LORD POLONIUS
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:HAMLET
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.
Pray you, be round with him.
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,HAMLET
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!HAMLET
What's the matter now?QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:QUEEN GERTRUDE
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;QUEEN GERTRUDE
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?LORD POLONIUS
Help, help, ho!
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!LORD POLONIUS
Makes a pass through the arras
[Behind] O, I am slain!QUEEN GERTRUDE
Falls and dies
O me, what hast thou done?HAMLET
Nay, I know not:QUEEN GERTRUDE
Is it the king?
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
As kill a king!HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.QUEEN GERTRUDE
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongueHAMLET
In noise so rude against me?
Such an actQUEEN GERTRUDE
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.
Ay me, what act,HAMLET
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,QUEEN GERTRUDE
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form 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 mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine 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 ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will.
O Hamlet, speak no more:HAMLET
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct.
Nay, but to liveQUEEN GERTRUDE
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--
O, speak to me no more;HAMLET
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet!
A murderer and a villain;QUEEN GERTRUDE
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!
No more!HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--QUEEN GERTRUDE
Enter Ghost
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
Alas, he's mad!HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,Ghost
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Do not forget: this visitationHAMLET
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.
How is it with you, lady?QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,HAMLET
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!QUEEN GERTRUDE
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
To whom do you speak this?HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!QUEEN GERTRUDE
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!
Exit Ghost
This the very coinage of your brain:HAMLET
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.
Ecstasy!QUEEN GERTRUDE
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.HAMLET
O, throw away the worser part of it,QUEEN GERTRUDE
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly 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 stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,
Pointing to POLONIUS
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.
What shall I do?HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:QUEEN GERTRUDE
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,HAMLET
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.
I must to England; you know that?QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alack,HAMLET
I had forgot: 'tis so concluded on.
There's letters seal'd: and my two schoolfellows,ANALYSIS:
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way,
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard: and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon: O, 'tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
This man shall set me packing:
I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room.
Mother, good night. Indeed this counsellor
Is now most still, most secret and most grave,
Who was in life a foolish prating knave.
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you.
Good night, mother.
Exeunt severally; HAMLET dragging in POLONIUS
The problem being addressed is Hamlet's confusion of why his mother married his fathers brother Claudius.
when Gertrude (Hamlet's mother) calls hamlet to talk to him about him offending his step father Claudius hamlet replies " Mother, you have my father much offended." Hamlet is also ashamed of Gertrude wishing she wasn't his mother "would it were not so!--you are my mother." Hamlet then relates his mother's marriage vows to his father as a false of dicers oaths meaning a gambler saying he won't ever touch dice again , basically implying that her vows are worthless. This confrontation really backfired Gertrude as she was the one who was suppose to "interrogate" him , but hamlet then began to take control of the situation , after deeply talking to his mother , it is shocking how she responded to what he was saying, so overall it stands out that Gertrude isnt a accomplice of the King and is believed that she is on Hamlets side now, or is she?.
I think Gertrude does not know what she want or she just wants them all. I don't blame hamlet for acting as he did , I would be highly upset as well but I still believe hamlet is aware of what's going on and what will happen but as the bright minded guy he is he will always be one step ahead and see where her truth lies. I believe that Gertrude is acting as she is willing to follow his advise when she asks what should she do after all his interrogating and so he replies with his well thought responses with the idea to see is she is going to feed her lies with more lies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with samantha I think Gertrude does not know what she wants but I also disagree. Although hamlet knows what is occurring and he has changed what if there's more to it that he is not aware of? That could be a reason why he is confused. Random thoughts and assumptions in his head can be interfering with what he believes and makes him believe another and act the way he acts.
ReplyDeleteWell as we spoke about in class the idea of Gertrude marrying the brother of the man whom she once claimed loved for may seem a bit queer. Its obvious Hamlet no doubt thinks that his mother was an accomplice in the death of his father and it showed when he quoted "A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
ReplyDeleteAs kill a king, and marry with his brother." I feel that Gertrudes main purpose is to manipulate Hamlets mind into believing that such accusations are preposterous. Her advantage is the injured heart and mind of Hamlet who is still a bit battered over the loss of his father and his actions. Hamlets conclusion seems well thought out and put together very nicely which I feel scares Gertrude in a sense being that even if she wasn't an accomplice it still looks as she is. Her attempts to "interrogate" Hamlet I feel only add on to the suspicion being that why would you not defend the honor of a man who you shared vows with. I think theres much more going on than what I just stated but right now I feel like as if this is just one big CSI case
I think this is your strongest comment yet, Will! Way to show us what you got!
Deletei think that at one point Gertrude doesn't understand exactly why Hamlet is acting the way he is. He could be crazy, he could be blinded by a need for revenge, or he could be lovesick for Ophelia. She doesn't know that he is blaming her, for his troubles. then she asks "have you forgot me?" because hamlet is so anxious and angry she has a thought that he has forgotten she was his mother but i dont think that was the case, i think that it was because she actually did stop acting like his mother. She cheated on Hamlet's father with his uncle, and because of that i believe Hamlet loses all respect for her. i think He no longer treats/sees her as an authority figure. and also that he believes shes as bad and immoral as everyone else and deserves no special treatment- as in reference to the youtube video, why he pushes so much force on her.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that she forgot to act like his mother. Do you think she is finally coming to her senses? Do you think she feels guilty for her neglect?
