THE ATMOSPHERE OF UNCERTAINTY, DISTRUST AND DOUBT THROUGH THE MARGINALIZED CHARACTERS IN SHAKESPEARE'S 'HAMLET'
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history which succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era. It was the period of visual and literary arts during the reign of James I of England (1603–25). William Shakespeare, who had started writing in the Elizabethan Period, wrote twelve serious plays in this period. These include 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth',
'Othello', etc. These plays are darker and more cynical, reflecting the insecurities of the Jacobean period.
Hamlet, one of the most popular Shakespearean plays, is a tragedy. It is set in the kingdom of Denmark. The play is about Hamlet avenging his father’s death, which seems to have been plotted by his uncle, Claudius. After King Hamlet’s death, Claudius immediately marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and takes over the throne of Denmark. Hamlet sees great injustice in their union, especially since it happened so soon after his father’s death, and he questions whether his uncle killed his father with the intention of acquiring the throne. Hamlet also questions the state of man and whether or not man is inherently evil, he contemplates the point of being alive, and whether or not it is wrong to murder someone as an act of revenge. Throughout the play, Shakespeare gives us an insight to the inner rottenness of Denmark. We see deception, scheming politics and murder by King Claudius, unholy acts of spying by Polonuis, and the atmosphere of distrust and uncertainty. The marginalized characters seen in this play are Marcellus and Bernardo, Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Laertes.
MARCELLUS AND BERNARDO
Marcellus and Bernardo, along with Francisco, are sentries at Elsinore. Francisco gives up his watch to Bernardo in the opening of the play. Marcellus is the most prominent of the three. It is Marcellus and Bernardo, the two officers, who first see King Hamlet's Ghost walking the
ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to witness it.
These two characters are marginalized in this Shakespearean tragedy, even though they have a significant role. They make their first appearance in Act 1, Scene 1. So, the play commences with these characters on stage. In this scene, it is shown that Marcellus and Bernardo are the first characters to witness the Ghost of King Hamlet. Marcellus mentions that Horatio (Hamlet's closest friend) does not believe in ghosts, nor did he believe in what they said about the King's Ghost, and that he felt it was nothing but their imagination:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us.
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night,
That if again this apparition come
He may approve our eyes and speak to it."
Hence, Marcellus and Bernardo ask Horatio to join the watch that night, as he would witness the Ghost. When Horatio joins Marcellus and Bernardo, the three men bicker about the Ghost. Since Horatio doesn't believe in ghosts, and Marcellus and Bernardo do because they had seen one, there is a debate. This adds a little spice to the scene, and shows a minor conflict between
Horatio and these marginalized characters. It seems natural to Marcellus and Bernardo that Horatio would join them on their watch, if they tell him they have seen a Ghost who looks exactly like the late King Hamlet. Horatio would
completely ridicule this, and then, they might challenge him to come and see for himself. They expect the Ghost to return because it had appeared several nights in succession. Otherwise, they wouldn't promise Horatio that he would see the Ghost. They choose him because he's Hamlet's confidant throughout the play, and his report about the Ghost would be more reliable. They make sure Horatio witnesses the Ghost, thus, proving his disbelief wrong. After this,
Bernardo tells Horatio that he had turned pale. He also asks him sarcastically, if this seemed more than just their imagination. Thus, he proves as well as reassures that the Ghost is real, and that Hamlet should be made aware soon:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale.
Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on ’t?"
In Act 1, Scene 2, Marcellus and Bernardo go with Horatio to tell Hamlet about the Ghost's appearance. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the Ghost.
The Ghost is the character that ignites the fire of revenge within Hamlet, resulting in his constant dilemma regarding avenging his father, and if it wasn't for Marcellus and Bernardo, Hamlet probably wouldn't have known about the Ghost earlier. He decides to obey the Ghost. He tells Horatio and Marcellus further that he may pretend to be a madman, and he makes them swear not to give the slightest hint that they know anything about his motives. The play revolves around this behaviour of Hamlet, which affects everything else. This is how Marcellus and Bernardo affect Hamlet's mindset and dark behaviour, even though it's an indirect influence.
