Clipped
The Almost-But-Not-Quite Annotated Hamlet
The Preface: [Again, un-friggin-edited. -- ed.]
I left out Act V on purpose. It can basically be summed up as, "Whatever really sucky could have happened, did." ~BC
A I Sc i
L1: Who’s there?
Now this is a great opening line if there ever was one. “Who’s there?” is one of the biggest questions in the play. Is Hamlet really crazy, or merely feigning craziness? Is Claudius the conniving killer he first seems or the sniveling creature we see towards the end of the play? Is Gertrude in control of herself or just going with the flow?
This single, two word line gives a reader much insight into the current state of Denmark. Banardo, a sentry about to take over a post, offers a timid “Who’s there?” when he very well knows it’s his good friend Francisco guarding his post. This leads the reader to believe a foreboding air and one of general distrust and anxiety has settled in. The exchange of lighthearted banter that follows the switch only highlights the nervous tension.
L125-8: In the most high and palmy… gibber in the Roman streets
Here Horatio likens the current situation in Denmark to Rome just after the fall of Caesar. In that time and this, a leader (Caesar and King Hamlet, respectively) had fallen, and the circumstances surrounding the death were vague. Whispers began to spread throughout the city, but no one could speak up for fear of retribution from the new leader.
A I Sc ii
L67: A little more than kin and less than kind
Hamlet’s first line in the play is a sarcastic aside. From this, one can infer that Hamlet would be in his late teens. That kind of comment would be below an older courtesan. One can also sense a dislike of his uncle, Claudius, but not the extent of it. Hamlet seems much like Jack Burden here. Hamlet is quiet for most of the scene, then makes a comment in jest, and when prodded, philosophizes (l79-89).
L70-5, 77-8: Good Hamlet… nature to eternity. & If it… particular with thee
The first thing out of Gertrude’s mouth, pared down, is, “Your father died. It happens, now get over it. What’s there to be depressed about?” This would normally show us that Gertrude is a ruthless and cunning person, but in light of the fact that she runs the full gamut of emotions over the course of the play, getting particularly distraught over Ophelia’s suicide, you can’t really read too much into this.
L79-89: “Seems” madam?… suits of woe
Hamlet here gives the first clue that he may well be in control of his actions. In admitting that depression and its little intricacies can be feigned by an actor, he may be telling us that he is able to blur the line between what “seems” and what “is.
L90-121: ‘Tis sweet and… our cousin, and son.
Claudius here proves a) he’s a big jerk and b) he knows how to play the politics of the court. He shows up Hamlet in front of the entire court, basically telling him he’s a wuss for not being able to buck up and deal with his father’s death. Also, this assertion of power also shows the members of the court that Claudius wishes to leave no doubt as to who is in charge in Denmark. Claudius adheres to the old adage “Keep your friends close, and enemies closer” in preventing Hamlet from returning to his studies.
L133-64: O, that this too… hold my tongue
This being a play, and not a novel, we get inside Hamlet’s head during the monologues. We find out the true reason Hamlet is upset- not grief for his father, but shock at how quickly his mother jumped into “incestuous sheets”.
A I Sc iii
L6-10: For Hamlet… no more.
Upon seeing Laertes just before he is off, we discover a tension between he and Hamlet. Laertes is disapproving of Hamlet’s character. He tells Ophelia, his sister that Hamlet’s love is a temporary fancy. Maybe its older sibling protectiveness, but his longwinded speech on the matter (L11-48) seems to show a dislike for Hamlet in general.
L49-55: I shall the effect… his own rede
Ophelia, as she does for much of the play, is taking someone else’s advice. It seems she is more obeisant than she is inclined to act on her own. She argues for Hamlet at first, but then under pressure from Laertes and Polonius, she agrees to a) not meet up with him and b) spy on him for her father. She’s much like Jack Burden in that she needs something to do or else she’ll waste away. Jack deals with the nothingness by lounging around a hotel, not paying any mind to the day or just about anything else. Ophelia goes crazy and kills herself. It happens.
A I Sc iv
L77-86: What if it tempt you… and hears it roar beneath
Horatio here warns Hamlet not to follow the ghost, for fear it will “tempt [him] toward the flood… [and] drive [him] into madness”. This subtle (well, not-so-subtle really) foreshadowing is a deceptive sign, not giving any clue to extent of the devastation that is to come.
L100: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Well, duh! Marcellus vocalizing this only shows the total weirdness that has settled over Denmark. When there are small problems up top, people accept it as one of those things. Big problems however, lead to discussion throughout the populous.
A I Sc v
L12: So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
Whether the ghost is actually Hamlet’s father or a demon acting the part is one of the great questions of the play. The ghost is ambiguously named “Ghost”, which lends the reader to believe the latter may be the more likely scenario. This line, where the ghost is clearly provoking Hamlet to action he doesn’t yet know to take, would support that theory. However, towards the end of the scene, the Ghost tells Hamlet to leave his mother alone and only avenge his death through Claudius’ murder. However, from all the descriptions of the elder Hamlet, he was a kind and just man, who had a warrior’s heart. This image would clash with the total revenge the ghost is asking for. But the amnesty for Gertrude seems to not fit a demonic task. In light of these two keys, I open the door to another theory, one that was raised in class. Perhaps the ghost said nothing, and Hamlet merely filled in what he wanted to hear. This explains the revenge of Claudius and the total pardon for his mother.
