Scenes 1.3 and 1.4
Scene 1.3 – Within the Castle
Before departing
for France, Laertes discourages his sister, Ophelia, from further pursuing a
relationship with Hamlet. Laertes
successfully convinces his sister that Hamlet is not the right man for her
because 1) as royalty, his will is not his own (a bride, for instance, might be
chosen for him) and 2) as a political figure, his actions and words cannot be
trusted. Hamlet might love her now
– or say he does anyway – but it is, Laertes warns, an immature and fleeting
love. Laertes is quick to remind
his sister that her honor and reputation are at stake, and that she would lose
face if after cavorting with Hamlet he suddenly abandoned her.
Ophelia takes the words to heart, but not without also advising Laertes
to beware hypocrisy.
Polonius then
enters to bid a final farewell to his son in a famous and often-quoted (but now
cliched) speech: “Neither a
borrower, nor a lender be; / For loan oft loses both itself and friend: / And
borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. / This above all; to thine ownself be
true: / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false
to any man.” With Laertes’
exit, Ophelia and Polonius discuss Laertes’ recent advice to his sister
regarding Hamlet. Polonius seconds
his son’s words, saying that Ophelia has been too free with her presence
before Hamlet – in essence, that she has been paying Hamlet undue attention
and playing too easy to get. Her
honor (read: Polonius’ honor) is on the line, he tells her.
Hamlet’s affections and promises, Polonius warns, are said in the heat
of the moment and subject to radical change.
The “honourable fashion” of Hamlet’s courting and his “vows of
Heaven,” which Ophelia recollects with tenderness and admiration, are nothing
of the sort according to Polonius. At
her father’s behest, Ophelia agrees not to speak with Hamlet anymore.
Scene 1.4 – On the Night Watch,
Outside the Royal Castle at Elsinore
Hamlet, Horatio
and Marcellus meet at the watchtower as planned shortly after midnight. It is a bitter cold night.
A flourish of trumpets is heard and Horatio looks to Hamlet for an
explanation. The trumpets testify,
Hamlet explains, that the King is presently getting drunk according to Danish
custom; Hamlet nonetheless thinks it is a custom “more honored in the breach
than the observance” of it. Moments
later the ghost appears and interrupts their conversation.
Wasting no time, Hamlet boldly addresses it, although admitting his
uncertainty of the ghost’s heavenly or hellish nature.
Calling it “Hamlet, / King, father, royal Dane,” Hamlet asks the
ghost what it wants of them. The
ghost beckons to Hamlet, motioning that Hamlet should follow it.
Both Horatio and
Marcellus, fearing for Hamlet’s life, prohibit him from following the ghost
alone; when Hamlet resists their counsel, Horatio and Marcellus attempt to hold
him back. Undaunted, Hamlet
threatens his friends. If he must
follow to hear the ghost speak, Hamlet reasons, then follow he will – at any
price. Letting his imagination run wild, Horatio dreams up a number
of schemes the ghost might have in mind, all leading to Hamlet’s demise, but
Hamlet persists. Finally, against
their better judgment, Horatio and Marcellus release Hamlet and watch in fear as
he departs with the ghost. Quite
aware now that (in Marcellus’ words) “Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark,” Horatio and Marcellus trail helplessly behind their friend.