The elements of uncertainty and distrust are seen in the play when Marcellus and Bernardo mention the Ghost to Horatio, and Horatio doesn't believe them until he sees the Ghost himself. Also, in order to make Hamlet believe this, they make sure Horatio makes Hamlet aware, as Hamlet wouldn't trust anyone else, but Horatio.
Marcellus and Bernardo are guards, and their words could only be trusted if there was solid proof, or the information was coming from a confidant, or a reliable source. Also, at the end of Act 1, Scene 4, when the Ghost wants Hamlet to follow him, Marcellus is not able to trust the Ghost with this, and he, along with Horatio, requests Hamlet to stay back. Due to Hamlet's stubbornness, Marcellus allows him to go, and decides to follow him and the Ghost.Shakespeare highlights distrust here, as well as uncertainty when it comes to the Ghost and his real intentions.
In Act 1, Scene 1, Marcellus also adds uncertainty by asking Horatio about the strict schedule of guards being imposed, many bronze cannons being manufactured in Denmark, many weapons bought from abroad, and the shipbuilders being so busy that they don’t even rest on a Sunday:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"Good now, sit down and tell me, he that knows,
Why this same strict and most observant watch
So nightly toils the subject of the land,
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon
And foreign mart for implements of war,
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week.
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste
Doth make the night joint laborer with the day?
Who is’t that can inform me?"
By saying this, he makes the audience aware that there's a reason all of this is taking place all of a sudden, which adds on to the uncertainty in the play. This is when Horatio tells them about Fortinbras' plan to recapture the lost territories, due to which, a strong defence was needed. It is realized that this is the right time for the Ghost to appear.
Marcellus and Bernardo are highly marginalized, but the way they affect Hamlet's behaviour by indirectly introducing him to the Ghost is one of the few highlights of the drama. Hamlet's dilemma due to this makes all the difference, and constructs a tragic and dark atmosphere full of uncertainty and distrust throughout the play.
FORTINBRAS
Although he is considered to be a foil to the protagonist Hamlet, Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, appears in the play only twice (towards the end). Even then, on both these occasions his short lived presence adds meaning to the play. For almost the entirety of the play, he remains an absent character, in that sense literally placed at the margins of the play and yet, his actions
offstage certainly affect the people onstage, as we find out early on through Horatio that the young prince of Norway maybe somewhat unpredictable in his actions and this considerably adds to the drama. We find out that Fortinbras, in order to avenge his father’s defeat at the hands of Hamlet’s father, wants to march into Denmark and reclaim his territory. The knowledge of his plans certainly instills fear in the heart of the denizens of Denmark and sets the dark stage for impending doom. Even though his plans are thwarted, they are crucial to the central tragic theme of the play.
Horatio, in Act 1, Scene 1, mentions Fortinbras for the first time:
"Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes,
For food and diet, to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in ’t, which is no other—
As it doth well appear unto our state—
But to recover of us, by strong hand--And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands
So by his father lost."
During his limited stage time as a marginalized character, we can easily judge that, Fortinbras is a soldier at heart. When his claim to march into Denmark is foiled by Claudius’s letter to his uncle, he seeks permission to peacefully march through Denmark on his way to Poland. This shows that he doesn’t give up easily. Even when his plans are somewhat thwarted by his uncle, he finds another territory to occupy. This move of his establishes him as man who is loyal to his family and at the same time sets the political tone of events to come. The Captain of his army mentions to Hamlet, “We go to gain a little patch of ground / That hath in it no profit but the name” (4.4, 18-9). He is going to fight the Polish for glory, not monetary gain. This revelation
leads Hamlet to praise Fortinbras. Ironically, due to the tragic turn of events, Fortinbras’ earlier desire to reclaim his father’s lost lands is fulfilled when he implies that he will now be the ruler of Denmark.
Fortinbras only appears twice in the play, and he does not speak more than nine lines at any one time. This succinctness may be a symptom of his militaristic nature, for he is a man of action more than words. Nonetheless, this quality is admirable, and near death, Hamlet claims the Prince of Norway is likely to be the next king (5.2, 355-6). His intentions of giving Hamlet a
soldier's burial with due respect shows his positive side, whereas, in the same moment, he also implies that he is about to usurp the throne of Denmark. We can conclude that Fortinbras is a complex, almost contradictory character. He is a soldier trained in the ways of war, yet he brings order and stability when everything has become chaotic. Since Fortinbras rarely speaks his mind,
his reasoning remains as difficult to know as the darkness. On the other hand, his actions speak for him.