A II Sc ii
L190: Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.
Nothing to say really. I just love this line. A quality insult if there ever was one.
L403-4: I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
This right here is the big one. Hamlet straight up admits to feigning madness at times, and being in control of his faculties at others. I think the overall evidence supports this theory. Hamlet in talking to Polonius, calls him a “fishmonger” and rants and rambles. Polonius leaves, and Hamlet is philosophizing on life and basically chillin’ with his buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Polonius shows up again and Hamlet is calling him Jephthah, Judge of Israel.
I don’t feel someone that wasn’t in control of their faculties could have done everything Hamlet did. The whole plan with the play to send a message to Claudius, and inserting the speech, and the letters to announce his comeback were all calculated maneuvers. He may have well been a little rash in some decisions, but so would anyone dealing with the death of a father and plotting revenge on an uncle.
As for the whole pretending thing, the reason I believe it is because I do it. Not with madness, but with moods. There are days I’m like, “Life sucks. But oh well. Let’s be happy today.” And others were I’ll force myself to be upset and angry because I feel like I deserve it. So Hamlet wanting to be crazy, for whatever reason he has, rings true for me.
A III Sc iii
L77-101: Now I might do it… prolongs thy sickly days
Hamlet’s total inability to strike down Claudius when he has the chance is the perfect example of conscience clicking in at all the wrong times. It happens to Jack Burden in All the King’s Men, to myself, and to everybody at one point or another.
The reasons why can vary wildly. Hamlet sees Claudius in a vulnerable moment, praying for retribution, and loses his nerve at the sight. He reasons this off by telling himself that if Claudius goes to heaven, his death will have been for naught. If Hamlet had really wanted to kill Claudius, he would have done it then, praying or not. He would have avoided the whole mess with Laertes and dying and causing so much death and the turnover of the Danish crown to Norway.
Jack goes out with Anne Stanton for an entire summer. Throughout Jack complains about how coy Anne is being sexually. Sometimes she’ll be the aggressor, and others she holds out completely. Then she finally forces the issue, and Jack, in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt, is struck by how this is the same Anne Stanton that he grew up with, and suddenly “he couldn’t touch her any more than if she were his sister”.
After a long line of failures with the womenfolk, I was at a party recently and was becoming rather involved with a girl I’ve had a crush on for a good long while. A mutual friend said (in jest? Mayhaps. It was definitely loud.) “We couldn’t hook up. It was against the rules.” That immediately ended everything in my head. Every time I would consider making the move, the friend’s voice would ring, loud and clear. Out of respect for this friend, I couldn’t bring myself to go through with things with the girl. The mutual friend later apologized when her boyfriend, who witnessed what happened, apparently gave her some wicked backlash after the party. So I basically let something a friend said half jokingly stop me from doing something I had wanted to for four years.
A IV Sc iv
L33-69: I’ll be with you… be nothing worth
This is the turning point of the play. From here, there is no going back. Hamlet decides to go all out with the bloodshed. Fortinbras has given Hamlet the role model he needed to fully commit to a course of action. After moping around for the entire play, Hamlet is finally filled with a sense of purpose and direction.
He realizes he has been wasting his time- “What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed?” His religious beliefs kick in as he questions his actions- “Sure He that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused.” He admits to not knowing why he has not taken action- “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.” Hamlet then goes on to list his admiration for Fortinbras’ army- its ambition, its honor, its respect, its upholding of what it believes is right. Then, the climactic statement- “How stand I, then, that have a father killed, a mother stained, excitements of my reason and my blood, and let all sleep, while to my shame I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men that for a fantasy and trick of fame go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, which is not tomb enough and continent to hide the slain? O, from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”
There is a distinct parallel here with Stephen Deadalus of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Stephen upon committing his first sin, I believe his encounter with the whore, reflects on the events- “A cold, lucid indifference reigned in his soul. At his first violent sin he had felt a wave of vitality pass out of him and had feared to find his body or soul maimed by the excess. Instead the vital wave had carried him on its bosom out of himself and back again when it receded: and no part of body or soul had been maimed, but a dark peace had been established between them.” Stephen, like Hamlet, has found his calling. All the confusion of his life has been washed away. Cleansed of worry, he no longer feels the need to bother himself with the trivial.
I personally have yet to hit this point, the one from which there is no going back. My life is a jumble, with too many interests and too much going on for a clear path to make itself available to me. “Undecided” has shown up on college apps more than anything except for my name. Waiting for it to come around has been terribly unsuccessful to this point, so it looks like I’m going to try out a path or two until the right one decides to lend itself to travel.