Act 5. Scene 2. 364-384
"HAMLET: Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee. ---
I am dead, Horatio. ---Wretched queen, adieu. ---
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time (as this fell sergeant, Death,
Is strict in his arrest), O, I could tell you ---
But let it be. --- Horatio, I am dead.
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
HORATIO: Never believe it.
I am more antique Roman than a Dane.
Here's yet some liquor left.
HAMLET: Give me the cup. Let go! By heaven, I'll ha't.
O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!
If tho didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity awhile
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story."
While slowing dying, Hamlet had some final words that were unique and poignant. In this piece of the play, Hamlet is fencing Laertes and both have been wounded and are dying. While the fencing is taking place, poisoning of beverages has taken place and the Queen is also dying. With all of this sudden fatality, Shakespeare's final scene of his play becomes a scene of last words and thoughts on life and everyone in it.
This passage begins with Hamlet addressing Laertes, who just died. He states, "heaven make thee free of it," meaning that God will not hold Laertes accountable to his actions against Hamlet since they were misguided and forced on him by Claudius. Hamlet then states that he will be joining Laertes soon in heaven. The next interesting line that comes from Hamlet is, "wretched queen, adieu". With this line, it is clear that Hamlet has absolutely no respect left for his mother as she dies as well. Hamlet goes on by alluding to the idea that death is cutting his life short and he wishes he could tell the bystanders of what he had hoped to accomplish but knows that he will not have the time. Hamlet then looks to Horatio and tells him to keep his story alive and tell everyone everything that he didn't have the chance to. In response to Hamlet while his death is quickly approaching, Horatio cautions him to "never believe it," as in he should not think in such a pessimistic and upsetting manner. He then offers Hamlet the rest of the poisoned liquor in the goblet in hopes that death will come quicker and end his suffering. Hamlet is quick to shout, "Give me the cup!", and plead Horatio for his mercy and understanding. He continues to say that the confusion and unfinished business he is to "leave behind [him]," will tarnish his reputation in some ways. Hamlet's last pleading wish to Horatio in this passage is for him to stay alive and "tell [his] story," hoping that he won't have to die with a tarnished reputation and telling Horatio that "if tho didst ever hold me in thy heart," he would fulfill this final request for his dear friend, Hamlet.
This passage reveals a lot about Hamlet and his true feelings towards his peers and his life in general. He reveals that he still and always will detest his mother for her choice to marry her husband's murderer and brother, Claudius. He also reveals that he does genuinely care about his reputation and doesn't want to die with people having a tarnished view on him. Hamlet also comes to a sort of truce with Laertes before he dies and demonstrates his deep care for his friendship with Horatio. Hamlet expresses a lot of emotions throughout this play, however, in his last dying moments, he exposes the most about his true feelings than ever before.
This is an interesting blog post. I like how in the first paragraph you identified the mood of the passage and then went on, in the body paragraphs, to describe how this mood characterized the scene. The tone you use is serious but includes just the right amount of playful phrases such as "poisoning of beverages has taken place". Nice job !
ReplyDeleteI like how you start off your post with context and plot, it helps set up the rest of your post. Every quotation you use, you analyze and explain. "This means" is a perfect way to make it clear you understand what the characters are trying to say. You have a lot of analyzing and do it well. Your structure is good, the middle paragraph maybe could have been split up a bit. I really like how you end with what it reveals about Hamlet, you gave me some characterization. Well done post :)
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