Why Him?: The Hit New Comedy, Starring Hamlet and Fortinbras

“I cannot live to hear the news from England. But I do prophesy th’ election lights on Fortinbras; he has my dying voice. So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less, which have solicited--the rest is silence.” -page 283

When I first read this passage, I was confused--why would Hamlet want Fortinbras to lead his country? The two characters have never met, and Fortinbras has been leading a military charge on Denmark for the entire play. Why, then, suddenly make him king? It makes no sense, but then again, neither does Hamlet, most of the time.

The first thing worth noting is that Hamlet really doesn’t care about the state of Denmark. He thinks it an awful prison, and, although he has been a man for some time, he has no desire to rise to the throne. Furthermore, he finds the people involved in government (namely Polonius) are stupid and weak-spined. In this respect, it does make sense that he would assign someone so seemingly inept for the job.

However, there is more to it than that. We do have one scene where Hamlet encounters the captain of Fortinbras’ army, and it inspires him to further his plans. There is, therefore, some admiration for Fortinbras within Hamlet. However, I feel it is more than that. I keep coming back to “tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less, which have solicited--the rest is silence”. The occurrents, of course, are violent. Awful things have happened since Hamlet’s father died; many others died, a war raged on outside, and betrayals were rampant within the castle walls. And then “the rest is silence”: clearly, Hamlet is disgusted by all that has happened, just as much as the people around him appeared to be disgusted with him. His choice, then, makes perfect sense: he has chosen someone who has been far removed from all that has happened, someone who will not make choices biased by anything that has occurred. Someone like Fortinbras.

Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

Hamlet:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of
Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole?
Horatio:
'Twere to consider too curiously to consider
so.
Hamlet:
  No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither,
  with modesty enough and likelihood to lead it, <as
  thus:> Alexander died, Alexander was buried,
  Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth
  we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he
  was converted might they not stop a beer barrel?
Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
O, that that earth which kept the world in awe
Should patch a wall t' expel the <winter's> flaw!

    Death is constantly on Hamlet's mind. Be it in a good light, such as when he is fantasizing about suicide, or a bad light, such as thinking about his father's death: it is always there. Here, Hamlet discusses the degradation of corpses and their reintegration into the environment. This is something Hamlet has been preoccupied with before, and it is similar to philosophy employed by existentialist writers. He has mentioned previously to Claudius that kings will become worm food, just as everyone else. Here he uses rulers as examples as well, albeit rulers more famous that Claudius or King Hamlet.
    Hamlet starts by chronicling the processes of dying and decomposing. He previously made a statement about Alexander the Great "stopping a bunghole," so he now goes on to explain how Alexander got there. First, he dies, then is buried, and he "returneth to dust;" at this point, Alexander is completely decomposed. As Hamlet sees it, this dust is earth, and it can be put to any use, such as a stop in a beer barrel.
    Next, Hamlet discusses the case of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. He claims that Caesar is "dead and turned to clay," which might be used to patch a hole in a home, to keep the wind out. He then adds some emotion to his explanation. He cries out, cursing the irony of Caesar's once great position being shifted to a patch in a wall.
    This passage is incredibly similar to existentialist writings. First, Hamlet muses about death and its implications. Thinking about death or nothingness is commonly found in existentialist writings. The passage ends with Hamlet crying out to the universe or God, presumably, about the cruel irony of this process. If it only it were raining and he were on his knees, this passage would all-the-more recognizable to the modern film fanatic.

Who Dis?

Act 5, Scene 1, lines 100-119

Hamlet:  There's another.  Why may not that be the
skull of a lawyer?  Where be his quiddities now, his
quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?  Why
does he suffer this mad knave now to knock him
about the sconce with a dirty shovel and will not tell
him of his action of battery?  Hum, this fellow might
be in 's time a great buyer of land, with his statutes,
his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers,
his recoveries.  <Is this the fine of his fines and the
recovery of his recoveries,> to have his fine pate full
of fine dirt?  Will <his> wouchers vouch him no more
of his purchases, and <double ones too,> than the
length and breadth of a pair of indentures?  The very
conveyances of his lands will scarcely lie in this box,
and must th' inheritor himself have no more, ha?

Horatio:  Not a jot more, my lord.

Hamlet:  Is not parchment made of sheepskins?

