Act 4, Scene 3, Lines 19-35
King: Now Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Hamlet: At supper.
King: At supper where.
Hamlet: Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service- two dishes but to one table. That's the end.
King: Alas, alas!
Hamlet: A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
King: What dost thou mean by this?
Hamlet: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.
When Hamlet refuses to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where he hid Polonius's body, Claudius summons Hamlet in attempt to coax the temporary resting place out of the stubborn man. Claudius's efforts turn up futile, as Hamlet is stubborn as a mule and would rather argue semantics than divulge the information to his stepfather/ uncle. Even though this angers Claudius, Hamlet's tirade on returning to nature states that Polonius's resting place does not matter to him and he has the same apathy towards the life cycle.
Hamlet goes on to discuss how we all eat to be eaten, and he just sped up Polonius's perticular baking time. Also, the more richly we the people eat, the more richly the decomposers dine, although it does not matter how well we eat because we will all one day become someone else's food. We "we fat ourselves for maggots" (line 25), or consume to be consumed, which does not have much of a purpose in Hamlet's point of view. We as a human race tend to ignore this endless cycle, wanting to forget that no matter how we live our lives, we will all be on the same level when we die; we will all become "dishes but to one table" (line 29) and provide similar sustenance to those who feast on flesh.
Hamlet debates the food cycle as a way to circumvent the subject of where Polonius's body lies. It's not that he does not remember where the body is, it's the principle of witholding the information from Claudius. Hamlet wants to get at Claudius in any way possible, and enjoys how much this bothers Claudius. Talking circles is a way to get out of blatantly refusing to share the location, as well as a way to insult Polonius's intelligence.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
A Method to her Madness
Ophelia: There's rosemary, that's for remembrance.
Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,
that's for thoughts.
Laertes: A document in madness: thoughts and remembrance fitted.
Ophelia: There's fennel for you, and columbines.
There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we
may call it herb-of-grace o' Sundays. You <must> wear
your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would
give you violets, but they withered all when
my father died. They say he made a good end.
(4.5.199-209)
Ophelia seems to have been dealt a poor hand, given Hamlet's hit and run approach to their relationship and his killing of her father. When she finally breaks down, after her father's death, that is, she takes to singing as a form of expression. The songs she sing hold much meaning, as she sings largely of death and loss of innocence. Similarly, the flowers she hands out supposedly to Claudius and Gertrude have deeper meaning as well.
The first herb she gifts is rosemary. Rosemary, she claims, is for "remembrance." The herb has another important connotation, however. Rosemary is often used to symbolize marriage and fidelity. Obviously, this herb is not going to Claudius or Gertrude. Most likely, it is being handed to Laertes (for remembrance of Polonius) or is intended to convey a message to an absent Hamlet of her love (and his lack thereof). She then moves on to pansies, "for thoughts." The word pansy was derived from a French word literally meaning "thought" and has been used traditionally for remembrance as well. These pansies are also probably given to Laertes due to her previous choice of rosemary, but because of the more vague connotation, she could be giving them to anyone present.
After a quick interjection by Laertes, Ophelia moves on to handing out fennel and columbines. Both of these herbs have negative connotations. Fennel is associated with infidelity, but it is also associated with blandishment. With the fennel, she gives concubine: a flower also associated with adultery and deception. Ophelia presumably gifted these to either Claudius of Gertrude, due to their quick and unseemly union. They could, however, also be a representation of Hamlet's faithlessness to her.
Rue is the next herb Ophelia mentions, and though it is occasionally associated with adultery, it's strongest and most common connotation is that of regret. Rue symbolizes remorse, which is why it is likely handed to Claudius, due to his regret of murdering King Hamlet and taking the throne. It also symbolizes a powerful and lingering sorrow, one that Claudius may never escape for his sins. Ophelia takes some rue for herself as well, but claims Claudius must wear his rue "with a difference." Ophelia is probably wearing rue in regret for the death of her father or of her relationship with Hamlet. This would explain Claudius's difference in wearing the rue, as her motive for gifting it is different. Ophelia also gives a daisy, symbolizing her innocence.
Lastly, Ophelia mentions violets. Of these, however, she has none to give. She claims they "wilted all" at her father's death. Violets, representing faithfulness, also symbolize love and modesty. These virtues faded, at least in the life of Ophelia, at the death of her father. These flowers all have heavy implications to Ophelia, and they are more than likely meant to convey these messages when looking at the circumstance. There is, to pull on an old saying, a method to her madness.
Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,
that's for thoughts.
Laertes: A document in madness: thoughts and remembrance fitted.
Ophelia: There's fennel for you, and columbines.
There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we
may call it herb-of-grace o' Sundays. You <must> wear
your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would
give you violets, but they withered all when
my father died. They say he made a good end.
(4.5.199-209)
Ophelia seems to have been dealt a poor hand, given Hamlet's hit and run approach to their relationship and his killing of her father. When she finally breaks down, after her father's death, that is, she takes to singing as a form of expression. The songs she sing hold much meaning, as she sings largely of death and loss of innocence. Similarly, the flowers she hands out supposedly to Claudius and Gertrude have deeper meaning as well.
The first herb she gifts is rosemary. Rosemary, she claims, is for "remembrance." The herb has another important connotation, however. Rosemary is often used to symbolize marriage and fidelity. Obviously, this herb is not going to Claudius or Gertrude. Most likely, it is being handed to Laertes (for remembrance of Polonius) or is intended to convey a message to an absent Hamlet of her love (and his lack thereof). She then moves on to pansies, "for thoughts." The word pansy was derived from a French word literally meaning "thought" and has been used traditionally for remembrance as well. These pansies are also probably given to Laertes due to her previous choice of rosemary, but because of the more vague connotation, she could be giving them to anyone present.
After a quick interjection by Laertes, Ophelia moves on to handing out fennel and columbines. Both of these herbs have negative connotations. Fennel is associated with infidelity, but it is also associated with blandishment. With the fennel, she gives concubine: a flower also associated with adultery and deception. Ophelia presumably gifted these to either Claudius of Gertrude, due to their quick and unseemly union. They could, however, also be a representation of Hamlet's faithlessness to her.
Rue is the next herb Ophelia mentions, and though it is occasionally associated with adultery, it's strongest and most common connotation is that of regret. Rue symbolizes remorse, which is why it is likely handed to Claudius, due to his regret of murdering King Hamlet and taking the throne. It also symbolizes a powerful and lingering sorrow, one that Claudius may never escape for his sins. Ophelia takes some rue for herself as well, but claims Claudius must wear his rue "with a difference." Ophelia is probably wearing rue in regret for the death of her father or of her relationship with Hamlet. This would explain Claudius's difference in wearing the rue, as her motive for gifting it is different. Ophelia also gives a daisy, symbolizing her innocence.
Lastly, Ophelia mentions violets. Of these, however, she has none to give. She claims they "wilted all" at her father's death. Violets, representing faithfulness, also symbolize love and modesty. These virtues faded, at least in the life of Ophelia, at the death of her father. These flowers all have heavy implications to Ophelia, and they are more than likely meant to convey these messages when looking at the circumstance. There is, to pull on an old saying, a method to her madness.
Food for Worms and Maggots
“Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service--two dishes but to one table. That’s the end.” -page 197
In this passage, Hamlet is telling his uncle where Polonius’ body is, in the morbid and convoluted way that we have all come to expect of him. Although all those around him believe that he is insane, these words are actually very wise, and they express two things very clearly: what little power Claudius actually possesses, and what little worth Hamlet sees in life and humanity.
The latter part is obvious: Hamlet believes that all creatures are equal, in that they will all one day be eaten by worms and maggots. “That’s the end” suggests that there is no heaven or hell, only this macabre feast. The fact that worms are mentioned as the “only emperor[s]” brings this point further and alludes that humanity has been put on this planet for one reason, and that is to provide food for worms and maggots.
Why say this to his uncle, instead of to any other character? Simple: Claudius is the definition of a fat king. He eats, drinks, and lives in excess, and he shows little remorse for what he did to be able to do that. He is satisfied with himself, but Hamlet knows better. In the end, according to him, all of his uncle’s power and prestige will be worth nothing but food. As much work as the king may put into feeding “all creatures” for the purpose of feeding himself, he is only feeding maggots. His life, like everyone else’s (in Hamlet’s mind), is practically worthless, and his nephew would never miss an opportunity to remind him, while also revealing his dark worldview a little more clearly.
