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Act 1, Scene 1
Enter BARNARDO and FRANCISCO , two sentinels BARNARDO and FRANCISCO , two watchmen, enter. BARNARDO Who’s there?
BARNARDO
Who’s there? FRANCISCO Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself.
FRANCISCO
No, who are you? Stop and identify yourself. BARNARDO Long live the king!
BARNARDO
Long live the king! FRANCISCO Barnardo?
FRANCISCO
Is that Barnardo? BARNARDO He.
BARNARDO
Yes, it’s me. FRANCISCO You come most carefully upon your hour.
FRANCISCO
You’ve come right on time.
BARNARDO
'Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco.
BARNARDO
The clock’s just striking twelve. Go home to bed, Francisco. FRANCISCO For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart.
FRANCISCO
Thanks for letting me go. It’s bitterly cold out, and I’m depressed. BARNARDO Have you had quiet guard?
BARNARDO
Has it been a quiet night? FRANCISCO Not a mouse stirring.
FRANCISCO
I haven’t even heard a mouse squeak.
BARNARDO
Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.
BARNARDO
Well, good night. If you happen to see Horatio and Marcellus, who are supposed to stand guard with me tonight, tell them to hurry. FRANCISCO I think I hear them.—Stand, ho! Who’s there?
FRANCISCO
I think I hear them. —Stop! Who’s there? Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS MARCELLUS and HORATIO enter.
Act 1, Scene 1, Page 2
HORATIO
Friends to this ground.
HORATIO
Friends of this country. MARCELLUS And liegemen to the Dane.
MARCELLUS
And servants of the Danish king. FRANCISCO Give you good night.
FRANCISCO
Good night to you both. MARCELLUS O, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath relieved you?
MARCELLUS
Good-bye. Who’s taken over the watch for you? FRANCISCO Barnardo has my place. Give you good night.
FRANCISCO
Barnardo’s taken my place. Good night. Exit FRANCISCO FRANCISCO exits.
MARCELLUS
Holla, Barnardo.
MARCELLUS
Hello, Barnardo. BARNARDO Say what, is Horatio there?
BARNARDO
Hello. Is Horatio here too?
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HORATIO
A piece of him.
HORATIO
More or less. BARNARDO Welcome, Horatio.—Welcome, good Marcellus.
BARNARDO
Welcome, Horatio. Welcome, Marcellus. MARCELLUS What, has this thing appeared again tonight?
MARCELLUS
So, tell us, did you see that thing again tonight?
BARNARDO
I have seen nothing.
BARNARDO
I haven’t seen anything.
MARCELLUS
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.
MARCELLUS
Horatio says we’re imagining it, and won’t let himself believe anything about this horrible thing that we’ve seen twice now. That’s why I’ve begged him to come on our shift tonight, so that if the ghost appears he can see what we see and speak to it.
HORATIO
Tush, tush, ’twill not appear.
HORATIO
Oh, nonsense. It’s not going to appear.
Act 1, Scene 1, Page 3
BARNARDO
Sit down a while And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against our story, What we have two nights seen.
BARNARDO
Sit down for a while, and we’ll tell you again the story you don’t want to believe, about what we’ve seen two nights now.
HORATIO
Well, sit we down, And let us hear Barnardo speak of this.
HORATIO
Well, let’s sit down and listen to Barnardo tell us.
BARNARDO
Last night of all, When yond same star that’s westward from the pole Had made his course t' illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, The bell then beating one—
BARNARDO
Last night, when that star to the west of the North Star had traveled across the night sky to that point where it’s shining now, at one o'clock, Marcellus and I—
Enter GHOST The GHOST enters. MARCELLUS Peace, break thee off. Look where it comes again!
MARCELLUS
Quiet, shut up! It’s come again. BARNARDO In the same figure like the king that’s dead.
BARNARDO
Looking just like the dead king.
MARCELLUS
(to HORATIO ) Thou art a scholar. Speak to it, Horatio.
MARCELLUS
(to HORATIO ) You’re well-educated, Horatio. Say something to it. BARNARDO Looks it not like the king? Mark it, Horatio.
BARNARDO
Doesn’t he look like the king, Horatio? HORATIO Most like. It harrows me with fear and wonder.
HORATIO
Very much so. It’s terrifying. BARNARDO It would be spoke to.
BARNARDO
It wants us to speak to it. MARCELLUS Question it, Horatio.
MARCELLUS
Ask it something, Horatio.
