Act IV, sc iii: We fat ourselves for maggots

-
The pacy, almost real-time movement continues into another short scene as Rosencrantz announces that they have brought Hamlet to the King. Claudius reveals something of Hamlet's popularity, which hasn't been directly alluded to before. 'He's lov'd of the distracted multitude' (IV.iii.4).



Hamlet's wordplay also continues - in somewhat poor taste, perhaps. He refuses to give a straight answer to the question of where Polonius' body lies, but emphasises its corporeal nature as fodder for worms, and jokes that if it isn't found within a month then the King will be able to detect his decaying corpse and 'nose him as you go up the stairs' (IV.iii.36). It is at least a hint as to the location, and enables Claudius to dispatch his attendants in search of it.

The air of melancholy and general futility of life that he expressed earlier in the play underlies sentiments such as 'we fat ourselves for maggots' (IV.iii.22). But death is also depicted as the great leveller, affecting king and beggar alike.

At the news that he is indeed to be sent to England 'with fiery quickness' (IV.iii.43), Hamlet offers a very damning refusal to bid goodbye to the King, or acknowledge him as father; and condemnatory tarring of his mother with the same brush as Claudius, 'man and wife is one flesh; so my mother' (IV.iii.55).

The scene concludes with a telling soliloquy from the king.

In addition to your own notes, consider the following:


  • Notice the thou/you dichotomy once more in terms of modes of address between Claudius and Hamlet. What is the significance here?
  • In which line does Hamlet effectively tell Claudius to got to hell? How is it achieved?
  • What is the sinister revelation within Claudius' soliloquy?

Oh -and there's no way that anyone can know today's film reference...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Word On Structure And Form

-
Image
In case you haven't had enough examination feedback, I'm sharing even more: this time on t he first part of the exam question which invited you to discuss the passage from Act 1 Scene 2, lines 65-120, exploring Shakespeare's use of language and its dramatic effects.  This scene is a gift, as it offers Hamlet’s first words and actions of the play. Because it is Shakespeare, of course they are rich with imagery and ideas that set up all sorts of themes and conflicts for the rest of the play - so there is plenty to discuss. You are interested in how Shakespeare shapes meaning through the interplay of language, form and structure . It is, in many ways, easier to deal with all three together, since that word 'interplay' is quite important. Form is really concerned with aspects of genre that appear within a text, as well as the 'form,' or type, of the text itself, in this case a play, and specifically, a Shakespearian tragedy. Form might also inclu...
Read more

Th'infected World

-
Image
Schools closed on Friday afternoon due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our task of remote education now begins in earnest. We study one of the world’s most famous plays - when theatres around the world have been shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. We live in extraordinary times. Like Horatio at the appearance of Hamlet’s ghost during the opening scene of the drama, ‘it harrows me with fear and wonder’ (I.i.47). It is perhaps inevitable then, as I re-read the text, that images to do with infection surface and resonate more powerfully than they have ever done before; while we collectively experience ‘some strange eruption to our state’ (I.i.72). Even Hamlet’s ‘windy suspiration of forc’d breath’ (I.ii.79)  in his opening exchange with the queen now seems to rattle as an early symptom of coronavirus rather than the more usual interpretation as a criticism of the appearance of grief. And don't get me started on Laertes counselling of Ophelia, that ‘in the morn...
Read more