps for what is done. Claudius O Gertrude, come away!11

The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch But we will ship him hence, and this vile deed

act 4 • scene 1

149

3 headstrong and entirely imagined notion 4 the same thing would have happened to me,had I 5 whose prudence/foresight should have restricted/limited and kept away

from usual/customary places/company 6 did not wish/desire/want to 7 vital part, essence, substance 8 move/drag away/aside 9 mineral containing useful/precious metal (and“the metal itself”)

10 of inferior quality,worthless 11 leave off (or“let us leave this public place”)

We must,with all our majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse.12 Ho,Guildenstern!

enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Friends both, go join you with13 some further aid. Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, And from his mother’s closet hath he dragged him. Go seek him out. Speak fair,14 and bring the body Into the chapel.15 I pray you,haste in this.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Come,Gertrude,we’ll call up our wisest friends,16

And let them know both what we mean to do And what’s untimely done. So haply slander, Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, As level17 as the cannon to his blank,18

Transports his poisoned shot,may miss our name And hit the woundless19 air.O, come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay.

exeunt

act 4 • scene 1

150

12 support and apologize for 13 unite, combine in 14 gently, peacefully 15 a private place of worship, common in aristocratic houses 16 summon our wisest supporters 17 horizontally direct 18 the center of its target (a white – “blank” – space at a target’s center) 19 incapable of being wounded, invulnerable

s c e n e 2 The castle

enter Hamlet

Hamlet Safely stowed. Rosencrantz,Guildenstern ( from within) Hamlet! Lord Hamlet! Hamlet But soft, what noise? who calls on Hamlet?

O,here they come.

enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Rosencrantz What have you done,my lord,with the dead body? Hamlet Compounded1 it with dust,whereto ’tis kin. Rosencrantz Tell us where ’tis, that we may take it thence2

And bear it to the chapel. Hamlet Do not believe it. Rosencrantz Believe what? Hamlet That I can keep your counsel and not mine own.

Besides, to be demanded of a sponge!3What replication4

should be made by the son of a king? Rosencrantz Take you me for a sponge,my lord? Hamlet Ay, sir, that soaks up the King’s countenance,5 his

rewards, his authorities.But such officers do the King best service, in the end.He keeps them, like an ape,6 in the corner of his jaw,first mouthed, to be last swallowed.When he needs

act 4 • scene 2

151

1 put it together with 2 from there/that place 3 peremptorily/imperiously requested by a mercenary hanger-on 4 reply, answer 5 goodwill, favor 6 as an ape does

what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you shall be dry again.

Rosencrantz I understand you not,my lord. Hamlet I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps7 in a foolish

ear. Rosencrantz My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go

with us to the King. Hamlet The body is with the King, but the King is not

with the body.8The King is a thing9 – Guildenstern A thing,my lord! Hamlet Of nothing.Bring me to him.Hide fox, and all

after.10

Hamlet runs off. exeunt all

act 4 • scene 2

152

7 rests dormant/inert/inactive 8 Hamlet plays with a theory of kingship: the physical king (his “body”) and

the power of the kingship are separate. Since the King’s powers extend to the entire castle (and indeed to the entire country), the corpse is necessarily “with the King.”But the corpse is not with the King’s body, that is, the King himself

9 a something, a material object, a piece of property (at which deeply disrespectful comment – almost heresy – Guildenstern is shocked)

10 the cry, in a child’s game such as hide-and-seek

s c e n e 3 The castle

enter Claudius, with two or three attendant lords

Claudius I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. How dangerous is it that this man goes loose! Yet must not we put the strong1 law on him: He’s loved of the distracted2 multitude, Who like3 not in their judgment, but their eyes, And where tis so, th’ offender’s scourge is weighed,4

But never the offence.To bear5 all smooth and even, This sudden sending him away must seem Deliberate pause.Diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance6 are relieved, Or not at all.

enter Rosencrantz, and others

How now? What hath befallen? Rosencrantz Where the dead body is bestowed,my lord,

We cannot get from him. Claudius But where is he? Rosencrantz Without,7 my lord, guarded, to know8 your

pleasure.

act 4 • scene 3

153

1 place upon/apply/impose the emphatic/urgent/severe 2 confused 3 approve, are pleased 4 punishment is considered/measured 5 keep, sustain 6 measures, application, treatment 7 just outside 8 await/learn

Claudius Bring him before us. Rosencrantz Ho! Bring in the lord.

enter Hamlet and Guildenstern

Claudius Now,Hamlet,where’s Polonius? Hamlet At supper. Claudius At supper? Where? Hamlet Not where he eats, but where ’a is eaten.A certain

convocation of politic worms are e’en9 at him.Your10 worm is your only emperor for diet.We fat all creatures else11 to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots.Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service12 – two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.

Claudius Alas, alas! Hamlet A man may fish with the worm that hath eat13 of a

king, and eat14 of the fish that hath fed of that worm. Claudius What dost thou mean by this? Hamlet Nothing but to show you how a king may go a

progress15 through the guts of a beggar. Claudius Where is Polonius? Hamlet In heaven. Send thither to see. If your messenger find

him not there, seek him i’ th’ other place yourself.But if

act 4 • scene 3

154

9 assembly/synod/meeting of shrewd/prudent/diplomatic worms are even now 10 the 11 fatten all other creatures 12 only a matter of variation in courses being served 13 eaten (then and now “eat” is pronounced, in British English,“et”) 14 pronounced in England as it is in the United States 15 a state journey, an official tour

indeed you find him not within this month, you shall nose16

him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.17

Claudius (to attendants) Go seek him there. Hamlet ’A will stay till ye come.

exeunt attendants

Claudius Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety – Which we do tender as18 we dearly grieve For that which thou hast done – must send thee hence With fiery quickness.Therefore prepare thyself.19

The bark is ready, and the wind at help, Th’ associates tend, and everything is bent20

For England. Hamlet For England? Claudius Ay,Hamlet. Hamlet Good. Claudius So is it, if thou knew’st our purposes.21

Hamlet I see a cherub22 that sees them.But, come, for England! Farewell, dear mother.

Claudius Thy loving father,Hamlet. Hamlet My mother. Father and mother is man and wife.

Man and wife is one flesh – and so:my mother.Come, for England!

exit

act 4 • scene 3

155

16 (1) smell, (2) confront, face, (3) rub/press the nose against, examine 17 passage, corridor, covered walk 18 offer just as 19 make yourself ready/pack what you will need 20 favorable/useful, your comrades wait, and everything is set/bound 21 intentions, plans 22 one of the second order of angels, especially endowed with knowledge

Claudius Follow him at foot;23 tempt him with speed aboard. Delay it not. I’ll have him hence tonight. Away! For everything is sealed and done That else leans on th’affair. Pray you,make haste.

exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

And,England, if my love thou hold’st at aught24 – As my great power thereof may give thee sense,25

Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red After26 the Danish sword, and thy free awe Pays homage to us27 – thou mayst not coldly set Our sovereign process,28 which imports at full, By letters congruing to29 that effect, The present death of Hamlet.Do it,England, For like the hectic30 in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me.Till I know ’tis done, Howe’er my haps,31 my joys were ne’er32 begun.

exit

act 4 • scene 3

156

23 close to him 24 favor/approval you consider of any worth whatever 25 as my (Denmark’s) great strength/armies might make you aware 26 your scar (from a healed wound) still looks raw and red subsequent to/

following after England’s encounter with 27 willing/voluntary terror/dread pays deference to us (acknowledgment of

superiority and money paid) 28 consider with indifference our authoritative/kingly command 29 conveys/communicates/states full/in detail by letters in harmony with 30 fever 31 fortune, fate 32 will never be

s c e n e 4 A plain in Denmark

enter Fortinbras and soldiers

Fortinbras Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king. Tell him that, by his licence,Fortinbras Craves the conveyance1 of a promised2 march Over his kingdom.You know the rendezvous. If that his Majesty would aught with us, We shall express our duty in his eye.3

And let him know so. Captain I will do’t,my lord. Fortinbras Go softly on.4

exeunt Fortinbras and soldiers

enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern,

and others

Hamlet Good sir,whose powers5 are these? Captain They are of Norway, sir. Hamlet How purposed, sir, I pray you? Captain Against some part6 of Poland. Hamlet Who commands them, sir? Captain The nephew to old Norway,Fortinbras.

act 4 • scene 4

157

1 passage,with an escort 2 previously declared 3 I will set forth my due respect/homage in his sight/presence 4 proceed at a comfortable/easy pace 5 armies, forces 6 section, region

Hamlet Goes it against the main7 of Poland, sir, Or for some frontier?

Captain Truly to speak, and with no addition,8

We go to gain a little patch of ground That hath in it no profit but the name.9

To pay five ducats, five,10 I would not farm it, Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole A ranker rate,11 should it be sold in fee.12

Hamlet Why, then the Polack never will defend it. Captain Yes, it is already garrisoned. Hamlet Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats

Will not debate13 the question of this straw.14

This is th’ imposthume15 of much wealth and peace, That inward breaks, and shows no cause without Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir.

Captain God bye you, sir.

exit

Rosencrantz Wilt please you go,my lord? Hamlet I’ll be with you straight.Go a little before.16

exeunt all but Hamlet

act 4 • scene 4

158

7 chief part 8 something added for reasons of style 9 (that is,making it part of Norway rather than part of Poland)

10 in rent 11 larger sum/amount 12 outright 13 abate, end, settle 14 trifle, insignificance 15 boil, pimple, ulcer 16 ahead

How all occasions do inform17 against me And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, If his chief good and market18 of his time Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. Sure he that made us with such large discourse,19

Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and god-like reason To fust20 in us unused.Now,whether it be Bestial oblivion,or some craven scruple21

Of thinking too precisely on th’ event22 – A thought which, quartered,hath but one part wisdom And ever23 three parts coward – I do not know Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,” Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means To do’t.Examples gross as earth exhort24 me. Witness this army of such mass and charge25

Led by a delicate and tender26 prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed27

Makes mouths at28 the invisible event,29

act 4 • scene 4

159

17 circumstances/events lodge complaints 18 value 19 reasoning,understanding 20 turn moldy/stale 21 cowardly/frightened doubt/uncertainty 22 outcome, result 23 always 24 large/plain/obvious as earth incite/admonish/urge 25 great size and cost/price/expense 26 skillful/ingenious and youthful 27 driven, impelled 28 makes faces at/shows contempt for 29 the unseeable outcome

Exposing what is mortal and unsure To all that fortune, death and danger dare – Even for an egg-shell.Rightly30 to be great Is not to stir without great argument,31

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 blood32 – And let all sleep,while to my shame I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men That, for a fantasy and trick33 of fame, Go to their graves like34 beds,fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,35

Which36 is not tomb enough and continent37

To hide the slain? O, from this time forth, My38 thoughts be bloody,or be nothing worth!

exit

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30 correctly 31 reason, thought 32 incentives/excitements to action for my reason and my passions/emotions

(and family/race/kin) 33 phantom/illusion and sham appearance/deceptive show 34 as if to their 35 on which the many men fighting cannot (in so small a space) test the reason

for the action 36 which patch of ground 37 a big-enough tomb and container 38 let my

s c e n e 5 The castle

enter Gertrude, Horatio, and a gentleman1

Gertrude I will not speak with her. Gentleman She is importunate, indeed distract.2

Her mood will needs be pitied.3

Gertrude What would she have? Gentleman She speaks much of her father, says she hears

There’s tricks4 i’ the world, and hems, and beats her heart, Spurns enviously at straws,5 speaks things in doubt6

That carry but half sense.Her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped7 use of it doth move The hearers to collection.8They aim at it, And botch9 the words up fit10 to their own thoughts, Which – as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield11 them – Indeed would make one think there might be thought, Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.12

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1 a man of gentle birth serving as a court official 2 troubled in mind, confused 3 state of mind must be pitied 4 frauds, deceptions, shams,hoaxes 5 unpleasantly/with great ill-will kicks at/rejects trifles/things of no

significance 6 uncertainly/hesitantly/fearfully 7 formless, shapeless 8 inferences 9 guess/try (some texts have “yawn,”meaning “gape”)

10 patch/clumsily mend the words according to 11 produce, deliver 12 unfortunately, regrettably

Horatio ’Twere good she were13 spoken with, for she may strew14

Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding15 minds. Gertrude Let her come in.

exit Horatio

(aside) To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is, Each toy16 seems prologue to some great amiss.17

So full of artless jealousy18 is guilt, It spills19 itself in fearing to be spilt.

enter Ophelia

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 hat20 and staff, And his sandal shoon.21

Gertrude Alas, sweet lady,what imports22 this song?

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13 if she were 14 spread, sprinkle 15 unmannerly, given to mischief 16 trifle,minor/insignificant thing 17 fault, evil deed 18 clumsy/ignorant/simple-minded suspicion/mistrust/fear 19 destroys, ruins, kills 20 traditional headwear of religious pilgrim and lovers 21 sandals too were pilgrim and lover associated 22 means

Ophelia Say you? Nay, pray you,mark.