(Act 5, Scene 2)
"Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom
Which now, to claim my vantage doth invite me."
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov'd most royally; and for his passage
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
This effectively points out that one can’t really paint the characters of this play as simple, with plain intentions. Shakespearean characters in their true essence are human; not completely black or white, but with gray areas. So, even when Fortinbras offers Hamlet's dead body the dignity of a proper martial burial and shows his shock at the number of dead bodies laying around, he wastes no time mourning and quickly insinuates his claim to the throne of Denmark, thus reiterating that the human character is complex and unpredictable and this adds to the dark element in the play with the tragic end that it presents.
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of it. In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first appear in Act 2, Scene 2, where they attempt to place themselves in the confidence of Prince Hamlet, their childhood friend. The smooth and courtly language they employ, immediately establishes them as sycophants, who in reality are serving as spies for the corrupt King Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, who usurped the throne and constantly attempts to check his nephew. Hamlet welcomes them as "excellent good friends", but, seeing through their guise comments that they won't "deal justly" with him about their mission. Realizing that he lacks allies except for Horatio, Hamlet gives the speech "What a piece of work is a man" to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
When Hamlet kills Polonius, Claudius recruits Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England, providing them with a letter for the King of England instructing him to have Hamlet killed. (They are apparently unaware of what is in the letter, though Shakespeare never explicitly says so.) Along the journey, the distrustful Hamlet finds and rewrites the letter, instructing the executioner to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. When their ship is attacked by pirates, Hamlet returns to Denmark, leaving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die; he comments in Act 5, Scene 2 that, "They are not near my conscience; their defeat / Does by their own insinuation grow". Ambassadors returning later report that, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead."
These two characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, represent a sense of political and cultural influence as they try to lure King Claudius as he was a man of power. This ideas show how power can belittle the ideology of friendship and loyalty. In actuality, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Hamlet’s old friends. Claudius persuades the two and convinces them to, in fact, kill Hamlet. In response to Claudius' plan to send Hamlet to England, Rosencrantz delivers a speech which if read out of context is both an excellent set of metaphors and a summation of the Jacobean concepts of role and power of Kingship:
"The singular and peculiar life is bound
With all the strength and armor of the mind
To keep itself from noyance but much more
That spirit upon whose weal depends and rests
The lives of many .the cease of majesty
Dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw
What’s near it with it? It is a massy wheel
Fixed on the summit of the highest mount,
To whose huge spoken ten thousand lesser things
Are mortised and adjoined; which, when it falls,
Each small annexment, petty consequences,
Attends the boisterous ruin: never alone
Did the king sign but with a general groan."
In this passage, we can see a thoughtful and imagery-wise successful passage worthy of a wise and accomplished statesman. It wants us to have a lance at the marginalized characters who are not given enough importance, and those who should have been given recognition in their lives. Not many readers and viewers of the play would rank this passage among the best-known lines of the play, and also Hamlet’s soliloquies for instance, or with the king’s efforts to pray, or even with the aphorisms addressed by Polonius to his son Laertes. We know that it is safe to say that the passage is intrinsically good if one looks at it alone, and that it's simply not well-known.
In spite of having access to excellency, they have been marginalized and Hamlet is the protagonist, the latter coming from a wealthy and royal family. He has been portrayed as a moral hero. But, he also lacks in a few areas. The question is, will the people notice it? The agreement is only a reaffirmation of what they had told the king when he first receives them. The two are distinctly plot-driven: empty of personality, sycophantic in a sniveling way, eager to favor power, even if it means spying on their erstwhile friend. They admit without much skill at denial that they were sent for this. So, they are less successful there. They also try to play on Hamlet's metaphorical 'pipe' to know his 'stops' when they are forced to admit that they could not even handle a musical instrument that Hamlet shows them. Still, later, these non-entities meet their destiny. "Non-beingness" as it were, when Hamlet, who can play the pipe so much more efficiently, substituted their names in the death warrant intended for him.