A Brother's Love
LAERTES:
O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
Ophelia has clearly been through an immense amount of stress lately. First, her father forbids her to see the man she loves basically because he says she's not "worthy". Then Hamlet is cruel to her, claims he never loved her, and kills her father. On top of that, her brother has left her and her father is not buried with the proper ceremony. Ophelia pretty much cracks under all the stress from all the terrible things that have happened to her lately. Also, from the previous scenes between Ophelia, Laertes, and Polonius, the audience gets a clear idea of how controlling Polonius and Laertes are of Ophelia. They basically talk down to her and treat her as a child who is incapable of making her own decisions. However, despite all this, it is made pretty clear that Laertes really does care about his sister and her well-being.
Laertes comes back to Denmark upon hearing the news of his father's death. As soon as he sees Ophelia in her current state of madness, he becomes very upset and laments the loss of her wits. He wishes that the heat would "dry up [his] brains" and that the salt of his tears would burn sense out of his eyes. He then vows to get revenge for her by saying "thy madness shall be paid by weight". He plans on killing whoever killed his father to get revenge not only for Polonius, but also for Ophelia, since she has gone mad as a consequence of his death. He continues to refer to her tenderly and talks about how moving her madness is.
Laertes also comments on the mortality of Ophelia's wits, saying that they were "as mortal as an old man's life". He is basically calling her fragile and weak as an old man. Then he also says that nature deals with love in strange ways. He claims that when something someone loves dies, nature will send "some precious instance of itself after the thing it loves". This means that he is claiming that nature took Ophelia's sanity and sent it away with Polonius because she loved him.
This speech as well as Laertes's reactions to Ophelia prove that he really did care about her and tried to do what he thought was right for her. Laertes does try to control Ophelia and tell her what to do. However, he is nothing but kind to her and laments at her madness. He had good intentions, but he went about executing them wrong.
O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
Ophelia has clearly been through an immense amount of stress lately. First, her father forbids her to see the man she loves basically because he says she's not "worthy". Then Hamlet is cruel to her, claims he never loved her, and kills her father. On top of that, her brother has left her and her father is not buried with the proper ceremony. Ophelia pretty much cracks under all the stress from all the terrible things that have happened to her lately. Also, from the previous scenes between Ophelia, Laertes, and Polonius, the audience gets a clear idea of how controlling Polonius and Laertes are of Ophelia. They basically talk down to her and treat her as a child who is incapable of making her own decisions. However, despite all this, it is made pretty clear that Laertes really does care about his sister and her well-being.
Laertes comes back to Denmark upon hearing the news of his father's death. As soon as he sees Ophelia in her current state of madness, he becomes very upset and laments the loss of her wits. He wishes that the heat would "dry up [his] brains" and that the salt of his tears would burn sense out of his eyes. He then vows to get revenge for her by saying "thy madness shall be paid by weight". He plans on killing whoever killed his father to get revenge not only for Polonius, but also for Ophelia, since she has gone mad as a consequence of his death. He continues to refer to her tenderly and talks about how moving her madness is.
Laertes also comments on the mortality of Ophelia's wits, saying that they were "as mortal as an old man's life". He is basically calling her fragile and weak as an old man. Then he also says that nature deals with love in strange ways. He claims that when something someone loves dies, nature will send "some precious instance of itself after the thing it loves". This means that he is claiming that nature took Ophelia's sanity and sent it away with Polonius because she loved him.
This speech as well as Laertes's reactions to Ophelia prove that he really did care about her and tried to do what he thought was right for her. Laertes does try to control Ophelia and tell her what to do. However, he is nothing but kind to her and laments at her madness. He had good intentions, but he went about executing them wrong.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
You Know, If You Really Loved Me
“Claudius: Not that I think you did not love your father
But that I know love is begun by time,
And that I see, in passages of proof,
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it.
And nothing is at a like goodness still.
For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do,
We should do when we would, for this “would” changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents.
And then this “should” is like a spendthrift sigh
That hurts by easing.—But to the quick of th' ulcer:
Hamlet comes back. What would you undertake
To show yourself in deed your father’s son
More than in words?
Laertes: To cut his throat i' th' church.”
Page 231
With death being a constant figure in Hamlet, it would make sense that mourning would shadow behind it. In this passage, Claudius takes advantage of Laertes’s grievance as persuasion to work with him against Hamlet. We also see a return of the son being expected to revenge his father and kill his father’s murder. The King’s sudden change in view on the proper duration for mourning shows his manipulative character and his lack of true empathy toward others.