(sings)

He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone.

At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone.23

O ho! Gertrude Nay,but,Ophelia – Ophelia Pray you,mark.

(sings)

White his shroud as the mountain snow –

enter Claudius

Gertrude Alas, look here,my lord. Ophelia (sings)

Larded24 with sweet flowers Which bewept to the grave did [not25] go

With true-love26 showers.27

Claudius How do you,pretty lady? Ophelia Well,God ’ild28 you! They say the owl was a baker’s

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23 burial stone, grave marker 24 covered,heaped high, decorated 25 a much-debated word, deleted in some texts 26 either Herb Paris, a kind of lily, or ornaments/symbols of true love 27 in showers (that,many/a lot of flowers) (the song, like the singer, is

confused) 28 yield: reward

daughter.29 Lord,we know what we are, but know not what we may be.God be at your table!

Claudius Conceit30 upon her father. Ophelia Pray, let’s have no words31 of 32 this, but when they ask

you what it means, say you this:

(sings)

To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning betime,33

And I a maid at34 your window, To be your Valentine.

Then up he rose, and donned his clothes, And dupped the chamber door,35

Let in the maid, that out a maid36

Never departed more.37

Claudius Pretty Ophelia. Ophelia Indeed, la,without an oath, I’ll make an end on’t:

(sings)

By Gis38 and by Saint Charity,

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29 a legend: a baker’s daughter who refused to give Christ bread was transformed into an owl

30 morbid seizure of the mind 31 no speech/talk? or no argument? 32 about 33 early 34 standing? knocking? 35 opened the bedroom door 36 a virgin 37 again 38 shortened form of “Jesus”

Alack, and fie for shame! Young men will do’t, if they come to’t.

By Cock,39 they are to blame.

Quoth she,“before you tumbled me,40

You promised me to wed.”

He answers:

“So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun, An41 thou hadst not come to my bed.”

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 should lay him i’ the cold ground.My brother shall know of it.And so I thank you for your good counsel.Come,my coach! Good night, ladies, good night. Sweet ladies, good night, good night.

exit

King Claudius Follow her close.Give her good watch,42

I pray you.

exit Gentleman

O, 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

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39 (1) God, and (2) penis 40 threw me on the ground:had sexual intercourse with me 41 if 42 guard, vigilance

But in battalions. First, her father slain. Next, your son gone, and he most violent author43

Of his own just remove.44The people muddied, Thick45 and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers, For good Polonius’ death – and we have done but greenly In hugger-mugger46 to inter him.Poor Ophelia Divided from herself and her fair judgment,47

Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts.48

Last, and as much containing49 as all these, Her brother is50 in secret come from France, Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,51

And wants not buzzers to infect52 his ear With pestilent speeches of 53 his father’s death, Wherein necessity, of matter beggared, Will nothing stick our person to arraign In ear and ear.54 O my dear Gertrude, this, Like to a murd’ring-piece, in many places

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43 instigator, begetter 44 upright/fair/well-deserved departure/exile 45 muddled/confused, thick-headed/stupid 46 and, also, because of what we have done very unskillfully in secret/

disorderly fashion 47 obvious good sense/discernment 48 empty/soulless representations of human beings, or no more than animals/

brute creatures 49 containing as much 50 has 51 feeds on his perplexity/astonishment, keeps himself suspicious/lost in his

imaginings 52 does not lack rumormongers to influence/corrupt 53 with poisonous/noxious/deadly speeches about 54 deprived of any substance/facts,will in no way stop/delay/hesitate to

accuse me in one ear after another

Gives me superfluous death.55

a noise within; enter a Gentleman

Gertrude Alack,what noise is this? Claudius Where are my Switzers?56 Let them guard the door.

(to Gentleman) What is the matter? Gentleman Save yourself,my lord.

The ocean,overpeering of his list,57

Eats not the flats with more impetuous58 haste Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O’erbears59 your officers.The rabble call him lord, And, as60 the world were now but to61 begin, Antiquity forgot, custom not known, The ratifiers and props of every word,62

They cry,“Choose we! Laertes shall be king!” Caps, hands, and tongues applaud it to the clouds: “Laertes shall be king,Laertes king!”

Gertrude How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!63

O, this is counter,64 you false65 Danish dogs!66

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167

100

105

110

55 like a cannon firing scattering shot (like shrapnel), here and there and everywhere, pointlessly kills me

56 Swiss mercenaries, often used by European royalty as palace guards 57 looking down on/towering over/dominating his borders, shores 58 does not gnaw away at the level ground with more violent haste 59 with a noisy/unrestrained/turbulent insurgent mob,overcomes/overthrows 60 as if 61 just be about to 62 they the ones who confirm/approve and uphold/every command/order 63 like hunting dogs following a scent 64 hunting dogs running away from, rather than toward, the hunted animal

(that is, following the scent backward, along the path the prey has already taken)

65 treacherous/defective/mistaken 66 worthless cowards

(noise within)

Claudius The doors are broke.

enter Laertes and others

Laertes Where is this king? (to others) Sirs, stand you all without.67

Others No, let’s come in! Laertes No, let’s come in! I pray you, give me leave.68

Others We will,we will. Laertes I thank you.Keep69 the door.

exeunt others

Laertes O thou vile king, Give me my father!

Gertrude Calmly, good Laertes. Laertes That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard,70

Cries cuckold71 to my father, brands the harlot Even here, between the chaste unsmirchèd brow Of my true mother.72

Claudius What is the cause,Laertes, That73 thy rebellion looks so giant-like?74

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168

115

120

67 all of you remain outside 68 your consent 69 watch/guard/defend 70 illegitimate, not my father’s true son 71 that is, that Polonius was the husband of an unfaithful wife 72 brands (literally) the word “harlot,” right here in the middle of the unsoiled,

unstained forehead of my faithful, honest mother 73 why,Laertes, does 74 huge (like the rebellion of the ancient giants against the then-king of the

gods)

(to Gertrude) Let him go,Gertrude.Do not fear75 our person. There’s such divinity doth hedge76 a king That treason can but peep to77 what it would, Acts little of his will.78Tell me,Laertes, Why thou art thus incensed. (to Gertrude) Let him go,

Gertrude. (to Laertes) Speak,man.

Laertes Where is my father? Claudius Dead. Gertrude But not by him. Claudius (to Gertrude) Let him demand his fill. Laertes How came he dead? I’ll not be juggled79 with.

To hell allegiance!80Vows,81 to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!82

I dare83 damnation.To this point I stand, That both the worlds I give to negligence,84

Let come what comes – only I’ll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father.

Claudius Who shall stay you? Laertes My will,85 not all the world.

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169

125

130

135

75 be afraid for 76 defend, surround,protect 77 look through a narrow aperture, or half-closed eyes, at what it wishes 78 and does little of what it wants 79 deceived by tricks, cheated, beguiled 80 I vow allegiance to hell 81 I make my vows 82 God’s grace/favor/mercy I consign to the deepest pit 83 challenge, defy 84 I remain steadfast/firm, that earth and heaven I consign to indifference/

neglect 85 by my will

And for my means, I’ll husband86 them so well They shall go far with little.

Claudius Good Laertes, If you desire to know the certainty87

Of your dear father’s death, is’t writ in your revenge That, swoopstake,88 you will draw89 both friend and foe, Winner and loser?

Laertes None but his enemies. Claudius Will you know90 them, then? Laertes To his good friends thus wide I’ll ope my arms

And like the kind life-rend’ring pelican Repast91 them with my blood.

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 sensibly92 in grief for it, It shall as level93 to your judgment ’pear94

As day does to your eye. Others (within) Let her come in. Laertes How now? What noise is that?

enter Ophelia

act 4 • scene 5

170

140

145

150

86 as for my resources/money, I’ll prudently manage 87 the facts, the truth 88 indiscriminately, helter-skelter (sweeping up all the stakes at once) 89 drag out, hunt down 90 do you want to know 91 naturally self-sacrificing pelican (thought to feed its young on its own

blood) I’ll feed 92 intensely, acutely 93 intelligible 94 appear

act 4 • scene 1

171

O heat, dry up my brains! Tears seven times salt95

Burn out the sense and virtue96 of mine eye! By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight, Till our scale turn the beam.97 O rose of May, Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia! O heavens, is’t possible a young maid’s wits Should be as mortal as an old man’s life?98

Nature is fine99 in love, and where ’tis fine It sends some precious instance100 of itself After the thing it loves.

Ophelia (sings)

They bore him barefaced101 on the bier.102

Hey non nonny,nonny,hey nonny. And in his grave rained many a tear –

Fare you well,my dove!

Laertes Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, It could not move103 thus.

Ophelia You must sing “A-down a-down, an you call him a- down-a.”O,how the wheel becomes104 it! It is the false

act 4 • scene 5

155

160

165

170

95 seven times as salty as salt 96 feeling and strength/power 97 in full, until the balance bar of our scale swings downward 98 the old man in question is Polonius 99 exquisitely fashioned, delicately structured

100 sign, token 101 face uncovered 102 movable stand for holding a corpse and for carrying it to the grave 103 urge/strongly advise revenge, it could not be as emotionally affecting as

this 104 refrain fits, goes well with

steward that stole his master’s daughter. Laertes This nothing’s more than matter.105

Ophelia (to Laertes) There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.And there is pansies.That’s for thoughts.

Laertes A document106 in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted.

Ophelia (to Gertrude) There’s fennel for you, and columbines.107

(to Claudius) There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me.108

We may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays.109 O you must wear your rue with a difference.110There’s a daisy.111 I would give you some violets,112 but they withered all when my father died. They say ’a made a good end.

(sings)

For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.

Laertes Thought and affliction, passion,hell itself, She turns to favor113 and to prettiness.

Ophelia (sings)

And will ’a not come again?

act 4 • scene 5

172

175

180

185

105 devoid of sense, this means more than words with meaning 106 lesson,warning 107 herbs sometimes associated with unfaithfulness in marriage 108 herb sometimes associated with repentance, sorrow 109 herb of virtue on Sundays 110 (?) heraldically,“difference” refers to a marker indicating a junior/lesser

branch of a family, thus clearly separating that branch from the chief line, and that has been suggested as the meaning here

111 a flower sometimes associated with dissembling 112 sometimes associated with faithfulness 113 charm

And will ’a 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, All flaxen was his poll.114

He is gone,he is gone, And we cast away115 moan.

God ha’mercy on his soul!

And of all Christian souls, I pray116 God.God bye117 ye.

exit

Laertes Do you see this,O God? Claudius Laertes, I must commune with your grief,

Or you deny me right.118 Go but apart, Make choice of119 whom your wisest friends you will, And they shall hear and judge ’twixt you and me. If by direct or by collateral120 hand They find us touched,121 we will our kingdom give, Our crown,our life, and all that we call ours, To you in satisfaction.122 But if not,

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173

190

195

200

205

114 the top of his head 115 throw away,discard 116 for all Christian souls, I pray to 117 redeem 118 share/participate in (or confer/talk intimately about) your grief, or else

you deny me justice 119 just go yourself, choose among 120 indirect, subordinate 121 me stained, connected 122 payment of a debt

Be you content to lend your patience to us, And we shall jointly labor with your soul To give it due content.

Laertes Let this be so. His means of death, his obscure funeral – No trophy,123 sword,nor hatchment124 o’er his bones, No noble125 rite nor formal ostentation126 – Cry to be heard, as ’twere from heaven to earth, That I must call’t in question.127

Claudius So you shall. And where th’ offense128 is, let the great axe129 fall. I pray you, go with me.

exeunt

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174

210

215

123 hidden/humble funeral – no monument/memorial 124 no tablet bearing the deceased’s coat of arms (fastened on the front of his

home and, after the funeral, on his tomb) 125 illustrious, splendid 126 display, show, ceremony 127 require an examination of it 128 crime, sin 129 the executioner’s axe and/or God’s axe

s c e n e 6 The castle

enter Horatio and a Gentleman

Horatio What1 are they that would speak with me? Gentleman Seafaring men, sir.They say they have letters for you. Horatio Let them come in.

exit Gentleman

I do not know from what part of the world I should be greeted,2 if not from Lord Hamlet.

enter Sailors

First Sailor God bless you, sir. Horatio Let Him bless thee too. First Sailor ’A shall, sir, an’t3 please Him.There’s a letter for you,

sir. It came from th’ ambassador that was bound for England – if your name be Horatio, as I am let4 to know it is.

Horatio (reads) “Horatio,when thou shalt have overlooked5

this, give these fellows some means6 to the king.They have letters for him.Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment7 gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail,we put on a compelled valor, and in the

act 4 • scene 6

175

1 of what nature, condition, class 2 addressed 3 if it 4 permitted, allowed 5 perused, read 6 opportunity for communicating with 7 outfitting

grapple8 I boarded them.On the instant they got clear9 of our ship, so I alone became their prisoner.They have dealt with me like thieves of mercy,10 but they knew what they did: I am to do a good turn for them.Let the King have the letters I have sent, and repair11 thou to me with as much speed as thou wouldst fly12 death. I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb,13 yet are they much too light for the bore14 of the matter.These good fellows will bring thee where I am.Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course for England:of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell.

