RR
18th October 2005, 10:38 AM
Shakespeare – Shaken, not stirred
Part Two - Hamlet, the Dane
By Badri
[html:1a09a45e39]http://hubmagazine.mayyam.com/nov05/Scooby.jpg[/html:1a09a45e39]
Much as I am tempted to begin this article with the question, “If the son of a pig is called a piglet, was Hamlet’s daddy a big slab of ham”, I shall refrain from doing so, keeping in mind the sensibilities of the readers and instead launch into this famous play of the Bard. Besides, Hamlet’s daddy was really called Hamlet too! Well, Hamlet Sr. if you will!!
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, with 3929 lines, and quite possibly the one replete with those one-liners we’ve probably heard ad nauseum – such as “To be or not to be” and “Above all, to thine own self be true” and “Assume a virtue if you have it not” and “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends” and so on and so forth!
It is a tragedy, which means everyone…hmm, no, that will spoil the suspense. I will keep that to later, but first, here is the cast. Study the cast carefully. There will be a quiz at the end of the story!!
1. Hamlet Sr., King of Denmark, now dead, appears only as a ghost
2. Claudius, brother of aforementioned Hamlet, murders Hamlet and marries his wife
3. Gertrude, wife of aforementioned Hamlet Sr. and Claudius in that order; also mother of Hamlet
4. Hamlet, son of Hamlet and Gertrude, hero of this harrowing tale
5. Horatio, friend of Hamlet
6. Polonius, trusted advisor and spy of Claudius
7. Laertes, son of Polonius
8. Ophelia, sister of Laertes, and love-interest of Hamlet;
9. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two friends of Hamlet; also recruited by Claudius to spy on Hamlet
10. Sundry other characters such as guards, grave-diggers, priests and Fortinbras, the King of Norway
So, now that we know who’s who, let us get on with the actual story. The play starts in a platform before the castle on a cold winter’s night, with two guards accosting each other, setting the context.
Act One Scene One
Francisco is at his post and Bernardo enters to relieve him. Francisco thanks Bernardo for relieving him at his post, and goes on to say, “I am sick at heart.” He doesn’t say why, nor does Bernardo ask him why, and this is how Shakespeare tells us that something is wrong and everyone knows something is wrong. But what is wrong? Hang on, let us find out.
When Francisco leaves, another guard, Marcellus, joins Bernardo at his post. Marcellus has brought with him Horatio, a friend of Hamlet. Obviously no one in his right mind would want to join a couple of guards at their post, on a cold wintry night outside a castle, and Horatio has been urged to join them because Marcellus believes he has something mysterious and shocking to show him.
As though leading Horatio and us on to what this mysterious and shocking item could be, Marcellus asks Bernardo if the “thing” had made its appearance that night. And just as Bernardo begins to tell them about it, a Ghost makes its appearance and it becomes clear to the readers this is the “thing” they had spoken of. Pretty obliging of the ghost though, what, considering how it put in an appearance just when they were discussing about it!
[html:1a09a45e39]http://www.zachriel.com/phrasenation/Ghost-Looms.jpg[/html:1a09a45e39]
Bernardo, the guard who saw the ghost first says, “In the same figure, like the king that's dead”, leaving us in no doubt who the ghost is. It is the ghost of the dead king, Hamlet Sr. Marcellus, being a common soldier, has clearly exalted ideas about nobility, including their ability to communicate with departed souls. He exhorts his friend Horatio, “Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio.” And we learn that one has to be a scholar to be able to speak to ghosts. We also learn that unless they have a PhD tag behind their names, all those who claim to speak to dear departed souls are probably just shamming.
Flattery does wonderful things, and thus encouraged, Horatio accosts the ghost, and charges it upon heaven to reveal its identity. The ghost however, doesn’t bother to reply, and stalks away, seemingly offended. Horatio entreats it to stay and speak, “Stay! Speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!” He couldn’t have been clearer, but the ghost refuses to oblige him, and as Marcellus puts it succinctly, “’Tis gone, and will not answer”. Perhaps Horatio is not scholarly enough for the spook to hold discourse with him.
Thereupon, the three of them try to analyse why the ghost did appear in the first place, and why was it attired so in armour. Whereupon, Horatio quotes from his fund of knowledge, no doubt to impress upon the two guards that he was still quite the scholar, the ghost’s rebuttal notwithstanding. Although he has many thoughts about the matter and does not know quite know which one to work on, he is clear the appearance of the dead king bodes ill for the kingdom.