In the beginning of the play, Claudius gave an entire speech to Hamlet about how death happens to everyone and at some point you are expected to move on. He complained that Hamlet was grieving too much and that it seemed childish and immature. However, suddenly now when Laertes’s sadness could prove beneficial, Claudius begins talking about how Laertes’s seems to recover too quickly from his father’s death and isn’t showing true love or sympathy to him. He uses a metaphor of candles with “There lives within the very flame of love a kind of wick or snuff that will abate it.” Using a candle makes his love seem fragile to begin with, as they can extinguish with a small breeze rather than comparing it to a large fire as love sometimes is. Then he goes on to say that time could be the cause of its extinguish, as if that is a crime rather than a good thing as he had been preaching to Hamlet. Claudius also begins his statement with “Not that I think you did not love your father” which implies that he thinks the opposite. He then antagonizes Laertes by saying he doesn’t have the courage to defend his father’s memory with “show yourself in deed your father’s son more than in words?” All of his statements are carefully worded to manipulate Laertes’s into getting angry at Hamlet and acting out his own revenge.
Claudius displays his lack of empathy through his careless use of other people’s emotions and his inability to properly mourn. Though I’m sure Claudius might have found him annoying, Polonius was close with him in some ways. However, at the time of his death, he is not expressing any mourning at all. Instead, he uses Polonius’s death to his advantage. He shows no remorse in abusing Polonius’s memory by warping his son’s grievance into a weapon. Claudius also doesn’t believe in what he is telling Laertes, as shown by his contradictory speech to Hamlet. He doesn’t truly think that a person needs to mourn death very long. Other people’s emotions are a viewed as a tool by Claudius rather than something to sympathize with.
In plotting Hamlet’s murder, Claudius reveals his manipulativeness and heartlessness. He shows that he does not grieve and is willing to use sensitive topics like a father’s death to convince people to work with him. He uses specific wording to goad Laertes in a way that would make it seem that he is dishonoring his father’s memory if he doesn’t help him. Through his ability to argue the complete opposite of what he told Hamlet , and in doing so using people’s emotions in a way others would avoid, Claudius shows that his character is even more corrupt than previously thought.
Where's the Body?
Act 4. Scene 2. Lines 5-21
"ROSENCRANTZ: What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?
HAMLET: (Compounded) it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.
ROSENCRANTZ: Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence And bear it to the chapel.
HAMLET: Do not believe it.
ROSENCRANTZ: Believe what?
HAMLET: That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king?
ROSENCRANTZ: Take you me for a sponge, my lord?
HAMLET: Ay, sir, that soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps them like (an ape) an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. "
Prior to this passage, Hamlet has accidentally killed Polonius because he thought it was Claudius and he felt he had to kill Polonius to avenge his father's death. In this passage, Hamlet is being somewhat stubborn and selfish because he won't reveal to Rosencrantz where he has placed Polonius's dead body. He is very cryptic in his responses to Rosencrantz when he is asked questions regarding the body and takes a turn in his responses by criticizing Rosencrantz. This passage reveals how Hamlet actually feels towards Rosencrantz, an old school friend of his, while demonstrating his stubborn tendencies and deep analysis of life as he knows and views it in his rather cynical mind.
This passage begins with Rosencrantz asking Hamlet where the body is and Hamlet replying with a short remark essentially saying its been hidden and dirtied with dust and will not be found. Rosencrantz then insists again that Hamlet reveal where the body is so that it can be brought to the church and Polonius can have a proper funeral. However, Hamlet will simply not comply to these requests. At this time, Hamlet begins to lash out at Rosencrantz for being such a fool and doing exactly as Claudius tells him. He starts by cautioning Rosencrantz to not believe he will tell him his secrets if Rosencrantz himself won't reveal some of his own. Hamlet follows this up by calling him a "sponge" because he "soaks up the King's countenance" and obeys the King like a dog. Hamlet finishes up this statement by explaining to Rosencrantz that eventually, when Claudius has gotten all he desires out of him, "[he] shall be dry again," implying that the "liquid" he absorbs while being a sponge to Claudius will eventually run out and he will have nothing left.
Hamlet simply will not accept Rosencrantz trying to be kind and pleasant to him because he knows that all Rosencrantz is trying to do is whatever the King has asked of him. Since Hamlet despises Claudius and all he stands for, he begins to despise Rosencrantz during this conversation just as much. Hamlet loses his respect for his old friend and begins to see just how twisted the people in his life are. These passage leads directly to the later on occurrence in which Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be killed in England instead of himself because he has lost all respect he once had for his old friends.