“He that thou knowest thine, hamlet.”

Come, I will give you way15 for these your letters, And do’t the speedier, that16 you may direct me To him from whom you brought them.

exeunt

act 4 • scene 6

176

8 assumed a necessary/obligatory boldness/bravery/courage, and in the close-in combat

9 at that moment they got free 10 a turning-on-its-head of the proverbial phrase “angels of mercy” 11 make your way, come 12 flee from 13 strike you dumb/confound/nonplus you 14 too small/not heavy enough for the caliber/size 15 a means of delivery 16 and I will do it the speedier, so that

s c e n e 7 The castle

enter Claudius and Laertes

Claudius Now must your conscience my acquittance seal,1

And you must put me in your heart for friend, Sith you have heard, and with a knowing2 ear, That he which hath your noble father slain Pursued my life.

Laertes It well appears.But tell me Why you proceeded not against these feats, So crimeful and so capital3 in nature, As by your safety,wisdom, all things else,4

You mainly were stirred up. Claudius O, for two special reasons;

Which may to you,perhaps, seem much unsinewed,5

But yet to me they are strong.The queen his mother Lives almost by his looks, and for myself – My virtue or my plague,6 be it either which7 – She is so conjunctive8 to my life and soul That, as the star moves not but in his sphere,

act 4 • scene 7

177

1 my release from debt (moral debt: therefore a declaration of his innocence) affirm/finalize

2 informed/knowledgeable/aware 3 surprising tricks/facts, so steeped in evil/sin and so deadly/deserving of

death 4 all other things, you were 5 feeble,weak 6 my merit/moral excellence or my affliction/calamity 7 whichever of the two 8 connected,united

I could not but by her.9The other motive Why to a public count10 I might not go Is the great love the general gender11 bear him, Who,dipping12 all his faults in their affection, Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone,13

Convert his gyves to graces,14 so that my arrows, Too slightly timbered for so loud15 a wind, Would have reverted16 to my bow again, And not where I had aimed them.

Laertes And so have I a noble father lost, A sister driven into desp’rate terms,17

Whose worth, if praises may go back18 again, Stood challenger on mount19 of all the age For her perfection.But my revenge will come.

Claudius Break not your sleeps for that.You must not think That we are20 made of stuff so flat and dull21

That we can let our beard be shook with danger.22

And I think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more. I loved your father, and we love ourself, And that, I hope,will teach you to imagine –

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178

9 could not move except according to/in harmony with her 10 accounting, reckoning 11 the multitude, the common sort/people 12 immersing, dyeing 13 such springs were known in England, the water containing so much lime

they could petrify wood 14 his shackles/fetters/chains to charms 15 made of wood too slender/insubstantial for so strong/clamorous 16 returned, come back 17 hopeless/awful condition/circumstances 18 back in time 19 on a high hill/military breastwork 20 I am 21 so insipid/slow-witted/stupid and listless/muffled/obtuse 22 pulled back and forth by mischief

enter a Messenger

How now? What news? Messenger Letters,my lord, from Hamlet.

These to your Majesty, this to the Queen. Claudius From Hamlet? Who brought them? Messenger Sailors,my lord, they say. I saw them not:

They were given me by Claudio.23 He received them Of him that brought them.

Claudius Laertes, you shall hear them. (to Messenger) Leave us.

exit Messenger

(reads) “High and mighty, you shall know I am set naked24 on your kingdom.To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes,when I shall, first asking your pardon thereunto, recount the occasion of my sudden and more strange return.Hamlet.”

What should this mean? Are all the rest come back? Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?25

Laertes Know you the hand?26

Claudius ’Tis Hamlet’s character.27

“Naked!” And in a postscript here, he says “alone.” Can you devise28 me?

Laertes I’m lost in it,my lord.But let him come.

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179

23 a court official, otherwise unnamed 24 destitute, unarmed,unprotected 25 deceit/imposture, and no such thing has in fact happened 26 handwriting 27 writing 28 explain/figure out/resolve it for

It warms the very sickness in my heart That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, “Thus did’st thou.”

Claudius If it be so,Laertes – As how should it be so? How otherwise? – Will you be ruled by me?

Laertes Ay,my lord, So you will not o’errule me to a peace.

Claudius To thine own peace. If he be now returned, As checking at his voyage,29 and that he means No more to undertake it, I will work him To an exploit,30 now ripe in my device, Under the which he shall not choose but fall,31

And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, But even his mother shall uncharge the practice32

And call it accident. Laertes My lord, I will be ruled –

The rather if you could devise it so That I might be the organ.33

Claudius It falls right.34

You have been talked of since your travel much, And that in Hamlet’s hearing, for a quality35

Wherein, they say, you shine.Your sum of parts36

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180

29 it being the case that he has turned back from 30 bring/manipulate him to an act, deed 31 my plan, in the operation of which he cannot help but die 32 acquit the deed/scheme/treachery of any guilt (uncharge: not charge) 33 instrument/actively operating tool 34 it works out naturally/correctly/exactly 35 skill, ability 36 the totality of your talents/personal qualities/abilities

Did not together pluck such envy from him As did that one, and that, in my regard, Of the unworthiest siege.37

Laertes What part is that,my lord? Claudius A very riband38 in the cap of youth,

Yet needful too, for youth no less becomes The light and careless livery39 that it wears Than settled age his sables and his weeds,40

Importing health and graveness.41Two months since, Here was a gentleman of Normandy – I’ve seen myself, and served against, the French, And they can42 well on horseback—but this gallant43

Had witchcraft in’t.He grew unto his seat, And to such wondrous doing brought his horse As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured With the brave44 beast. So far he topped45 my thought That I, in forgery46 of shapes and tricks,47

Come short of what he did. Laertes A Norman was’t?

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37 distinction, rank, status 38 a genuine ribbon 39 harmonizes with/befits the graceful/frivolous and negligent/artless style of

dress 40 dark (usually black) clothing, as also worn for mourning 41 signifying spiritual/moral/mental soundness and importance/authority 42 know how/have the capacity to do 43 polished, courtierlike gentleman 44 made into one body with, and half-endowed with the nature of the splendid

animal 45 exceeded 46 mentally inventing/fabricating (notions of what could be done on

horseback) 47 forms, arrangements and feats of dexterity/skill

Claudius A Norman. Laertes Upon my life, Lamord. Claudius The very same. Laertes I know him well.He is the brooch48 indeed

And gem of all the nation. Claudius He made confession of you,49

And gave you such a masterly report50

For art and exercise in your defence, And for your rapier most especially, That he cried out ’twould be a sight indeed If one51 could match you.The scrimers52 of their nation, He swore, had had neither motion, guard, nor eye,53

If you opposed them.Sir, this report of his Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy That he could nothing do but wish and beg Your sudden coming o’er, to play54 with him. Now,out of this –

Laertes What out of this,my lord? Claudius Laertes,was your father dear to you?

Or are you like the painting55 of a sorrow, A face without a heart?

Laertes Why ask you this? Claudius Not that I think you did not love your father,

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100

105

48 ornament 49 acknowledged that he knew you 50 an account of your masterly capabilities 51 anyone 52 fencers 53 movements/moves, defensive stances, nor perception/ range of vision 54 perform, sport, practice 55 two-dimensional image

But that I know love is begun by time, And that I see, in passages of proof, Time qualifies56 the spark and fire of it. There lives within the very flame of love A kind of wick or snuff57 that will abate it, And nothing is at a like goodness still,58

For goodness, growing to a plurisy, Dies in his own too-much.59That we would do We should do when we would, for this “would”changes And hath abatements60 and delays as many As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents,61

And then this “should” is like a spendthrift sigh62

That hurts by easing.But to the quick o’ the ulcer.63

Hamlet comes back:what would you undertake To show yourself your father’s son in deed More than in words?

Laertes To cut his throat i’ the church. Claudius No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize.64

Revenge should have no bounds.But, good Laertes, Will you do this? Keep close65 within your chamber:

act 4 • scene 7

183

110

115

120

125

56 proven instances, time modifies/diminishes 57 charred part of the wick,no longer able to burn and thus negatively

affecting the burning of the uncharred portion 58 that will lower/diminish/destroy it, and nothing is always of the same

goodness 59 goodness, growing to a fullness/excess, dies in its own overabundance 60 decreases, diminishings 61 as there are interfering tongues, as there are hands, as there are accidents 62 foolish/wasteful sigh (sighing could thin the blood and kill, even though it

“eased” sorrow/pain) 63 actively/vigorously alive part of the purulent open sore 64 shelter, protect (violence was forbidden on sacred ground) 65 stay shut up/secret

Hamlet returned shall know you are come home. We’ll put on66 those shall praise your excellence And set a double varnish on the fame67

The Frenchman gave you,bring you in fine together And wager on your heads.68 He,being remiss, Most generous and free from all contriving,69

Will not peruse the foils,70 so that,with ease, Or with a little shuffling,71 you may choose A sword unbated, and in a pass of practice Requite72 him for your father.

Laertes I will do’t: And, for that purpose, I’ll anoint73 my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank,74

So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare,75

Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing76 from death That is but scratched withal.77 I’ll touch my point With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly,

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66 urge/egg on 67 put a double shine/glow on the reputation 68 finally bring you together and bet on who will win 69 careless/inattentive, highly gallant and free of all plotting, scheming 70 swords used in fencing 71 shifting about,manipulation 72 not having its point covered, and in the thrusts of a practice bout repay 73 rub something on it 74 ointment/unguent from an itinerant quack (pretender to medical skill) 75 poultice/plaster (“medicine”) so exceptional 76 herbs used for medicinal purposes, having power enhanced by the moon’s

magic, can save anything 77 therewith

It may78 be death. Claudius Let’s further think of 79 this,

Weigh what convenience both of time and means May fit us to our shape.80 If this should fail, And that our drift look through our bad performance,81

’Twere better not essayed.82Therefore this project Should have a back or second, that might hold If this should blast in proof.83 Soft! let me see. We’ll make a solemn wager on your cunnings.84

I ha’t!85

When in your motion86 you are hot and dry – As make your bouts more violent87 to that end – And that he calls for drink, I’ll have prepared him A chalice for the nonce,88 whereon but sipping, If he by chance escape your venomed stuck,89

Our purpose may hold there.—But stay,what noise?

enter Gertrude

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78 contagious poison, so that if I barely scratch him, it will have the power to kill

79 about 80 agreed-upon arrangements both of time and operation may be appropriate

to our plan 81 our purpose/aim/object be visible/show through our defective actions 82 tried, attempted 83 backup or second plan, that might work if this should fail when put to the

test 84 the abilities/skills of you and Hamlet 85 have it 86 bodily exertion 87 therefore make your fencing involve more physical exertion 88 drinking cup/goblet for the occasion 89 thrust

Gertrude One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, So fast they follow.Your sister’s drowned,Laertes.

Laertes Drowned! O,where? Gertrude There is a willow grows askant the brook,

That shows his hoar90 leaves in the glassy stream. Therewith fantastic garlands did she make Of crow-flowers,91 nettles, daisies, and long purples92

That liberal93 shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids94 do dead men’s fingers call them. There on the pendent boughs her crownet weeds95

Clambering to hang, an envious sliver96 broke, When down her weedy trophies97 and herself Fell in the weeping98 brook.Her clothes spread wide, And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds,99

As one incapable of her own distress,100

Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element.101 But long it could not be Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay102

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90 that grows aslant the brook,which displays/exhibits its gray-white 91 buttercups 92 wild orchids with purple spikes (also known as dead men’s fingers) 93 free-speaking, lewd 94 less heated virgins 95 hanging boughs her garlands woven with flowers 96 grudging/malicious twig/small branch 97 skillfully made decorative objects 98 tear-full (that is, both wet and sorrowing) 99 sang bits and pieces/portions of old hymns/songs of praise

100 not aware/insensible of her own anguish/affliction 101 brought up in water 102 song

To muddy death. Laertes Alas, then, she is drowned? Gertrude Drowned,drowned. Laertes Too much of water hast thou,poor Ophelia,

And therefore I forbid103 my tears. (weeps) But yet It is our trick;104 nature her custom105 holds, Let shame say what it will.When these are gone, The woman106 will be out.Adieu,my lord. I have a speech o’fire, that fain would blaze, But that this folly douts it.107

exit Laertes

Claudius Let’s follow,Gertrude. How much I had to do to calm his rage! Now fear I this will give it start again. Therefore let’s follow.

exeunt

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103 hold back, restrain 104 human beings’way 105 habit 106 these tears are gone, the woman in me 107 of weeping extinguishes it

Act 5�

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s c e n e 1 A churchyard

enter two Clowns, the first one being

the Gravedigger

Clown 1 Is she to be buried in Christian burial,when she wilfully seeks her own salvation?

Clown 2 I tell thee she is, and therefore make her grave straight. The crowner hath sat on her, and finds it1 Christian burial.

Clown 1 How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her own defense?

