Hamlet Act 3: Am I the only one who cries at Rosecrantz and Guildenstern?

3.1

We open with the king and queen questioning R&G about hamlet and his supposed madness. Then they dismiss Gertrude (interesting that she isnt invited to eavesdrop with the boys) and send Ophelia out to catch Hamlet/so they can see if his love of her is the cause of his madness. Hamlet enters with To Be or Not to Be and I'm always curious as to if Ophelia can hear this soliloquy or not (or the other eavesdroppers for that matter...) I have to confess something- I like the rogue and peasant slave AND the too too solid flesh soliloquies more than this one. I know this is the great pinnacle of always quoted shakespeare but.... it doesnt have the same level of impact as those others. NOt that it isn't beautiful, well crafted, etc. and I do continually mull over this phrase: ...And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of? but... :shrugs:

After this comes his confrontation with Ophelia.

HAMLET

Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner
transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the
force of honesty can translate beauty into his
likeness: this was sometime a paradox, but now the
time gives it proof. I did love you once.

OPHELIA

Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.

HAMLET

You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot
so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of
it: I loved you not.

OPHELIA

I was the more deceived.

Its funny, earlier in blogging this play i couldn't shut up about all the things i loved and in this scene I find I love it all so much I don't have a damn thing to say about it but let it speak for itself. I think this is the money scene for Ophelia more than her madness and then there's this little passage:

I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God
has given you one face, and you make yourselves
another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and
nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness
your ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath
made me mad. I say, we will have no more marriages:
those that are married already, all but one, shall
live; the rest shall keep as they are. To a
nunnery, go.

I'm fairly sure this speech contributed to my general avoidance of makeup. I wish I was joking. I won't even get into how I thought of becoming a nun... at least not until we get to Measure for Measure.. The does he or does he not know people are listening to him question doesnt really interest me in the theoretical at the moment. I like seeing the choices various productions make, but even then i'm not sure an audience can tell vs. what they want to believe about this choice (kind of like the did he or didnt he sleep with ophelia question...) I have the similar issue with Ophelia's speech as I had with this scene in general: I love it. I want to memorize it. I will probably never get to play ophelia but you know what? I will probably never get to play Hamlet. that doesnt mean I don't get those wonderful wonderful words as my own.

3.2

This scene opens with Hamlet's instructions to the players. AKA a vocal warm up/speech almost every actor I know has worked on at some point. Still, I have yet to tire of it and we could all do with the reminders (plus, the phrase it out-Herods Herod is SO WONDERFUL!)

But my favorite part of this scene comes later, when Hamlet talks to Horatio:

Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice

And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath seal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing,
A man that fortune's buffets and rewards
Hast ta'en with equal thanks: and blest are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,

Wow. Gorgeous. My soul elected you. This passage also happens to be one of my brother Taylor's favorite parts of the play, so I can't read it without thinking of him...

We move on to the play, and we have another Caesar throwback:

LORD POLONIUS

I did enact Julius Caesar: I was killed i' the
Capitol; Brutus killed me.

Way to go Polonius. (so good if you have a rep company and can really herald back to those parts. especially if hamlet is the brutus to Polonius' caesar)

Dirty jokes ensue between Hamlet and Ophelia. Poor girl. Nothing like having your love say he doesn't love you and rage at you only to have him try and awkwardly hit on you/sit next to you for a play. I always have a hard time wondering how ophelia doesnt just kick hamlet in the junk... then i remember how stupid love makes you. Don't worry, we'll get to that with As You Like It soon...

Let's play a game called we love it in Shakespeare messes with time (intentionally or not?)

HAMLET

O God, your only jig-maker. What should a man do
but be merry? for, look you, how cheerfully my
mother looks, and my father died within these two hours.

OPHELIA

Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord.

Moving on... I love that there is a dumb show as part of the performance. and the ways actors have to play through the dumb show and still not "figure out" what they are watching until the words are added. Then there's this soul crushing moment:

OPHELIA

'Tis brief, my lord.

HAMLET

As woman's love.

The commentary in the play is a common trope- any time i read/see this section now I think of Paul Woodruff and his presentation at the Blackfriars conference on how unpleasant it would be for an actor if our audience was made up of people like Claudius, who want to interrupt the performance and freak out just because they can relate (I am butchering his actual argument to make it more extreme, but if you haven't read it go check out the necessity of theatre.)