DeletePolonius - who is apart of Claudius's court and is also Ophelia's father is dead!!
ReplyDeleteHamlet killed Polonius because he thought that he was Claudius behind the curtain shouting for help as Hamlet threatened his mother. Hamlet and his mother begin talking and hamlet pours out his feelings to his mom telling her that she has done wrong by his father by being with Claudius, he makes her feel guilty and wrong buy her doings "O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots..." says Gurtrude.
Hamlet openly speaks to the ghost and his mother believes that it is madness.
I feel that hamlet knew what his intentions were when he spoke to his mother, he was going to leave to England but he was going to tell her how he felt first.These actions that he did display to me are weak because he is walking away from the situation at hand and he is also has to threaten his mother in order to speak his mind.
My question is why was Polonius doing in the room with Gertrude? Was he trying to talk to her about Hamlet and Ophelia or were they having an affair?
He was definitely up to something! He is such an obsequious conniver!
DeleteIm so confused by his mother. I dont know what side shes on. Is she simply innocent or shes in the plan to kill her own husband. She simply doesnt understand why Haet is so upset with her. She does really show that she is sad when they were talking about hamlets father either. Inaddition i feel like no one really likes hamlet because even polonius called him names right before he died. To answer ashleys question, i think that Hamlets mother told him to hide in the room to protect her. She doesnt think that Hamlet is stable and shes scared.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Narunee, Hamlet's mother appears to be a shady woman, in terms of loyalty. I believe Queen Gertrude is a woman that takes advantage of an opportunity when she sees it, how else would you explain marrying your deceased husband's brother just one month after he died? I don't think anyone can really figure out her true motives however, I don't really think she realizes how morally shocking her actions are and how they have affected Hamlet, hence her shock when Hamlet confronts her. I just question where Queen Gertrude's loyalties lie. (Aldesha)
ReplyDeleteI agree with comments stated above me. Gertrude appears to be a shady, manipulative person. I strongly believe that she's an accomplice to the king and is just lying to Hamlet. I understand the resentment Hamlet must feel towards his mother because she rushed into marriage. The only reason Gertrude felt appalled by Hamlet's sudden outburst was because shes trying to hide the fact that she was toying with him all along. I believe that she may have loved King Hamlet but I also believe that their marriage was all an act to hide her shady affair with his brother.
ReplyDeleteHamlet killed the father of the women he loves (shaking my head) but besides that this scene is very powerful when it comes to the confrontation Hamlet and Gertrude have. I do not feel like Gertrude was an accomplice, but like it believe Anthony said, I don't think she knows what she wants. Hamlet seems to snap in this scene and shows his disgust for his mothers actions. To me it seems like Gertrude doesn't think she did anything really wrong. One of the most powerful parts is when he talks of how he basically doesn't like that she is his mother. I just want to know what's going to happen next for Hamlet and Ophelia now that her father died at the hands of the man she loves. WAIT!!!! Doesn't anyone see a resemblance to Romeo and Juliet??? Doesn't Romeo kill Juliet's (His Love) Cousin? Shakespeare seems to use the same concepts in his writings. Lovers kill family members, parents don't like the guy yada yada yada!
ReplyDeleteJoel
I find it interesting that the mother could not hear the Ghost speak? Why is Hamlet the only one who can see him in this scene but was noticed at the beginning of the play? Do you believe Shakespeare did this because the ghost feels to betrayed to see the Queen or is she pretending to not see him because she wants to hold her composure after being insulted so brutally? Hamlet's relationship with his mother is questionable because she appears to find no true guilt through dialogue but feels offended because she's hearing all this from Hamlet. It appears that they never really had a close relationship and the only thing that held them together King Hamlet is now dead. Hamlet expecting the death of the father to bring him closer to his mother ended quickly in the betrayal of his mother marrying the deceased king's brother. That is the exact point where Hamlet lost trust for his mother and throughout the play she hasn't even attempted to earn it back. Hamlet uses the course of his father's death to his mother's new marriage to enlighten her on how shortly she mourned or acknowledged the feelings of both Hamlets during such a crucial point in time. The real question here is will Gertrude ever earn Hamlets trust and if so will he accept her and trust her? Do you believe his relationship with his mother could have possible influenced his relationship with Ophelia in anyway? This scene is really a big turning point in the play.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that just like in the movie that we watched of hamlet he is acting like a kid. In the movie they showed that hamlet was acting immature by the way he dress but in this case Shakespeare used the words. For example when he was repeating his mothers word but changing them a little.I believe that hamlets mother is fooling hamlet about being in her side. When the ghost came she was calling him crazy and didn't want to believe what he's saying . I believe she's in denial about her new husband. I think she want's to stay on a neutral side so that neither Hamlet or the king could say that she's taking sides maybe.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Hamlets opinion of his mother. She may not have switched from brother to brother to purposefully hurt anyone but it seems like she didn’t even think it through, she didn’t take into consideration her son or how he would react. And I feel like the amount of time it took her to mourn her husband and ‘fall in love’ with his brother was not sufficient it was a very short amount of time and I’m sure hamlet feels like it’s a lack of respect for his father.
