Act V Scene 1 Hamlet
HamletPlease see the bottom of the page for full explanatory notes and helpful resources.
Next: Village, Act 5, Scene 2 __________ Explanatory Notes for Act 5, Scene one From Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan. _________ 2. conservancy, the clown's blunder for damnation, as in One thousand. A. 3. iii. 3. 4, 5. straight, forthwith, without delay: crowner, coroner, literally but an officer of the crown, simply used especially of one appointed to hold inquests into the crusade of death. Skeat says that crowner, which has been by and large regarded as a corruption of 'coroner,' is a right class, 'coroner' existence from the base coron - of the K.East. verb coronen, to crown, with the suffix -er, and thus = crown-er; finds ... burial, decides that Christian burial may be granted, she not having committed the felony of suicide; finds, the technical term for the determination of the coroner; cp. A. Y. L. iv. ane. 101, "the foolish coroners of that age found it was 'Hero of Sestos.'" 9. 'se offendendo,' some other blunder of the Clown'southward for se defendendo, in cocky defence, "a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide" (Caldecott). xi. three branches, "ridicule on scholastic divisions without distinction and of distinctions without diiference" (Warburton). 12. argal, a corruption of Lat. ergo, therefore. 13. goodman, a familiar appellation, frequent in Shakespeare, = quondam swain; delver, digger, i.east.. grave-digger. 14. Give me exit, let me to interrupt yous. sixteen. will he, nill he, he goes whether his intention is to practice so or not; nill, = ne volition, not will; frequent in onetime English. 21. quest, inquest. This is supposed to exist an allusion to an inquest in a case of forfeiture of a lease to the crown in outcome of the suicide by drowning of Sir John Hales, a case which Shakespeare may have heard talked about. 22. Will ... on't, do y'all wish to know the whole truth of the matter? If so, I will tell you that, etc. 23, 4. out ... burial, i.e. equally suicides are buried, sc. in the cross roads with a stake driven through the centre; cp. Grand. N. D. iii. ii. 383, "damned spirits all, That in crossways and floods have burial." 25. there thou say'st, there you tell the truth, speak to the purpose. 26. should accept ... to, should be countenanced in drowning, etc., by beingness immune Christian burying. 27. even Christian, young man Christian: Come, my spade, come, let me have my spade, and get to my work. 28. nine. At that place is ... profession, in that location are no gentlemen that can claim anything similar old descent except gardeners, etc., and they alone even so proceed up the profession of the first of all ancestors, Adam. 30. a gentleman, one entitled to the term 'gentle,' as opposed to 'uncomplicated.' 31. diameter artillery, used a double sense, (i) carrying arms - in Adam'due south case a spade, and (2) having a glaze of arms, a symbol of gentle birth. 36. arms, again in a double sense, (1) the arms of the torso, (2) implements. 36. to the purpose, in a rational way; confess thyself — an ass, he was going to add. 37. Go to, pooh. 38. What is he, what kind of person is he. 41. tenants, occupants; as though a man when hanged took a lease of the gallows. 42, 3. the gallows does well, the gallows, equally you well say, exercise well, though not in the style you lot say, that of lasting a long time. Dogberry-like, he patronizingly commends his comrade'due south skilful sense in citing the gallows every bit doing well, just with his superior wisdom points out in what their doing well consists. 43, 4. information technology does ... ill, sc. by putting them out of the way. 46. To't again, come up, make another effort to answer my question. xl. Ay, ... unyoke, yep, answer that, and you may then requite over your work; metaphorically unharness the oxen with which he is ploughing. 51 To't, become at information technology, let me hear yous answer. 52. Mass, i.e. past the mass; see note on ii. one. 50. 53, 4. your dull ass, a dull ass like you lot; for this colloquial use of your, see Abb. § 220. 56. Yaughan, probalbly the best explanation of this word, about which there have been so many conjectures, is that suggested by Nicholson, that it was the proper noun of an ale-house keeper in the neighbourhood of the Earth Theatre. 57. stoup, flagon; A.S. steap, a loving cup. 58-61. In youth ... meet, the Clown's version of part of a ballad in Tottel'south Miscellany, Arber's Reprints, p. 173. 60. To contract ... behove, these words probably have no meaning; the original runs "I lothe that I did love, In youth that I idea swete; As fourth dimension requires for my behove Methinkes they are not mete." Jennens points out that the oh! and the ah! form no function of the song, but are "only the breath forced out by the strokes of the mattock. " 61. meet, fitting, suitable. 