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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?
abroad, and why the shipbuilders are so busy they don’t even rest on Sunday. Is something about to happen that warrants working this night and day? Who can explain this to me?
HORATIO
That can I. At least, the whisper goes so: our last king, Whose image even but now appeared to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto pricked on by a most emulate pride, Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet (For so this side of our known world esteemed him) Did slay this Fortinbras, who by a sealed compact Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands Which he stood seized of to the conqueror, Against the which a moiety competent Was gagèd by our king, which had returned To the inheritance of Fortinbras Had he been vanquisher, as, by the same covenant And carriage of the article designed, His fell to Hamlet. 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
HORATIO
I can. Or at least I can describe the rumors. As you know, our late king, whom we just now saw as a ghost, was the great rival of Fortinbras, king of Norway. Fortinbras dared him to battle. In that fight, our courageous Hamlet (or at least that’s how we thought of him) killed old King Fortinbras, who—on the basis of a valid legal document—surrendered all his territories, along with his life, to his conqueror. If our king had lost, he would have had to do the same. But now old Fortinbras’s young son, also called Fortinbras— he is bold, but unproven—has gathered a bunch of thugs from the lawless outskirts of the country. For some food, they’re eager to take on the tough enterprise of securing the lands the elder Fortinbras lost.
Act 1, Scene 1, Page 6
And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So by his father lost. And this, I take it, Is the main motive of our preparations, The source of this our watch, and the chief head Of this posthaste and rummage in the land.
As far as I understand, that’s why we’re posted here tonight and why there’s such a commotion in Denmark lately.
BARNARDO
I think it be no other but e'en so. Well may it sort that this portentous figure Comes armèd through our watch so like the king That was and is the question of these wars.
BARNARDO
I think that’s exactly right—that explains why the ghost of the late king would haunt us now, since he caused these wars.
HORATIO
A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun, and the moist star Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. And even the like precurse of feared events, As harbingers preceding still the fates
HORATIO
The ghost is definitely something to worry about. In the high and mighty Roman Empire, just before the emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated, corpses rose out of their graves and ran through the streets of Rome speaking gibberish. There were shooting stars, and blood mixed in with the morning dew, and threatening signs on the face of the sun. The moon, which controls the tides of the sea, was so eclipsed it almost went completely out. And we’ve had similar omens of terrible things to come, as if
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And prologue to the omen coming on, Have heaven and earth together demonstrated Unto our climatures and countrymen.
heaven and earth have joined together to warn us what’s going to happen.
Enter GHOST The GHOST enters. 125 But soft, behold! Lo, where it comes again. I’ll cross it though it blast me.—Stay, illusion!
Wait, look! It has come again. I’ll meet it if it’s the last thing I do. —Stay here, you hallucination! GHOST spreads his arms The GHOST spreads his arms. If thou hast any sound or use of voice, Speak to me.
If you have a voice or can make sounds, speak to me.
Act 1, Scene 1, Page 7
If there be any good thing to be done That may to thee do ease and grace to me, Speak to me. If thou art privy to thy country’s fate, Which happily foreknowing may avoid, Oh, speak! Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, Speak of it. Stay and speak!
If there’s any good deed I can do that will bring you peace and me honor, speak to me. If you have some secret knowledge of your country’s sad fate—which might be avoided if we knew about it—then, please, speak. Or if you’ve got some buried treasure somewhere, which they say often makes ghosts restless, then tell us about it. Stay and speak!
The cock crows A rooster crows. —Stop it, Marcellus. Keep it from leaving, Marcellus. MARCELLUS Shall I strike at it with my partisan?
MARCELLUS
Should I strike it with my spear?
HORATIO
Do, if it will not stand.
HORATIO
Yes, if it doesn’t stand still. BARNARDO 'Tis here.
BARNARDO
It’s over here. HORATIO 'Tis here.
HORATIO
There it is. Exit GHOST The GHOST exits.
MARCELLUS
'Tis gone. We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence, For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery.
MARCELLUS
It’s gone. We were wrong to threaten it with violence, since it looks so much like a king. Besides, we can’t hurt it anymore than we can hurt the air. Our attack was stupid, futile, and wicked. BARNARDO It was about to speak when the cock crew.
BARNARDO
It was about to say something when the rooster crowed.
Act 1, Scene 1, Page 8
HORATIO
And then it started like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. I have heard The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of day, and, at his warning, Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
HORATIO
And then it acted startled, like a guilty person caught by the law. I’ve heard that the rooster awakens the god of day with its trumpetlike crowing, and makes all wandering ghosts, wherever they are, hurry back to their hiding places. We’ve just seen proof of that.