Horatio:  Ay, my lord, and of calves' skins too.

Hamlet:  They are sheep and calves which seek out
assurance in that.



Hamlet contemplates who this skull belonged to in another life, thinking that it could have plausibly belonged to a lawyer or a land owner.  This may have very well been the case, but more likely it was someone of lesser importance, someone like a chef, a farmer, or a laborer.  The skull could have belonged to anyone, and Hamlet knows this.  He contemplates the futility of the lawyer or land owner's actions during their lifetime; that whether or not their decisions and behavior affected the world in any way past their passing.  Hamlet does not quite come up with a concrete answer, but he does hint that the skull's actions mean nothing now that the person once living inside it is dead.

A person may have been someone important in the law or the land, but both return to the earth at some point.  Once again, their actions during their lifetime may or may not still hold significance now that they are six feet under.  The possible lawyer is without "his quiddities now, his quillities" (lines 101-102) and the land owner without "his fines, his double vouchers" (line 107), leaving them with nothing but worms and dirt.  Everyone ends up this way, and what they leave behind may or may not stick in the world.  It all depends on how useful their legacy is to the living.

Humans serve another purpose after death, just like all living beings.  While the purpose each creature serves is slightly different, all dead things may be used in some way or another by a different, living creature.  Humans provide meal for worms and insects to decompose and return to soil.  Humans use dead animals as food, clothing, and stationary.  Hamlet and Horatio comment on the use of sheep and calf skin, from deceased animals, for parchment.  We all ultimately serve an ulterior purpose to that of when we were alive.

But That Was the Old Me

“Hamlet: Give me your pardon, sir. I’ve done you wrong.

But pardon ’t, as you are a gentleman.

This presence knows,

And you must needs have heard, how I am punished

With sore distraction. What I have done,

That might your nature, honor, and exception

Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.

Was ’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.

If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,

And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,

Then Hamlet does it not. Hamlet denies it.

Who does it, then? His madness. If’t be so,

Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged.

His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.

Sir, in this audience,

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house

And hurt my brother.”

Page 273

Hamlet has not been showing any regret or second thoughts on how his actions are affecting others. His only focus, as he promised to the ghost of his father, is to seek revenge. In doing so, he has not paid attention to any of the repercussions of his acting mad. He murdered Polonius, and consequently influenced Ophelia’s suicide. When confronted with how his actions have caused harm, he blames his madness, something he created. Hamlet’s instinct to blame something other than himself and use of madness as a scapegoat for his behavior reveal Hamlet’s immaturity and apathy toward anything that doesn’t immediately impact him.

For the first time since murdering Polonius and having just heard of Ophelia’s death, Hamlet is now addressing Laertes. Rather than be apologetic, Hamlet acts as if he has done nothing wrong. Instead, he personifies his madness and blames it. He continues that act of madness by repeating himself as if lamenting his actions, but instead it seems as if he is making light of his actions. He even goes so far as to say that his actions hurt him as much as if he had “shot mine arrow o'er the house And hurt my brother.” which is ironic as he had been with Ophelia, who was Laertes’s sister.

Hamlet never gave reasoning before acting mad. He was confronted by his father’s ghost, and then Ophelia reported that he was acting strangely. His act had allowed him to get away with things before, such as his outburst at Ophelia. Up until now, he had never stated that his madness had caused him to act a certain way. It could be that his madness was at first fear of seeing his father’s ghost, but after realising that it allowed him to get away with otherwise inexcusable actions, he continued the disguise. Now he seems to give up the act and say that his actions were not actions performed by Hamlet but performed by his madness. This response is well crafted, as Hamlet has noticed others creating similar conclusions to describe Hamlet’s behavior.

When put in a situation where Hamlet should be humble and apologetic for causing the death of half of Laertes’s family, Hamlet instead shoves the blame on a mental illness created by himself and shows no regret, instead trying to make himself out as the victim. He noticed how others reacted to his madness, and used this to fabricate reasoning for his outbursts. Hamlet demonstrates an inability to act responsibly or display empathy to those he has wronged.

This Skull Could Sing Once

page 243
scene 1 lines 76-82

Hamlet:

"That skull had a tongue in it and could sing
once. How the knave jowls it to the ground as if
'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder!
This might be the pate of a politician which this ass
now o'erraches, one that would circumvent God,
might it not?"

