SCENE IV. The Queen's closet.
Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE and POLONIUS
LORD POLONIUS
He 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 screen'd and stood betweenMuch heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.Pray you, be round with him.
As Hamlet approaches, Polonius eagerly encourages Gertrude to stand up to Hamlet and point out his shocking, unacceptable, and insolent behavior. His strength in words only comes from the fact that he himself does not have to point out Hamlet’s intolerable actions.
HAMLET
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!
Hamlet casually strolls in.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
The Queen is composed, ready to rebuke Hamlet.
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?
Hamlet innocently asks like he has no idea how he could have offended anyone, especially with his play.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
The Queen sternly and calmly admonishes Hamlet, hoping she will not have to increase the severity of her tone.
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.
Hamlet responds quickly and sharply. He intends this short phrase to be a painful jab, reminding the Queen of her betrayal.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
The Queen tries to coax out the Hamlet before the King’s death by slightly reproaching his haughty tone.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Hamlet replies with a sharp wit, intending to outsmart his mother. If he cannot use a dagger to wound her a little bit, he will use his words.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
The Queen tries to be understanding of Hamlet’s condition. She opens up the dialogue and gives Hamlet an opportunity to explain the cause of his troubles and apologize or at least feel bad for his disrespectful attitude.
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
Hamlet cannot believe she has another issue with him. The problems never stop.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
The Queen, tinted with a childish anger, tries to guilt-trip her son by showing that she is just worried about him.
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.
Hamlet realizes his mistake and reassures his mother of her place in his life.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.
The Queen, partly offended that Hamlet will not speak to her about his problems and partly annoyed that she has been unsuccessful in discovering the root of the erratic behavior, forcefully calls for other people. Furious, she starts to storm out.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;You go not till I set you up a glassWhere you may see the inmost part of you.
Hamlet jumps up in front of his mother blocking her from leaving. He pushes her back into the chair, motions for her to stay put, and looks around for a mirror.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?Help, help, ho!
The Queen panics as she sees Hamlet’s strength and violent tendencies.
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!
Polonious realizes the Queen is in trouble. Without thinking, he shouts out to anyone. Extremely confused and tangled in the curtains, Polonious is calling out for Gertrude’s safety and for his own rescue.
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Its too late to save Polonious. Hamlet’s already heightened senses finally come into play; he draws his sword and points behind the curtain, ready for any sudden movement. Hamlet lunges forward, piercing the body behind the curtain with one swift thrust.
Makes a pass through the arras
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!
Polonious’s body slackens and his voice becomes muffled. The figure drops to the ground in a slump.
Falls and dies
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
Gertrude, freaking out, shrieks. She throws her hands up in the air as a million different thoughts race through her head: Has Hamlet truly found me out? Will Hamlet be furious at me for having Polonious spy? What will we do with Polonious’s dead body without incriminating Hamlet? How will Claudius react; will he be angry at me and send away Hamlet once and for all? . . .
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:Is it the king?
Hamlet, although very aware of the situation, is indifferent. He is calm, collected, and not worried, but only because he believes it is Claudius behind the curtain.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
Since she already knows the truth, the Queen, overwhelmed, turns away from the curtain.
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
Still quite cool and collected, Hamlet sarcastically points out how insignificant this crime is compared to his mother killing a king and marrying his brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
The Queen feigns innocence.
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Hamlet, annoyed, thinks: you totally know what I am talking about so stop pretending.
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.Hamlet is slightly disappointed Polonious was not the King. Hamlet fiercely turns to Polonious: you got what you deserved and I am glad you have realized who you were facing.
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 soThat it is proof and bulwark against sense.
Hamlet turns to his mother. He is frustrated and upset with his mother because she will not give up the secret that Hamlet is dying to know.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongueIn noise so rude against me?
Queen feigns innocence again.
HAMLET
Such an actThat blurs the grace and blush of modesty,Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the roseFrom the fair forehead of an innocent loveAnd sets a blister there, makes marriage-vowsAs false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deedAs from the body of contraction plucksThe very soul, and sweet religion makesA 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.
Hamlet cannot even contain his fury: what you have done is completely disgusting. You threw your elegance, poise, and sophisticated style away when you married your husband’s brother so soon after his death. You have even offended the sanctity of marriage itself. Nothing can be worse than doing something that horrible. How can anyone forgive your sins?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
The Queen looks around: how could the blame be on me? I am completely innocent.
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,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 MercuryNew-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 ageThe hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,And waits upon the judgment: and what judgmentWould step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,Else could you not have motion; but sure, that senseIs apoplex'd; for madness would not err,Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'dBut it reserved some quantity of choice,To serve in such a difference. What devil was'tThat 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 senseCould 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 shameWhen the compulsive ardour gives the charge,Since frost itself as actively doth burnAnd reason panders will.