So in this, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report back to King Claudius after their conversation with Hamlet. They have very little to tell the King, who opens the scene with queries. The only good news they have for the King is that Hamlet was greatly cheered to hear about the arrival of the traveling players and that he ordered them to put on a performance. Claudius is very pleased to hear about this show of interest on the part of his melancholic stepson. We also see Claudius' power on these two people. We see that conversation between Claudius and Rosencrantz:
"And can you, by no drift of conference,
Get from him why he puts on this confusion,
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?"
Rosencrantz says,
"He does confess he feels himself distracted,
But from what cause he will by no means speak."
And Guildenstern adds,
"Nor do we find him forward to be sounded,
But with a crafty madness keeps aloof
When we would bring him on to some confession
Of his true state."
During the King's interview with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, nothing much is accomplished except the establishment that the King and Queen will be attending the play Hamlet has ordered the players to perform. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also show that there's a mighty struggle between powerful antagonists in this play, and is hardly original. But, our emphasis in the present reading is that one can gain a further insight into the play. Towards the end, Hamlet is informed that his friends are involved in plotting his death. In a moment of trickery on his own part, Hamlet blithely substitutes a forged document bearing their names rather than his as the ones to be "put to sudden death, not shriving time allowed." When Horatio responds laconically, Hamlet is unmoved. Shakespeare shows the effects on Hamlet through these two characters as well; "they are not rear conscience". In the end, these two are dead.
LAERTES
Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. He spends most of time in France and is first introduced in the play when he comes to Denmark to attend the coronation of King Claudius. He is a fierce young man who acts on impulse without thinking rationally. He is absent for the most part in the play but returns in Act 4. Although he seems like a minor character, he has a major role to play. Laertes is loyal to his family and loves his family, especially his sister Ophelia, and thus warns her to keep away from Hamlet. He returns to Denmark after he learns that his father is dead. He comes back in rage and is driven by revenge which can be seen in Act 4, Scene 5, 3002.
"How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the world, I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be reveng'd
Most throughly for my father."
His compulsive and impetuous behavior leads to foolishness which takes his life along with
others in the end. This shows the uncertainty in the play.
While talking to his mother, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius mistaking him for a rat, who was
hiding behind the tapestry. Upon hearing of his father’s death, a furious Laertes marches into
King Claudius’ court with a mob, blaming him to have killed his father. King Claudius claims
that he is not responsible for Polonius’ death and tries to calm Laertes, who is ready for revenge.
When he sees that Ophelia has gone mad after Polonius’ death, Laertes becomes angrier. King
Claudius sees this as an opportunity to use Laertes in getting rid of his nephew/ stepson, Hamlet.
He convinces Laertes to fence with Hamlet.
(Act 4, Scene 7)
"It falls right.
You have been talk'd of since your travel much,
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality
Wherein they say you shine, Your sum of parts
Did not together pluck such envy from him
As did that one; and that, in my regard,
Of the unworthiest siege."
He also makes sure to poison Laertes' sword with which he would kill Hamlet. Laertes is marginalized in this play by using him as a pawn to fulfill someone else's desires. King
Claudius uses Laertes' anger to his own advantage. Since Laertes is driven by rage and revenge,
he does not think rationally and considers King Claudius' plan as the best way to get his revenge
and in doing so gets himself killed.
Laury Magnus: "Upon his return to the stage, Shakespeare puts him into the most extreme
situations: his confrontation with the king, his extensive scheming with Claudius in Act 4, and
his graveyard grappling with Hamlet, all leading up to the final treacherous duel."
Laertes’ revenge is partly the pressure put on him by King Claudius. Hamlet has wronged
Laertes in many ways, treating his sister in a cruel way and killing his father which drives
Ophelia mad and leads to her death. Despite all of this, Laertes forgives Hamlet while on the
verge of dying which makes his death a tragedy.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, we see that the marginalized characters of Hamlet play a humongous role influencing the behaviour of Hamlet in a way that the atmosphere of the drama remains uncertain and dark till the very end. Hamlet's dilemma and strange behaviour which is influenced by these minor
characters, shows that the play wouldn't have been the same without them. Although they do not get the spotlight, they affect the plot, and contribute to the tragic element in the play.