62. feeling of his business, no sense of the sadness of the chore on which he is engaged. 64. Custom ... easiness, from long addiction, his occupation, as being his own (proper to him) has lost all unpleasant association; has fabricated him callous to the fact of its existence of a sad nature. 65, vi. the hand ... sense, the paw which is least employed (i.due east. in any crude work) is always the about delicately sensitive. 69. shipped, carted, equally we might say: intil, into; to and til (till) are equivalent in sense. The original runs, "For age with steyling steppes, Hath clawed me with his cowche, And brawny life away she leapes, As at that place had bene none such." lxx. such, every bit I am; the words being made doubly ludicrous by his throwing upward a skull as he utters them. 72. jowls, dashes; jowl, substantive, is the jaw, and here the idea is of the skull crashing confronting the footing as the jaws crash together if all of a sudden closed, more particularly by a blow; cp. A. W. i. 3. 59, "they may jowl horns together, like any deer i' the herd." 74. political leader, plotter, schemer; cp. T. N. three. 2. 34, "I had as lief be a Brownist every bit a politician"; just as the Cl. Pr. Edd. remark, the word is always used by Shakespeare in a bad sense: over-reaches, used in a double sense of overtaking, getting hold of, with his spade, and of getting the meliorate of past cunning. 79. lord Such-a-one, some lord or other whose name is not specified; Steevens compares Tim. i. two. 216-8, "you gave Skilful words the other twenty-four hours of a bay courser I rode on: information technology is yours, considering you lot liked it." 82. my lady Worm's, i.due east. the belongings, perquisite of, etc.: chapless, with its jaws no longer adhering to the residual of the skull. 83. mazzard, a caricatural discussion for the caput; supposed to exist derived from mazer, or maser, a bowl. 84. revolution, used in a double sense of modify, and of being rolled about: and ... see't, supposing nosotros had the knack to understand information technology; for and, see Abb. § 93. 85. cost ... breeding, gave no more problem to breed; for the, preceding a exact, run into Abb. § 93. 85, half dozen. only to ... 'em, than that they should be used for playing at loggats; the Cl. Pr. Edd., abridging a description of the game sent them by the Revd. Thou. Gould, say that the game resembled bowls, merely with notable differences. Start, it is played not on a green, simply on a floor strewed with ashes. The Jack is a wheel made of some hard wood, the loggat, of which each player has 3, is a truncated cone, held lightly at the thin terminate, and the object, equally at bowls, is to pitch them and then as to prevarication as about as possible to the Jack. 88. For and, Byce points out that these words answer to And eke in the original version. 89. for to, run into note on iii. one. 167. 92. quiddities, "Mid. Lat. quiditas, the whatness or distinctive nature of a thing, brought into a by-discussion by the nice distinction of the schools" (Wedgwood, Dict.): quillets, frivolous distinctions; probably from Lat. quidlibet, what do y'all cull? 93. tricks, legal chicaneries. 94. sconce, properly a minor fort, in which sense it is used in H. V. 3, 6. 76; in C. East. ii. ii. 37, for a helmet; and i. 2. 75, for a head, every bit here. 95. of his action of battery, of the activity for battery (set on) which, if he chose, he might bring against him. 97. 8. his statutes ... recoveries, "A recovery with a double voucher is the one usually suffered, and is so denominated from two persons (the latter of whom is e'er the mutual crier, or some such inferior person) being successively vouched, or called upon, to warrant the tenant's title. Both 'fines' and 'recoveries' are fictions of police, used to convert an estate tail into a fee simple. 'Statutes' are (not acts of parliament, but) statutes — merchant and staple, particular modes of recognizance or acknowledgment for securing debts, which thereby become a charge upon the party's country. 'Statutes' and 'recognizances' are constantly mentioned together in the covenants of a purchase deed" (Ritson). 98. fine of his fines, the end of all his legal do; all that comes of his long practising as a lawyer. 98, 9. the recovery of his recoveries, all that he recovers, gets in render for the recoveries in which, when live, he was engaged: fine clay, Rushton (Shakespeare as a Lawyer, p. 10) explains fine here, every bit in 1. 98, in the sense of last. "His fine pate is filled, not with fine dirt, but with the concluding dirt which will ever occupy information technology, leaving a satirical inference to exist fatigued, that even in his life-time his head was filled with dirt"; but if this be the primary sense, there must also be play upon the word in its ordinary sense. 