"ROSENCRANTZ: What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?
HAMLET: (Compounded) it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.
ROSENCRANTZ: Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence And bear it to the chapel.
HAMLET: Do not believe it.
ROSENCRANTZ: Believe what?
HAMLET: That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king?
ROSENCRANTZ: Take you me for a sponge, my lord?
HAMLET: Ay, sir, that soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps them like (an ape) an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. "
Prior to this passage, Hamlet has accidentally killed Polonius because he thought it was Claudius and he felt he had to kill Polonius to avenge his father's death. In this passage, Hamlet is being somewhat stubborn and selfish because he won't reveal to Rosencrantz where he has placed Polonius's dead body. He is very cryptic in his responses to Rosencrantz when he is asked questions regarding the body and takes a turn in his responses by criticizing Rosencrantz. This passage reveals how Hamlet actually feels towards Rosencrantz, an old school friend of his, while demonstrating his stubborn tendencies and deep analysis of life as he knows and views it in his rather cynical mind.
This passage begins with Rosencrantz asking Hamlet where the body is and Hamlet replying with a short remark essentially saying its been hidden and dirtied with dust and will not be found. Rosencrantz then insists again that Hamlet reveal where the body is so that it can be brought to the church and Polonius can have a proper funeral. However, Hamlet will simply not comply to these requests. At this time, Hamlet begins to lash out at Rosencrantz for being such a fool and doing exactly as Claudius tells him. He starts by cautioning Rosencrantz to not believe he will tell him his secrets if Rosencrantz himself won't reveal some of his own. Hamlet follows this up by calling him a "sponge" because he "soaks up the King's countenance" and obeys the King like a dog. Hamlet finishes up this statement by explaining to Rosencrantz that eventually, when Claudius has gotten all he desires out of him, "[he] shall be dry again," implying that the "liquid" he absorbs while being a sponge to Claudius will eventually run out and he will have nothing left.
Hamlet simply will not accept Rosencrantz trying to be kind and pleasant to him because he knows that all Rosencrantz is trying to do is whatever the King has asked of him. Since Hamlet despises Claudius and all he stands for, he begins to despise Rosencrantz during this conversation just as much. Hamlet loses his respect for his old friend and begins to see just how twisted the people in his life are. These passage leads directly to the later on occurrence in which Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be killed in England instead of himself because he has lost all respect he once had for his old friends.
Monday, January 9, 2017
The Manipulator and the Manipulated
"KING:
Laertes, was your father dear to you?
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow,
A face without a heart?
LAERTES:
Why ask you this?
KING:
Not that I think you did not love your father,
But that I know love is begun by time
And that I see, in passages of proof,
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it,
And nothing is at a like goodness still;
For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do
We should do when we would; for this "would" changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
And then this "should" is like a spendthrift sigh,
That hurts by easing. But to the quick of th' ulcer:
Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake
To show yourself indeed your father's son
More than in words?
LAERTES:
To cut his throat i' th' church."
(4.7.122-144)
Among the themes that we have discussed so far in Hamlet are the relationships between father and son and the deceit employed by many of the characters. In this passage, Claudius uses both Laertes' love for his father and his own knack for emotional manipulation to his advantage. In order to use Laertes' struggles to suit his own needs, Claudius pushes Laertes into defiant grief and exaggerates the need for revenge against Hamlet.
In this passage, Claudius discusses the relationship between a person's grief and their natural inclination to let it go. He first states that he does not think that Laertes "did not love his father," but he goes on to speculate that "love is begun by time / And. . . / Time qualifies the spark and fire of it" (126-129). He is saying that love happens between two people because of how much time they spend together, and, once they are no longer spending time together, the love fades. He continues in this fashion, saying that it is only natural that Laertes' fire and outrage at the murder of Polonius will fade. "Nothing is at a like goodness still," he claims, meaning that nothing will stay at its prime forever (132).