ReplyDelete"Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with" What pranks?
ReplyDeleteGertrude is not the strong woman in this story. Hamlet is strong enough to be the main character and all characters that have struggle. I love how she acts so hurt by what Hamlet is saying. I don't feel that she is hurt, and she probably doesn't care about what he's saying, because that's what parents do, honestly. On top of that, she doesn't care because I feel that she only cares about status. Hamlet is honestly wasting his breath, and just needs to do want he's gonna do.
Poor Polonius though. I honestly want to know his importance, because I feel that he is supposed to symbolize something.
Hamlet's mother is definitely not the brightest crayon in the box. She may feel sorry (for whatever reason, because I don't think she even knows why she's sorry) but it's like she didn't even think about Hamlet. Her short period of grieve and sudden marriage was disrespectful and dumb. I agree with Aliya, it's definitely for the status considering there would be no other reason to move on that fast like Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI feel like when Hamlet is speaking to his mother that she isn't understanding what he's trying to say. In a way, she kind of trying to get him not to say all these "rude" things to her. But in all honesty what he's telling her is the truth and she can't handle that. I definitely agree with Hamlet's opinion on his mother and if I were him I would do the same thing. I also feel like the moment Gertrude married Claudius is the moment she stopped being Hamlet's mother.
ReplyDeletePranks? Isn't Hamlet like in his 30s. When she refers to his actions as pranks it connects back to how his personality has been vowed as an adolescent by everyone. Now by his mother too. This clearly shows how much she doesn't know hamlet because yes he often does act like a teenager but he is also very wise and aware in his own way. I don't think I agree with the whole she should have put him first because here's the thing. Hamlet is not a child nor a teen. He can very well look out for himself. Some would say that his mother is merely just trying to secure her "stay". However there is still the possibility that she was part of the deceit.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start i believed that Hamlet's mother had contributed to her husband's death. And i still sustain it. Because when she married his brother it showed her true colors and how she didn't cared at all about the kings feelings and even her own sons. She did it for her own convenience.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Gertrude killed or contrubuted to the death of Hamlet Sr. She obtains no perk and has no personal gain. Regardless she will be Queen, she will just have to remarry. Although I am unsure about whether she remarries again for the sake of keeping her throne or because she has love for Claudis, i believe she was genuinely listening to her instincts and following her heart. Hamlet is upset because in his heart or instincts he has a completely different view of the situation. The common theme i see in this scene is morality v.s. instinct or heart.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the queen unterstands her wrong doings, and she is willing to accept criticism for it, however in a time period as religious as this one I would think she would express more conviction in her words.
ReplyDeleteHamlet is a childish little boy and his rageful tantrums are feuled by the ignorance of those around him.
Just gonna go over how the analysis does not talk about Hamlet killing Polonius at all. That was the trigger of all of this. Hamlet was ready to let everything go since he thought that he was going to kill Claudius for sure. Since he did not, he had already opened up Pandora's box per say, and everything flew out of his control concerning his emotions. For Gertrude to not to have seen this coming is a clear sign that she does not know her son. Whenever anyone in class brings up how Gertrude knows her son, it is definitely false to me. If she knew her son, she would have some type of connection with him, and in every scene we have gone over, that is not shown. She would more likely be found trying to figure out why is there a dragon in the kingdom than even taking a second of her time to figure out anything about Hamlet. This whole scene comes to a shock to her, but I do not believe, aside from saving herself, that she cares about him. Frankly his actions just makes her want to be more distant from him if it does not involve keeping her alive.
ReplyDeleteHamlet has alot figured out and it shows in this part of the play. So many factual things are being thrown at Queen Gertrude she is in consistent denile of the many thing Hamlet is saying. I think he referring too Hamlet as mad gave her a chance to feel more comfortable in the choices she made because at that point all the things he said become crazy talk. that's why there is a tonal shift at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt was time for Hamlet to speak out his mind and mostly with his mother because i feel like it was not his father's death that hurted him the most but his mother marrying his uncle that made him as insane as he is now. I also knew Ophelia and Hamlet could never be happy because they have never been happy with their own self. The craziness drove him to kill his lover's father. BUT my question is what was Ophelia's father going to Gertrude's bedroom. I agree with Amanda I feel as if the queen had to do something with Hamlet's father death. Because she seems happy with Claudius and someone that is that happy and married so quick should've had something with Claudius before Hamlet's father death.
ReplyDeleteI totally feel like Queen Gertrude wanted to keep her role as queen and being caught up with that desire she lost all mother duties to even care and stand by her son. I feel like Gertrude was in fact having an affair with Claudius since she married him after King Hamlets death. Hamlet speaking to his mother the way he did impacted her and reveals her selfishness throughout the play. In my opinion I feel like Gertrude says one thing and means another, and does not know where to stand.
ReplyDelete