100. vouch ... purchases, requite him no better title to his purchases, fifty-fifty though those vouchers were double ones. 101. than the ... indentures, than the mere parchment on which indentures are written. "Indentures were agreements made out in indistinguishable, of which each party kept one. Both were written on the same sheet, which was cut in 2 in a crooked or indented line (whence the proper name), in order that the fitting of the two parts might prove the genuineness of both in case of dispute" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). Cp. The Knight of the Burning Pestle, four. 2. 18,9, "prentice to a grocer in the Strand By human activity indent, of which I have i function"; this part was called the 'counterpane.' 102. The very ... lands, the very championship-deed by which his lands were conveyed (in a legal sense), transferred: box, coffin, with a reference to the boxes in which lawyers keep deeds, etc. 103. inheritor, possessor, possessor; cp. L. L. L. two. 1. 5, "To parley with the sole inheritor of all perfections"; R. III. iv. iii. 34, "Meantime, but think how I may do thee good, And be inheritor of thy desire. " 103. and of ... besides, accurately speaking, it is vellum that is made of calf skins, parchment of sheep or goat skins. 107, 8. They are ... that, those who trust to parchment are just dolts; "an 'assurance' is the legal testify of the transfer of property" (Heard, Shakespeare as a Lawyer). 109. sirrah, sir; a term used more by and large to inferiors, or with boldness or unbecoming familiarity to superiors; occasionally applied to women. 113. liest, with a play upon the word in its ii senses. 114. on 't, of it. 117. the quick, the living. 123. For none, neither, for neither the one nor the other, either. 127. accented, precise, punctilious nigh accuracy. 127, eight. past the menu, with precision; according to some the reference is to the mariners' chart; according to others to the carte du jour on which the points of the compass were marked; co-ordinate to others again to the card and calendar of etiquette, or book of manners, of which, says Staunton, several were published in Shakespeare'south time. 129. these 3 years, i.e. for a considerable time past. 130. picked, smart, spruce; cp. M. J. i. 1. 193, "My picked man of countries." 131. kibe, chilblain; a sore on the hands or feet due to swell cold. 133. Of all ... twelvemonth, if you lot wish me to be precise as to the exact day, why, etc. The Cl. Pr. Edd. quote R. J. i. 3. 16, "Even or odd, of all the days in the year, Come up Lammas-eve at nighttime shall she exist 14," where the speaker is an illiterate old nurse with the same passion for being precise. 141. it's ... at that place, it does not much matter. 143, 4. there ... he, here once more Marston, The Malcontent, iii. I. 400, ane, seems to accept followed Shakespeare, "Your lordship shall e'er notice ... amongst an hundred Englishmen, iv-score and ten madmen." 149. Upon what ground? owing to what cause? The clown in the side by side line takes ground in its literal sense. 154. pocky corses, bodies of those who have died of the smallpox. 154, 5. will deficient ... in, will scarcely go along from decomposition till the funeral: you, thc colloquial dative. 166. A pestilence ... rogue! curses on him, every bit such a mad rogue deserves! 167. Rhenish, Rhine vino. 168. Yorick, said to be the German and Danish Georg, Jorg, our George, the English y representing the strange j, and having the aforementioned sound. 172. a young man ... jest, a boyfriend of inexhaustible wit. 174. it, "used in reference to the thought of having been borne on the back of him whose skeleton remains are thus suddenly presented to the speaker's gaze, the thought of having caressed and been fondled past one whose mouldering fleshless skull is at present held in the speaker'southward hand" (Clarke). 175. my gorge rises at it, I feel sick at the very idea; the gorge is the throat, and the 'ascent' is that feeling in the throat which accompanies the inclination to vomit. 178. on a roar, nosotros should at present say 'in a roar.' 179. quite chap-fallen, utterly downcast, without and so much every bit a smile on your face: my lady's, not a particular lady, but any ane to whom the title was applicable. 180. let her pigment, even if she should lay on the paint. 181. favour, appearance; used especially of the features. 185. i' the earth, when buried. 189. return, sc. in returning to the grit of which we are made. 192. 'Twere ... so, to follow out the thought would exist but idle speculation, a mere waste matter of ingenuity. 193, 4. with modesty, without any exaggeration. 196. loam, a mixture of clay and sand. 199. Imperious, imperial; though Shakespeare frequently uses Imperious, for imperial, he rarely, if ever, uses 'imperial' for imperious, in its mod sense of dictatorial. 202. flaw, sudden gust of wind. 203. aside, let us stand aside. 205. such maimed rites, such incomplete rites. 207. Fordo, destroy; cp. ii. one. 103: for it = its, see note on i. 2. 216: estate, rank, position. 208. Burrow nosotros, permit us lie close so as not to be seen; cp. A. West. four. one. 24, "But couch, ho! here he comes." 209. What ceremony else? what further ceremonies have to be performed? i.e. surely this does not complete the usual rites. 212, iii. Her obsequies ... warranty, we take gone as far in the matter of ritual observance every bit we have authority for doing: her expiry, the manner of her death. 214. only that ... order, if it were not that the rex'south control, which we dure not disobey, over-rules united states every bit regards the proceedings usual in such a example. 216. for, in the identify of. 217. Shards, potsherds, pieces of broken crockery. 218. crants, a coronet, or tire for the head; worn past maidens till they were married; a singular noun, from Ger. krantz. A writer in the Ed. Rer. for July, 1869, has shown by extracts from Weber's introduction to the ballad of Child Axe Wold, that "the burying of a northern maiden is still accordingly marked, every bit in the case of Ophelia, by the presence of her virgin crants, and maiden strewments." 219. Her maiden strewments, the strewing of flowers upon the bier, such equally was common at the funeral of a maid or wife, or on her grave afterwards burying; cp. H. VIII. iv. 2. 168-70, 'strew me over With maiden flowers, that all the world may know I was a chaste wife to my grave": and Cymb. 4. two. 218-20. 219, 20. and the ... burying, "In these words, reference is nonetheless made to the matrimony rites, which in the instance of maidens are sadly parodied in the funeral rites. See R. J. iv. 5. 85-90. Every bit the bride was brought abode to her husband's house with bell and wedding festivity, then the expressionless maiden is brought to her last abode with 'bell and burial'" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). 221. Must ... done? is it forbidden to perform any further rites? In modern English the words would mean 'is it not necessary to,' etc.: No more be done! I have followed Staunton and Knight in putting a note of admiration later done, instead of a semi-colon. The priest seems to be indignantly repeating Laertes' words, with a special emphasis on more than, non to be confirming them. 223. To sing, past singing; if we were to sing; the indefinite infinitive: requiem, a mass for the repose of the dead, so called from beginning with the words Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, grant eternal peace to them, O Lord; cp. chant i. 2. 12. 224. peace-parted souls, souls which accept departed the trunk in peace. 226. May violets spring! cp. Tennyson, In Memoriam, 18. 3, four, "And from his ashes may be made The violet of his native land": churlish, in refusing her the total rites of burial. 228. howling, i.eastward. in the torments of hell. 230. I hoped ... been ... "in the Elizabethan, as in early English authors, after verbs of hoping, intending, or verbs signifying that something ought to take been done, but was non, the complete present infinitive is used" (Abb. § 360). 231. idea, fondly expected: deck'd, sc. with flowers. 232. t' take, this is the reading of the folios; the quartos omit the sign of the infinitive. 234. thy about ingenious sense, thy sense, that nearly cunningly-devised creation of God: nearly shows, I think, that ingenious hither is to exist compared rather with its literal sense in Cymb, iv. ii. 186. "My ingenious instrument!" i.e. of curious construction, said of his harp rather than with Lear, four. 6, 287, "how stiff is my vile sense That I stand up and have ingenious feeling Of my huge sorrows." 235. Hold awhile, do non withal fill upward the grave. 238. this flat, this level surface. 239. Pelion, a lofty range of mountains in Thessaly. In their war with the gods, the giants are said to accept attempted to heap Ossa and Olympus on Pelion, or Pelion and Ossa on Olympus, in gild to calibration heaven: skyish, reaching ahnost to the sky, Olympus existence the loftiest of the mountains in Greece. 240. What is he? what fashion of man is he? 241. Bears such an emphasis, then mighty a stress laid upon it. 241. ii. whose phrase ... stand, whose utterance of sorrow has such magic power over the planets as to arrest their motion; an allusion to the charms of witches who were supposed by them to be able to abort the course of the moon and stars. 243. wonder-wounded, paralysed by wonder. 247. splenitive, given to sudden anger; the spleen was of old supposed to be the seat of acrimony, hatred, malice. 249. Which ... fear, which it will be prudent in you lot to fear. 252. theme, subject field. 253. wag, "the give-and-take had not the grotesque signification which information technology now has, and might be used without incongruity in the nigh serious passages" ... (Cl. Pr. Edd.). 255. forty thousand, used for an indefinite number. 256, seven, Could not ... sum, could non, nevertheless great their dear, vie with me in loving her. 259. forbear him, do not attempt to affect him, for fear of the consequences. 260. 'Swounds, see note on ii. 2. 549: do, emphatic; by what acts are you prepared to show that love which yous have professed in such boastful words? 261. Woo 't, according to Vocalist, a common wrinkle in the northern counties for wouldst thou; used, says Halliwell, in the western counties for will thee. 262. eisel, the 2 most probable of the many explanations given of this give-and-take are (1) vinegar, (2) the proper name of some river; eisel, or eysell, for vinegar, occurs in Sonn. cxi. 10, and was a word of no unconnnon occurrence in Elizabethan literature; if it exist Shakespeare'due south word here, beverage up will hateful 'greedily quaff.' The advocates of the proper name of a river cite the Yssel in Flemish region, the Oesil in Kingdom of denmark, and the Weisel or Vistula, or consider information technology identical with Ousel, the diminutive of Ouse, a common name of rivers in England, and signifying a river or h2o: eat a crocodile, the advocates for the name of a river claim that their view is supported by this expression, which looks every bit if Village were challenging Laertes to impossible feats. 264. To outface me, to outdare me; to put me to shame by the improvident professions of your love. 266. prate, rant. 268. pate, used in a ridiculous sense. 269. Ossa, see notation on ane. 239: like a wart, no bigger than a wart: rima oris, talk big. 271. awhile ... him, for a time his fit of madness will exercise its power over him. 273. golden couplets, the dove mostly sits upon two eggs, and the young birds when hatched are covered with a yellowish down: disclosed, by the breaking of the eggs; see note on three. i . 166. 274. His ... drooping, he volition hang down his caput in affrighted silence. 277, viii. Let ... day, i.e. nature will accept her own course whatever mighty obstacles we may put in its mode; it is no employ my cavilling at this behaviour of Laertes; 'a canis familiaris hath his day' was a proverbial phrase meaning that every dog will at one time or another take its adept fourth dimension. 279. wait upon him, attend him to run across that he does himself no injury. 280. Strengthen ... spoken language, permit what we talked about last night encourage you lot to exist patient awhile; in, in the idea of; see Abb. § 162. 281. We'll put ... push, nosotros will without delay give the thing a decisive impulse, 1 that will bring things to a definite outcome. 283. This ... monument, i.due east. Hamlet's life offered up by Laertes to his sis's retention shall be a more than lasting monument in men's minds than any textile one that could exist built. 285. in patience ... be, allow united states act with patience and control. ________ How to cite the explanatory notes: How to cite the scene review questions: | Scene Questions for Review 1. The dramatic significance of the Clowns (or Grave-diggers) is three-fold: (a) to provide comic relief. The sense of humor springs from the fact that the Clowns are unaware of their own errors. The First Clown, clearly the smarter of the two, tries his all-time to argue his signal in all earnest, oblivious to the ridiculous mistakes he is making. Can you notice specific examples of his blunders? Shakespeare enjoyed utilizing this blazon of comic relief and the character of Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing is one of his greatest comic creations. How many similarities can you find between Dogberry and the Get-go Clown? (b) to accost public opinion regarding Ophelia'south expiry and Hamlet's madness. The Clowns express the sentiment of the common people that Ophelia has committed suicide, although the audition has only Gertrude'southward poetic business relationship of the drowning, which she says was accidental. Subsequently in this scene we see that the Priest also doubts Ophelia's death was an accident (line 213). Do y'all believe Gertrude was lying? Moreover, through the First Clown's conversation with Village (whom the Clown does not recognize) nosotros learn that the common people believe Village has gone mad and has been sent to England to "recover his wits at that place" (line 140). The fact that all of Denmark is unaware of the truth is the reason the play does non end immediately upon the decease of Village, for Village needs Horatio to make his people enlightened of the facts: "And in this harsh earth depict thy jiff in pain/To tell my story" (5.2.333-334). (c) to stand in contrast to Village's world-view. The Clowns are practical men. They discuss topical matters, they throw in their ii cents and are sure of every word, and, most chiefly, they accept what they cannot control. How very unlike from our philosopher prince do the Clowns' view life. The thought that we "cease to be" -- that all nosotros are tin can be erased in a moment -- torments Hamlet, and the sight of Yorick's skull rekindles his sorrow and resentment. Do you lot call back Shakespeare finds merit in the Clowns' outlook? Why do y'all think Shakespeare has the Starting time Clown barrack with Hamlet (lines 118-125)? How does Hamlet feel most the First Clown? 