The context surrounding this passage is incredibly important. This is the scene where Hamlet and Horatio wander into the graveyard and the Gravedigger is singing while he goes about his job. Hamlet finds this offensive and heartless. This passage stems from him feeling as if the Gravedigger is disrespecting the lives of the skulls because every skull was someone at some point.

In this passage Hamlet is extremely unhappy with the Gravedigger and the way he conducts business. Hamlet mocks the singing Gravedigger by saying "that skull had a tongue in it and could sing once". This is Hamlet implying that the skull could do what the Gravedigger is doing when it was alive. Hamlet calls the Gravedigger a "knave", which is a dishonest or unscrupulous man. That shows how unimpressed Hamlet is with him. Hamlet describes the Gravedigger's action of putting the skull in the grave as "jowls" or dashing it. A "pate" is a person's head. He says of the skull that it might have been a "politician". Hamlet is taking guesses of who the dead body was when it was alive and he is trying to point out that it could have been anyone for all he knows. He calls the Gravedigger an "ass" which highlights his utter disgust with the worker. He says that the  "ass now o'erraches", or gets the better of, the "politician". Hamlet is really not pleased that the Gravedigger is taking advantage of the dead by disrespecting them.

Hamlet references God twice in this short passage. He alludes to the Bible and says that the Gravedigger is handling the skull "as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder. The story of Cain and Abel is also known as the first murder because in the Bible it is the first recording of a human killing a fellow human. Cain kills his brother Abel out of jealousy and God punishes him by making the soil that Cain has to yield no crops. He also marks Cain so that no one can kill Cain for killing his brother. When Hamlet references this, he is saying that the Gravedigger treats the skull with extreme disregard and disgust because any moral person would not treat Cain, a murderer, well. The second time God is referenced is when Hamlet says "one that would circumvent God". Hamlet is trying to say that this dead person could have been a smart enough politician to outwit God and the Gravedigger still treats it with carelessness.

This passage shows that Hamlet actually values human life. He is upset with the way the Gravedigger handles dead people because their lives could have mattered before. He speculates on who the skull could have been before. It could have been anyone and thus deserves respect.

Forgiveness or Fear of Hell?

LAERTES

It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain;
No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom'd: the foul practise
Hath turn'd itself on me lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd:
I can no more: the king, the king's to blame....

HAMLET

Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
KING CLAUDIUS dies

LAERTES

He is justly served;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me. (Act V, Scene II)

     The final scene of Hamlet is very intense and involves many sudden deaths and changes of heart. Laertes knew about the whole plan and was going along with it until he was stabbed with the poisoned blade and was dying along with Hamlet. Laertes seems to have a change of heart when the queen drinks poison meant for Hamlet and is killed by mistake. After mortally wounding Hamlet, he tells him "thou art slain," and warns him that he has "not a half hour of life" left. Laertes says that the blade had "turned itself on [him]" and suggests that his death is a type of karma. However, he is very quick to put all the blame for Gertrude's and Hamlet's deaths completely on Claudius.
     Laertes is very quick to say that "the king's to blame," even though he himself had a large part in creating the plan. He even insisted that he wanted to be the one to kill Hamlet. When he actually does kill Hamlet and he himself is mortally wounded, he blames Claudius and immediately asks for Hamlet's forgiveness. The sudden and complete change of heart makes the audience wonder if his request for forgiveness is genuine or if he is simply trying to confess his sins and avoid going to Hell. Of course, when Hamlet hears that Claudius is to blame, he is enraged and kills him. Laertes responds by saying "he is justly served," which is really ironic because he was just helping Claudius plan to kill Hamlet only a couple scenes ago. Damn, Laertes, I'm getting whip-lash from how quickly you're changing your mind about things.
     Perhaps Laertes does genuinely feel guilty about what he has done to Hamlet. He begs for forgiveness and his last words are to say "mine and my father's death come not upon thee, nor thine on me". Since the theme of the afterlife is very prevalent in this play, it makes a lot of sense that Laertes would be concerned about the fate of his soul after dying. This seems like a sort of last-ditch effort to save his soul before he dies. Hamlet responds "heaven make thee free of it," as a final way to forgive Laertes.



"Good night, sweet prince"

Hamlet's Death

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.