Clown 2 Why, ’tis found so. Clown 1 It must be “se offendendo.”2 It cannot be else. For here

lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act,3

and an act hath three branches – it is,4 to act, to do, to

1 at once.The coroner has conducted his hearing on her, and determines, declares it

2 self-defense: an unlearned error for “se defendendo” 3 knowingly, consciously, it declares/determines 4 components, divisions—which are

perform.Argal,5 she drowned herself wittingly. Clown 2 Nay,but hear you,6 Goodman7 Delver8 – Clown 1 Give me leave.9 Here lies the water – good.Here

stands the man – good. If the man go to this water, and drown himself, it is,will he, nill he,10 he goes.Mark you that. But if the water come to him and drown him,he drowns not himself.Argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.

Clown 2 But is this law? Clown 1 Ay,marry, is’t – crowner’s quest11 law. Clown 2 Will you ha’ the truth on’t? If this had not been a

gentlewoman,12 she should have been buried out o’Christian burial.

Clown 1 Why, there thou say’st.13 And the more pity that great folk should have countenance14 in this world to drown or hang themselves,more than their even-Christen.15 Come,my spade.There is no ancient gentlemen but gard’ners, ditchers,16

and grave-makers.They hold up17 Adam’s profession.18

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5 thus: an unlearned error for “ergo” 6 listen 7 a form of address: a yeoman 8 an occupational label: a digger 9 with your permission, allow me

10 if he wishes or he does not wish to:willy-nilly 11 inquest, inquiry 12 a lady,of good birth/breeding 13 that’s exactly right 14 position, standing 15 fellow Christians 16 those who dig/repair ditches 17 preserve, abide by 18 “Whan Adam dalf [dug], / And Eve span [spun], / Who was thanne / A

gentilman?”Cited in Thomas Walsingham (1322–88),Historia Anglicana: this little poem has a very long history

Clown 2 Was he a gentleman? Clown 1 ’A was the first that ever bore arms.19

Clown 2 Why,he had none. Clown 1 What, art a heathen? How dost thou understand20 the

Scripture? The Scripture says Adam digged.Could he dig without arms? I’ll put another question to thee. If thou answerest me not to the purpose,21 confess thyself 22 –

Clown 2 Go to.23

Clown 1 What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?

Clown 2 The gallows-maker, for that frame24 outlives a thousand tenants.

Clown 1 I like thy wit25 well, in good faith.The gallows does well.26 But how does it well?27 It does well to those that do ill.Now thou dost ill to say the gallows is built stronger than the church.Argal, the gallows may do well to thee.To’t28

again, come. Clown 2 Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a

carpenter? Clown 1 Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.29

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19 possessed a heraldic coat of arms 20 interpret the language of 21 in terms of the point at issue/the matter in hand 22 confess thyself (admit the charge), and be hanged: a proverb 23 come, come 24 structure 25 cleverness, quickness 26 as an answer to riddling question he had asked 27 how does it work well/do good (all Elizabethans loved wordplay) 28 try it 29 (you can) stop working

Clown 2 Marry, now I can tell. Clown 1 To’t. Clown 2 Mass,30 I cannot tell.

enter Hamlet and Horatio, at a distance

Clown 1 Cudgel31 thy brains no more about it, for your dull ass will not mend his pace with32 beating.And when you are asked this question next, say “a grave-maker: the houses he makes last till doomsday.”Go,get thee to Yaughan:33 fetch me a stoup34 of liquor.

exit Clown 2

Clown 1 digs and sings

In youth,when I did love, did love, Methought it was very sweet

To contract35 – O – the time for – a – my behove,36

O,methought, there – a – was nothing – a – meet.37

Hamlet Has this fellow no feeling of 38 his business? ’A sings in grave-making.

Horatio Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness.39

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30 by the Mass 31 beat (cudgel: club) 32 because a stupid donkey will not improve/better his pace because of 33 the name of an innkeeper (?) 34 tankard (a tall mug with a handle and,often, a lid); also pail, bucket 35 agree, enter into 36 my use/benefit 37 suitable 38 emotions about 39 habit has made it, in him, something comfortable

Hamlet ’Tis e’en so.The hand of little employment hath the daintier sense.40

Clown 1 (sings)

But age,with his stealing41 steps, Hath clawed me in his clutch,42

And hath shipped me into the land,43

As if I had never been such.44

he throws up a skull

Hamlet That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once. How the knave jowls45 it to the ground, as if ’twere Cain’s jaw-bone, that46 did the first murder! This might be the pate of a politician,which this ass now o’er- offices,47 one48 that would circumvent49 God,might it not?

Horatio It might,my lord. Hamlet Or of a courtier;which could say “Good morrow,

sweet lord! How dost thou, sweet lord?” This might be Lord Such-a-One, that50 praised my Lord Such-a-One’s horse,

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40 leisure (that is, the hand that does not work much) has more fastidious feelings

41 thieving (or secret) steps, has 42 grip, grasp 43 packed me off into the countryside/rural regions (?) 44 what I once was 45 knocks, strikes 46 which did (Cain was supposed to have killed Abel with the jawbone of a

donkey) 47 skull/head of a crafty schemer/intriguer,which this ignorant fellow now

lords it over 48 the living man from whom the skull originated 49 get the better of (“o’er-reach”) 50 the courtier? one ( lesser?) lord speaking of another lord?

when ’a meant to beg51 it,might it not? Horatio Ay,my lord. Hamlet Why,e’en so.And now my Lady Worm’s, chapless, and

knocked about the mazzard52 with a sexton’s spade.Here’s fine revolution, an we had the trick53 to see’t.Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at loggats54 with ’em? Mine55 ache to think on’t.

Clown 1 (sings)

A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, For and56 a shrouding sheet.

O, a pit of clay for to be made For such a guest is meet.

he throws up another skull

Hamlet There’s another.Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities57 now,his quilleies, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?58Why does he59 suffer 60 this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce61 with a dirty

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51 beg for 52 her skull, having no lower jaw, and knocked about the head/face 53 cyclical change/overturning, if we had the art/skill 54 in the production,or just to play a game in which small pieces of wood were

thrown, to see who could get them closest to a designated target-object 55 my bones 56 and also, plus 57 quibbling, picky arguments (“quidditas?”�“what is the essence/nature of

———?”) 58 his citations to old cases, his land-lease contracts, and his strategems, clever

contrivances 59 the hypothetical lawyer 60 allow,permit 61 head

shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery?62 Hum! This fellow63 might be in’s time a great buyer of land,with his statutes,64 his recognizances,65 his fines,66 his double vouchers,67 his recoveries.68 Is this the fine of his fines, and the recovery69 of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine70 dirt? Will his vouchers vouch71 him no more of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length and breadth of a pair of indentures?72The very conveyances73 of his lands will hardly lie in this box,74 and must th’ inheritor75 himself have no more, ha?

Horatio Not a jot76 more,my lord. Hamlet Is not parchment made of sheepskins? Horatio Ay,my lord, and of calf-skins too. Hamlet They are sheep and calves which77 seek out assurance78

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62 a lawsuit brought for assault 63 the next skull to be tossed up 64 governmental enactments/laws 65 his acknowledgments/ bonds 66 a fictitious, collusive suit, used instead of a straightforward conveyance of

land 67 trickily substituting, in a legal proceeding,one person for another 68 a legal maneuver to get around entailed restrictions on the sale of land 69 end of his fines, and the restoring/regaining 70 delicately ground-up (“loose, powdery”) 71 affirm, attest, guarantee 72 agreements, contracts, deeds 73 documents for transfers/purchases and sales of land, kept in a deed box 74 fit in this deed box/coffin 75 the “heir” (in the fictive transactions already referred to?) 76 a very small part of anything 77 who 78 (1) legal proof of a transfer of land, (2) the actual, uninterrupted ownership

of land: it is foolish, considering the obvious evidence of human mortality, to expect that the first-named can guarantee the second

in that. I will speak to this fellow. (to Clown 1) Whose grave’s this, sirrah?79

Clown 1 Mine, sir.

(sings)

O, a pit of clay for to be made For such a guest is meet.

Hamlet I think it be thine, indeed, for thou liest in’t. Clown 1 You lie out on’t, sir, and therefore it is not yours. For

my part, I do not lie in’t, and yet it is mine. Hamlet ’Thou dost lie in’t, to be in’t and say it is thine. ’Tis for

the dead,not for the quick.80Therefore thou liest. Clown 1 ’Tis a quick lie, sir. ’Twill away again, from me to you. Hamlet What man dost thou dig it for? Clown 1 For no man, sir. Hamlet What woman, then? Clown 1 For none,neither. Hamlet Who is to be buried in’t? Clown 1 One that was a woman, sir.But rest her soul, she’s dead. Hamlet (to Horatio) How absolute the knave is! We must speak

by the card, or equivocation81 will undo us.By the Lord, Horatio, this three years I have took note of it.The age is grown so pickèd82 that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.83 – (to Clown 1)

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79 form of address used for speaking down to someone 80 living (and quick-witted) 81 the mariner’s chart (or his compass), or ambiguity 82 picky,finicky, fastidious 83 the peasant hurts/injures the sore on the back of the courtier’s heel

How long hast thou been a grave-maker? Clown 1 Of all the days i’ the year, I came to’t that day that our

last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.84

Hamlet How long is that since? Clown 1 Cannot you tell that? Every fool can tell that. It was the

very day that young Hamlet was born,he that is mad, and sent into England.

Hamlet Ay,marry,why was he sent into England? Clown 1 Why,because ’a was mad. ’A shall recover his wits

there, or, if ’a do not, it’s no great matter there. Hamlet Why? Clown 1 ’Twill not be seen in him there.There the men are as

mad as he. Hamlet How came he mad? Clown 1 Very strangely, they say. Hamlet How strangely? Clown 1 Faith, e’en85 with losing his wits. Hamlet Upon what ground?86

Clown 1 Why,here in Denmark. I have been sexton here,man and boy, thirty years.

Hamlet How long will a man lie i’ the earth ere he rot? Clown 1 Faith, if he be not rotten before he die – as we have

many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce hold the laying in87 – ’a will last you some eight year or nine year.A tanner88 will last you nine year.

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84 the older Fortinbras 85 precisely 86 for what reason (or“earth, land”) 87 since we have many syphilitic corpses these days,which will barely endure

being laid in the grave 88 one who tans/cures hides/leather

Hamlet Why he more than another? Clown 1 Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, that he

will keep out water a great while, and your water is a sore89

decayer of your whoreson90 dead body.Here’s a skull now hath lien you91 i’ th’ earth three and twenty years.

Hamlet Whose was it? Clown 1 A whoreson mad fellow’s it was.Whose do you think it

was? Hamlet Nay, I know not. Clown 1 A pestilence92 on him for a mad rogue! ’A poured a

flagon of Rhenish on my head once.This same skull, sir,was Yorick’s skull, the king’s jester.

Hamlet This? Clown 1 E’en that. Hamlet Let me see. (takes the skull ) Alas, poor Yorick! I knew

him,Horatio – a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.93 He hath borne me on his back a thousand times.And now how abhorred94 in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it.95 Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. (to the skull ) Where be your gibes now? Your gambols?96Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?97 Not one now, to mock your

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89 grievous 90 a common imprecation, in current usage something like “bastard”or “s.o.b.” 91 been lying 92 plague 93 imagination,whimsy 94 disgusting, horrid: abHORRED (?) 95 the vomit rises in my throat, at the thought 96 where be your taunts/scoffing now? your leaping about/dancing? 97 habitually/usually set everyone at the table laughing loudly/boisterously

own grinning?98 Quite chap-fallen?99 Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor100 she must come.Make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.

Horatio What’s that,my lord? Hamlet Dost thou think Alexander101 looked o’ this fashion i’

th’ earth? Horatio E’en so. Hamlet And smelt so? Pah!

puts down the skull

Horatio E’en so,my lord. Hamlet To what base102 uses we may return,Horatio! Why may

not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?103

Horatio ’Twere to consider too curiously,104 to consider so. Hamlet No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with

modesty enough, and likelihood to lead105 it.As thus: Alexander died,Alexander was buried,Alexander returneth into dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam,106 and

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98 the “grinning” skull is proverbial 99 lower jaw hanging down, in despair and having no lower jaw (“chap”or

“chop”: lower jaw) 100 appearance, look, aspect, countenance (face) 101 Alexander the Great, 356–323 b.c. 102 lowly, degraded 103 hole at the top of a cask,“corked”by a “bung” 104 contemplate/think about too elaborately/minutely 105 moderation/self-control, and probability/promise of success to conduct/

direct/guide 106 compound of clay or other dirt, plus water, sand, and so on

why of that loam,whereto he was converted,might they not stop a beer-barrel?107

Imperious108 Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: O, that that earth109 which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall to expel the winter’s flaw!110

But soft! but soft awhile.Here comes the King, The Queen, the courtiers.

enter bearers, with coffin, a Priest, Laertes,

Claudius, Gertrude, their attendants, &c

Who is this they follow? And with such maimèd rites?111This doth betoken112

The corse they follow did with desp’rate hand Fordo its own life.113 ’Twas of some estate. Couch114 we awhile, and mark.

retires with Horatio

Laertes What ceremony else? Hamlet That is Laertes,

A very noble youth.Mark.