Hamlet's play upon a pipe speech comes shortly thereafter and this falling apart of friendship breaks me. It's a rather funny comparison on its own and quite witty but in context i just want to cry. For all of them.

HAMLET

'Tis as easy as lying: govern these ventages with
your fingers and thumb, give it breath with your
mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music.
Look you, these are the stops.

GUILDENSTERN

But these cannot I command to any utterance of
harmony; I have not the skill.

HAMLET

Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of
me! 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: and there is much music,
excellent voice, in this little organ; yet cannot
you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am
easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what
instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you
cannot play upon me.

Then polonius comes and he and hamlet play a game very much like the one Petruchio makes Kate play with him. I see this no just kidding its that only Polonius gets called out for being a fool and a sycophant for playing along (or maybe thats the shrew bitterness coming back)

And then Hamlet leaves to go see his dear sweet mother... I will speak daggers to her. yes.

3.3

R&G get sent to England. to inspire tom stoppard.

polonius goes to gertrude.

Claudius looks like his praying but is really admitting his guilt, just as hamlet thinks he might kill him but doesnt because it looks like he's praying. I have nothing to say about this scene aside from some people get annoyed with hamlet here but I think the delay is brilliant, and I think it is so twisted and wonderful that claudius admits his guilt/even more brilliant if we were willing to doubt the ghost until then.

3.4

Yes, I rushed through the last scene to get here. 

has anyone ever wondered why Polonius needs to spy on this conversation? Do they not trust the queen to tell the truth? do you think she's too dumb to sort the conversation by herself? Do they get that crazy hamlet may be violent and want someone there for protection? (if so WHY would you choose Polonius for that job?) and if that last one's the case we have females as bate part 2. 

I always find it shocking that Gertrude refers to Claudius as Hamlet's father. It goes a long way toward making me excited about the daggers Hamlet promised to speak. And he skewers her with harsh renderings of the truth, much better than madness don't you think? And so early in the conversation Gertrude becomes afraid, screams for help, and Polonius doesn't get out of the curtain and come to her aid but just calls for help from behind it... to his own demise. At least we know hamlet thought he was the king? But vengeance never seems to come without collateral damage coming back to bite you in the ass.

Hamlet lets polonius lie there while he goes back to his mother who he wants to also ignore the corpse and listen to what he's saying (I'm working on all my sons and this moment reminds me of a line in that play- "Don't cry. listen.")

As Hamlet confronts Gertrude this line stuck out to me: makes marriage-vows As false as dicers' oaths: wow. having a whole new respect and solemnity for marriage vows that line rings more painful to me than it ever has before. From there we get into the cruder sexualized accusations about hamlet's uncle vs. his father. You can freud me all you want but I don't think being uncomfortable thinking about your mom sleeping with your uncle means you wish it was you... though in the comedy version of Hamlet that I imagine in my head sometimes, if any of this mother son awkward sexual tension plays out then the ghost visitation walks in in the middle of it and that's his reason to uncomfortably call hamlet back to his purpose. I should really just write a series of these alternative world hamlet scenes instead of waiting for someone else to do it...

The rejecting the freudian Oedipal complex theory in this scene does not mean I'm pro Hamlet's obsessive control of his mother's sexuality, but I love the changes on a dime throughout this scene and the switch from that to discussing hamlet's departure to england is so strange and perfect. Oh well, Guess I should go since now I've killed a man... like you do. off to england. 

There's letters seal'd: and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way,
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard: and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon: O, 'tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
This man shall set me packing:
I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room.
Mother, good night. Indeed this counsellor
Is now most still, most secret and most grave,
Who was in life a foolish prating knave.
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you.
Good night, mother.

I think one of my favorite things about Hamlet, both the play and the character, is the  continual making light of death while legitimately considering mortality... I envy him for that ability. I need more macabre humor in my life because my issues with mortality have at least quadrupled since I got married/started having a lot in life I'd hate to lose.

 Also... another shout out to John Harrel's Hamlet... I will never stop wanting the "good night, mother" to be an added, casual line after hamlet has dragged polonius out of the room...

and that's act 3.

at hyper speed.

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