Act 5 Scene 1 Hamlet
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Next: Hamlet, Human activity 5, Scene 2 __________ Explanatory Notes for Act five, Scene ane From Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. One thousand. Deighton. London: Macmillan. _________ 2. salvation, the clown's corrigendum for damnation, as in Thousand. A. 3. three. 3. 4, 5. direct, forthwith, without filibuster: crowner, coroner, literally merely an officer of the crown, only used peculiarly of one appointed to hold inquests into the crusade of expiry. Skeat says that crowner, which has been generally regarded as a corruption of 'coroner,' is a correct form, 'coroner' being from the base of operations coron - of the Thousand.E. verb coronen, to crown, with the suffix -er, and thus = crown-er; finds ... burying, decides that Christian burial may be granted, she not having committed the felony of suicide; finds, the technical term for the decision of the coroner; cp. A. Y. L. 4. i. 101, "the foolish coroners of that age plant it was 'Hero of Sestos.'" 9. 'se offendendo,' another blunder of the Clown'due south for se defendendo, in self defence, "a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide" (Caldecott). eleven. three branches, "ridicule on scholastic divisions without stardom and of distinctions without diiference" (Warburton). 12. argal, a corruption of Lat. ergo, therefore. 13. goodman, a familiar appellation, frequent in Shakespeare, = old fellow; delver, digger, i.east.. grave-digger. 14. Give me leave, allow me to interrupt yous. 16. will he, nill he, he goes whether his intention is to practice so or not; nill, = ne volition, not will; frequent in old English. 21. quest, inquest. This is supposed to be an allusion to an inquest in a case of forfeiture of a lease to the crown in consequence of the suicide by drowning of Sir John Hales, a case which Shakespeare may have heard talked about. 22. Will ... on't, do you wish to know the whole truth of the matter? If and so, I will tell you lot that, etc. 23, iv. out ... burial, i.east. every bit suicides are cached, sc. in the cantankerous roads with a pale driven through the eye; cp. 1000. N. D. 3. 2. 383, "damned spirits all, That in crossways and floods have burial." 25. in that location k say'st, at that place you tell the truth, speak to the purpose. 26. should take ... to, should be countenanced in drowning, etc., past being allowed Christian burying. 27. even Christian, swain Christian: Come, my spade, come, allow me take my spade, and get to my piece of work. 28. ix. In that location is ... profession, at that place are no gentlemen that tin can claim anything like old descent except gardeners, etc., and they lonely still keep up the profession of the start of all ancestors, Adam. thirty. a gentleman, one entitled to the term 'gentle,' every bit opposed to 'simple.' 31. bore artillery, used a double sense, (1) carrying arms - in Adam'due south case a spade, and (2) having a glaze of arms, a symbol of gentle birth. 36. artillery, again in a double sense, (1) the arms of the body, (two) implements. 36. to the purpose, in a rational way; confess thyself — an ass, he was going to add. 37. Go to, pooh. 38. What is he, what kind of person is he. 41. tenants, occupants; every bit though a man when hanged took a lease of the gallows. 42, iii. the gallows does well, the gallows, equally you lot well say, do well, though not in the way y'all say, that of lasting a long time. Dogberry-similar, he patronizingly commends his comrade's adept sense in citing the gallows equally doing well, but with his superior wisdom points out in what their doing well consists. 43, 4. it does ... ill, sc. by putting them out of the way. 46. To't again, come, make another effort to reply my question. xl. Ay, ... unyoke, yes, reply that, and yous may then give over your work; metaphorically unharness the oxen with which he is ploughing. 51 To't, get at it, let me hear yous answer. 52. Mass, i.e. past the mass; see note on ii. one. 50. 53, 4. your dull ass, a dull ass like you; for this colloquial use of your, see Abb. § 220. 56. Yaughan, probalbly the all-time explanation of this discussion, near which at that place take been then many conjectures, is that suggested by Nicholson, that it was the name of an ale-house keeper in the neighbourhood of the Globe Theatre. 57. stoup, flagon; A.Due south. steap, a loving cup. 58-61. In youth ... meet, the Clown'due south version of part of a carol in Tottel's Miscellany, Arber'southward Reprints, p. 173. 60. To contract ... behove, these words probably have no meaning; the original runs "I lothe that I did love, In youth that I thought swete; Equally time requires for my behove Methinkes they are not mete." Jennens points out that the oh! and the ah! form no part of the vocal, but are "only the breath forced out by the strokes of the mattock. " 61. run across, plumbing equipment, suitable. 