. If Hamlet Could Tell His Story

Sudwal

Jennifer Sudwal

AP Literature

Stucken; Period 1

November 12, 2008

“Had I but time… O, I could tell you / But let it be. Horatio, I am dead” (5.2.306-08). Hamlet speaks these words as he is dying in the final scene of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. He is not able to tell of what he went through ever since he discovered his mother, the queen, married his uncle right after his father’s, the late king’s, death. Hamlet discovers that Claudius, his uncle, murdered the king in his sleep when the ghost of his dead father confronts him. Hamlet pledges to seek revenge for his father’s death, following his filial piety, but faces many difficulties after doing so. If Hamlet had the ability to continue to tell his story he would express the inner complications he suffered as he became the target of deception by family and friends, the intense hatred he felt for his mother’s marriage which resulted in his own rejection of Ophelia’s innocent love, and the struggle between the man he was and the man he swore to become in order to murder the king.

Hamlet became distrustful and rightfully so because those he had trusted were deceiving him. First of all, not only did Claudius usurp the throne to which Hamlet had been next in line to, but he also boldly told Hamlet:

We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe; and think of us
As of a father: for let the world take note
You are the most immediate to our throne; (1.2.106-09).

It is natural for Hamlet to be filled with rage and feel deceived at the idea of his rightful position as king being taken away from him, but to make it even worse his own mother is on the usurper’s side. Gertrude, the queen, does not consider the feelings for her own son who is rightfully the king after the death of her husband. Moreover, she herself agreed to the marriage with her brother-in-law as soon as “But two months dead! — nay, not so much, not two” (1.2.38). Hamlet is absolutely appalled knowing that his mother, the mother he loved so much and knew so well, would commit such a horrid and insensitive act. His close family deceived not only his father but himself as well. In addition, as Hamlet insists Guildenstern play upon a recorder Guildenstern refuses saying he cannot to which Hamlet replies you cannot play this recorder but “You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass” (3.2.328-31). Hamlet suspects Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of his friends from school, of spying on him. He is sure that they were sent for by the king and are following his orders but in doing so are betraying their friendship with him. Hamlet repeatedly discovers people deceiving him and if he had to chance to tell others about his story he would speak of how it felt to not be able to trust anyone, including his friends and family.

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Hamlet experienced intense hatred that even transformed what used to be love into disgust and interfered with both his love life and his filial piety. For instance, when he thinks of his mother’s act of marrying her husband’s brother right after his death he tells her she has done “Such an act / That blurs the grace and blush of modesty / Calls virtue hypocrite; takes off the rose / From the fair forehead of an innocent love” (3.4.40-3). Hamlet is extremely upset by her doings and completely disapproves. He is disgusted and lets his mother know exactly how horrible it makes him feel. Furthermore, Hamlet continues to rant at her asking “O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, / If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones, / To flaming youth let virtue be as wax, / And melt in her own fire” (3.4.82-5) The hurt that he feels is a lot stronger at the idea of his mother sharing vows and bed with his uncle than at the idea of his uncle killing his father. Because his mother is so much closer and dearer to him it makes it even more disturbing that she would commit an act like this which Hamlet would never have seen coming and these strong emotions surpass those he feels toward Claudius and therefore distracting him from his duty to seek revenge on him. As a result, he begins to act rudely towards Ophelia, telling her “if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. / To a nunnery, go; and quickly too” (3.1.33-5). His attitude may be due to his antic disposition but Hamlet goes as far as to misbehave with her and speak very badly to her even when there is nobody around. His mother’s selfish act leads him to develop distaste for women and as a result he taunts Ophelia repeatedly insulting her and calling her a whore. In this manner he ends up losing the one he loved when she loses her sanity and drowns in a river. As the love for his mother changed into anger and hatred, it also spoiled Hamlet’s attitude toward Ophelia and he rejected her innocent love, putting him into the same position the king and queen were in; they wronged Hamlet’s father and Hamlet ending up committing the same crime of wronging his own love. If he has the opportunity to deliver his side of the story he would include this play of fate.

Another struggle that Hamlet went through that is worth sharing is the difficulty that he faced when trying to fulfill his filial obligation towards his father. Initially, when confronted by his father’s ghost Hamlet swears “Yea, from the table of my memory / I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms all pressures past / That youth and observation copied there, / And thy commandment all alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain” (1.5.98-103). Right after the ghost talked to him Hamlet agreed to forget his entire past and passions in order to fulfill his duty and get revenge. Unfortunately he did not stop and think about what he was saying because it is not that simple to forget everything you liked to follow one goal. For instance, when players came to his house Hamlet discusses “I remember one said that there were no sallets in the lines to make the matter savoury, nor no matter in the phrase that might indict the author of affectation; but call’d it an honest method, as wholesome as sweet and by very much more handsome than fine” (2.2.390-93). As soon as he meets the players he cannot stop himself from eagerly starting a conversation about speeches and plays. Hamlet is a scholar at heart and it is merely impossible for him to ignore his passion about the arts, which goes against his oath to his father. Also, it takes him a very long time to mentally convince himself to take action soon and Hamlet finally realizes “How all occasions do inform against me / And spur my dull revenge!” (4.4.33-34). Ever since he pledged to seek revenge he avoided the act and made up excuses to prevent having to commit murder. It is not in Hamlet’s nature to take anyone’s life because it goes against his own morals and the person he is. He continued to go through this internal struggle up till the moment he himself was dying and is impassioned enough at the sight of his mother dying to finally act against Claudius, fulfilling his filial piety for his father and mother at the same time.

If Hamlet was given the chance to finish telling everything he wanted to say, he would explain the different experiences he went through after his father’s death and his mother’s marriage to his uncle. He became disillusioned when his uncle, mother and friends betrayed him and lost trust in those who were close to him. In addition he lost his love Ophelia due to his own negative feelings toward women which he developed after learning about his mother’s remarriage. He pushed away his loved ones in the process of seeking revenge, and still had difficulty convincing himself to kill Claudius because it went against the type of person he was. Hamlet had sworn to forget everything and focus on the murder he needed to commit but instead he remained a scholar at heart and avoided following through. Hamlet would explain and advice others to think thoroughly before committing oneself to any act and to remain truthful and honest to close family and loved ones in order to prevent losing them at any cost.