Lies, Bribery, Treason, Backstabbing (literally): Welcome to the World of Hamlet
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| Hamlet Cover-art of the play Hamlet done in an art-deco style by illustrator John Austen for his 1922 Shakespeare series |
"To be or not to be", one of Shakespeare's most well known quotes is from a rollercoaster of a play, filled with twists and turns cruising through the betrayal of lovers to the contemplation of existence– Hamlet. The play centers around a young man, Hamlet, who has just lost his father, and, as expected, is rather upset. Much to his chagrin his mother, Gertrude, remarries just two months after the death of his father, and to his paternal uncle, Claudius, nonetheless. He feels that his mother has betrayed his father by remarrying so quickly, "So excellent a king; that was, to this,/ Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother/ That he might not beteem the winds of heaven/Visit her face too roughly" (Ⅰ. Ⅱ. 139-142). He compares the character of his father to Hyperion, a sun god, and his uncle to a satyr, a half-man, half goat mythical creature. Hamlet doesn't understand how his mother could marry his uncle and though it breaks his heart, he can't say anything, for Claudius is now king, and accusing the king is a sure fire way to get thrown in the dungeons, or worse, executed.
The play progresses quickly once Hamlet finds out that Claudius was the one who poisoned his father. Hamlet concocts a plan to draw Claudius out. As he plays his games and wrecks havoc in his uncle's court, Hamlet's brilliance makes one overlook the fact that he is just a young man, at the very most in his late twenties. He has lost his father and is being betrayed by all those whom he held near and dear to him. His mother married his uncle who killed his father, his childhood friends were being used to spy on him by his uncle and the very last straw was his lover, Ophelia, returning gifts and trinkets he had given her throughout their relationship. Hamlet says he has not given anything to Ophelia, for the Ophelia he had given those gifts to was no longer the same one that stood before him now (Ⅲ. Ⅰ.)
Food for thought: Do you think Ophelia should've stuck with Hamlet? Or was she right to obey her father? Did Ophelia's and Hamlet's relationship ever stand a chance?
The 2018 Version of Ophelia by Clair McCarthy provides an interesting perspective into Hamlet.
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| Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard Eugene Delacroix, 1839 Musee de Louvre, Paris oil on canvas, appox 29.5x36 cm |
between reality and script too much for him.
Things take a rather dramatic turn after the play. Hamlet argues with his mother, she calls for help, and Polonius, Ophelia's father, who had been spying on the two, thinks Hamlet is harming the queen, but as he calls for help Hamlet catches him and stabs him. He then beseeches his mother to stay away from Claudius, but of course she goes and tells him Hamlet has murdered Polonius. Ophelia goes mad and kills herself, Hamlet is shipped off to England, but escapes. Claudius goads Laertes, Ophelia's distraught brother, into fighting Hamlet with a poisoned sword. But all does not go as planned, for Gertrude drinks a poisoned drink meant for Hamlet and dies. Laertes and Hamlet both get nicked by the poisoned sword. Hamlet kills Claudius. Laertes dies, and with his dying breath Hamlet tells Horatio to tell his story and how he was wronged.
clip from Kenneth Branagh 1996 version of Hamlet.
Act V, Scene II,- The End.
To conclude, while I wasn't happy with the ending, I must admit that it seemed fitting. All those who had wronged one another were no more, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and everyone else caught up in the whirlwind of royal drama met their end, and not kindly. The only main character who survived the chaos was Horatio. Moral of the story? To be or not to be a royal "knave" is not a question, learn from Horatio, don't be a terrible person and life will treat you justly.
