Scene 4 Act 4 Hamlet
Carin Mita
Look closely at the structure of this act. Act 4 has six scenes; what effect does this have on the drama? How might this affect the pace of the story and why would Shakespeare want to create that pace?
So why, instead, did I spend the eight minutes of that scene (self-embarrassment alert) crying? Why did it take a third party to make me even vaguely aware of the potential forced artifice of that premise? Why, now aware of that possibility, did I just watch it again, on a freezing morning in a furnished shed that has not sufficiently warmed up, and have the same exact reaction as the first time around?
Notice that Fortinbras immediately acts when confronted with death and tragedy. Fortinbras acts as a foil to Hamelt's character. Fortinbras is also the son of a murdered king and deceitful uncle. However, while Hamlet was stuck in indecision and melancholy, Fortinbras reclaimed his right to the throne. Fortinbras represents action, while Hamlet represents inaction. For this reason, Fortinbras is able to restore order to Hamlet's kingdom and bring about the redemptive ending to this tragedy.
While Horatio cautions Hamlet not to fight Laertes when the King so obviously wants him dead, Hamlet uses these lines to dismiss Horatio's worries and accept the challenge anyway. He declares that omens mean nothing to him and that God will decide his fate. This is the final change in Hamlet's character. Whereas at the beginning of the play Hamlet might have over thought this decision and weighed the options through a psychoanalytic soliloquy, here he recognizes his fate is out of his hands and accepts it for whatever it might be.
Horatio wants everything to be cleared up quickly so that order can be restored before there's more bloodshed. In some ways, Horatio feels that this is a performance where they must go through the motions until Fortinbras has been installed as king and everyone is satisfied. Royal succession was a very formal process, so it's not surprising that he thinks of it as a performance.
In this context, the "sight" means the horror of the battle or the scene of the crime, not "sights" as in tourist attractions or forms of entertainment. Remember that Fortinbras had recently stopped in at the castle on his way to Poland and that there was no indication then of something going wrong. His question isn't born so much of disbelief as surprise (and, perhaps, self-interest).
Notice that of all the characters in the play, only Gertrude and Horatio think of Hamlet as lovable or sweet. All of his so-called "friends" have abandoned him, and everyone in the castle thinks of him as mad, and yet, both Gertrude and Horatio are willing to forgive him. This is a testament both to the strength of those bonds and to Hamlet's essential goodness: he didn't want to be a killer; it was just the situation.
"Occurents" meaning occurrences or events. Hamlet wants Fortinbras in particular to know of what happened because it seems most likely, given the power vacuum, that Fortinbras will now make a play for the Danish throne and take over the castle. Hamlet wants the new king to think well of him, which suggests that, though he hated Claudius, he still has great respect for the throne.
"Felicity" meaning happiness or joy. Hamlet wants Horatio to give up on his own happiness for a while in order to tell Hamlet's story. This is the second time he has asked, and it's beginning to feel unlikely that anyone will truly understand what has happened. If Horatio doesn't explain it to the others, the truth of King Hamlet's murder will never be known, and Hamlet will forever be remembered as a mad prince.
Hamlet and Horatio struggle over the poisoned cup, from which the latter has attempted to drink in order to avoid the aftermath of this scene. Hamlet appeals to Horatio's sense of honor and masculinity, saying, "As thou art a man," as if to say a real man would give him the cup. Hamlet's adherence to gender norms should be understood as a product of the times and as a kind of sexism that every single male character almost certainly espoused.
A woodcock is a migratory bird known for its large eyes and long bill. In literature, writers often play on the fact that the woodcock can be easy to snare, as Shakespeare does when Laertes has been caught in his own "springe" or trap. In this scene, bird metaphors have been used to indicate that a character is foolish, and Laertes is no exception.
Typically, the word "wanton" refers to someone undisciplined, unruly, unscrupulous, and, at times, overly lustful and sexual. In this case, it means someone who has been pampered or treated with too much deference, so much so that they've become spoiled. One could argue that this is true not just of this fencing match but of Hamlet's upbringing in general, which has been especially coddling.
Claudius uses the promise of a strong drink as cover to take Hamlet's cup and poison it like the tip of Laertes' foil. If Hamlet weren't busy preparing for the match, he would likely be able to see through Claudius' pompous ostentation, but because he's distracted, he doesn't think to watch his cup or fear for a second danger in addition to Laertes' sword.