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Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, Colleaguèd with the dream of his advantage, He hath not failed to pester us with message Importing the surrender of those lands Lost by his father, with all bonds of law, To our most valiant brother. So much for him. Enter VOLTEMAND and CORNELIUS VOLTEMAND and CORNELIUS enter. Now for ourself and for this time of meeting Now, here’s what needs to be done.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 2
Thus much the business is: we have here writ To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras— Who, impotent and bedrid, scarcely hears Of this his nephew’s purpose—to suppress His further gait herein, in that the levies, The lists, and full proportions are all made Out of his subject; and we here dispatch You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltemand, For bearers of this greeting to old Norway, Giving to you no further personal power To business with the king more than the scope Of these dilated articles allow. ( gives them a paper) Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.
I’ve written to Fortinbras’s uncle, the present head of Norway, an old bedridden man who knows next to nothing about his nephew’s plans. I’ve told the uncle to stop those plans, which he has the power to do, since all the troops assembled by young Fortinbras are Norwegian, and thus under the uncle’s control. I’m giving the job of delivering this letter to you, good Cornelius, and you, Voltemand. Your business in Norway will be limited to this task. (he gives them a paper) Now good-bye. Show your loyalty by leaving quickly, rather than with elaborate speeches.
CORNELIUS, VOLTEMAND
In that and all things will we show our duty.
CORNELIUS, VOLTEMAND
We’ll do our duty to you in that and everything else. CLAUDIUS We doubt it nothing. Heartily farewell.
CLAUDIUS
I have no doubt you will. Good-bye. Exeunt VOLTEMAND and CORNELIUS CORNELIUS and VOLTEMAND exit.
And now, Laertes, what’s the news with you? You told us of some suit. What is ’t, Laertes? You cannot speak of reason to the Dane And lose your voice. What wouldst thou beg, Laertes, That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. What wouldst thou have, Laertes?
And now, Laertes, what do you have to tell me? You have a favor you to ask of me. What is it, Laertes? You’ll never waste your words when talking to the king of Denmark. What could you ever ask for that I wouldn’t give you? Your father and the Danish throne are as close as the mind and the heart, or the hand and the mouth. What would you like, Laertes?
LAERTES
My dread lord, Your leave and favor to return to France, From whence though willingly I came to Denmark To show my duty in your coronation, Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon.
LAERTES
My lord, I want your permission to go back to France, which I left to come to Denmark for your coronation. I confess, my thoughts are on France, now that my duty is done. Please, let me go.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 3
CLAUDIUS
Have you your father’s leave? What says Polonius?
CLAUDIUS
Do you have your father’s permission? What does Polonius say?
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POLONIUS
He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave By laborsome petition, and at last Upon his will I sealed my hard consent. I do beseech you, give him leave to go.
POLONIUS
My son has worn me down by asking me so many times. In the end I grudgingly consented. I beg you, let him go.
CLAUDIUS
Take thy fair hour, Laertes. Time be thine, And thy best graces spend it at thy will.— But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son—
CLAUDIUS
In that case, leave when you like, Laertes, and spend your time however you wish. I hereby grant your request, and hope you have a good time. And now, Hamlet, my nephew and my son—
HAMLET
(aside) A little more than kin and less than kind.
HAMLET
(speaking so no one else can hear) Too many family ties there for me. CLAUDIUS How is it that the clouds still hang on you?
CLAUDIUS
Why are you still so gloomy, with a cloud hanging over you? HAMLET Not so, my lord. I am too much i' the sun.
HAMLET
It’s not true, sir. Your son is out in the sun.
GERTRUDE
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not forever with thy vailèd lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know’st ’tis common. All that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.
GERTRUDE
My dear Hamlet, stop wearing these black clothes, and be friendly to the king. You can’t spend your whole life with your eyes to the ground remembering your noble father. It happens all the time, what lives must die eventually, passing to eternity. HAMLET Ay, madam, it is common.
HAMLET
Yes, mother, it happens all the time.
GERTRUDE
If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee?
GERTRUDE
So why does it seem so particular to you?