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107 into which he was turned/transformed,might they not close/seal a beer- barrel

108 imperious (and imperial) 109 Alexander (men were made by God from/out of dust/dirt/earth) 110 keep out the winter’s blast, gust 111 as mourners and with such crippled/cut-off/incomplete rites 112 point to, signal, be a sign of 113 did with despairing/hopeless/reckless hand end/do away with its own life 114 degree of rank/dignity/status. Let us hide, conceal

Laertes What ceremony else? Priest Her obsequies115 have been as far enlarged

As we have warranty.Her death was doubtful,116

And but that great command o’ersways117 the order, She should in ground unsanctified have lodged118

Till the last trumpet. For charitable prayers, Shards,119 flints and pebbles should be thrown on her, Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants, Her maiden strewments,120 and the bringing home Of bell and burial.121

Laertes Must there no more be done? Priest No more be done.

We should profane122 the service of the dead To sing sage requiem and such rest123 to her As to peace-parted124 souls.

Laertes Lay her i’ the earth. And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish125 priest,

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115 funeral rites 116 authorization/official sanction.Her manner of death was questionable/

ambiguous 117 eminent/high/elevated/lofty power/coercion overrules 118 resided 119 in spite of the fact that charitable prayers, fragments of broken earthenware, 120 her wreaths/garlands, her maiden flowers, and so on, scattered on the grave 121 bringing her home to heaven,with the ringing of church bells and church-

sanctioned burial 122 desecrate, violate 123 solemn requiem and the same kind of repose/tranquillity to her 124 those who peacefully departed/were separated from earthly existence 125 rude, low-bred

A minist’ring angel shall my sister be When thou liest howling.126

Hamlet What, the fair Ophelia! Gertrude Sweets to the sweet. Farewell!

scattering flowers

I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife. I thought thy bride-bed to have decked,127 sweet maid, And not have strewed thy grave.

Laertes O, treble woe Fall ten times treble on that cursèd head Whose wicked deed128 thy most ingenious sense129

Deprived thee of ! Hold off the earth awhile, Till I have caught her once more in mine arms.130

leaps into the grave

Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead Till of this flat131 a mountain you have made To o’ertop132 old Pelion133 or the skyish head Of blue Olympus.

Hamlet (advancing) What is he whose grief Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow

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126 in hell 127 imagined/fancied I would adorn/beautify your bride-bed 128 killing Polonius 129 the intelligent/able/talented mind 130 coffins were often left open 131 level ground 132 rise above/higher than 133 giants piled this Greek mountain on Mount Ossa, then piled Ossa-Pelion

on top of Mount Olympus,while trying to reach and overthrow the gods

Conjures the wand’ring stars134 and makes them stand Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I, Hamlet the Dane.

he leaps into the grave135

Laertes The devil take thy soul!

he grapples136 with Hamlet

Hamlet Thou pray’st not well. I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat, For though I am not splenitive137 and rash, Yet have I something in me dangerous,138

Which let thy wiseness fear.Hold off139 thy hand. Claudius Pluck them asunder. Gertrude Hamlet,Hamlet! All Gentlemen! Horatio (to Hamlet) Good my lord, be quiet.140

attendants part them

Hamlet Why, I will fight with him upon this theme Until my eyelids will no longer wag.

Gertrude O my son,what theme? Hamlet I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers

Could not,with all their quantity of love,

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134 strong/imprecise rhetoric? whose sorrowful language calls upon/invokes the wandering planets

135 some texts do not contain this stage direction 136 fights 137 irritable, peevish, ill-humored 138 unsafe, hazardous, injurious 139 take away 140 peaceful, still, silent

Make up my sum. (to Laertes) What wilt thou do for her? Claudius O,he is mad,Laertes. Gertrude For love of God, forbear141 him. Hamlet ’Swounds, show me what thou’lt do.

Woo’t142 weep? woo’t fight? woo’t fast? woo’t tear143 thyself ? Woo’t drink up eisel?144 eat a crocodile? I’ll do’t.Dost thou come here to whine? To outface145 me with leaping in her grave? Be buried quick with her, and so will I. And if thou prate146 of mountains, let them throw Millions of acres on us, till our ground,147

Singeing his pate against the burning zone,148

Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou’lt mouth,149

I’ll rant as well as thou. Gertrude This is mere150 madness,

And thus awhile the fit will work on him. Anon, as patient as the female dove When that her golden couplets are disclosed,151

His silence will sit drooping. Hamlet (to Laertes) Hear you, sir.

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141 hold/keep back 142 will you 143 lacerate,wound 144 vinegar 145 to make high-pitched, querulous noises? to outdo/defy 146 talk idly, chatter to no effect 147 the ground/earth piled on top of us 148 the orbit of the sun 149 declaim pompously, oratorically 150 pure, sheer, absolute 151 yellow/golden downy pair of chicks (doves were said to lay two eggs) are

hatched

What is the reason that you use152 me thus? I loved you ever.153 But it is no matter. Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew and dog will have his day.

exit

Claudius I pray you, good Horatio,wait upon154 him.

exit Horatio

(to Laertes) Strengthen your patience in155 our last night’s speech. We’ll put the matter to the present push.156

Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son. This grave shall have a living157 monument. An hour of quiet158 shortly shall we see; Till then, in patience our proceeding159 be.

exeunt

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152 treat, behave toward 153 always 154 attend to 155 by means/in thoughts of 156 thrust, stroke, vigorous attempt 157 lasting, enduring 158 a time of peace/tranquillity 159 actions, doings

s c e n e 2 The castle

enter Hamlet and Horatio

Hamlet So much for this, sir.Now shall you see1 the other. You do remember all the circumstance?

Horatio Remember it,my lord! Hamlet Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep.Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.2 Rashly – And praised be rashness for it. Let us know Our indiscretion3 sometimes serves us well, When our deep plots do pall.4 And that should teach us There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew5 them how we will –

Horatio That is most certain. Hamlet Up from my cabin,

My sea-gown scarfed6 about me, in the dark Groped I to find out them,had my desire,7

Fingered their packet, and in fine8 withdrew To mine own room again,making so bold,

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1 learn, consider 2 the mutineers in long shackles (attached,on shipboard, to fixed iron bars) 3 let us keep in mind that our imprudence 4 when our weighty/dangerous plans weaken/fail 5 which should teach us there’s a divinity that directs/orders our purposes/

destinies, rough-cut them 6 loose garment of coarse cloth wrapped around me like a scarf 7 to locate Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, did as I wished (found them

sleeping) 8 pilfered/stole their package of official documents, and in conclusion/finally

My fears forgetting manners, to unseal Their grand commission,9 where I found,Horatio – O royal knavery! – an exact command, Larded10 with many several sorts of reasons Importing11 Denmark’s health, and England’s too, With,ho! such bugs and goblins in my life12

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated13 – No,not to stay the grinding14 of the axe – My head should be struck off.

Horatio Is’t possible? Hamlet Here’s the commission: read it at more leisure.

But wilt thou hear now how I did proceed? Horatio I beseech you. Hamlet Being thus be-netted round with villanies –

Ere I could make a prologue15 to my brains, They16 had begun the play – sat me down, Devised a new commission,wrote it fair.17

I once did hold it, as our statists18 do, A baseness19 to write fair and labored much

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9 high charge/instructions 10 an express/detailed command, garnished/fattened 11 suggesting reasons/matters of 12 bogeys/scarecrows/assorted imaginary terrors and dangers in my continued

existence 13 upon reading (these instructions), no opportunity for delay allowed 14 to wait for the sharpening 15 an introduction, preface 16 his brains 17 clean, clear (like the writing of copyists and office clerks) 18 statesmen,politicians 19 something low,degraded, shabby

How to forget that learning,20 but, sir, now It did me yeoman’s21 service.Wilt thou know The effect of what I wrote?

Horatio Ay,good my lord. Hamlet An earnest conjuration22 from the King,

As England was his faithful tributary, As love between them like the palm might flourish,23

As peace should still her wheaten24 garland wear And stand a comma25 ’tween their amities,26

And many such-like as’s of great charge,27

That on the view and knowing of these contents,28

Without debatement further more or less,29

He should those bearers30 put to sudden death, Not shriving-time31 allowed.

Horatio How was this sealed? Hamlet Why,even in that was heaven ordinant.32

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20 how to have an “interesting/impressive”handwriting rather than a readily legible one

21 good, efficient, useful 22 serious/weighty charge/call 23 “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree”:Psalm 92.12 24 wheat as a symbol of prosperity/plenty is traditionally associated with

representations of Peace 25 variously understood as “pause/interval,” or “link,” or“something tiny/

insignificant” or“separate but still connected” 26 friendly relations 27 many repeated uses of “as,”of great weight/importance 28 that immediately after reading and becoming aware of this intention 29 without discussion/argument, completely/exactly as instructed 30 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 31 confession and absolution 32 directing, ordaining

I had my father’s signet in my purse,33

Which was the model of that Danish seal,34

Folded the writ up in form of th’ other,35

Subscribed36 it, gave’t the impression,37 placed it safely,38

The changeling39 never known.Now, the next day Was our sea-fight, and what to this was sequent40

Thou know’st already. Horatio So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to’t.41

Hamlet Why,man, they did make love to this employment. They are not near my conscience; their defeat Does by their own insinuation grow.42

’Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes Between the pass and fell incensèd points43

Of mighty opposites.44

Horatio Why,what a king is this! Hamlet Does it not, think’st thee, stand me now upon45 –

He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,

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33 small seal, usually set into a ring, in my money-pouch 34 a copy of the well-known (larger, somewhat more formal) Danish seal 35 the document I had written just like the original commission/instructions 36 signed it, using the King’s name 37 sealed it with wax,on which the seal was “impressed/stamped” 38 securely back in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s “packet” 39 thing substituted for another thing 40 following 41 die 42 not closely affecting my conscience; their undoing/ruin grows from their

own stealthy self-introduction 43 when the inferior nature comes between the thrust (as in fencing) and the

fierce/terrible/ruthless burning/angry blades, swords 44 here,Hamlet and the King 45 now become incumbent on/necessary for me

Popped46 in between th’ election and my hopes,47

Thrown out his angle for my proper life, And with such coz’nage48 – is’t not perfect conscience To quit49 him with this arm? And is’t not to be damned To let this canker of our nature come In further evil?50

Horatio It must be shortly known to him from England What is the issue51 of the business there.

Hamlet It will be short.52The interim53 is mine, And a man’s life’s no more than to say54 “one.” But I am very sorry, good Horatio, That to Laertes I forgot myself, For by the image of my cause I see The portraiture55 of his.56 I’ll court his favors.57

But sure the bravery58 of his grief did put me Into a tow’ring passion.

Horatio Peace.Who comes here?

enter Osric, a courtier

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46 come unexpectedly/suddenly 47 to be elected king himself 48 gone fishing for my own life, and with such perfect cheating/defrauding 49 faultless good conscience to repay him with this arm? 50 and wouldn’t I be damned to allow this ulcer of human nature to achieve

further evil? 51 outcome 52 a brief time 53 period between then and now 54 count 55 image 56 they both want revenge 57 goodwill 58 bravado, show,display

Osric Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark. Hamlet I humbly thank you, sir. (to Horatio) Dost know this

water-fly? Horatio (aside) No,my good lord. Hamlet (aside) Thy state is the more gracious, for ’tis a vice59 to

know him.He hath much land, and60 fertile. Let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king’s mess.61 ’Tis a chough,62 but as I say, spacious63 in the possession of dirt.

Osric Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart64 a thing to you from his Majesty.

Hamlet I will receive it, sir,with all diligence of spirit.65 Put your bonnet66 to his67 right use. ’Tis for the head.68

Osric I thank your lordship. It is very hot. Hamlet No,believe me, ’tis very cold.The wind is northerly. Osric It is indifferent69 cold,my lord, indeed. Hamlet But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot – for my

complexion.70

Osric Exceedingly,my lord. It is very sultry, as ’twere – I

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59 situation/condition is all the more attractive/happy, for it is an indulgence in vice

60 and that 61 stall will stand at the King’s table (a good-sized company of diners is

implied) 62 he is like a small, chattering, crowlike bird 63 ample 64 make known, communicate 65 careful attention 66 men’s and boys’ caps 67 its 68 not for waving about, as Osric has been doing 69 tolerably 70 nature, temperament

cannot tell how.But,my lord, his Majesty bade me signify to you that ’a has laid a great wager on your head. Sir, this is the matter –

Hamlet (indicating that Osric should put on his hat) I beseech you, remember.

