He asks, "What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune, that she sends you to prison hither? But Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are employed by the King of Denmark, so they can't jump in and agree that Denmark is a prison. When Hamlet insists that "To me it is a prison," Rosencrantz takes that as an opportunity to divert the conversation to an interesting topic: Hamlet's ambition.
If Rosencrantz and Guildenstern could report back to the King that Hamlet's problem is that he wants to be king, that would be news indeed. Hamlet denies that he is ambitious, saying, "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space--were it not that I have bad dreams" 2. However , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't give up easily, and spar a little over the meaning of ambition, until Hamlet gets tired of the whole thing and suggest s that they go "to th' court.
This apparently reminds Hamlet that they never really answered his question, so he asks it again: "But, in the beaten way of friendship, what make you at Elsinore? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are surprised, and a little sarcastic brow-beating from Hamlet gets them to confess that they were indeed sent for.
The discovery that his supposed friends are really the king's spies sends Hamlet into a kind of philosophical orbit. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he knows that they were sent for because he has lost all of his "mirth.
Whatever, they are smiling, and Hamlet accuses them of having their minds in the gutter. He says, "man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so" 2. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cover themselves by saying they were only thinking about how disappointed the "players" a company of actors are going to be when they show up. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern met them on the road and were told that they were coming to entertain Hamlet, but Hamlet doesn't seem to be in the mood.
The explanation Rosencrantz and Guildenstern give for their smiling seems rather lame, but Hamlet is more interested in the players than in his two "friends. This information prompts Hamlet to think about the current situation in Denmark. He reflects that it's not so strange that the public has suddenly taken a liking to the boy actors, because now people buy pictures of Claudius, despite the fact that before he was king, they made faces at him behind his back.
But then again, it is too strange, because "there is something in this more than natural, if philosophy could find it out" 2. Enter Polonius: As Hamlet is meditating on the strange shifts of popular opinion, we hear the sound of the players' trumpets.
Now Hamlet decides that it's time to let Rosencrantz and Guildenstern know that he understands them better than they understand him. He tells them they are welcome to Elsinore, and shakes hands with them, then adds a kind of back-handed insult by saying that he is welcoming them because he's going to welcome the players more warmly than he has them, and he doesn't want them to feel too bad. Then he throws in the information that his "uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived" if they think he mad, because he is "but mad north-north-west" 2.
Hamlet thus presents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with a kind of reverse catch, because if he is only pretending to be mad, why would he say that he is only pretending? Now Polonius comes bustling in. Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that Polonius is a "great baby," and tells them that he can tell, just from looking at Polonius, that he's come to announce the arrival of the players. A Streetcar Named Desire Dr. Jekyll and Mr. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. No Fear Act 2 Scene 2 Page Page So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather.
I have of late—but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises, and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air—look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire—why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.
There was for a while no money bid for argument unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question. HAMLET It is not very strange; for my uncle is King of Denmark, and those that would make mouths at him while my father lived give twenty, forty, fifty, a hundred ducats apiece for his picture in little.
Rosencrantz says the actors are likely on the road because of a recent innovation: children's plays. Plays with child actors were all the rage in England at this time, which forced theater troupes featuring adults to take their shows on the road. Shakespeare was on the side of the grown up actors, and is making a little jab at the children's plays, especially when Rosencrantz refers to child actors as "little eyases" or, little hawks.
Shakespeare also takes the chance to make fun of the folks that support the children's plays in Elizabethan England by having Hamlet compare child-play supporters to the men that used to make stupid faces at his Uncle Claudius, and now pay big money for little pictures of him.
Your hands, come then. Let me comply with you in this garb, lest my extent to the players, which, I tell you, must show fairly outwards, should more appear like entertainment than yours. You are welcome. But my uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. Their conversation comes to an end when the players arrive. Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that they are welcome to hang out, but that they should know Hamlet's "uncle-father and aunt-mother" are deceived.
Hamlet isn't mad. Or rather, he's only mad when the wind blows from a certain direction. Otherwise, he can tell the difference between a hawk and a handsaw.
That great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling clouts. POLONIUS The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited.
Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men. When Polonius comes in, Hamlet mocks him openly, making fun of the fact that Polonius is coming in to tell him something he already knows: that the actors have arrived.
When Polonius says he has news, Hamlet says, "So do I," and then begins to relate a bit of news so old it's about Roman times. Of course, Polonius's news isn't that old, but still, Hamlet's having fun at his expense and it goes right over Polonius's head. In fact, Polonius doesn't understand anything Hamlet says until Hamlet starts calling him Jephthah, judge of Israel. Jephthah is a character from Judges 11, of the King James Bible, who inadvertently offers up his only child, a virgin girl, as human sacrifice in exchange for winning a battle.