Hamlet pulls out his necklace to show the Queen his late father. He pulls out her necklace on which is a portrait of Claudius: why would you ever rebound off a gorgeous man like King Hamlet. I cannot believe I am saying this but you are despicable and a loose woman, jumping from a perfect man to his wicked brother. You have lost all your morals and now you’re hypocritical, judging my faults when you have committed worse sins. I have lost all faith in you.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;And there I see such black and grained spotsAs will not leave their tinct.
The Queen has been caught, realizing that Hamlet has completely discovered her true intentions: the only way out is in. I will slowly admit my wrongdoing and hopefully Hamlet will understand why I did what I did. Hopefully if I act pitiful and regretful now, I will not be in as much trouble later.
HAMLET
Nay, but to liveIn the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making loveOver the nasty sty,--
Hamlet is furious at the Queen for thinking that he could ever forgive her that easily: you will never be the same person as before.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;No more, sweet Hamlet!
Gertrude screams at her son to stop talking: I can’t stand him repeatedly jabbing me with obscene comments.
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;A slave that is not twentieth part the titheOf 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!
Hamlet senses her frustration and takes advantage of it: since I cannot use weapons, I will use my words. I am going to rub it in and make her feel as guilty as I can.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
How can I make Hamlet stop!?
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--
Hamlet understands that Gertrude squirms the most when he comments on the King’s lowly status and despicable climb to the top: I will capitalize on my lead. I have got her!
Enter Ghost
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
Hamlet freezes and sees the ghost, ready to obey every word.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!
He has truly gone off the deep end this time: talking to air?!
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go byThe important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Hamlet is worried for a second: I really hope you are not here to admonish me for chastising my mother instead of killing Claudius. I am trying really hard.
GHOST
Do not forget: this visitationIs 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.
The Ghost realizes that Hamlet is unfocused and directs to Hamlet: I already have to deal with being dead and having Claudius wander the earth, so please console your mother, the poor soul, so she does not die from shock and amazement.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?
With the Queen terrified and looking out with a blank stare, Hamlet reluctantly asks her how she is doing: she is probably fine.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,That you do bend your eye on vacancyAnd 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 distemperSprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
The Queen comes back to reality and sees a disoriented Hamlet: Hamlet is still ridiculously crazy. I really should get out of here. His freakish behavior is dangerous.
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;Lest with this piteous action you convertMy stern effects: then what I have to doWill want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
Gertrude wonders what in the world is wrong with Hamlet: I do not think Hamlet can even answer this question and if he does, I probably should not believe his words.
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
Hamlet answers almost incredulously: obviously there is something there. Wait, am I really crazy?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
Gertrude really thinks that Hamlet is nuts.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!My father, in his habit as he lived!Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:This bodiless creation ecstasyIs very cunning in.
Gertrude is unsure about how to break the news to Hamlet: I will be straightforward and see how he takes it. Someone needs to tell him he needs to pop back into normalcy and that person is me.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,And makes as healthful music: it is not madnessThat I have utter'd: bring me to the test,And I the matter will re-word; which madnessWould 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 timesVirtue itself of vice must pardon beg,Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
Hamlet is ready to let it all out: my mother has already admitted her wrongdoing except now she is trying to turn the tables on me and point out my lunacy to take off attention from her. How predictable. I can and will show her that everything I say is true and prove that she is just trying to cover everything up by faking my craziness. But I will not just reproach you because that will probably not convince you of anything or change you in any way so I am just going to give you some advice. You can avoid your fate if you come clean. Otherwise it will just fester in you and I will not feel a bit of remorse or pity when you meet your fate.
QUEEN 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;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 goodHe likewise gives a frock or livery,That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,And that shall lend a kind of easinessTo the next abstinence: the next more easy;For use almost can change the stamp of nature,And either [ ] the devil, or throw him outWith 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,
Hamlet continues to stay positive: mother, you can overcome your sins. I believe in you but only if you trust my advice. Since you are so good at faking it, you can just pretend to be fair and virtuous, even if you are really not. Eventually, although it could take a while, your personality on the outside will sink in. Soon, pretending will become reality.
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 wellThe 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.
Hamlet points to Polonious: also, just so you know, I feel bad about Polonious. I never meant it. When it comes down to it, you have to be mean to be nice.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
The Queen thinks: I really have nothing else to lose. Let’s see what else Hamlet has to say.
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: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.
Hamlet, having waited so long to tell his mother what to do, takes his chance: do not let him tempt you in any way. Be a strong woman and stand up to him. Do not be worried mother for I am not actually mad, just extremely passionate. Knowing your previous deeds, you would probably tell King Claudius about this. I will guilt her into not saying anything by saying that a poised Queen would never do such a thing. She is determined to right her wrongs and will most likely change her ways. If not, fate will get her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,And breath of life, I have no life to breatheWhat thou hast said to me.
After listening to Hamlet’s speech, Gertrude is unsure whether or not she can stick with his advice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment