MANY of
the lines in Hamlet speak for
themselves, such as, ‘for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking
makes it so.’ (255) This is not only the rare favorable generalization, it also
perfectly fits the dialogue surrounding it. You think of Denmark one way,
gentlemen, I think of it differently.
‘Why, then your ambition makes it one. ’Tis
too narrow for your mind.’ (258) Not knowing the actual reason for Hamlet’s
prejudice against Denmark, R & G guess that it’s ambition. Since it sets up
Hamlet’s poetic ‘bounded in a nutshell’ (3) and ‘king of infinite space’ (260)
lines, the exchange is useful. Then they get into dreams and shadows, and
Hamlet says, in effect, let’s drop this, I can’t argue anymore.
After Hamlet induces Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to confess that they’ve come to Elsinore to spy on him, he tells
them that he’s become lackluster. Following ordinary complaints, Hamlet tells R
& G that ‘the earth seems to me a sterile promontory,’ (310) or a headland
he’s trapped on with nowhere to go. In his second contemplation of suicide in
the play, he’s thinking of jumping off the cliff.
The buildups toward exalted language are
always fun to follow. In this case, Hamlet’s speech shifts from the audience
visualizing him on a high bluff above the ocean to the roof of the Globe
Theatre: ‘this most excellent canopy,’ ‘this brave, o’erhanging firmament,’
‘this majestical roof fretted with golden fire.’ (311) The last one is
especially image-rich, driven by the ideal verb ‘fretted.’
Did you notice the ‘look you’ after
‘canopy?’ The actor playing Hamlet points to the Globe Theatre roof, now
substituting for the sky, and tells the audience to look up at the canopy
decorated with painted images of the heavens.
After lifting the audience with elevated
poetry, with effects aloft to boot, Hamlet drops them by calling all that
beauty ‘a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.’ (313)
Then, back up again with the enduring
‘What a piece of work is man!’ (315) This is yet another creation that’s become
a cliché, as in ‘he’s a piece of work.’
Other praises of man follow, only to be
demeaned again with, ‘what is this quintessence of dust?’ (319) Man delights
not me’¾(320) ‘Quintessence,’ or apotheosis, of
dust is breathtakingly imaginative in re-highlighting Hamlet’s despondency. It
also ties to ‘dust to dust’ in the Book of Common Prayer.*
*This Protestant book was written, at least in part, by Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He is the half-brother
of Queen Elizabeth I, successor
to Edward upon his death at 16, and daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Keep in mind that Hamlet is played at court
before Elizabeth’s death in 1603. She is the last Tudor ruler, and the
intellectually-gifted Queen does not miss the allusion. She knew, admired and
supported Will.
Even after her death, Will made respectful references to Queen
Elizabeth I. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2.1, first
shown in 1605, we have ‘a fair vestal throned by the West.’)
Hamlet’s mood is not symptomatic of melancholy; he has persuasive
reasons to be in the dumps. His beloved father dies suddenly, and his spirit
presents to tell Hamlet that his brother, Hamlet’s uncle, murdered him.
Furthermore, the uncle, who is now King, seduced and married Hamlet’s mother
within a month. Who wouldn’t be confused, bitter and bent on revenge?
Here’s the thing: within the beliefs of the times, the spirit could
be the Devil in disguise. How does Hamlet prove the spirit is telling the
truth? Suddenly he finds potential help in solving his dilemma.
(Learn more about the speeches in Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth>
http://amzn.to/2b8FW92
(Learn more about the speeches in Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth>
http://amzn.to/2b8FW92