- Kashish Sharma, Zenobia Charania, Saugandhika Singh, Simran Joshi and Sanika Chalke
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history which succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era. It was the period of visual and literary arts during the reign of James I of England (1603–25). William Shakespeare, who had started writing in the Elizabethan Period, wrote twelve serious plays in this period. These include 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth',
'Othello', etc. These plays are darker and more cynical, reflecting the insecurities of the Jacobean period.
Hamlet, one of the most popular Shakespearean plays, is a tragedy. It is set in the kingdom of Denmark. The play is about Hamlet avenging his father’s death, which seems to have been plotted by his uncle, Claudius. After King Hamlet’s death, Claudius immediately marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and takes over the throne of Denmark. Hamlet sees great injustice in their union, especially since it happened so soon after his father’s death, and he questions whether his uncle killed his father with the intention of acquiring the throne. Hamlet also questions the state of man and whether or not man is inherently evil, he contemplates the point of being alive, and whether or not it is wrong to murder someone as an act of revenge. Throughout the play, Shakespeare gives us an insight to the inner rottenness of Denmark. We see deception, scheming politics and murder by King Claudius, unholy acts of spying by Polonuis, and the atmosphere of distrust and uncertainty. The marginalized characters seen in this play are Marcellus and Bernardo, Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Laertes.
MARCELLUS AND BERNARDO
Marcellus and Bernardo, along with Francisco, are sentries at Elsinore. Francisco gives up his watch to Bernardo in the opening of the play. Marcellus is the most prominent of the three. It is Marcellus and Bernardo, the two officers, who first see King Hamlet's Ghost walking the
ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to witness it.
These two characters are marginalized in this Shakespearean tragedy, even though they have a significant role. They make their first appearance in Act 1, Scene 1. So, the play commences with these characters on stage. In this scene, it is shown that Marcellus and Bernardo are the first characters to witness the Ghost of King Hamlet. Marcellus mentions that Horatio (Hamlet's closest friend) does not believe in ghosts, nor did he believe in what they said about the King's Ghost, and that he felt it was nothing but their imagination:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us.
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night,
That if again this apparition come
He may approve our eyes and speak to it."
Hence, Marcellus and Bernardo ask Horatio to join the watch that night, as he would witness the Ghost. When Horatio joins Marcellus and Bernardo, the three men bicker about the Ghost. Since Horatio doesn't believe in ghosts, and Marcellus and Bernardo do because they had seen one, there is a debate. This adds a little spice to the scene, and shows a minor conflict between
Horatio and these marginalized characters. It seems natural to Marcellus and Bernardo that Horatio would join them on their watch, if they tell him they have seen a Ghost who looks exactly like the late King Hamlet. Horatio would
completely ridicule this, and then, they might challenge him to come and see for himself. They expect the Ghost to return because it had appeared several nights in succession. Otherwise, they wouldn't promise Horatio that he would see the Ghost. They choose him because he's Hamlet's confidant throughout the play, and his report about the Ghost would be more reliable. They make sure Horatio witnesses the Ghost, thus, proving his disbelief wrong. After this,
Bernardo tells Horatio that he had turned pale. He also asks him sarcastically, if this seemed more than just their imagination. Thus, he proves as well as reassures that the Ghost is real, and that Hamlet should be made aware soon:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale.
Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on ’t?"
In Act 1, Scene 2, Marcellus and Bernardo go with Horatio to tell Hamlet about the Ghost's appearance. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the Ghost.
The Ghost is the character that ignites the fire of revenge within Hamlet, resulting in his constant dilemma regarding avenging his father, and if it wasn't for Marcellus and Bernardo, Hamlet probably wouldn't have known about the Ghost earlier. He decides to obey the Ghost. He tells Horatio and Marcellus further that he may pretend to be a madman, and he makes them swear not to give the slightest hint that they know anything about his motives. The play revolves around this behaviour of Hamlet, which affects everything else. This is how Marcellus and Bernardo affect Hamlet's mindset and dark behaviour, even though it's an indirect influence.
The elements of uncertainty and distrust are seen in the play when Marcellus and Bernardo mention the Ghost to Horatio, and Horatio doesn't believe them until he sees the Ghost himself. Also, in order to make Hamlet believe this, they make sure Horatio makes Hamlet aware, as Hamlet wouldn't trust anyone else, but Horatio.
