lecture11, Shakespearean Drama

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Damascus University,Daraa Campus,

English Department

Second Year,Second Semester,

2013


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Treatment of Act 4, Scenes 5+6+7

*Ophelia has gone mad after her father’s death. We do not see how that actually happened.

What we get is the exposition from Horatio. He says, “distracted.”

We do not see that on the stage; it happens off-stage.

Why did she go mad?

Now, let us go back to the triangle:

Ophelia’s love to Hamlet was cancelled by Polonius, and now that Polonius was gone,

Ophelia is all alone. Remember the idea of love that her father planted in her head: love is

a self-destructive element.

He said love is something that “fordoes itself” = destroys itself.

Now, think of the triangle upside down.

Hamlet is gone; her father is gone -causing a pressure on Ophelia who gets crushed under

this kind of patriarchal order.

This is an environment where female characters are stifled by male characters.


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Scene 5[Elsinore. A room in the Castle]

Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE, HORATIO, and a Gentleman

QUEEN GERTRUDE

Horatio is begging the Queen to talk to Ophelia. This means the Queen has been refusing

to see her. Why?

There is no mention in the play, so it is open to our own reading:

-Razan suggests that Queen Gertrude may be feeling “ashamed” because it was Hamlet

that killed Polonius [which is the reason Gertrude thinks of as the only reason for

Ophelia’s madness].

This is a valid reading.

-Keep in mind the patriarchal order crushing females. I think Gertrude does not want to see

the image of what might happen to her personally because she got caught in the power

game between Claudius and Hamlet. She sees an example of what happens to women in a

patriarchal society.

Polonius was used as a tool by Claudius, and he got “what he deserved.”

Also, Ophelia was used as a tool, and she got “what she deserved.”

So, for Gertrude these are two examples of what happens to those who are caught in that

dangerous, political game.

The male characters in the play manipulate the female characters.

Marrying Claudius was Gertrude’s only “mistake,” if you want to call it a mistake.


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Gertrude is faced with a lot of things to look into, and to deal with Ophelia who has gone

mad is too much for her to take. She cracked under pressure.

-Lama says Gertrude was a clever character, and that we can see her in many lights.

QUEEN GERTRUDEI will not speak with her.

HORATIOShe is importunate, indeed distract:

“She has gone mad.”

QUEEN GERTRUDEWhat would she have?

“What does she want?” What does she want?!! Do we ask what a mad person wants?

You can see how Gertrude has not absorbed the idea that Ophelia’s gone mad.

HoratioShe speaks much of her father;…Her speech is nothing

“Her speech is nonsense.”

The Queen agrees to see her, and asks,

How now, Ophelia!

Ophelia answers in singing. Why?

You can say that psychologically, this is a defense mechanism: which is a mental process

to avoid experiencing conflict or anxiety.

Ophelia has gone through a lot of oppression, and she cracked under the pressure of the

patriarchal game that her father was involved in, and dragged her into.


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In her madness, she found a defense mechanism to express what is deep down in her

subconscious –which is voicing itself out through songs.

OPHELIASingsHow should I your true love knowFrom another one?

This is about Hamlet. She still loves him

She only ended things because Polonius told her to.

OPHELIASingsHe is dead and gone, lady,He is dead and gone;At his head a grass-green turf,At his heels a stone.

This is about her father, Polonius.

So, the two main reasons for Ophelia’s madness: losing Hamlet as a lover, and losing

Polonius as a father figure.

Enter KING CLAUDIUS

He tries to talk to her, but she sings nonsense.

She exits. He says,

O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springsAll from her father's death.

“All her grief originates from her father’s death.” Claudius sees one side of the coin for

Ophelia’s madness.

O Gertrude, Gertrude,When sorrows come, they come not single spiesBut in battalions.


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“When sadness comes, it does not come alone. It comes like a group of soldiers.”

This is a similar line to what you read in Dr. Faustus, “misery loves company.”

*Egocentric = is someone who is self-absorbed: a very selfish person.

*Ophelia: with all the oppression she received at the hands of the patriarchal order, she

reacted in a peaceful way. For example, in the Nunnery Scene, when Hamlet was

showering her with insults, all she did was pray to God to help him!

-There is noise in the backstage. A gentleman rushes to warn Claudius:

…young Laertes, in a riotous head,O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;They cry 'Choose we: Laertes shall be king:'

Laertes is back from France, gathered some mob, and is breaking into the court; and the

crowd with him are shouting: “we choose Laertes. He shall be king!”

Enter LAERTES, armed; Danes following

He is armed and ready to fight.

Do you see what Shakespeare is doing?

We are now heading towards the final part of the play. We are witnessing the falling

action: events are now following each other, happening fast.

LAERTESO thou vile king,Give me my father!

Vile = evil.

He uses “thou” to strip the king of any respect! There’s no more royalty in here.

He is blaming Claudius for the death of his father.


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QUEEN GERTRUDECalmly, good Laertes.

The Queen is now working as peacekeeping forces, قوات حفظ السالم

She is trying to calm Laertes down. I like this line because it shows Gertrude as a person

who can apply some kind of motherly pressure on Laertes, who has no mother. And now

she is providing a mother figure for Laertes who -even in his angry moment- listens to her.