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 4
HAMLET
“Seems,” madam? Nay, it is. I know not “seems.” 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,” For they are actions that a man might play. But I have that within which passeth show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
HAMLET
“Seem,” mother? No, it is. I don’t know what you mean by “seem.” Neither my black clothes, my dear mother, nor my heavy sighs, nor my weeping, nor my downcast eyes, nor any other display of grief can show what I really feel. It’s true that all these things “seem” like grief, since a person could use them to fake grief if he wanted to. But I’ve got more real grief inside me that you could ever see on the surface. These clothes are just a hint of it.
CLAUDIUS
'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father. But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow. But to persever In obstinate condolement is a course
CLAUDIUS
Hamlet, you are so sweet and such a good son to mourn your father like this. But you have to remember, that your father lost his father, who lost his father before him, and every time, each son has had to mourn his father for a certain period. But overdoing it is just stubborn. It’s not manly. It’s not what God wants, and it betrays a
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140 Hyperion to a satyr. So loving to my mother her face.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 6
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly.—Heaven and earth, Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on, and yet, within a month— Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!— A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor father’s body, Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she— O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle, My father’s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes, She married. O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good, But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.
Oh God, do I have to remember that? She would hang on to him, and the more she was with him the more she wanted to be with him; she couldn’t get enough of him. Yet even so, within a month of my father’s death (I don’t even want to think about it. Oh women! You are so weak!), even before she had broken in the shoes she wore to his funeral, crying like crazy—even an animal would have mourned its mate longer than she did!—there she was marrying my uncle, my father’s brother, who’s about as much like my father as I’m like Hercules. Less than a month after my father’s death, even before the tears on her cheeks had dried, she remarried. Oh, so quick to jump into a bed of incest! That’s not good, and no good can come of it either. But my heart must break in silence, since I can’t mention my feelings aloud.
Enter HORATIO , MARCELLUS , and BARNARDO HORATIO , MARCELLUS , and BARNARDO enter.
HORATIO
Hail to your lordship.
HORATIO
Hello, sir. HAMLET I am glad to see you well.— Horatio? Or I do forget myself?
HAMLET
Nice to see you again, Horatio—that is your name, right? HORATIO The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever.
HORATIO
That’s me, sir. Still your respectful servant.
HAMLET
Sir, my good friend, I’ll change that name with you. And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?— Marcellus!
HAMLET
Not my servant, but my friend. I’ll change that name for you. But what are you doing so far from Wittenberg, Horatio? —Oh, Marcellus? MARCELLUS My good lord.
MARCELLUS
Hello, sir.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 7
HAMLET
(to MARCELLUS ) I am very glad to see you.— (to BARNARDO ) Good even, sir. (to HORATIO ) —But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?
HAMLET
(to MARCELLUS ) So nice to see you.— (to BARNARDO ) Hello, sir. (to HORATIO ) —But what are you doing away from Wittenberg, Horatio? HORATIO A truant disposition, good my lord.
HORATIO
I felt like skipping school, sir.
HAMLET
I would not hear your enemy say so, Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, To make it truster of your own report
HAMLET
I wouldn’t allow your enemies to say that, and I won’t believe it from you. I know you’d never skip school. What are you doing here in Elsinore? I’ll
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Against yourself. I know you are no truant. But what is your affair in Elsinore? We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.
teach you to drink hard by the time you leave.
HORATIO
My lord, I came to see your father’s funeral.
HORATIO
Sir, we came to see your father’s funeral. HAMLET I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow student. I think it was to see my mother’s wedding.
HAMLET
Please, don’t make fun of me. I think you came to see my mother’s wedding instead. HORATIO Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon.
HORATIO
Well, sir, it’s true it came soon after.
HAMLET
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio. My father—methinks I see my father.
HAMLET
It was all about saving a few bucks, Horatio. The leftovers from the funeral dinner made a convenient wedding banquet. Oh, I’d rather have met my fiercest enemy in heaven, Horatio, than have lived through that terrible day! My father—I think I see my father. HORATIO Where, my lord?
HORATIO
Where, sir? HAMLET In my mind’s eye, Horatio.
HAMLET
In my imagination, Horatio.
HORATIO
I saw him once. He was a goodly king.
HORATIO
I saw him once. He was an admirable king. HAMLET He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.
HAMLET
He was a great human being. He was perfect in everything. I’ll never see the likes of him again.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 8
HORATIO
My lord, I think I saw him yesternight.
HORATIO
Sir, I think I saw him last night. HAMLET Saw who?
HAMLET
Saw who?
HORATIO
My lord, the king your father.
HORATIO
Your father, sir. The dead king. HAMLET The king my father?!
HAMLET
The king my father?!
HORATIO
Season your admiration for a while With an attent ear, till I may deliver, Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.