Osric Nay, good my lord: for mine ease,71 in good faith. Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes – believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing.72 Indeed, to speak feelingly of him,he is the card or calendar of gentry,73 for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.74

Hamlet Sir, his definement suffers no perdition75 in you, though I know to divide him inventorially would dozy th’ arithmetic of memory,76 and yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail.77 But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article,78 and his infusion of such dearth and rareness as, to make true diction of him,his semblable is his mirror,

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100

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71 Osric would rather not put on his hat;“ease”= “comfort” – but this is the highly conventional language of courtly politeness

72 a perfect/complete gentleman, full of most excellent distinctions, of very easy/pleasing manners and distinguished outward appearance

73 to speak warmly of him,he is the map/chart or guide/model of good breeding/courtesy

74 the container/receptacle of whatever aspect a gentleman might want to see 75 his characterization/description suffers no loss, diminution 76 list/enumerate separately each of his qualities would stupefy/confuse

memory’s computational/arithmetic capabilities 77 cause neither (arithmetic nor memory) to go off course (or still cause no

straying from a straight course), in view of/because of his lively/vigorous sailing capacities/abilities

78 to praise (him) truthfully/sincerely/honestly, I consider him a soul of large size/capabilities

and who else would trace him,his umbrage,79 nothing more. Osric Your lordship speaks most infallibly80 of him. Hamlet The concernancy,81 sir? Why do we wrap the

gentleman in our more rawer82 breath? Osric Sir? Horatio Is’t not possible to understand in another tongue?83You

will to’t,84 sir, really. Hamlet What imports the nomination85 of this gentleman? Osric Of Laertes? Horatio (aside) His purse is empty already.All’s golden words are

spent.86

Hamlet Of him, sir. Osric I know you are not ignorant – Hamlet I would you did,87 sir.Yet, in faith, if you did, it would

not much approve88 me.Well, sir? Osric You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is – Hamlet I dare not confess that, lest I should compare89 with him

in excellence.But to know a man well were90 to know himself.

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79 his essence (or quality) of such scarcity and uncommonness/unusualness that, to speak truly of him,his only likeness is the image of himself, and he who/anyone who wishes to draw/copy him is his semblance/shadow

80 unfailingly,with utter certainty 81 business at hand,matter at issue 82 words/breath that is cruder,more uncultivated than is Laertes himself 83 another language (like plain English) 84 you’ll get there 85 what signifies/means the naming 86 all his precious/important words are used up 87 wish you did know that I was not ignorant/unlearned 88 recommend/commend (Osric being himself a fool) 89 be compared 90 would be

Osric I mean, sir, for his weapon.91 But in the imputation92

laid on him by them, in his meed he’s unfellowed.93

Hamlet What’s his weapon? Osric Rapier and dagger. Hamlet That’s two of his weapons.But well.94

Osric The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses, against the which he has impawned, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards,with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so.95Three of the carriages,96 in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive97 to the hilts,most delicate98 carriages, and of very liberal conceit.99

Hamlet What call you the carriages? Horatio (aside) I knew you must be edified by the margent100 ere

you had done. Osric The carriages, sir, are the hangers. Hamlet The phrase would be more german101 to the matter, if

we could carry cannon by our sides.102 I would it might be

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91 understood here as a plural:weapons 92 prestige/reputation 93 honor/distinction he has none who is his equal 94 well and good (never mind) 95 six Arab horses, against the which Laertes has risked, as I understand it, six

French rapiers and daggers,with their accessories, as belts, straps/loops (which let the weapon hang from the weapon-belt), and so on

96 that which carries (a pompous way of saying “hangers”) 97 very pleasing to/esteemed by good taste/critical judgment, very well

matched with, harmonious 98 fine, subtle, ingenious 99 of free/inventive conception/design

100 instructed/spiritually improved by the commentary (“marginal comments”)

101 germane, relevant 102 gun carriages: the support and transport structures for cannon

“hangers” till then.But, on.103 Six Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited carriages: that’s the French bet against the Danish.Why is this “impawned,” as you call it?

Osric The king, sir, hath laid, sir, that in a dozen passes104

between yourself and him,he shall not exceed you105 three hits.He hath laid on twelve for nine.And it would come to immediate trial,106 if your lordship would vouchsafe107 the answer.

Hamlet How108 if I answer “no”? Osric I mean,my lord, the opposition109 of your person in

trial. Hamlet Sir, I will walk here in the hall. If it please his Majesty, ’tis

the breathing time110 of day with me.Let the foils be brought.The gentleman willing, and the King hold his purpose, I will win for him an111 I can. If not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd112 hits.

Osric Shall I deliver you e’en113 so? Hamlet To this effect, sir, after114 what flourish your nature will. Osric I commend115 my duty to your lordship.

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155

160

165

170

103 to continue 104 bouts 105 outdo you by 106 determination, test 107 give 108 what 109 offering for combat 110 exercise time 111 if 112 extra 113 communicate your message/response exactly 114 according to 115 present, give

Hamlet Yours, yours.

exit Osric

He does well to commend it himself.There are no tongues else for’s turn.116

Horatio This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.117

Hamlet ’A did comply with his dug,118 before ’a sucked it.Thus has he, and many more of the same bevy that I know the drossy age dotes on,only got the tune119 of the time and,out of an habit of encounter, a kind of yeasty collection,which carries them through and through the most fanned and winnowed120 opinions.And do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.121

enter a Lord

Lord My lord,his Majesty commended him to you by young Osric,who brings back to him that you attend122 him in the

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175

180

116 no other voices to speak for his use/purpose (to commend/praise Osric) 117 proverbial: the lapwing is a kind of plover, the newly hatched chick of

which was thought to run about with the top half of the egg still on its head

118 observe the forms of civility/politeness/courtesy with the nipple of his nurse’s breast

119 company/crowd (primarily used with reference to women) that I know the scum-filled/rubbish-ridden age dotes on have caught/acquired only the style/frame of mind

120 out of a settled/habitual/rote way of face-to-face meeting, a kind of restlessly turbid/frothy/foaming collection/summary,which carries them from beginning to end/over and over again through the most thoroughly blown about and sifted

121 blow them to their examination/test/ proof, the bubbles are popped/ extinguished

122 await,wait upon

hall.He sends to know if your pleasure hold to play123 with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.

Hamlet I am constant to my purposes.They follow the King’s pleasure. If his fitness speaks,124 mine is ready,now or whensoever, provided I be so able as now.

Lord The King and Queen and all are coming down. Hamlet In happy time.125

Lord The Queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall to126 play.

Hamlet She well instructs me.

exit Lord

Horatio You will lose this wager,my lord. Hamlet I do not think so. Since he went into France, I have been

in continual practice. I shall win at the odds.But thou wouldst not think how ill all’s here about127 my heart – but it is no matter.

Horatio Nay,good my lord – Hamlet It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving128 as

would perhaps trouble a woman. Horatio If your mind dislike any thing,obey it. I will forestall

their repair129 hither, and say you are not fit.130

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185

190

195

200

123 sport now 124 if his readiness/convenience signals/addresses me 125 at a good/fortunate moment (a conventionally polite phrase) 126 gentle treatment/reception (“courtesy”) to Laertes before you pass/move

into your sport 127 how badly everything feels, here around/near 128 misgiving 129 intercept, their making their way 130 ready, prepared

Hamlet Not a whit.We defy augury.131There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.132 If it133 be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come.The readiness is all. Since no man,of aught he leaves, knows aught,what is’t to leave betimes? Let be.134

enter Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, lords, Osric,

and attendants with foils, &c

Claudius Come,Hamlet, come, and take this hand135 from me.

Claudius puts Laertes’ hand into Hamlet’s

Hamlet Give me your pardon, sir: I have done you wrong, But pardon’t, as you are a gentleman. This presence136 knows, and you must needs have heard, How I am punished with a sore distraction.137

What I have done That might your nature,138 honor and exception Roughly awake,139 I here proclaim was madness. Was’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet. If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away, And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,

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205

210

215

220

131 I reject/renounce/disdain predictions of the future 132 “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall

on the ground without your Father”:Matthew 10.29 133 the time of death 134 early/in a short time.Let it be 135 Laertes’ 136 this company, those assembled here 137 painful/bitter/grievous/severe mental perturbation/madness 138 inherent human disposition,natural human feeling/affection 139 and disapproval violently rouse/make active

Then Hamlet does it not,Hamlet denies140 it. Who does it, then? His madness. If ’t be so, Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged: His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy. Sir, in141 this audience, Let my disclaiming from a purposed142 evil Free me so far in your most generous thoughts That143 I have shot mine arrow o’er the house And hurt my brother.

Laertes I am satisfied in nature, Whose motive,144 in this case, should stir me most To my revenge.But in my terms of honor I stand aloof, and will145 no reconcilement Till by some elder masters, of known honor, I have a voice and precedent of peace, To keep my name ungored.146 But till that time, I do receive your offered love like love And will not wrong it.

Hamlet I embrace it freely; And will this brothers’wager frankly play.147

Give us the foils.Come on. Laertes Come,one for me.

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235

140 contradicts, forbids 141 in the presence of 142 let my renouncing of an intentional 143 that it will seem to you as if 144 in natural human feeling/affection,whose motivation 145 I stay/stop at a distance, and want 146 a judgment/opinion and proof that this adheres to tradition/custom (the

rules of honor), to keep my name unwounded 147 freely/openly engage in

Hamlet I’ll be your foil, Laertes. In mine ignorance Your skill shall, like a star i’ the darkest night, Stick fiery off indeed.148

Laertes You mock me, sir. Hamlet No,by this hand. Claudius Give them the foils, young Osric.Cousin Hamlet,

You know the wager? Hamlet Very well,my lord

Your grace hath laid the odds o’ th’weaker side. Claudius I do not fear it; I have seen you both.

But since he is bettered,149 we have therefore odds.150

Laertes This is too heavy.Let me see another. Hamlet This likes me well.These foils have all a length?

they prepare to fence

Osric Ay,my good lord. Claudius Set me the stoups of wine151 upon that table.

If Hamlet give152 the first or second hit, Or quit in answer153 of the third exchange, Let all the battlements their ordnance fire.154

The king shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath, And in the cup an union155 shall he throw, Richer than that which four successive kings

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240

245

250

255

148 project far out indeed 149 improved, grown better 150 Hamlet needs only 9 hits out of 21 for the King to win 151 I wish the tankards/flagons of wine to be set 152 makes 153 balances the score, via a return hit 154 indented parapets/battle stations on top of the castle walls fire their cannon 155 Hamlet’s free and easy breathing, and will throw a pearl in the cup

In Denmark’s crown have worn.Give me the cups, And let the kettle156 to the trumpet speak, The trumpet to the cannoneer without, The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth, “Now the king drinks to Hamlet.”Come,begin. And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

Hamlet Come on, sir. Laertes Come,my lord.

they fence

Hamlet One. Laertes No. Hamlet Judgment.157

Osric A hit, a very palpable158 hit. Laertes Well, again. Claudius Stay.Give me drink.Hamlet, this pearl is thine.

Here’s to thy health.

trumpets sound, and cannon shot within

Give him the cup. Hamlet I’ll play this bout first. Set it by awhile.Come.

they fence

Another hit.What say you? Laertes A touch, a touch, I do confess’t. Claudius Our son shall win.

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156 kettledrum 157 an appeal to the judge,Osric 158 tangible, patent, readily perceived

Gertrude He’s fat, and scant159 of breath. Here,Hamlet, take my napkin,160 rub thy brows.

The queen carouses to thy fortune,Hamlet. Hamlet Good madam. Claudius Gertrude, do not drink. Gertrude I will,my lord. I pray you,pardon me.

she drinks

Claudius (aside) It is the poisoned cup. It is too late. Hamlet I dare not drink yet,madam.By and by. Gertrude Come, let me wipe thy face. Laertes (aside to King) My lord, I’ll hit him now. Claudius I do not

think’t. Laertes (aside) And yet ’tis almost ’gainst my conscience. Hamlet Come, for the third,Laertes.You but dally.161

I pray you,pass with your best violence.162

I am afeard163 you make a wanton164 of me. Laertes Say you so? Come on.

they fence

Osric Nothing neither way. Laertes Have at you now!

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159 sweaty/slow (or fat), and short 160 small towel (for table use) 161 third bout,Laertes.You just loiter/fool about 162 thrust/lunge with your greatest force/strength 163 afraid 164 spoiled boy

Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they

exchange rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes

Claudius Part them.They are incensed.165

Hamlet Nay, come.Again!

Gertrude falls

Osric Look to166 the Queen there, ho! Horatio They bleed on both sides.How is it,167 my lord? Osric How is’t, Laertes? Laertes Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe,168 Osric.

I am justly killed with mine own treachery. Hamlet How does the Queen? Claudius She swounds169 to see them

bleed. Gertrude No,no, the drink, the drink. – O my dear Hamlet! –

The drink, the drink! I am poisoned.

dies

Hamlet O villany! Ho! Let the door be locked. Treachery! Seek it out.