2. In 3.i Hamlet, speaking to Ophelia, says, "I take heard of your paintings too, well enough; God has given yous one face, and you make yourselves another" (line 142). Exercise you call up he is referring specifically to Ophelia in this scene when he says, "Now go you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that. (lines 182-183)? Why practise you lot retrieve Horatio has non however told Village Ophelia is dead? 3. It is clear from a thorough reading of the plays and sonnets that Shakespeare himself felt as Village does, equally least for a time. His personal sonnets, not intended for publication, reveal a poet consumed with thoughts of "devouring Time" and "that churl Expiry." Compare this scene of Hamlet with Sonnets 19, 65, and, in particular, 146 and elaborate on the similarities. iv. Laertes may exist unscrupulous, but his dear for Ophelia is deep and sincere. How does his passionate display of grief illustrate his temperament as seen elsewhere in the play? five. In that location is aplenty textual bear witness to illustrate Hamlet's great dearest for Ophelia (see 1.3.99-100, 109-110; 2.1.75-98 and study questions; 2.2.116-124, etc.), although some critics share a different view. Would you agree that Village's reaction to finding out Ophelia is dead (particularly his poignant cry, "What! the fair Ophelia!" (line 228)) is further proof of his love, or is it just a gut reaction to Laertes' expression of grief. half dozen. Critics take spent a considerable amount of time debating Hamlet's age. Hamlet hither is 30 years old, as the Offset Clown makes clear (lines 133-151). Notwithstanding, "immature Village", equally he is referred to earlier in the play is still attention university and courting Ophelia. Laertes says that Hamlet'southward dear is like "a violet in the youth of primy nature" (one.3.6). The noted scholar Grant White was and then bellyaching by this dilemma that he, defying logic, ended that Hamlet was twenty when the play started and 30 at its close. (See Studies in Shakespeare, p. 79 ff.). How important is Hamlet'southward age to our understanding or enjoyment of the play? Would Hamlet'south age have been an issue for play-goers at Shakespeare's Globe? For more on this topic, please click here. More to Explore Hamlet: The Consummate Play with Explanatory Notes Shakespeare'southward Fools: The Grave-Diggers in Village Claudius and the Condition of Denmark Thoughts on the Grave-diggers ... "The fifth Act begins with the humorous talk of the ii grave-diggers who are delving Ophelia's grave, and who talk over whether she ought, or ought not, to accept Christian burial. What to them is all this misery? what matter Kings and Queens, murders and adulteries to them? Shakespeare has fabricated their apartness from the terror and compassion of the circumstance around them almost shocking; yet this apartness of theirs seems to enhance the tragic elements." (Stopford A. Brooke. Ten more than plays of Shakespeare. p. 131) Hamlet: Problem Play and Revenge Tragedy Plot Summary of Village The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Hamlet'southward Father Hamlet's Relationship with the Ghost On Hamlet's Reaction to Laertes ... "When Village sees and hears all this; he who loved this fair and sweet maiden with a love which was all the fiercer because it had to exist crushed; he who had sacrificed this love and its object on the altar of a corking purpose which was not, for all that roughshod cede, a whit nearer fulfilment; he who had torn the tender strings of his own heart, had broken hers, and shook her reason from its throne, and had washed all this in vain; — what wonder is information technology that his soul is filled with bitterness, that the sight and audio of this brother's outrageous grief maddens him, and that he too leaps into the grave with the cry — This is I,In these few words Hamlet would seem to say: "This is I whom you lot execrate as the wretch who has killed your begetter and driven your sister into madness. I confess I did this, but I did it unwittingly. Eevile me, expletive me, utilize me as you will. I can behave anything merely the mockery of your pretending that your grief is greater than mine." Surely in this case the circumstances would excuse in any man, fifty-fifty in one who, dissimilar Hamlet, was, by habit and nature, endowed with the utmost self-control, an outburst of furious passion." (Frank A. Marshall. A Written report of Village. p. 97) |
Act V Scene 1 Hamlet,
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