62. feeling of his business, no sense of the sadness of the chore on which he is engaged. 64. Custom ... easiness, from long habit, his occupation, every bit beingness his ain (proper to him) has lost all unpleasant association; has made him callous to the fact of its being of a sorry nature. 65, 6. the hand ... sense, the hand which is least employed (i.e. in any crude work) is always the nearly delicately sensitive. 69. shipped, carted, every bit we might say: intil, into; to and til (till) are equivalent in sense. The original runs, "For age with steyling steppes, Hath clawed me with his cowche, And brawny life away she leapes, Every bit at that place had bene none such." 70. such, as I am; the words being made doubly ludicrous by his throwing upwards a skull as he utters them. 72. jowls, dashes; jowl, substantive, is the jaw, and here the thought is of the skull crashing against the ground as the jaws crash together if suddenly closed, more especially by a blow; cp. A. Westward. i. 3. 59, "they may jowl horns together, like any deer i' the herd." 74. politician, plotter, schemer; cp. T. North. 3. 2. 34, "I had as lief be a Brownist as a politico"; simply as the Cl. Pr. Edd. remark, the word is always used by Shakespeare in a bad sense: over-reaches, used in a double sense of overtaking, getting hold of, with his spade, and of getting the better of by cunning. 79. lord Such-a-one, some lord or other whose name is not specified; Steevens compares Tim. i. two. 216-8, "y'all gave Skilful words the other twenty-four hours of a bay courser I rode on: it is yours, because you lot liked information technology." 82. my lady Worm'southward, i.e. the property, perquisite of, etc.: chapless, with its jaws no longer adhering to the rest of the skull. 83. mazzard, a burlesque word for the head; supposed to exist derived from mazer, or maser, a bowl. 84. revolution, used in a double sense of change, and of being rolled nigh: and ... see't, supposing nosotros had the knack to sympathise information technology; for and, see Abb. § 93. 85. cost ... breeding, gave no more than trouble to breed; for the, preceding a verbal, see Abb. § 93. 85, half dozen. only to ... 'em, than that they should be used for playing at loggats; the Cl. Pr. Edd., abridging a clarification of the game sent them by the Revd. Thou. Gould, say that the game resembled bowls, simply with notable differences. Beginning, it is played not on a green, but on a floor strewed with ashes. The Jack is a bike fabricated of some difficult wood, the loggat, of which each player has three, is a truncated cone, held lightly at the thin stop, and the object, as at bowls, is to pitch them then as to lie every bit nearly equally possible to the Jack. 88. For and, Byce points out that these words answer to And eke in the original version. 89. for to, encounter note on three. ane. 167. 92. quiddities, "Mid. Lat. quiditas, the whatness or distinctive nature of a thing, brought into a by-word by the nice distinction of the schools" (Wedgwood, Dict.): quillets, frivolous distinctions; probably from Lat. quidlibet, what practice you choose? 93. tricks, legal chicaneries. 94. sconce, properly a small fort, in which sense it is used in H. V. three, vi. 76; in C. E. two. 2. 37, for a helmet; and i. 2. 75, for a head, equally here. 95. of his activeness of battery, of the action for battery (assault) which, if he chose, he might bring against him. 97. 8. his statutes ... recoveries, "A recovery with a double voucher is the one unremarkably suffered, and is and so denominated from two persons (the latter of whom is always the common crier, or some such inferior person) being successively vouched, or called upon, to warrant the tenant's title. Both 'fines' and 'recoveries' are fictions of constabulary, used to convert an estate tail into a fee simple. 'Statutes' are (non acts of parliament, but) statutes — merchant and staple, particular modes of recognizance or acknowledgment for securing debts, which thereby become a charge upon the political party's land. 'Statutes' and 'recognizances' are constantly mentioned together in the covenants of a purchase deed" (Ritson). 98. fine of his fines, the end of all his legal practise; all that comes of his long practising as a lawyer. 98, 9. the recovery of his recoveries, all that he recovers, gets in return for the recoveries in which, when alive, he was engaged: fine clay, Rushton (Shakespeare equally a Lawyer, p. 10) explains fine here, every bit in 1. 98, in the sense of last. "His fine pate is filled, not with fine dirt, but with the last dirt which volition ever occupy information technology, leaving a satirical inference to be drawn, that fifty-fifty in his life-time his head was filled with dirt"; but if this be the principal sense, in that location must also be play upon the word in its ordinary sense. 