He goes on also to recollect how Hamlet Sr., when still alive, had fought and killed Fortinbras, the King of Norway. Now, his son (also a Fortinbras) had gathered together a band of men and was planning to gain back the lands lost by his father to Hamlet. Marcellus is convinced that this is indeed why the old king had returned in an ectoplasmic aspect (decked in an ectoplasmic armour, no doubt).
Horatio, once he starts, finds it rather difficult to stop. And with his rather pessimistic approach to life, he goes on to tell the two guards how a little before Julius Caesar, fell the dead abandoned their graves and gibbered upon the streets of Rome. Thus, the appearance of these phantoms, Horatio says, is an ill omen, a portent of things to come. It is more likely that they just disliked old JC so much that when they heard he would be joining their ranks, they came out of their graves in protest.
While Horatio is still showing off, the ghost comes back again. Again Horatio tries to speak to it saying, “If thou art privy to thy country’s fate…speak.”
The country’s fate itself being more like a privy, the ghost probably doesn’t quite know what to say to this, so continues its silence. Marcellus is a man of action. Not for him this parley with reluctant ghosts. There is a time to parley with spooks and there is a time not to parley, and seeing that the ghost was in no mood to answer any questions, he seeks permission to attack it. Going by the age old policy of “Stop, or I’ll shoot,” Horatio bids him attack if it will not stand. At this, the ghost vanishes again, and it occurs to them that a cock crew just when the ghost was about to speak.
Horatio observes that the cock was the herald of the Sun and when he makes his appearance, any spooks that may have strayed from their confines have to return whence they came. He also concludes that while the spectre was dumb to them, it might speak if Hamlet were to come, considering it is after all, the ghost of his father, and they decide that they would inform Hamlet about it.
Thus ends Scene One of Act One of Hamlet
PS: Don’t worry, we will not go through each scene of each act in such detail! This was merely to set the context and introduce you, gentle reader, to how Shakespeare brings the plot out in such a subtle and cleverly disguised manner.
[tscii:1a09a45e39][/tscii:1a09a45e39]
Part Two - Hamlet, the Dane
By Badri
[html:1a09a45e39]http://hubmagazine.mayyam.com/nov05/Scooby.jpg[/html:1a09a45e39]
Much as I am tempted to begin this article with the question, “If the son of a pig is called a piglet, was Hamlet’s daddy a big slab of ham”, I shall refrain from doing so, keeping in mind the sensibilities of the readers and instead launch into this famous play of the Bard. Besides, Hamlet’s daddy was really called Hamlet too! Well, Hamlet Sr. if you will!!
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, with 3929 lines, and quite possibly the one replete with those one-liners we’ve probably heard ad nauseum – such as “To be or not to be” and “Above all, to thine own self be true” and “Assume a virtue if you have it not” and “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends” and so on and so forth!
It is a tragedy, which means everyone…hmm, no, that will spoil the suspense. I will keep that to later, but first, here is the cast. Study the cast carefully. There will be a quiz at the end of the story!!
1. Hamlet Sr., King of Denmark, now dead, appears only as a ghost
2. Claudius, brother of aforementioned Hamlet, murders Hamlet and marries his wife
3. Gertrude, wife of aforementioned Hamlet Sr. and Claudius in that order; also mother of Hamlet
4. Hamlet, son of Hamlet and Gertrude, hero of this harrowing tale
5. Horatio, friend of Hamlet
6. Polonius, trusted advisor and spy of Claudius
7. Laertes, son of Polonius
8. Ophelia, sister of Laertes, and love-interest of Hamlet;
9. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two friends of Hamlet; also recruited by Claudius to spy on Hamlet
10. Sundry other characters such as guards, grave-diggers, priests and Fortinbras, the King of Norway
So, now that we know who’s who, let us get on with the actual story. The play starts in a platform before the castle on a cold winter’s night, with two guards accosting each other, setting the context.
Act One Scene One
Francisco is at his post and Bernardo enters to relieve him. Francisco thanks Bernardo for relieving him at his post, and goes on to say, “I am sick at heart.” He doesn’t say why, nor does Bernardo ask him why, and this is how Shakespeare tells us that something is wrong and everyone knows something is wrong. But what is wrong? Hang on, let us find out.