And when Polonius picks up on that, he again thinks that Hamlet is still obsessing over Ophelia. Hamlet sure knows how to push Polonius's buttons. HAMLET Why, As by lot, God wot and then, you know, It came to pass, as most like it was— the first row of the pious chanson will show you more, for look where my abridgment comes.
You are welcome, masters; welcome all. Why, thy face is valanced since I saw thee last. Pray God your voice, like a piece of uncurrent gold, be not cracked within the ring.
Masters, you are all welcome. Come, give us a taste of your quality. Come, a passionate speech. Hamlet abruptly leaves off talking with Polonius when the players arrive.
He's actually super excited to see them and he asks them to perform a speech right away. But it was as I received it, and others whose judgments in such matters cried in the top of mine an excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning.
I remember one said there were no sallets in the lines to make the matter savory, nor no matter in the phrase that might indict the author of affection, but called it an honest method, as wholesome as sweet and, by very much, more handsome than fine. If it live in your memory, begin at this line—let me see, let me see:.
What speech does Hamlet want? One he's heard before; he thinks it was performed no more than once, because the vulgar masses couldn't appreciate it, though he and the critics did. Hamlet's telling us here that he has a fine artistic sensibility, and a penchant for poetry, unlike the groundlings or, common folks that sat in the cheap seats at plays. It's a significant story because Pyrrhus, son of the warrior Achilles, comes to Troy in the Trojan horse to avenge the death of his father by killing Priam, King of Troy.
Hm, a son killing a king to avenge his dad? Hamlet starts reciting the speech himself, then lets an actor take over. His antique sword, Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls, Repugnant to command. So as a painted tyrant Pyrrhus stood And, like a neutral to his will and matter, Did nothing.
Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you gods In general synod take away her power, Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven As low as to the fiends!
Say on; come to Hecuba. Polonius is impressed with Hamlet's recitation, and then the First Player takes over. The speech details Pyrrhus's dark, scary, blood-covered rage, which totally bores Polonius, who only likes the bits with dancing and sex.
Eventually, we get to the part about Hecuba, Priam's wife, who's pretty upset by the whole thing. Prithee, no more. Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time.
After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live. Use them after your own honor and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in. The actor gets so worked up by the description of Hecuba's emotion at her husband's death that he has tears in his eyes, and that's too much for Polonius.
Hamlet, on the other hand, is impressed and looking forward to hearing more. He tells Polonius to provide the players with room and board and take excellent care of them. Dost thou hear me, old friend? Follow that lord—and look you mock him not. First Player exits. You are welcome to Elsinore. As most of the players follow Polonius out, Hamlet has a private confab with the main actor. He asks if they can perform The Murder of Gonzago for the court tomorrow night—with the little addition of a speech that Hamlet will write himself.
He immediately begins messing with other people's minds. When the King asks him how he's doing, he replies, "Excellent, i' faith; of the chameleon's dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot feed capons so" 3. With another pun, Hamlet calls Polonius a "calf," and then turns his attention to Ophelia.
He asks Ophelia, "Lady, shall I lie in your lap? Naturally, Ophelia says, "No, my lord," but when Hamlet comes back at her with "I mean, my head upon your lap," she says "Aye, my lord.
Say the word "country" aloud a couple of times, and you'll get it. After another nasty pun from Hamlet, Ophelia defends herself by saying "You are merry, my lord. Enter Players: After a little more "mad" talk from Hamlet about how the dead are soon forgotten, trumpets sound and the players enter. First comes a "dumb show," a silent pantomime which previews the plot of The Murder of Gonzago. It's a short, simple plot. We see a loving King and Queen. She expresses her love for him, and leaves him to sleep "upon a bank of flowers.
The Queen returns, finds the King dead, and "makes passionate action. She resists for a while, "but in the end accepts love. After the dumb show comes the actual play. Shakespeare wrote stiff, old-fashioned couplets for his Player King and Player Queen to speak, and in performances the lines are often drastically cut, but there's a significant bit of philosophy here. The Player King and Queen have been married for thirty years, but the King is getting sick and foresees his death.
He hopes that his Queen will find another husband as kind as he has been. She protests that she will never remarry, and the King answers with a long speech about how we make plans and promises to ourselves, yet often fail to carry out the plans or keep the promises.
In other words, once we see that we're not going to keep a promise to ourselves, we should forgive ourselves for it, and forget it. This idea is just the opposite of what tortures Hamlet, the idea that he is a coward for not acting on his promise to kill King Claudius.
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