100. vouch ... purchases, give him no better title to his purchases, even though those vouchers were double ones. 101. than the ... indentures, than the mere parchment on which indentures are written. "Indentures were agreements fabricated out in duplicate, of which each party kept ane. Both were written on the same canvass, which was cut in two in a crooked or indented line (whence the proper noun), in order that the plumbing equipment of the two parts might prove the genuineness of both in case of dispute" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). Cp. The Knight of the Burning Pestle, iv. 2. xviii,9, "prentice to a grocer in the Strand By deed indent, of which I have one part"; this part was called the 'counterpane.' 102. The very ... lands, the very title-deed by which his lands were conveyed (in a legal sense), transferred: box, coffin, with a reference to the boxes in which lawyers go on deeds, etc. 103. inheritor, possessor, possessor; cp. L. L. 50. ii. 1. 5, "To parley with the sole inheritor of all perfections"; R. III. four. 3. 34, "Concurrently, but retrieve how I may practise thee skilful, And be inheritor of thy desire. " 103. and of ... too, accurately speaking, information technology is vellum that is made of calf skins, parchment of sheep or goat skins. 107, eight. They are ... that, those who trust to parchment are but dolts; "an 'assurance' is the legal prove of the transfer of holding" (Heard, Shakespeare as a Lawyer). 109. sirrah, sir; a term used more more often than not to inferiors, or with disrespect or unbecoming familiarity to superiors; occasionally practical to women. 113. liest, with a play upon the give-and-take in its two senses. 114. on 't, of information technology. 117. the quick, the living. 123. For none, neither, for neither the one nor the other, either. 127. accented, precise, punctilious about accuracy. 127, viii. past the card, with precision; co-ordinate to some the reference is to the mariners' chart; according to others to the card on which the points of the compass were marked; co-ordinate to others over again to the card and calendar of etiquette, or book of manners, of which, says Staunton, several were published in Shakespeare'southward time. 129. these three years, i.e. for a considerable time by. 130. picked, smart, spruce; cp. K. J. i. 1. 193, "My picked man of countries." 131. kibe, chilblain; a sore on the easily or feet due to smashing common cold. 133. Of all ... year, if you lot wish me to exist precise as to the verbal twenty-four hours, why, etc. The Cl. Pr. Edd. quote R. J. i. 3. 16, "Even or odd, of all the days in the year, Come up Lammas-eve at dark shall she exist fourteen," where the speaker is an illiterate sometime nurse with the same passion for being precise. 141. it'south ... there, it does not much affair. 143, 4. there ... he, hither again Marston, The Malcontent, iii. I. 400, 1, seems to have followed Shakespeare, "Your lordship shall ever find ... amidst an hundred Englishmen, four-score and ten madmen." 149. Upon what ground? owing to what crusade? The clown in the side by side line takes basis in its literal sense. 154. pocky corses, bodies of those who have died of the smallpox. 154, 5. volition scarce ... in, will scarcely keep from decomposition till the funeral: y'all, thc colloquial dative. 166. A pestilence ... rogue! curses on him, as such a mad rogue deserves! 167. Rhenish, Rhine wine. 168. Yorick, said to be the German and Danish Georg, Jorg, our George, the English y representing the foreign j, and having the same sound. 172. a fellow ... jest, a fellow of inexhaustible wit. 174. it, "used in reference to the idea of having been borne on the back of him whose skeleton remains are thus all of a sudden presented to the speaker's gaze, the idea of having caressed and been fondled by one whose mouldering fleshless skull is now held in the speaker'due south mitt" (Clarke). 175. my gorge rises at it, I feel sick at the very idea; the gorge is the throat, and the 'ascension' is that feeling in the pharynx which accompanies the inclination to vomit. 178. on a roar, we should now say 'in a roar.' 179. quite chap-fallen, utterly downcast, without so much as a smiling on your face: my lady'south, non a particular lady, but any one to whom the title was applicable. 180. let her paint, fifty-fifty if she should lay on the paint. 181. favour, appearance; used particularly of the features. 185. i' the earth, when buried. 189. return, sc. in returning to the dust of which we are fabricated. 192. 'Twere ... and so, to follow out the thought would be but idle speculation, a mere waste of ingenuity. 193, 4. with modesty, without any exaggeration. 196. loam, a mixture of clay and sand. 199. Imperious, imperial; though Shakespeare frequently uses Imperious, for majestic, he rarely, if ever, uses 'imperial' for imperious, in its modern sense of dictatorial. 202. flaw, sudden gust of current of air. 203. bated, let us stand aside. 