HORATIO
Don’t get too excited yet, sir. Just listen carefully while I tell you the amazing thing I saw, with these gentlemen as witnesses.
HAMLET
For God’s love, let me hear.
HAMLET
For God’s sake, let me hear it.
HORATIO
Two nights together had these gentlemen, Marcellus and Barnardo, on their watch, In the dead waste and middle of the night, Been thus encountered: a figure like your father, Armed at point exactly, cap-à-pie, Appears before them and with solemn march Goes slow and stately by them. Thrice he walked
HORATIO
After midnight, for two nights running, these two guards, Marcellus and Barnardo, saw a figure that looked very much like your father, in full armor from head to toe. It just appeared before them and marched past them with slow dignity three times, a staff’s distance from their amazed eyes, while they turned, quaking with fear and
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Act 1, Scene 2, Page 10
HAMLET
What, looked he frowningly?
HAMLET
Was he frowning?
HORATIO
A countenance more In sorrow than in anger.
HORATIO
He looked more sad than angry.
HAMLET
Pale or red?
HAMLET
Was he pale or flushed and red-faced? HORATIO Nay, very pale.
HORATIO
Very pale, sir. HAMLET And fixed his eyes upon you?
HAMLET
Did he stare at you? HORATIO Most constantly.
HORATIO
The whole time. HAMLET I would I had been there.
HAMLET
I wish I’d been there. HORATIO It would have much amazed you.
HORATIO
You would have been very shocked.
HAMLET
Very like. Stayed it long?
HAMLET
I’m sure I would have. Did it stay a long time? HORATIO While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred.
HORATIO
About as long as it would take someone to count slowly to a hundred. MARCELLUS, BARNARDO Longer, longer.
MARCELLUS, BARNARDO
No, longer than that. HORATIO Not when I saw ’t.
HORATIO
Not the time I saw it. HAMLET His beard was grizzled, no?
HAMLET
His beard was gray, right?
HORATIO
It was, as I have seen it in his life, A sable silvered.
HORATIO
It was just like in real life, dark brown with silver whiskers in it. HAMLET I will watch tonight. Perchance 'Twill walk again.
HAMLET
I’ll stand guard with you tonight. Maybe it’ll come again. HORATIO I warrant it will.
HORATIO
I bet it will.
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 11
HAMLET
If it assume my noble father’s person, I’ll speak to it, though Hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, If you have hitherto concealed this sight, Let it be tenable in your silence still. And whatsoever else shall hap tonight, Give it an understanding, but no tongue. I will requite your loves. So fare you well. Upon the platform, ’twixt eleven and twelve, I’ll visit you.
HAMLET
If it looks like my good father, I’ll speak to it, even if Hell itself opens up and tells me to be quiet. I ask you, if you’ve kept this a secret, keep doing so. Whatever happens tonight, don’t talk about it. I’ll return the favor. So good-bye for now. I’ll see you on the guards' platform between eleven and twelve tonight.
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HORATIO, MARCELLUS, BARNARDO
Our duty to your honor.
HORATIO, MARCELLUS, BARNARDO
We’ll do our duty to you, sir. HAMLET Your loves, as mine to you. Farewell.
HAMLET
Give me your love instead, as I give you mine. Good-bye. Exeunt all but HAMLET Everyone except HAMLET exits.
My father’s spirit in arms. All is not well. I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.
My father’s ghost—armed! Something’s wrong. I suspect some foul play. I wish the night were here already! Until then, I have to remain calm. Bad deeds will be revealed, no matter how people try to hide them. Exit HAMLET exits.
Act 1, Scene 3
Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA , his sister LAERTES and his sister OPHELIA enter. LAERTES My necessaries are embarked. Farewell. And, sister, as the winds give benefit And convey is assistant, do not sleep, But let me hear from you.
LAERTES
My belongings are on the ship already. Good- bye. And, my dear sister, as long as the winds are blowing and ships are sailing, let me hear from you—write. OPHELIA Do you doubt that?
OPHELIA
Do you doubt I’ll write?
LAERTES
For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute. No more.
LAERTES
As for Hamlet and his attentions to you, just consider it a big flirtation, the temporary phase of a hot-blooded youth. It won’t last. It’s sweet, but his affection will fade after a minute. Not a second more.
OPHELIA
No more but so?
OPHELIA
No more than a minute?