Marcellus and Bernardo are guards, and their words could only be trusted if there was solid proof, or the information was coming from a confidant, or a reliable source. Also, at the end of Act 1, Scene 4, when the Ghost wants Hamlet to follow him, Marcellus is not able to trust the Ghost with this, and he, along with Horatio, requests Hamlet to stay back. Due to Hamlet's stubbornness, Marcellus allows him to go, and decides to follow him and the Ghost.Shakespeare highlights distrust here, as well as uncertainty when it comes to the Ghost and his real intentions.
In Act 1, Scene 1, Marcellus also adds uncertainty by asking Horatio about the strict schedule of guards being imposed, many bronze cannons being manufactured in Denmark, many weapons bought from abroad, and the shipbuilders being so busy that they don’t even rest on a Sunday:
(Act 1, Scene 1)
"Good now, sit down and tell me, he that knows,
Why this same strict and most observant watch
So nightly toils the subject of the land,
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon
And foreign mart for implements of war,
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week.
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste
Doth make the night joint laborer with the day?
Who is’t that can inform me?"
By saying this, he makes the audience aware that there's a reason all of this is taking place all of a sudden, which adds on to the uncertainty in the play. This is when Horatio tells them about Fortinbras' plan to recapture the lost territories, due to which, a strong defence was needed. It is realized that this is the right time for the Ghost to appear.
Marcellus and Bernardo are highly marginalized, but the way they affect Hamlet's behaviour by indirectly introducing him to the Ghost is one of the few highlights of the drama. Hamlet's dilemma due to this makes all the difference, and constructs a tragic and dark atmosphere full of uncertainty and distrust throughout the play.
FORTINBRAS
Although he is considered to be a foil to the protagonist Hamlet, Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, appears in the play only twice (towards the end). Even then, on both these occasions his short lived presence adds meaning to the play. For almost the entirety of the play, he remains an absent character, in that sense literally placed at the margins of the play and yet, his actions
offstage certainly affect the people onstage, as we find out early on through Horatio that the young prince of Norway maybe somewhat unpredictable in his actions and this considerably adds to the drama. We find out that Fortinbras, in order to avenge his father’s defeat at the hands of Hamlet’s father, wants to march into Denmark and reclaim his territory. The knowledge of his plans certainly instills fear in the heart of the denizens of Denmark and sets the dark stage for impending doom. Even though his plans are thwarted, they are crucial to the central tragic theme of the play.
Horatio, in Act 1, Scene 1, mentions Fortinbras for the first time:
"Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes,
For food and diet, to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in ’t, which is no other—
As it doth well appear unto our state—
But to recover of us, by strong hand--And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands
So by his father lost."
During his limited stage time as a marginalized character, we can easily judge that, Fortinbras is a soldier at heart. When his claim to march into Denmark is foiled by Claudius’s letter to his uncle, he seeks permission to peacefully march through Denmark on his way to Poland. This shows that he doesn’t give up easily. Even when his plans are somewhat thwarted by his uncle, he finds another territory to occupy. This move of his establishes him as man who is loyal to his family and at the same time sets the political tone of events to come. The Captain of his army mentions to Hamlet, “We go to gain a little patch of ground / That hath in it no profit but the name” (4.4, 18-9). He is going to fight the Polish for glory, not monetary gain. This revelation
leads Hamlet to praise Fortinbras. Ironically, due to the tragic turn of events, Fortinbras’ earlier desire to reclaim his father’s lost lands is fulfilled when he implies that he will now be the ruler of Denmark.
Fortinbras only appears twice in the play, and he does not speak more than nine lines at any one time. This succinctness may be a symptom of his militaristic nature, for he is a man of action more than words. Nonetheless, this quality is admirable, and near death, Hamlet claims the Prince of Norway is likely to be the next king (5.2, 355-6). His intentions of giving Hamlet a
soldier's burial with due respect shows his positive side, whereas, in the same moment, he also implies that he is about to usurp the throne of Denmark. We can conclude that Fortinbras is a complex, almost contradictory character. He is a soldier trained in the ways of war, yet he brings order and stability when everything has become chaotic. Since Fortinbras rarely speaks his mind,
his reasoning remains as difficult to know as the darkness. On the other hand, his actions speak for him.