205. such maimed rites, such incomplete rites. 207. Fordo, destroy; cp. ii. ane. 103: for it = its, run into notation on i. ii. 216: estate, rank, position. 208. Burrow we, let united states of america lie close so as not to be seen; cp. A. Westward. four. 1. 24, "But couch, ho! here he comes." 209. What ceremony else? what further ceremonies have to be performed? i.e. surely this does non consummate the usual rites. 212, 3. Her obsequies ... warranty, nosotros accept gone as far in the affair of ritual observance every bit we have potency for doing: her death, the manner of her death. 214. merely that ... guild, if it were non that the king's command, which nosotros dure not disobey, over-rules us equally regards the proceedings usual in such a case. 216. for, in the identify of. 217. Shards, potsherds, pieces of broken crockery. 218. crants, a coronet, or tire for the head; worn by maidens till they were married; a atypical substantive, from Ger. krantz. A writer in the Ed. Rer. for July, 1869, has shown by extracts from Weber's introduction to the ballad of Kid Axe Wold, that "the burial of a northern maiden is still accordingly marked, as in the case of Ophelia, by the presence of her virgin crants, and maiden strewments." 219. Her maiden strewments, the strewing of flowers upon the bier, such as was common at the funeral of a maid or wife, or on her grave later on burial; cp. H. 8. four. 2. 168-70, 'strew me over With maiden flowers, that all the earth may know I was a celibate married woman to my grave": and Cymb. iv. 2. 218-xx. 219, 20. and the ... burial, "In these words, reference is however fabricated to the marriage rites, which in the case of maidens are sadly parodied in the funeral rites. See R. J. iv. 5. 85-90. As the helpmate was brought home to her husband's house with bell and wedding festivity, so the dead maiden is brought to her concluding home with 'bell and burial'" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). 221. Must ... done? is it forbidden to perform whatsoever further rites? In modernistic English the words would mean 'is it not necessary to,' etc.: No more be done! I have followed Staunton and Knight in putting a note of admiration after done, instead of a semi-colon. The priest seems to exist indignantly repeating Laertes' words, with a special emphasis on more, non to be confirming them. 223. To sing, by singing; if we were to sing; the indefinite infinitive: requiem, a mass for the placidity of the dead, so chosen from beginning with the words Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, grant eternal peace to them, O Lord; cp. dirge i. 2. 12. 224. peace-parted souls, souls which take departed the trunk in peace. 226. May violets spring! cp. Tennyson, In Memoriam, xviii. 3, 4, "And from his ashes may be made The violet of his native land": churlish, in refusing her the full rites of burial. 228. howling, i.e. in the torments of hell. 230. I hoped ... been ... "in the Elizabethan, equally in early English language authors, subsequently verbs of hoping, intending, or verbs signifying that something ought to have been washed, merely was non, the consummate present infinitive is used" (Abb. § 360). 231. idea, fondly expected: deck'd, sc. with flowers. 232. t' take, this is the reading of the folios; the quartos omit the sign of the infinitive. 234. thy near ingenious sense, thy sense, that most cunningly-devised creation of God: most shows, I think, that ingenious here is to be compared rather with its literal sense in Cymb, iv. 2. 186. "My ingenious musical instrument!" i.e. of curious construction, said of his harp rather than with Lear, iv. six, 287, "how strong is my vile sense That I stand and have ingenious feeling Of my huge sorrows." 235. Hold awhile, do not yet fill up the grave. 238. this apartment, this level surface. 239. Pelion, a lofty range of mountains in Thessaly. In their state of war with the gods, the giants are said to have attempted to heap Ossa and Olympus on Pelion, or Pelion and Ossa on Olympus, in order to scale sky: skyish, reaching ahnost to the sky, Olympus being the loftiest of the mountains in Greece. 240. What is he? what manner of human is he? 241. Bears such an emphasis, so mighty a stress laid upon it. 241. 2. whose phrase ... stand, whose utterance of sorrow has such magic power over the planets every bit to arrest their motion; an allusion to the charms of witches who were supposed by them to exist able to abort the course of the moon and stars. 243. wonder-wounded, paralysed by wonder. 247. splenitive, given to sudden anger; the spleen was of old supposed to be the seat of anger, hatred, malice. 249. Which ... fear, which it will be prudent in you to fright. 252. theme, subject. 253. wag, "the word had not the grotesque signification which it now has, and might be used without incongruity in the virtually serious passages" ... (Cl. Pr. Edd.). 