"Quit" should be understood here as "requite," or to pay Laertes back for making a hit. Claudius arranges it so that if Hamlet does well (making a hit early in the match, or winning outright), the soldiers on the "battlements" or parapets will fire a round to announce his victory. This would be expected of a king whose prince was involved in a duel, and Claudius wants everyone to think that he's nothing if not proper.
Recall that in Act IV, Scene VII, Claudius told Laertes that if he had attempted to punish Hamlet for Polonius' murder, that arrow would have "reverted to [his] bow." Shakespeare uses a similar image here to underscore the similarities between Claudius and Hamlet, who have become more and more alike as the play has progressed.
Hamlet cleverly begins to speak of himself in the third person, suggesting a literal divide between his actions and his true self. This alone would make him seem mad in an otherwise proper and officious environment. It would also be reason enough for Laertes to forgive him (if not because they're reconciled, then because Laertes can't bring himself to blame someone who seems out of his mind).
Hamlet has never before and will never again say that he's mad as if he truly believes it. From the start, Hamlet intended to use his false "madness" as a failsafe should his plan backfire, and for the past five acts he has merely been laying the groundwork. Now, he finally puts that failsafe to use, manipulating Laertes into forgiving him for things that shouldn't be forgiven.
An augury is a prophecy, particularly one divined from reading the flight patterns of birds. Osric was compared to two different birds (the "chough" and the lapwing) and has thus become the "augur" from which Hamlet divines that he is in danger. He now knows that he's not supposed to survive this fencing match, but intends to defy the prophecy anyway.
If we retrace our steps to find the antecedent of "it," we find that "it" refers to the ill around Hamlet's heart. He says here that it was just a joke or a bit of "foolery," but that even so it's serious enough that he has misgivings ("gain-giving"). He tries to be brave and say that the misgivings would only be a problem for a "woman" (in this context, a weak person), but he's beginning to realize that there's something wrong.
It's unclear how much time has passed in the play, but one can safely assume that it has been a mere matter of weeks. In all that time, Hamlet has been plotting against Claudius, trying to save his own life, and hasn't appeared to have had any time to spar. Shakespeare knew that Hamlet wouldn't be a match for Laertes otherwise and included this line so the audience wouldn't think his defeat was a foregone conclusion.
Hamlet made it very clear to Osric that they should start preparing for the fencing match immediately, but this appears to have been lost in translation to this Lord. Hamlet says he's "constant to [his] purposes" (his mind hasn't changed) out of both pride and irritation: Claudius' messengers are hounding him needlessly, and Hamlet wants them to stop so he can start the match.
"Dug" meaning a pap or teat of an animal who feeds their newborns on milk. Hamlet quips that when Osric was a baby he must've bowed to his mother's breast before he sucked it. This is at once a cruel joke (that he's weak and submissive) and a backhanded compliment (that he's actually very simple and polite). In the end, Osric's character is nothing but comic relief.
Recall that Hamlet earlier referred to the age as "picked" and that he thinks there aren't any worthwhile men left. Here, Shakespeare uses the word "drossy" to mean impure, implying that this age has seen too much mixing between the upper and lower classes. This could be seen as an essentially classist remark, and if not for Hamlet's earlier claim that fishmongers are the only honest men one could argue that Hamlet is an elitist.
A lapwing is a kind of bird in the plover family. Here, Horatio refers to a myth that used to circulate about lapwing chicks, who were believed to run around with their eggshells on their heads, like helmets. Horatio has picked up on Hamlet's animal imagery and extended the metaphor of Osric as a little annoying bird.
Hamlet still doesn't know about Claudius' plot and is convinced that he has time to carry out his own plan before news about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern comes from England. "The breathing time" means the time when he's free to be alive, which Hamlet intends to enjoy. In fact, he thinks the fencing match will be fun, regardless of whether or not he wins. The audience, of course, knows better.
More germaine, or pertinent. Hamlet bristles a little at Horatio's joke and sneers at Osric's phrase, saying that it (and, thus, not knowing it) isn't in the least bit important. If Hamlet weren't quite so arrogant, this little misunderstanding could've been avoided, but he enjoys playing with Osric, and the audience needs some comic relief after the previous scene.
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