(Act 5, Scene 2)
"Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom
Which now, to claim my vantage doth invite me."
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov'd most royally; and for his passage
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
This effectively points out that one can’t really paint the characters of this play as simple, with plain intentions. Shakespearean characters in their true essence are human; not completely black or white, but with gray areas. So, even when Fortinbras offers Hamlet's dead body the dignity of a proper martial burial and shows his shock at the number of dead bodies laying around, he wastes no time mourning and quickly insinuates his claim to the throne of Denmark, thus reiterating that the human character is complex and unpredictable and this adds to the dark element in the play with the tragic end that it presents.
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of it. In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first appear in Act 2, Scene 2, where they attempt to place themselves in the confidence of Prince Hamlet, their childhood friend. The smooth and courtly language they employ, immediately establishes them as sycophants, who in reality are serving as spies for the corrupt King Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, who usurped the throne and constantly attempts to check his nephew. Hamlet welcomes them as "excellent good friends", but, seeing through their guise comments that they won't "deal justly" with him about their mission. Realizing that he lacks allies except for Horatio, Hamlet gives the speech "What a piece of work is a man" to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
When Hamlet kills Polonius, Claudius recruits Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England, providing them with a letter for the King of England instructing him to have Hamlet killed. (They are apparently unaware of what is in the letter, though Shakespeare never explicitly says so.) Along the journey, the distrustful Hamlet finds and rewrites the letter, instructing the executioner to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. When their ship is attacked by pirates, Hamlet returns to Denmark, leaving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die; he comments in Act 5, Scene 2 that, "They are not near my conscience; their defeat / Does by their own insinuation grow". Ambassadors returning later report that, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead."
These two characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, represent a sense of political and cultural influence as they try to lure King Claudius as he was a man of power. This ideas show how power can belittle the ideology of friendship and loyalty. In actuality, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Hamlet’s old friends. Claudius persuades the two and convinces them to, in fact, kill Hamlet. In response to Claudius' plan to send Hamlet to England, Rosencrantz delivers a speech which if read out of context is both an excellent set of metaphors and a summation of the Jacobean concepts of role and power of Kingship:
"The singular and peculiar life is bound
With all the strength and armor of the mind
To keep itself from noyance but much more
That spirit upon whose weal depends and rests
The lives of many .the cease of majesty
Dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw
What’s near it with it? It is a massy wheel
Fixed on the summit of the highest mount,
To whose huge spoken ten thousand lesser things
Are mortised and adjoined; which, when it falls,
Each small annexment, petty consequences,
Attends the boisterous ruin: never alone
Did the king sign but with a general groan."
In this passage, we can see a thoughtful and imagery-wise successful passage worthy of a wise and accomplished statesman. It wants us to have a lance at the marginalized characters who are not given enough importance, and those who should have been given recognition in their lives. Not many readers and viewers of the play would rank this passage among the best-known lines of the play, and also Hamlet’s soliloquies for instance, or with the king’s efforts to pray, or even with the aphorisms addressed by Polonius to his son Laertes. We know that it is safe to say that the passage is intrinsically good if one looks at it alone, and that it's simply not well-known.
In spite of having access to excellency, they have been marginalized and Hamlet is the protagonist, the latter coming from a wealthy and royal family. He has been portrayed as a moral hero. But, he also lacks in a few areas. The question is, will the people notice it? The agreement is only a reaffirmation of what they had told the king when he first receives them. The two are distinctly plot-driven: empty of personality, sycophantic in a sniveling way, eager to favor power, even if it means spying on their erstwhile friend. They admit without much skill at denial that they were sent for this. So, they are less successful there. They also try to play on Hamlet's metaphorical 'pipe' to know his 'stops' when they are forced to admit that they could not even handle a musical instrument that Hamlet shows them. Still, later, these non-entities meet their destiny. "Non-beingness" as it were, when Hamlet, who can play the pipe so much more efficiently, substituted their names in the death warrant intended for him.