255. forty 1000, used for an indefinite number. 256, vii, Could non ... sum, could non, however bang-up their beloved, vie with me in loving her. 259. forbear him, practise not attempt to touch him, for fright of the consequences. 260. 'Swounds, see note on 2. 2. 549: practise, emphatic; by what acts are you lot prepared to show that love which you take professed in such exhibitionistic words? 261. Woo 't, according to Singer, a common contraction in the northern counties for wouldst grand; used, says Halliwell, in the western counties for will thee. 262. eisel, the two near probable of the many explanations given of this word are (1) vinegar, (2) the name of some river; eisel, or eysell, for vinegar, occurs in Sonn. cxi. ten, and was a word of no unconnnon occurrence in Elizabethan literature; if it exist Shakespeare's discussion here, drink up will mean 'greedily carouse.' The advocates of the name of a river cite the Yssel in Flanders, the Oesil in Kingdom of denmark, and the Weisel or Vistula, or consider it identical with Ousel, the diminutive of Ouse, a common name of rivers in England, and signifying a river or h2o: swallow a crocodile, the advocates for the name of a river claim that their view is supported by this expression, which looks as if Hamlet were challenging Laertes to impossible feats. 264. To outface me, to outdare me; to put me to shame by the extravagant professions of your love. 266. prate, bluster. 268. pate, used in a ridiculous sense. 269. Ossa, see note on ane. 239: similar a wart, no bigger than a wart: mouth, talk large. 271. awhile ... him, for a time his fit of madness will exercise its power over him. 273. gold couplets, the pigeon generally sits upon two eggs, and the young birds when hatched are covered with a yellow down: disclosed, by the breaking of the eggs; see note on iii. i . 166. 274. His ... drooping, he volition hang down his caput in affrighted silence. 277, 8. Let ... solar day, i.e. nature will take her own class any mighty obstacles we may put in its way; it is no utilise my cavilling at this behaviour of Laertes; 'a dog hath his day' was a proverbial phrase meaning that every dog volition at one time or another have its good time. 279. expect upon him, nourish him to come across that he does himself no injury. 280. Strengthen ... speech, let what we talked about last night encourage you to be patient awhile; in, in the thought of; see Abb. § 162. 281. Nosotros'll put ... push, we will without delay requite the matter a decisive impulse, ane that will bring things to a definite issue. 283. This ... monument, i.e. Hamlet's life offered upwards by Laertes to his sister's memory shall be a more lasting monument in men's minds than whatsoever material one that could exist built. 285. in patience ... be, let us human action with patience and control. ________ How to cite the explanatory notes: How to cite the scene review questions: | Scene Questions for Review 1. The dramatic significance of the Clowns (or Grave-diggers) is three-fold: (a) to provide comic relief. The humour springs from the fact that the Clowns are unaware of their own errors. The First Clown, clearly the smarter of the two, tries his best to argue his betoken in all hostage, oblivious to the ridiculous mistakes he is making. Tin can you find specific examples of his blunders? Shakespeare enjoyed utilizing this type of comic relief and the grapheme of Dogberry in Much Ado Almost Nix is ane of his greatest comic creations. How many similarities can you find between Dogberry and the Beginning Clown? (b) to address public opinion regarding Ophelia'due south expiry and Hamlet's madness. The Clowns express the sentiment of the common people that Ophelia has committed suicide, although the audience has only Gertrude'due south poetic account of the drowning, which she says was accidental. Later in this scene we see that the Priest also doubts Ophelia'southward death was an accident (line 213). Practice you believe Gertrude was lying? Moreover, through the Offset Clown's conversation with Hamlet (whom the Clown does non recognize) we learn that the common people believe Hamlet has gone mad and has been sent to England to "recover his wits in that location" (line 140). The fact that all of Denmark is unaware of the truth is the reason the play does not end immediately upon the death of Hamlet, for Hamlet needs Horatio to make his people aware of the facts: "And in this harsh world describe thy breath in pain/To tell my story" (5.2.333-334). (c) to stand up in contrast to Hamlet'due south world-view. The Clowns are practical men. They discuss topical matters, they throw in their two cents and are sure of every give-and-take, and, most importantly, they accept what they cannot command. How very different from our philosopher prince do the Clowns' view life. The thought that nosotros "cease to exist" -- that all we are tin can exist erased in a moment -- torments Hamlet, and the sight of Yorick's skull rekindles his sorrow and resentment. Practise you recollect Shakespeare finds merit in the Clowns' outlook? Why do you remember Shakespeare has the First Clown barrack with Village (lines 118-125)? How does Hamlet experience about the First Clown? 