Laertes It170 is here,171 Hamlet.Hamlet, thou art slain. No med’cine in the world can do thee good:

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165 excited, angry 166 attend to 167 how are you 168 bird in my own trap/snare 169 swoons, faints 170 the treachery Hamlet proposes to seek 171 a gesture is surely associated with this statement: a confession, if Laertes

points to himself, but a more general accusation if he gestures toward the King

In thee there is not half an hour of life. The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, Unbated and envenomed.The foul practice172

Hath turned itself on me.Lo,here I lie, Never to rise again.Thy mother’s poisoned. I can no more.The King, the King’s to blame.

Hamlet The point envenomed too? Then venom, to thy work!173

stabs Claudius

All Treason! Treason! Claudius O,yet defend me, friends. I am but hurt.174

Hamlet Here, thou incestuous,murd’rous, damnèd Dane, Drink off 175 this potion. Is thy union176 here? Follow my mother.

Claudius dies

Laertes He is justly served. It is a poison tempered177 by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me,noble Hamlet. Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,178

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310

315

172 its point uncovered/bare and poisoned.The foul trick/scheme 173 Note that Hamlet now knows his mother is poisoned but does not attack

the King until learning that he himself is poisoned.Nor does he mention either his father’s or his mother’s death as he attacks

174 still protect/guard/uphold me, friends. I am only hurt (not mortally wounded)

175 drink the rest of/finish 176 the pearl put there by the King (it has been suggested that “union”also

alludes to the King’s marriage to Gertrude) 177 mixed,blended, prepared 178 may my death and my father’s not be charged to you, in heaven

Nor thine on me.

dies

Hamlet Heaven make thee free of it.179 I follow thee. I am dead,Horatio.Wretched queen, adieu! You that look pale and tremble at this chance, That180 are but mutes or audience to this act, Had I but time – as this fell sergeant,181 death, Is strict in his arrest182 – O, I could tell you – But let it be.Horatio, I am dead; Thou livest.Report me and my cause aright To the unsatisfied.183

Horatio Never believe it. I am more an antique Roman184 than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor185 left.

Hamlet As th’ art a man, Give me the cup. (Horatio resists) Let go.By heaven, I’ll ha’t! (Hamlet takes it) O God,Horatio,what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me! If thou didst ever hold186 me in thy heart Absent thee from felicity187 awhile,

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179 and may heaven make you exempt you from my death 180 at this happening/circumstance, you that 181 since this fierce/ruthless/terrible officer/bailiff 182 stopping of things in motion 183 motives/purposes correctly/justly to those who do not know/who are in

doubt 184 I am quite prepared to commit suicide 185 containing the fatal poison 186 have 187 happiness, bliss (in heaven)

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, To tell my story.

march afar off, and shot within

What warlike noise is this? Osric Young Fortinbras,with conquest come188 from Poland,

To th’ ambassadors of England gives This warlike volley.

Hamlet O,I die,Horatio. The potent poison quite o’er-crows189 my spirit. I cannot live to hear the news from England, But I do prophesy th’ election lights190

On Fortinbras.He has my dying voice. So tell him,with the occurrents,more and less, Which have solicited.191The rest is silence.

dies

Horatio Now cracks a noble heart.Good night sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Why does the drum come hither?

enter Fortinbras, the English ambassadors,

and others

Fortinbras Where is192 this sight?

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335

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188 returning victorious from 189 is victorious over (as a fighting cock) 190 to be held in Denmark,now that the king is dead, falls/settles on (and –

figuratively – shines on) 191 the events/details, both major and minor,which have drawn on/called

them forth 192 from what source is/how did all this happen

Horatio What is it ye would see? If aught of woe or wonder,193 cease your search.

Fortinbras This quarry cries on havoc.194 O proud Death, What feast is toward195 in thine eternal cell, That thou so many princes at a shot So bloodily hast struck?

Ambassador The sight is dismal,196

And our affairs from England come too late. The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, To tell him his commandment is fulfilled, That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Where should we have our thanks?

Horatio Not from his mouth, Had it the ability of life to thank you. He never gave commandment for their death. But since, so jump197 upon this bloody question – You from the Polack wars, and you from England – Are here arrived, give order that these bodies High on a stage198 be placèd to the view, And let me speak to th’ yet unknowing world How these things came about. So shall you hear Of carnal,199 bloody, and unnatural acts, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,200

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193 astonishment 194 heap/pile of corpses (hunting usage) cries/screams of devastation/

destruction 195 approaching, impending, in preparation 196 sinister/malign/disastrous 197 exactly, precisely 198 platform, scaffold 199 carnivorous 200 accidental decisions, unplanned slaughters

Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,201

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook202

Fall’n on th’ inventors’203 heads.All this can I Truly deliver.204

Fortinbras Let us haste to hear it, And call the noblest to the audience. For me,with sorrow I embrace my fortune.205

I have some rights of memory206 in this kingdom, Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.207

Horatio Of that I shall have also cause to speak, And208 from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.209

But let this same be presently performed,210

Even while men’s minds are wild,211 lest more mischance On212 plots and errors happen.

Fortinbras Let four captains213

Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved most royal.214 And for his passage215

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201 deaths imposed/inflicted by crafty and distorted purposes/reasons 202 and, in this result/conclusion,wrongly conceived/erroneous intentions 203 those who designed these false/fictitious things 204 truthfully utter/state/set forth 205 I adopt/accept my luck 206 some remembered and justifiable legal/moral claims 207 my favorable opportunity/superior position/advantage does attract me 208 reason/motivation/grounds, and to speak of words 209 will lead/influence more voices 210 let this aforesaid thing take place at once/immediately 211 precisely now when men’s minds are uncontrolled/violent 212 more disasters concerning 213 a military rank equivalent, in current usage, to “general” 214 pushed forward/elected (to the throne or put on as a play [?]), to have

shown himself appropriately kinglike 215 death (“passage”out of bodily life and into “soul” life)

The soldiers’music and the rites of war Speak216 loudly for him. Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.217

Go,bid the soldiers shoot.

exeunt, bearing off the dead bodies, after the which

a peal218 of ordnance is shot off

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385

216 will speak/sound/proclaim 217 befits/belongs on the battlefield, but here appears/seems very faulty/off

the mark/wrong 218 volley, discharge

a n e s s ay b y h a r o l d b lo o m�

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The last we see of Hamlet at the court in act 4 is his exit for En- gland:

Hamlet For England? Claudius Ay,Hamlet. Hamlet Good. Claudius So is’t, if thou knew’st our purposes. Hamlet I see a cherub that sees them.But, come, for

England! Farewell, dear mother. Claudius Thy loving father,Hamlet. Hamlet My mother. Father and mother is man and wife,

man and wife is one flesh – and so:my mother.Come, for England!

exit

It is a critical commonplace to assert that the Hamlet of act 5 is a changed man: mature rather than youthful, certainly quieter, if not quietistic,and somehow more attuned to divinity.Perhaps the truth is that he is at last himself, no longer afflicted by mourning and melancholia, by murderous jealousy and incessant rage. Cer- tainly he is no longer haunted by his father’s ghost. It may be that

the desire for revenge is fading in him. In all of act 5 he does not speak once of his dead father directly.There is a single reference to “my father’s signet,” which serves to seal up the doom of those poor schoolfellows, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and there is the curious phrasing of “my king” rather than “my father” in the halfhearted rhetorical question the prince addresses to Horatio:

Does it not, think’st thee, stand me now upon – He that hath killed my king and whored my mother, Popped in between th’ election and my hopes, Thrown out his angle for my proper life, And with such coz’nage – is’t not perfect conscience To quit him with this arm?

When Horatio responds that Claudius will hear shortly from England, presumably that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been executed,Hamlet rather ambiguously makes what might be read as a final vow of revenge:

It will be short.The interim is mine, And a man’s life’s no more than to say “one.”

However this is to be interpreted,Hamlet forms no plot,and is content with a wise passivity, knowing that Claudius must act. Except for the scheme of Claudius and Laertes,we and the prince might be confronted by a kind of endless standoff.What seems clear is that the urgency of the earlier Hamlet has gone. Instead, a mysterious and beautiful disinterestedness dominates this truer Hamlet,who compels a universal love precisely because he is be- yond it, except for its exemplification by Horatio.What we over- hear is an ethos so original that we still cannot assimilate it:

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Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, That would not let me sleep.Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.Rashly – And praised be rashness for it. Let us know Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, When our deep plots do pall.And that should teach us There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will –

Weakly read, that divinity is Jehovah,but more strongly “ends” here are not our intentions but rather our fates, and the contrast is between a force that can shape stone, and our wills that only hew roughly against implacable substance.Nor would a strong reading find Calvin in the echoes of the Gospel of Matthew as Hamlet sets aside his own: “Thou wouldst not think how ill all’s here about my heart.” In his heart, there is again a kind of fighting,but the readiness, rather than the ripeness, is now all:

Not a whit.We defy augury.There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now,yet it will come.The readiness is all. Since no man,of aught he leaves, knows aught,what is’t to leave betimes? Let be.

The apparent nihilism more than negates the text cited from Matthew, yet the epistemological despair presents itself not as de- spair but as an achieved serenity.Above all else,these are not the ac- cents of an avenger,or even of someone who still mourns,or who continues to suffer the selfish virtues of the natural heart. Not ni- hilism but authentic disinterestedness, and yet what is that? No

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Elizabethan lore,no reading in Aristotle,or even in Montaigne,can help to answer that question.We know the ethos of disinterested- ness only because we know Hamlet. Nor can we hope to know Hamlet any better by knowing Freud.The dead father indeed was, during four acts,more powerful than even the living one could be, but by act 5 the dead father is not even a numinous shadow. He is merely a precursor,Hamlet the Dane before this one, and this one matters much more.The tragic hero in Shakespeare, at his most universally moving, is a representation so original that conceptu- ally he contains us, and fashions our psychology of motives perma- nently.Our map or general theory of the mind may be Freud’s,but Freud, like all the rest of us, inherits the representation of mind, at its most subtle and excellent, from Shakespeare. Freud could say that the aim of all life was death,but not that readiness is all.

Originality in regard to Shakespeare is a bewildering notion, be- cause we have no rival to set him against.“The originals are not original,” Emerson liked to remark, but he withdrew that obser- vation in respect to Shakespeare. If Shakespeare had a direct pre- cursor it had to be Marlowe, who was scarcely six months older. Yet, in comparison to Shakespeare, Marlowe represents persons only by caricature.The Chaucer who could give us the Pardoner or the Wife of Bath appears to be Shakespeare’s only authentic English precursor, if we forget the English renderings of the Bible.Yet we do not take our psychology from Chaucer or even from the Bible. Like Freud himself, we owe our psychology to Shakespeare. Before Shakespeare, representations in literature may change as they speak,but they do not change because of what they say. Shakespearean representation turns upon his persons listening to themselves simultaneously with our listening, and

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learning and changing even as we learn and change. Falstaff de- lights himself as much as he delights us, and Hamlet modifies himself by studying his own modifications.Ever since,Falstaff has been the inescapable model for nearly all wit, and Hamlet the paradigm for all introspection.When Yorick’s skull replaces the helmeted ghost, then the mature Hamlet has replaced the self- chastising revenger,and a different sense of death’s power over life has been created, and in more than a play or a dramatic poem:

Hamlet To what base uses we may return,Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?

Horatio ’Twere to consider too curiously, to consider so. Hamlet No, faith, not a jot, but to follow him thither with

modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it.

Probability leads possibility, likelihood beckons imagination on,and Alexander is essentially a surrogate for the dead father, the Danish Alexander. Passionately reductive, Hamlet would consign his own dust to the same likelihood, but there we part from him, with Horatio as our own surrogate. Hamlet’s unique praise of Horatio sets forever the paradigm of the Shakespearean reader or playgoer in relation to the Shakespearean tragic hero:

Dost thou hear? Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice And could of men distinguish her election, S’ hath sealed thee for herself, for thou hast been As one, in suff’ring all, that suffers nothing,

Which means, not that Horatio and the reader do not suffer with Hamlet, but rather that truly they suffer nothing precisely

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because they learn from Hamlet the disinterestedness they them- selves cannot exemplify, though in possibility somehow share. And they survive, to tell Hamlet’s story “of accidental judgments” not so accidental and perhaps not judgments, since disinterested- ness does not judge, and there are no accidents.

Only Hamlet, at the last, is disinterested, since the hero we see in act 5,despite his protestations, is now beyond love,which is not to say that he never loved Gertrude, or Ophelia, or the dead fa- ther, or poor Yorick for that matter. Hamlet is an actor? Yes, ear- lier,but not in act 5,where he has ceased also to be a play director, and finally even abandons the profession of poet. Language, so dominant as such in the earlier Hamlet, gives almost the illusion of transparency in his last speech, if only because he verges upon saying what cannot be said:

You that look pale and tremble at this chance, That are but mutes or audience to this act, Had I but time – as this fell sergeant, death, Is strict in his arrest – O, I could tell you – But let it be.