Claudius is not saying all of this to appease or comfort Laertes; he is trying to manipulate him into taking revenge on Hamlet. By asking Laertes, "Was your father dear to you? / Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, / A face without a heart?", Claudius is luring Laertes in (122-124). He is asking him if he is truly grieving, or if he is simply putting on a show because grief is expected of him. All of his talk of the "wick or snuff that will abate" the flame of love (130-131) is to make Laertes indignant and to increase his feeling of devotion to the cause of revenge. Once Claudius finishes and casually returns to "the quick of th'ulcer" , which is him asking Laertes "what [he] would undertake / To show [himself] indeed [his] father's son / more than in words" and in relation to Hamlet (140-143). This is Claudius' purpose: to make Laertes angry and then to place in front of him the idea of revenge against Hamlet.
Laertes, for his part, falls directly into the ploy. He is already mad because of the death of his father and the madness of his sister, and Claudius asking him if he truly loves his father angers him further. He grows more and more furious as Claudius suggests that he is faking grief, or that he is going to shed his grief quickly, or that his plans of revenge "hath abatements and delays as many / As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents" (137-138). By the time Claudius asks him what he is planning on doing to get revenge on Hamlet, Laertes is so furious that he replies that he will "cut his throat i' th' church" (144). This is exactly the kind of dramatic statement of fury that Claudius was looking for.
Claudius uses Laertes' grief and anger against him, in order to get Laertes to not only swear vengeance against Hamlet, but to swear it on a dramatic scale. This plays into the theme of deceit and the theme of father-son allegiance. It also shows Claudius' character and motive, as well and Laertes' gullibility when incensed.
Laertes, was your father dear to you?
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow,
A face without a heart?
LAERTES:
Why ask you this?
KING:
Not that I think you did not love your father,
But that I know love is begun by time
And that I see, in passages of proof,
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it,
And nothing is at a like goodness still;
For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do
We should do when we would; for this "would" changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
And then this "should" is like a spendthrift sigh,
That hurts by easing. But to the quick of th' ulcer:
Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake
To show yourself indeed your father's son
More than in words?
LAERTES:
To cut his throat i' th' church."
(4.7.122-144)
Among the themes that we have discussed so far in Hamlet are the relationships between father and son and the deceit employed by many of the characters. In this passage, Claudius uses both Laertes' love for his father and his own knack for emotional manipulation to his advantage. In order to use Laertes' struggles to suit his own needs, Claudius pushes Laertes into defiant grief and exaggerates the need for revenge against Hamlet.
In this passage, Claudius discusses the relationship between a person's grief and their natural inclination to let it go. He first states that he does not think that Laertes "did not love his father," but he goes on to speculate that "love is begun by time / And. . . / Time qualifies the spark and fire of it" (126-129). He is saying that love happens between two people because of how much time they spend together, and, once they are no longer spending time together, the love fades. He continues in this fashion, saying that it is only natural that Laertes' fire and outrage at the murder of Polonius will fade. "Nothing is at a like goodness still," he claims, meaning that nothing will stay at its prime forever (132).
Claudius is not saying all of this to appease or comfort Laertes; he is trying to manipulate him into taking revenge on Hamlet. By asking Laertes, "Was your father dear to you? / Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, / A face without a heart?", Claudius is luring Laertes in (122-124). He is asking him if he is truly grieving, or if he is simply putting on a show because grief is expected of him. All of his talk of the "wick or snuff that will abate" the flame of love (130-131) is to make Laertes indignant and to increase his feeling of devotion to the cause of revenge. Once Claudius finishes and casually returns to "the quick of th'ulcer" , which is him asking Laertes "what [he] would undertake / To show [himself] indeed [his] father's son / more than in words" and in relation to Hamlet (140-143). This is Claudius' purpose: to make Laertes angry and then to place in front of him the idea of revenge against Hamlet.
Laertes, for his part, falls directly into the ploy. He is already mad because of the death of his father and the madness of his sister, and Claudius asking him if he truly loves his father angers him further. He grows more and more furious as Claudius suggests that he is faking grief, or that he is going to shed his grief quickly, or that his plans of revenge "hath abatements and delays as many / As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents" (137-138). By the time Claudius asks him what he is planning on doing to get revenge on Hamlet, Laertes is so furious that he replies that he will "cut his throat i' th' church" (144). This is exactly the kind of dramatic statement of fury that Claudius was looking for.
Claudius uses Laertes' grief and anger against him, in order to get Laertes to not only swear vengeance against Hamlet, but to swear it on a dramatic scale. This plays into the theme of deceit and the theme of father-son allegiance. It also shows Claudius' character and motive, as well and Laertes' gullibility when incensed.
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