When Francisco leaves, another guard, Marcellus, joins Bernardo at his post. Marcellus has brought with him Horatio, a friend of Hamlet. Obviously no one in his right mind would want to join a couple of guards at their post, on a cold wintry night outside a castle, and Horatio has been urged to join them because Marcellus believes he has something mysterious and shocking to show him.
As though leading Horatio and us on to what this mysterious and shocking item could be, Marcellus asks Bernardo if the “thing” had made its appearance that night. And just as Bernardo begins to tell them about it, a Ghost makes its appearance and it becomes clear to the readers this is the “thing” they had spoken of. Pretty obliging of the ghost though, what, considering how it put in an appearance just when they were discussing about it!
[html:1a09a45e39]http://www.zachriel.com/phrasenation/Ghost-Looms.jpg[/html:1a09a45e39]
Bernardo, the guard who saw the ghost first says, “In the same figure, like the king that's dead”, leaving us in no doubt who the ghost is. It is the ghost of the dead king, Hamlet Sr. Marcellus, being a common soldier, has clearly exalted ideas about nobility, including their ability to communicate with departed souls. He exhorts his friend Horatio, “Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio.” And we learn that one has to be a scholar to be able to speak to ghosts. We also learn that unless they have a PhD tag behind their names, all those who claim to speak to dear departed souls are probably just shamming.
Flattery does wonderful things, and thus encouraged, Horatio accosts the ghost, and charges it upon heaven to reveal its identity. The ghost however, doesn’t bother to reply, and stalks away, seemingly offended. Horatio entreats it to stay and speak, “Stay! Speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!” He couldn’t have been clearer, but the ghost refuses to oblige him, and as Marcellus puts it succinctly, “’Tis gone, and will not answer”. Perhaps Horatio is not scholarly enough for the spook to hold discourse with him.
Thereupon, the three of them try to analyse why the ghost did appear in the first place, and why was it attired so in armour. Whereupon, Horatio quotes from his fund of knowledge, no doubt to impress upon the two guards that he was still quite the scholar, the ghost’s rebuttal notwithstanding. Although he has many thoughts about the matter and does not know quite know which one to work on, he is clear the appearance of the dead king bodes ill for the kingdom.
He goes on also to recollect how Hamlet Sr., when still alive, had fought and killed Fortinbras, the King of Norway. Now, his son (also a Fortinbras) had gathered together a band of men and was planning to gain back the lands lost by his father to Hamlet. Marcellus is convinced that this is indeed why the old king had returned in an ectoplasmic aspect (decked in an ectoplasmic armour, no doubt).
Horatio, once he starts, finds it rather difficult to stop. And with his rather pessimistic approach to life, he goes on to tell the two guards how a little before Julius Caesar, fell the dead abandoned their graves and gibbered upon the streets of Rome. Thus, the appearance of these phantoms, Horatio says, is an ill omen, a portent of things to come. It is more likely that they just disliked old JC so much that when they heard he would be joining their ranks, they came out of their graves in protest.
While Horatio is still showing off, the ghost comes back again. Again Horatio tries to speak to it saying, “If thou art privy to thy country’s fate…speak.”
The country’s fate itself being more like a privy, the ghost probably doesn’t quite know what to say to this, so continues its silence. Marcellus is a man of action. Not for him this parley with reluctant ghosts. There is a time to parley with spooks and there is a time not to parley, and seeing that the ghost was in no mood to answer any questions, he seeks permission to attack it. Going by the age old policy of “Stop, or I’ll shoot,” Horatio bids him attack if it will not stand. At this, the ghost vanishes again, and it occurs to them that a cock crew just when the ghost was about to speak.
Horatio observes that the cock was the herald of the Sun and when he makes his appearance, any spooks that may have strayed from their confines have to return whence they came. He also concludes that while the spectre was dumb to them, it might speak if Hamlet were to come, considering it is after all, the ghost of his father, and they decide that they would inform Hamlet about it.
Thus ends Scene One of Act One of Hamlet
PS: Don’t worry, we will not go through each scene of each act in such detail! This was merely to set the context and introduce you, gentle reader, to how Shakespeare brings the plot out in such a subtle and cleverly disguised manner.
[tscii:1a09a45e39][/tscii:1a09a45e39]