LAERTESThat drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard,

“Any drop of blood in my body that stays calm is like a declaration that I am a bastard: is a

proof that I am unworthy of Lord Polonius as a father. If I stay calm, that is a disgrace to

me and to the memory of my father.”

KING CLAUDIUSLet him go, Gertrude;

“Let him go” means Gertrude is actually holding Laertes and stopping him from getting to

the King. Laertes could have pushed her away, but he does not. This is another sign about

Gertrude’s good influence as a mother figure on Laertes.

KING CLAUDIUSdo not fear our person:There's such divinity doth hedge a king,That treason can but peep to what it would,Acts little of his will.

“Do not be afraid for me.” Divinity from divine, .ألوھي

“As a king, I am protected by divine protection. God provides me with divine protection.”

Again, this is about the medieval idea that God appointed such kings.

LAERTES


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To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!I dare damnation.

Allegiance = loyalty to the King. “To hell with that allegiance! You’re not my king

anymore!”

Conscience = realization & deep thought.

Grace = divinity. “Also, these two can go to hell!”

Shakespeare’s establishing Laertes as a foil of Hamlet.

For Hamlet, conscience has been keeping him from taking action.

For Laertes, all that can go to hell! “I dare damnation.” “I don’t care about my afterlife. I

dare being damned in the course of taking my revenge.”

“I don’t care about the King, I don’t care about Grace, I don’t care about the after life. All I

care about is my revenge.”

We can see that Laertes’ approach to revenge is Roman, is pagan.

only I'll be revengedMost thoroughly for my father.

“My only goal is revenge.”

Claudius now starts playing his favourite game. He is spreading his web to catch Laertes:

Good Laertes,If you desire to know the certaintyOf your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,Winner and loser?


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“If you know your father’s enemies, the ones that killed him, will you treat them in the

same manner you treat his friends?”

As a politician, Claudius is very good with words. He is talking logic to Laertes.

LAERTESNone but his enemies.

“My revenge will reach his enemies only.”

KING CLAUDIUSI am guiltless of your father's death,

*Now Ophelia comes on the stage. Laertes is very sad to see his sister mad.

LAERTESO heat, dry up my brains!

“I don’t to use my head anymore.” He wants to be driven by his emotions, passion.

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!

He is idealizing her beauty and his relationship with her.

I think we agree with him: she is sweet. She does not deserve what happened to her.

O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's witsShould be as moral as an old man's life?

Wits = senses. “Is it possible that a young lady can lose her mind as an old person loses

life? How can this happen?” Rhetorical question.

*The scene ends with Claudius and Laertes agreeing to meet privately.

Claudius has caught Laertes in his web of political game, and is now going to manipulate

Laertes into killing Hamlet.

*************************************************************************


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Scene 6

There is a letter from Hamlet to the only person he trusts in the world: Horatio.

He tells Horatio that a pirate ship attacked their ship. They took him prisoner. He made

some kind of agreement with them. He did something he will tell Horatio about when he

meets him.

*************************************************************************

Scene 7Another room in the castle.

Enter KING CLAUDIUS and LAERTES

King Claudius has already told Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius, and now they are

conspiring against Hamlet.

Laertes asks Claudius why he has not taken action against Hamlet. Claudius gives two

reasons: 1- the Queen, 2- the public.

Claudius is aware of Hamlet’s importance to the people of Denmark on the one hand, and

to the Queen on the other. Hamlet’s importance is on two levels: political and personal.

*Claudius receives a letter from Hamlet that he is on his way back to Elsinore, and

Claudius is shocked! That is because when he shipped Hamlet off to England, he sent a

letter to the king of England to execute Hamlet.

His conspiracy did not work, but as an experienced politician he is now manipulating

Laertes.


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King Claudius is at the helm of power and is aware of the ins and outs of the politics in

Elsinore.

*They agree on a fencing match. Claudius is playing with Laertes’ head. He is a master in

manipulating people like a puppet master. He is using everybody around him for his own

political advantage. Now, he added Laertes to his puppet show! He asks him:

Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake,To show yourself your father's son in deedMore than in words?

“You have been angry and shouting, so what would you really do? How far are you willing

to go to prove yourself as your father’s son, to honour the memory of your father?”

LAERTESTo cut his throat i' the church.

“I am ready to kill him inside the church.”

*Think of Shakespeare’s audience reacting to this line.

Laertes is acting in a Roman way that shows no respect to a holy place: the church, as an

icon of Christianity.

-From Laertes’ line, you can see that Claudius succeeded in adding Laertes to his puppet

show. That tells you how much experienced Claudius is in political intrigue: secret and

illegal acts. That is Claudius’ field of experience.

LAERTESI will do't:And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword.

“I’ll poison the tip of my sword,” so that any wound that Hamlet receives will be fatal.


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KING CLAUDIUSI'll have prepared himA chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping,If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck,Our purpose may hold there.

He is going to poison Hamlet’s drink to increase the possibility of killing Hamlet in that

fencing match.

*The Queen comes on the stage bringing the news that Ophelia is dead.

She says,

One woe doth tread upon another's heel,So fast they follow; your sister's drown'd, Laertes.

Same idea as : Misery loves company.

“One sadness follows the other very quickly.”

lecture11, Shakespearean Drama

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