2. In 3.one Hamlet, speaking to Ophelia, says, "I have heard of your paintings too, well plenty; God has given you 1 face, and you make yourselves some other" (line 142). Practice you think he is referring specifically to Ophelia in this scene when he says, "Now become y'all to my lady'south chamber, and tell her, allow her paint an inch thick to this favour she must come up; make her laugh at that. (lines 182-183)? Why practise y'all think Horatio has not nevertheless told Hamlet Ophelia is expressionless? 3. It is clear from a thorough reading of the plays and sonnets that Shakespeare himself felt as Hamlet does, as to the lowest degree for a time. His personal sonnets, not intended for publication, reveal a poet consumed with thoughts of "devouring Time" and "that churl Death." Compare this scene of Hamlet with Sonnets 19, 65, and, in particular, 146 and elaborate on the similarities. iv. Laertes may be unscrupulous, simply his honey for Ophelia is deep and sincere. How does his passionate display of grief illustrate his temperament as seen elsewhere in the play? 5. In that location is aplenty textual evidence to illustrate Village's great love for Ophelia (see 1.three.99-100, 109-110; 2.ane.75-98 and study questions; ii.2.116-124, etc.), although some critics share a dissimilar view. Would you concord that Village's reaction to finding out Ophelia is expressionless (particularly his poignant cry, "What! the fair Ophelia!" (line 228)) is further proof of his beloved, or is it only a gut reaction to Laertes' expression of grief. 6. Critics have spent a considerable amount of fourth dimension debating Hamlet'south age. Village hither is 30 years old, as the First Clown makes articulate (lines 133-151). However, "young Hamlet", as he is referred to earlier in the play is withal attending university and courting Ophelia. Laertes says that Hamlet's love is like "a violet in the youth of primy nature" (one.3.6). The noted scholar Grant White was so annoyed by this dilemma that he, defying logic, ended that Hamlet was 20 when the play started and thirty at its close. (See Studies in Shakespeare, p. 79 ff.). How important is Hamlet's historic period to our understanding or enjoyment of the play? Would Hamlet'south historic period accept been an effect for play-goers at Shakespeare's Globe? For more on this topic, delight click here. More to Explore Hamlet: The Complete Play with Explanatory Notes Shakespeare's Fools: The Grave-Diggers in Hamlet Claudius and the Condition of Denmark Thoughts on the Grave-diggers ... "The fifth Human activity begins with the humorous talk of the ii grave-diggers who are delving Ophelia'due south grave, and who talk over whether she ought, or ought not, to take Christian burying. What to them is all this misery? what matter Kings and Queens, murders and adulteries to them? Shakespeare has made their apartness from the terror and pity of the circumstance effectually them almost shocking; yet this apartness of theirs seems to enhance the tragic elements." (Stopford A. Brooke. Ten more plays of Shakespeare. p. 131) Village: Problem Play and Revenge Tragedy Plot Summary of Village The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Village'southward Father Village's Relationship with the Ghost On Hamlet's Reaction to Laertes ... "When Village sees and hears all this; he who loved this fair and sweet maiden with a love which was all the fiercer because it had to exist crushed; he who had sacrificed this honey and its object on the altar of a smashing purpose which was not, for all that cruel sacrifice, a whit nearer fulfilment; he who had torn the tender strings of his ain heart, had broken hers, and shook her reason from its throne, and had done all this in vain; — what wonder is it that his soul is filled with bitterness, that the sight and sound of this brother'due south outrageous grief maddens him, and that he too leaps into the grave with the cry — This is I,In these few words Village would seem to say: "This is I whom y'all execrate as the wretch who has killed your father and driven your sister into madness. I confess I did this, but I did it unwittingly. Eevile me, curse me, use me as you will. I can bear anything but the mockery of your pretending that your grief is greater than mine." Surely in this case the circumstances would excuse in any man, fifty-fifty in one who, unlike Village, was, by habit and nature, endowed with the utmost cocky-command, an burst of furious passion." (Frank A. Marshall. A Study of Hamlet. p. 97) |
Act 5 Scene 1 Hamlet,
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