Evidently he does know something of what he leaves, and we ache to know what he could tell us, since it is Shakespeare’s power to persuade us that Hamlet has gained a crucial knowledge. One clue is the abiding theatrical trope of “but mutes or audience,” which suggests that the knowledge is itself “of” illusion. But the trope is framed by two announcements to Horatio and so to us – “I am dead” – and no other figure in Shakespeare seems to stand so authoritatively on the threshold between the worlds of life and death. When the hero’s last speech moves between “O, I die, Horatio” and “the rest is silence,” there is a clear sense again that

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much more might be said, concerning our world and not the “undiscovered country” of death.The hint is that Hamlet could tell us something he has learned about the nature of representa- tion, because he has learned what it is that he himself represents.

Shakespeare gives Fortinbras the last word on this, but that word is irony, since Fortinbras represents only the formula of rep- etition: like father, like son.“The soldier’s music and the rite of war” speak loudly for the dead father, but not for this dead son, who had watched the army of Fortinbras march past to gain its little patch of ground and had mused that: “Rightly to be great / Is not to stir without great argument.” The reader’s last word has to be Horatio’s, who more truly than Fortinbras has Hamlet’s dying voice: “And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more,”which only in a minor key means draw more supporters to the election of Fortinbras.Horatio represents the audience,while Fortinbras represents all the dead fathers.

We love Hamlet, then, for whatever reasons Horatio loves him. Of Horatio we know best that what distinguishes him from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,and indeed from Polonius,Ophelia, Laertes, and Gertrude, is that Claudius cannot use him.Critics have remarked upon Horatio’s ambiguously shifting status at the court of Denmark, and the late William Empson confessed a certain irritation at Hamlet’s discovery of virtues in Horatio that the prince could not find in himself. Yet Shakespeare gives us a Ham- let we must love while knowing our inferiority, since he has the qualities we lack, and so he also gives us Horatio, our represen- tative, who loves so stoically for the rest of us. Horatio is loyal, and limited; skeptical as befits a fellow student of the profoundly skeptical Hamlet, yet never skeptical about Hamlet.Take Horatio

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out of the play, and you take us out of the play.The plot could be rearranged to spare the wretched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, even to spare Laertes, let alone Fortinbras, but remove Horatio, and Hamlet becomes so estranged from us that we scarcely can hope to account for that universality of appeal which is his, and the play’s,most original characteristic.

Horatio, then, represents by way of our positive association with him;it is a commonplace,but not less true for that,to say that Hamlet represents by negation. I think this negation is biblical in origin,which is why it seems so Freudian to us,because Freudian negation is biblical and not Hegelian,as it were.Hamlet is biblical rather than Homeric or Sophoclean.Like the Hebrew hero con- fronting Yahweh, Hamlet needs to be everything in himself yet knows the sense in which he is nothing in himself.What Hamlet takes back from repression is returned only cognitively, never affectively, so that in him thought is liberated from its sexual past, but at the high expense of a continued and augmenting sense of sexual disgust.And what Hamlet at first loves is what biblical and Freudian man loves: the image of authority, the dead father, and the object of the dead father’s love, who is also the object of Claudius’s love.When Hamlet matures,or returns fully to himself, he transcends the love of authority, and ceases to love at all, and perhaps he can be said to be dying throughout all of act 5, and not just in the scene of the duel.

In Freud, we love authority, but authority does not love us in return.Nowhere in the play are we told,by Hamlet or by anyone else, of the love of the dead king for his son, but only for Ger- trude. That Hamlet hovers always beyond our comprehension must be granted, yet he is not so far beyond as to cause us to see him with the vision of Fortinbras, rather than the vision of Hora-

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tio.We think of him not necessarily as royal, but more as noble, in the archaic sense of “noble,” which is to be a seeing soul. It is surely no accident that Horatio is made to emphasize the word “noble” in his elegy for Hamlet, which contrasts angelic song to “the soldier’s music” of Fortinbras. As a noble or seeing heart, Hamlet indeed sees feelingly. Short of T. S. Eliot’s judgment that the play is an aesthetic failure, the oddest opinion in the Hamlet criticism of our time was that of W. H.Auden in his Ibsen essay, “Genius and Apostle,” which contrasts Hamlet as a mere actor to Don Quixote as the antithesis of an actor:

Hamlet lacks faith in God and in himself.Consequently he must define his existence in terms of others, e.g., I am the man whose mother married his uncle who murdered his father.He would like to become what the Greek tragic hero is, a creature of situation.Hence his inability to act, for he can only “act,” i.e., play at possibilities.

Harold Goddard, whose The Meaning of Shakespeare (1951) seems to me still the most illuminating single book on Shake- speare, remarked that “Hamlet is his own Falstaff.” In Goddard’s spirit, I might venture the formula that Brutus plus Falstaff equals Hamlet, though “equals” is hardly an accurate word here.A better formula was proposed by A. C. Bradley, when he suggested that Hamlet was the only Shakespearean character whom we could think had written Shakespeare’s plays. Goddard built on this by saying of Shakespeare: “He is an unfallen Hamlet.” From a scholarly or any formalist perspective, Goddard’s aphorism is not criticism, but neither historical research nor formalist modes of criticism have helped us much in learning to describe the unas- similated originality that Shakespearean representation still con-

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stitutes. Because we are formed by Shakespeare, paradoxically most fully where we cannot assimilate him,we are a little blinded by what might be called the originality of this originality. Only a few critics (A. D. Nuttall among them) have seen that the central element in this originality is its cognitive power.Without Shake- speare (and the Bible as his precursor text) we would not know of a literary representation that worked so as to compel “reality” (be it Platonic or Humean,Hegelian or Freudian) to reveal aspects of itself we previously could not discern.Such a representation can- not be considered antimimetic or an effect of language alone.

One way,by no means unproductive,of accounting for the force of Shakespearean representation is to see it as the supreme instance of what the late Paul de Man called a poetics of modernity, of a revi- sionism of older literary conventions that at once subsumed and canceled the illusions always present in all figurative language. Howard Felperin, working in de Man’s mode, adroitly reads Mac- beth’s “modernity”as the dilemma of a figure totally unable to take his own nature for granted: “He cannot quite rest content in an ac- tion in which his role and his nature are determined in advance,but must continuously reinvent himself in the process of acting them out.” In such a view,Macbeth is a strong misreading of a figure like Herod in the old morality plays.I would go further and suggest that the drama Macbeth is an allusive triumph over more formidable pre- cursors, just as King Lear is.The Shakespearean Sublime, too strong to find agonists in Seneca or in the native tradition (even in Mar- lowe), and too remote from Athenian drama to feel its force, con- fronts instead the Sublime of the Bible.What breaks loose in the apocalyptic cosmos of Macbeth or of Lear is an energy of the abyss or the original chaos that is ignored in the priestly first chapter of

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Genesis,but which wars fiercely against Jehovah in crucial passages of Job, the Psalms, and Isaiah.To subsume and supersede the Bible could not have been the conscious ambition of Shakespeare, but if we are to measure the preternatural energies of Macbeth or of Lear, then we will require Job or Isaiah or certain Psalms as the standard of measurement.

What is the advance, cognitive and figurative, that Shake- spearean representation achieves over biblical depiction? The question is absurdly difficult, yet anything but meaningless. If Shakespeare has a true Western rival, then he is either the Yahwist, the Hebrew Bible’s great original,or the Homer of the Iliad. Can there be an advance over Jacob or Achilles as representations of re- ality, whatever that is taken to be? What the question reduces to is the unanswerable: can there be advances in reality? The arts, as Hazlitt insisted, are not progressive, and if reality is, then its pro- gression suspiciously resembles a speeding up of what Freud called the death drive. Reality testing, like the reality principle, is Freud’s only transcendentalism, his last vestige of Platonism. Freud’s own originality, as he deeply sensed, tends to evaporate when brought too near either to the originality of the Yahwist or to the originality of Shakespeare.This may be the true cause of the disaster that is Moses and Monotheism, and of Freud’s own pas- sion for the lunatic thesis that Shakespeare’s plays were written by the earl of Oxford.

By Nietzsche’s genealogical test for the memorable, which is cognitive pain, Job is no more nor less forgettable than Macbeth or Lear. The rhetorical economy of Job’s wife, in her one appear- ance, unmatchable even out of context, is overwhelming within context, and may have set for Shakespeare one of the limits of representation:

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So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.

Lear’s Queen, the mother of Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, had she survived to accompany her husband onto the heath, hardly could have said more in less. In Shakespeare’s tragedies there are moments of compressed urgency that represent un- canny yet persuasive change with biblical economy. The dying Edmund sees the bodies of Goneril and Regan brought in, and belatedly turns his lifetime about in four words: “Yet Edmund was belov’d.” The phrase is a vain attempt to countermand his own order for the murder of Cordelia.“Yet Edmund was belov’d” – though loved by two fiends,the shock of knowing he was loved, unto death, undoes “mine own nature.” One thinks of Hamlet’s “Let be” that concludes his “We defy augury” speech, as he goes into the trap of Claudius’s last plot. “Let be” epitomizes what I have called “disinterestedness,” though Horatio’s word “noble” may be more apt.That laconic “Let be,” repeated as “Let it be” in Hamlet’s death speech,is itself a kind of catastrophe creation,even as it marks another phase in Hamlet’s release from what Freud called the family romance, and even as it compels another trans- ference for our veneration to Hamlet.Catastrophe creation, fam- ily romance, transference: these are the stigmata and consequently the paradigms for imaginative originality in the Bible and,greatly shadowed, in Freud, and I suggest now that they can be useful

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paradigms for the apprehension of originality in Shakespeare’s tragic representations.The fantasy of rescuing the mother from degradation is palpable in Hamlet; less palpable and far more revelatory is the sense in which the prince has molded himself into a pragmatic changeling. The ghost is armed for war, and Hamlet,grappling with Laertes in the graveyard,accurately warns Laertes (being to that extent his father’s son) that as the prince he has something dangerous in him. But is Hamlet psychically ever armed for war? Claudius, popping in between the election and Hamlet’s hopes, could have shrewdly pled more than his nephew’s youth and inexperience while properly arguing that his own nature was better qualified for the throne. Hamlet, in the graveyard, shocked back from beyond affect, accurately indicates whose true son he first became as changeling:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio – a fellow of infi- nite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times.And now how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft.

Harry Levin, for whom strong misreading is not serendipity but misfortune, advises us that “Hamlet without Hamlet has been thought about all too much.” One might reply, in all mildness, that little memorable has been written about Hamlet that does not fall into the mode of “Hamlet without Hamlet.” Far more even than Lear or Macbeth, the play is the figure; the question of Ham- let only can be Hamlet. He does not move in a Sublime cosmos, and truly has no world except himself, which would appear to be what he has learned in the interim between acts 4 and 5. Changelings who move from fantasy to fact are possible only in

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romance, and alas Shakespeare wrote the tragedy of Hamlet, and not the romance of Hamlet instead.But the originality of Shake- spearean representation in tragedy, and particularly in Hamlet, hardly can be overstressed.Shakespeare’s version of the family ro- mance always compounds it with two other paradigms for his exuberant originality: with a catastrophe that creates and with a carrying across from earlier ambivalences within the audience to an ambivalence that is a kind of taboo settling in about the tragic hero like an aura. At the close of Hamlet, only Horatio and Fortinbras are survivors. Fortinbras presumably will be another warrior-king of Denmark. Horatio does not go home with us, but vanishes into the aura of Hamlet’s afterlight, perhaps to serve as witness of Hamlet’s story over and over again.The hero leaves us with a sense that finally he has fathered himself, that he was be- yond our touch though not beyond our affections, and that the catastrophes he helped provoke have brought about, not a new creation,but a fresh revelation of what was latent in reality but not evident without his own disaster.

As a coda, I return to my earlier implication that Shakespearean originality is the consequence of diction or a will over language changing his characters, and not of language itself. More than any other writer, Shakespeare is able to exemplify how meaning gets started rather than just renewed.Auden remarked that Fal- staff is free of the superego; there is no over-I or above-I for that triumph of wit. Nietzsche, attempting to represent a man without a superego, gave us Zarathustra, a mixed achievement in himself, but a very poor representation when read side by side with Falstaff. Falstaff or Zarathustra? No conceivable reader would choose the Nietzschean rather than the Shakespearean

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over-man. Falstaff indeed is how meaning gets started: by excess, overflow,emanation,contamination, the will to life.Zarathustra is a juggler of perspectives, a receptive will to interpretation. Poor Falstaff ends in tragedy; his catastrophe is his dreadfully authentic love for Hal. Zarathustra loves only a trope, the solar trajectory, and essentially is himself a trope; he is Nietzsche’s metalepsis or transumption of the philosophical tradition. A formalist critic would say that Falstaff is a trope also, a gorgeous and glowing hy- perbole. Say rather that Falstaff is a representation, in himself, of how meaning gets started, of how invention is accomplished and manifested. But we remember Falstaff as we want to remember him, triumphant in the tavern, and not rejected in the street.We remember Hamlet as he wanted us to remember him, as Horatio remembers him, without having to neglect his end. Perhaps Hamlet is a representation, in himself, not just of how meaning gets started, but also of how meaning itself is invention, of how meaning refuses to be deferred or to be ended.Perhaps again that is why we can imagine Hamlet as the author of Hamlet, as the original we call Shakespeare.

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