#hamlet trusts horatio alone like he has no other confidant this is some one he Trusts. which is a Big Thing for Hamlet who feels

[snails-in-spaceships]

[fyeahlearning-blog]

Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, if not the most well-known. Nearly everyone will recognize the Prince holding poor Yorick’s skull, even if they know nothing else about the play. Hamlet is probably performed around the year 1600. There were three distinct versions - Quarto One, Quarto Two, and the First Folio. These were printed at different times and have some textual differences.

It’s easy to learn about the play, even by reading SparkNotes. Instead of summarizing Hamlet, I want to go over a few interesting points/themes that I learned during one of my Shakespeare classes at university.

The Trouble with Hamlet

Hamlet believes that women are inconsistent - not only his mother, who can’t seem to be able to control her sexuality, but also Ophelia. In fact, everyone is inconsistent except for him. Perhaps this is because after the death of his father, Hamlet believes that he is the only person who shows true sorrow for this tragic event. Laertes, on the other hand, believes that men are inconsistent (1.3.10-31). In fact, Hamlet is the problem for Laertes. He tells Ophelia that because Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, he cannot make decisions for himself - his mind can never be his own. For Hamlet, political desires must always override his own desires. Laertes believe that Hamlet thinks he knows his own desires, but that he doesn’t, really.

Performance vs. Passion

Hamlet appears to be a quite hot-headed young man. When he is in the heat of the moment, he can commit murder quite easily (e.g. Polonius). However, when he is forced to stop and think of his actions, Hamlet becomes quite uneasy. A prime example is when Hamlet is mulling over whether to kill Claudius or not while his stepfather is praying.

The dichotomy between what one really feels and how one acts on the outside is probably my favourite part of the play. Polonius’ famous “ to thine own self be true” speech is made even more ridiculous by the fact that no one in Hamlet acts true to their own self. Everyone is performing, from Hamlet pretending madness to Claudius pretending to be the kind father. Hamlet performs insanity for Polonius, then later for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Now I am alone,” he says to the audience when his friends leave - ergo, now I can stop performing.

Yet Hamlet is worried about his outside not matching his inside. He has acted the grieving son, yes, but even a player (an actor) can look sadder than he does, just for a fictional part. Everyone is unsure of how Hamlet is acting - but so is he.

At the Mousetrap play, Hamlet makes obscene and objectifying comments to Ophelia. Does he actually mean what he is saying, or is he performing the part of the man everyone thinks he is? The interpretation of one’s choosing depends on how one believes it fits with the rest of the play. Furthermore, Ophelia seems to take the comments easily in stride - she even banters back with him.

The Women of the Play

It’s pretty obvious that Ophelia is in a position of powerlessness. Shakespeare’s men can get away with things that women simply cannot. For instance, Polonius appears to find it natural that Hamlet has fallen into madness in love for Ophelia. On the other hand, he expects that Ophelia will hold everything together. He sends Ophelia to Hamlet to “cure” him of his madness. There is a presence of double standards here. Ophelia must be stable but Hamlet can be all over the place.

Hamlet’s comments to Ophelia in the “get thee to a nunnery!” scene (1.3) are quite cruel. Women are terrible. They are also deceptive because they wear makeup. However, again, we don’t know if he actually means what he is saying. The Danish prince knows that Ophelia is being controlled by Claudius and Polonius, so perhaps he suspects that their conversation will be repeated to them. And yet, his comments, put together with Polonius’ death and Laertes gone from the court, create an atmosphere in which Ophelia, no longer able to stand the pressure, goes insane and kills herself. We might ask then - does the inside (what Hamlet actually meant) matter when the performance causes suicide?

In the Mel Gibson movie version, Hamlet seems no better than Claudius. Not only these two, but even Hamlet Sr., are all trying to control Gertrude’s sexuality. But what kind of character is Gertrude, really? Does she love Claudius, is she just trying to control her power the best way she can, or is she a victim? Like Ophelia, who is present in the play to be pretty, Gertrude is also there to fulfill a role. If she is not a wife, she is a mother.

What about Ophelia’s death? Gertrude’s description of how Ophelia falls into the brook and floats about like a mermaid before she finally drowns seems rather suspicious. There is a couple ways of reading this scene. Perhaps Gertrude is trying to make Ophelia’s death matter in the only way that will make the men stop and listen. This is why, then, she describes Ophelia’s death in the most beautiful way possible, tugging upon the men’s heartstrings. Perhaps Gertrude is the type of person who takes horrible events and tries to make them look better, to keep the people around her sane. (Don’t worry that my husband is dead - we have a new king. Don’t worry that Ophelia is dead - it looked pretty; trust me, I was there.) Or perhaps Gertrude had something to do with Ophelia’s death. It does indeed sound as if she watched the entire incident without trying to help the young girl. She also knew that Ophelia’s death would spurn Laertes to vengeance - which would mean finally getting that pesky Hamlet out of the way.

Hamlet and Horatio

My professor didn’t talk about Hamlet’s relationship with Horatio, but I couldn’t end this post without talking about my favourite tragic Danish boys.

Ophelia is left alone, making her seclusion all the more debilitating and dangerous (thereby leading to her suicide); on the other hand, Hamlet finds a source of comfort in his friend Horatio. It is evident that Hamlet keeps his thoughts to himself as the play goes on; however, Horatio is Hamlet’s dearest friend and is still his confidante even towards the end of the play. Hamlet opens up more to Horatio than any other character, thereby easing at least a part of his isolation. While Hamlet disdains the company of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and perhaps also Ophelia, he maintains that Horatio is the most honest man that he knows – “thou art e’en as just a man / As e’er my conversation coped withal” (3.2.47-48) – and, therefore, the one most worthy of trust. 

As further contrast between Horatio and Hamlet’s other male friends, Hamlet mentions to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he is unable to sleep peacefully: “Oh God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and / count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I / have bad dreams” (2.2.231.15-17). The pair does not seem to comprehend the significance of Hamlet’s statement, overlooking the fact that Hamlet has momentarily revealed a deeper part of himself. Consequently, Hamlet again regards his classmates with scorn and does not open up to them again. It is only Horatio who hears more of Hamlet’s nightmares: “Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting / That would not let me sleep” (5.2.4-5). Horatio questions Hamlet about his dreams, taking his friend seriously and thereby proving himself worthy of Hamlet’s confidence. Since Horatio is a sincere friend, Hamlet divulges more about himself as the play continues – Hamlet therefore has someone with whom to converse even though he isolates himself from everyone else.

Sources: Shakespeare Uncovered, the three versions, Emma Smith’s lecture, Hamlet (1990), Hamlet (2009), “The Shared Loneliness of Hamlet and Ophelia” (an essay I wrote last year), my own class notes (Jennifer Garrison, St. Mary’s University).