So in this, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report back to King Claudius after their conversation with Hamlet. They have very little to tell the King, who opens the scene with queries. The only good news they have for the King is that Hamlet was greatly cheered to hear about the arrival of the traveling players and that he ordered them to put on a performance. Claudius is very pleased to hear about this show of interest on the part of his melancholic stepson. We also see Claudius' power on these two people. We see that conversation between Claudius and Rosencrantz:
"And can you, by no drift of conference,
Get from him why he puts on this confusion,
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?"
Rosencrantz says,
"He does confess he feels himself distracted,
But from what cause he will by no means speak."
And Guildenstern adds,
"Nor do we find him forward to be sounded,
But with a crafty madness keeps aloof
When we would bring him on to some confession
Of his true state."
During the King's interview with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, nothing much is accomplished except the establishment that the King and Queen will be attending the play Hamlet has ordered the players to perform. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also show that there's a mighty struggle between powerful antagonists in this play, and is hardly original. But, our emphasis in the present reading is that one can gain a further insight into the play. Towards the end, Hamlet is informed that his friends are involved in plotting his death. In a moment of trickery on his own part, Hamlet blithely substitutes a forged document bearing their names rather than his as the ones to be "put to sudden death, not shriving time allowed." When Horatio responds laconically, Hamlet is unmoved. Shakespeare shows the effects on Hamlet through these two characters as well; "they are not rear conscience". In the end, these two are dead.
LAERTES
Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. He spends most of time in France and is first introduced in the play when he comes to Denmark to attend the coronation of King Claudius. He is a fierce young man who acts on impulse without thinking rationally. He is absent for the most part in the play but returns in Act 4. Although he seems like a minor character, he has a major role to play. Laertes is loyal to his family and loves his family, especially his sister Ophelia, and thus warns her to keep away from Hamlet. He returns to Denmark after he learns that his father is dead. He comes back in rage and is driven by revenge which can be seen in Act 4, Scene 5, 3002.
"How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the world, I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be reveng'd
Most throughly for my father."
His compulsive and impetuous behavior leads to foolishness which takes his life along with
others in the end. This shows the uncertainty in the play.
While talking to his mother, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius mistaking him for a rat, who was
hiding behind the tapestry. Upon hearing of his father’s death, a furious Laertes marches into
King Claudius’ court with a mob, blaming him to have killed his father. King Claudius claims
that he is not responsible for Polonius’ death and tries to calm Laertes, who is ready for revenge.
When he sees that Ophelia has gone mad after Polonius’ death, Laertes becomes angrier. King
Claudius sees this as an opportunity to use Laertes in getting rid of his nephew/ stepson, Hamlet.
He convinces Laertes to fence with Hamlet.
(Act 4, Scene 7)
"It falls right.
You have been talk'd of since your travel much,
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality
Wherein they say you shine, Your sum of parts
Did not together pluck such envy from him
As did that one; and that, in my regard,
Of the unworthiest siege."
He also makes sure to poison Laertes' sword with which he would kill Hamlet. Laertes is marginalized in this play by using him as a pawn to fulfill someone else's desires. King
Claudius uses Laertes' anger to his own advantage. Since Laertes is driven by rage and revenge,
he does not think rationally and considers King Claudius' plan as the best way to get his revenge
and in doing so gets himself killed.
Laury Magnus: "Upon his return to the stage, Shakespeare puts him into the most extreme
situations: his confrontation with the king, his extensive scheming with Claudius in Act 4, and
his graveyard grappling with Hamlet, all leading up to the final treacherous duel."
Laertes’ revenge is partly the pressure put on him by King Claudius. Hamlet has wronged
Laertes in many ways, treating his sister in a cruel way and killing his father which drives
Ophelia mad and leads to her death. Despite all of this, Laertes forgives Hamlet while on the
verge of dying which makes his death a tragedy.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, we see that the marginalized characters of Hamlet play a humongous role influencing the behaviour of Hamlet in a way that the atmosphere of the drama remains uncertain and dark till the very end. Hamlet's dilemma and strange behaviour which is influenced by these minor
characters, shows that the play wouldn't have been the same without them. Although they do not get the spotlight, they affect the plot, and contribute to the tragic element in the play.
- Kashish Sharma, Zenobia Charania, Saugandhika Singh, Simran Joshi and Sanika Chalke
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