ACT I, 2: FORTINBRAS AND LAERTES
The second scene begins with Claudius, the new king of Denmark, addressing his queen and councilors. Claudius has not only become the new king, but he has also just recently married the wife of his brother (the old King Hamlet). Only a short period of time has passed since the death of the old king – just a few months – and the kingdom of Denmark has thus experienced both a period of mourning and a period of celebration at the same time. There has been mourning for the death of old King Hamlet, and there has been celebration for the crowning of the new King Claudius and for the marriage of Claudius to Queen Gertrude.
Although Claudius, as later events reveal, did kill his brother in order to become the new king, the reader or member of the audience would be mistaken to view Claudius merely as a symbol of evil. Claudius did kill his brother out of envy and, perhaps, out of lust. Thus, the reader can connect him to two of the Seven Deadly Sins as well as two Mortal Sins (the breaking of the Ten Commandments): not to kill and not to commit adultery with a neighbor’s (or brother’s) wife. In fact, more than once in the play Claudius’s relationship with Gertrude is referred to as being one of incest. In certain medieval societies, people viewed a sexual relationship with a sister-inlaw as being the same as a sexual relationship with one’s own sister. So, Claudius is certainly an evil character; but Shakespeare makes him more complex than just that.
Shakespeare portrays Claudius as a man who has regretted his past evil actions and attempts to atone for them. Moreover, Claudius is a practical king who handles the affairs of his kingdom well.
The second scene begins with a long speech by Claudius. In the first sixteen lines he explains how Denmark is in a mixed state of mourning and celebration. But then he turns to discussing affairs of state, specifically young Fortinbras and his plans to attack Denmark (line 17). The reader is already aware that King Claudius is in the elaborate process of getting Denmark ready for war. But Claudius does not stop there. He also has another plan: “we have here writ to Norway” (27-28). Claudius decides first to try diplomacy (peaceful negotiations) before resorting to force and violence. Claudius writes a letter to the King of Norway to inform him of the attack planned by his nephew, the young Fortinbras. And he sends two lords, Valtemand and Cornelius, to deliver the message as quickly as they can. The reader, by the way, should note that Claudius uses the Royal “We” (in line 27) instead of the pronoun I. The King refers to himself in the plural because he represents everyone in his kingdom. As it turns out later, King Claudius’ decision to write to Norway was the right one. The King of Norway stops Fortinbras from attacking Denmark. Thus, King Claudius, simply by writing a letter, has prevented war and saved Denmark from great expense, death, and destruction.
The second affair of state concerns Laertes (line 2). Laertes is a young lord and is the son of Polonius, who is a high-ranking official and chief advisor to the king. Laertes asks King Claudius for permission to return to France now that the funeral and coronation (crowning of the king) ceremonies are over. During the Middle Ages many young lords wanted to go to France, which even then was known as a place of scandal and ill-repute. Many young men wanted to go there to drink, to gamble, and to visit the brothels (houses of prostitution). Claudius grants Laertes his permission since Laertes already has the permission of his father. This scene represents a minor theme of abandonment. Several individuals do not want to stay in Denmark: even Hamlet himself has plans to return to Wittenberg, Germany, to attend the university there.
ACT I, 2: I AM TOO MUCH IN THE SUN
After Claudius grants permission for Laertes to go to France, the topic turns to Hamlet (line 64). And immediately the young prince’s use of puns quickly establishes his thoughts as well as his moodiness and depression. King Claudius addresses Hamlet as both cousin and son. The word cousin was frequently used to refer to one’s nephew or other close relation, and the word son frequently was applied to stepsons. King Claudius is both Hamlet’s natural uncle and his stepfather. Hamlet responds with the following: “A little more than kin and less than kind” (65). Both the words kin and kind can refer to one’s family relation, and so Hamlet at first appears to be contradicting himself (he is saying that he and Claudius are both more than family and less than family). But the word kind also suggests kindness, and Hamlet is implying that there is not much kindness between them. There is also a double-meaning in “more than kin.” On the one hand, the expression could suggest that they are very close in their relationship. But on the other hand, the word more indicates “too much.” Hamlet feels that they are too closely related – their relationship goes beyond the bounds of what was considered socially proper or ethical. Hamlet also feels that Claudius is guilty of incest by marrying Queen Gertrude. Their kinship is too much. It goes beyond the limits of decency and morality.
Claudius does not readily understand
Hamlet’s double-meaning, but he does recognize that Hamlet is deeply depressed. And he asks Hamlet why he continues to be so miserable: “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” (66). Hamlet responds with wit, with another clever pun: “Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun” (67). The response not only provides witty wordplay (playing off of the word clouds by using the word sun), but also contains the pun of sun and son. The expression “in the sun,” then, actually has a triple meaning: (1) to be happy, (2) to be in the favor of the king, and (3) to be a son. Hamlet’s hidden third meaning is that he is very much a true and loyal son who cannot forget his real father, who has now been dead for several months. And because he remembers his father and mourns the death of him, he is, in fact, not happy at all.
Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, then joins the conversation and tells her son that death is a natural part of life that everyone must accept (line 72). Hamlet agrees, but with another pun: common (line 74). This word suggests that death is frequent, natural, and universal but it is also negatively suggests coarse or crude or vulgar. Hamlet is disgusted by the death of his father and finds it difficult to accept.
Gertrude does not pick up on Hamlet’s second meaning. She believes that her son is agreeing with her. So, she asks him, “Why seems it so particular with thee?” (75). She is asking Hamlet why death seems to affect him much more so than other people. Hamlet responds with the following: “Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems’” (76). Hamlet then proceeds to list the ways that people seem to show grief:
Again Hamlet is playing off a double-meaning of a word. Gertrude used seems as a substitute for is, but Hamlet indicates that seems suggests a false appearance or action. People often seem to be the thing they are not. Hamlet is subtly criticizing, perhaps, his mother for seeming to mourn the death of old King Hamlet. He is suggesting that her mourning is just an act, that it is not real.
Hamlet concludes his response to his mother with these lines:
But I have that within which passeth show – These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
(85-86)
Hamlet expresses that his emotions are far deeper and more real than anything that may be visible or seen on the surface. The word show means both (1) to reveal and display, and (2) to pretend or to act. The word these refers to his black clothes and sad face (which Hamlet would point to as he says the line). Hamlet is thus expressing that no matter what people may see on the outside or surface of a person, they can never see what is going on within that person.
They cannot see that person’s emotions.