LAERTES
Think it no more. For nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, The inward service of the mind and soul Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will, but you must fear. His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, For he himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole state. And therefore must his choice be circumscribed Unto the voice and yielding of that body Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,
LAERTES
Try to think of it like that, anyway. When a youth grows into a man, he doesn’t just get bigger in his body—his responsibilities grow too. He may love you now, and may have only the best intentions, but you have to be on your guard. Remember that he belongs to the royal family, and his intentions don’t matter that much—he’s a slave to his family obligations. He can’t simply make personal choices for himself the way common people can, since the whole country depends on what he does. His choice has to agree with what the nation wants.
Act 1, Scene 3, Page 2
25 It fits your wisdom so far to believe it So if he says he loves you, you should be wise
Original Text Modern Text
And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief in that. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell. My blessing season this in thee.
the friendship as well as the money, and borrowing turns a person into a spendthrift. And, above all, be true to yourself. Then you won’t be false to anybody else. Good-bye, son. I hope my blessing will help you absorb what I’ve said.
LAERTES
Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
LAERTES
I humbly say good-bye to you, father. POLONIUS The time invites you. Go. Your servants tend.
POLONIUS
Now go, the time is right. Your servants are waiting.
LAERTES
Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well What I have said to you.
LAERTES
Good-bye, Ophelia. Remember what I’ve told you.
Act 1, Scene 3, Page 4
OPHELIA
'Tis in my memory locked, And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
OPHELIA
It’s locked away in my memory, and you’ve got the key. LAERTES Farewell.
LAERTES
Good-bye. Exit LAERTES LAERTES exits. POLONIUS What is ’t, Ophelia, he hath said to you?
POLONIUS
What did he tell you, Ophelia? OPHELIA So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.
OPHELIA
Something about Hamlet.
POLONIUS
Marry, well bethought. 'Tis told me he hath very oft of late Given private time to you, and you yourself Have of your audience been most free and bounteous. If it be so as so ’tis put on me— And that in way of caution—I must tell you, You do not understand yourself so clearly As it behooves my daughter and your honor. What is between you? Give me up the truth.
POLONIUS
A good thing he did, by God. I’ve heard Hamlet’s been spending a lot of time alone with you recently, and you’ve made yourself quite available to him. If things are the way people tell me they are—and they’re only telling me this to warn me—then I have to say, you’re not conducting yourself with the self-restraint a daughter of mine should show. What’s going on between you two? Tell me the truth.
OPHELIA
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders Of his affection to me.
OPHELIA
He’s offered me a lot of affection lately.
POLONIUS
Affection! Pooh, you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his “tenders,” as you call them?
POLONIUS
“Affection!” That’s nothing! You’re talking like some innocent girl who doesn’t understand the ways of the world. Do you believe his “offers,” as you call them? OPHELIA I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
OPHELIA
I don’t know what to believe, father. POLONIUS POLONIUS
Original Text Modern Text
105 Marry, I’ll teach you. Think yourself a baby That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly, Or—not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, Running it thus—you’ll tender me a fool.
Then I’ll tell you. Believe that you are a foolish little baby for believing these “offers” are something real. Offer yourself more respect, or— not to beat this word to death—you’ll offer me the chance to be a laughing-stock.
Act 1, Scene 3, Page 5
OPHELIA
My lord, he hath importuned me with love In honorable fashion.
OPHELIA
Father, he’s always talked about love in an honorable fashion— POLONIUS Ay, “fashion” you may call it. Go to, go to.
POLONIUS
Yes, “fashion” is just the word—a passing whim. Go on. OPHELIA And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, With almost all the holy vows of heaven.
OPHELIA
And he’s made the holiest vows to me, to back up what he says.
POLONIUS
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter, Giving more light than heat, extinct in both Even in their promise as it is a-making, You must not take for fire. From this time Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence. Set your entreatments at a higher rate Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, Believe so much in him that he is young, And with a larger tether may he walk Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia, Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers Not of that dye which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits, Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds, The better to beguile. This is for all: I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so slander any moment leisure, As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. Look to ’t, I charge you. Come your ways.
POLONIUS
These vows are just traps for stupid birds. I know when a man is on fire, he’ll swear anything. But when a heart’s on fire, it gives out more light than heat, and the fire will be out even before he’s done making his promises. Don’t mistake that for true love. From now on, spend a little less time with him and talk to him less. Make yourself a precious commodity. Remember that Hamlet is young and has a lot more freedom to fool around than you do. In short, Ophelia, don’t believe his love vows, since they’re like flashy pimps who wear nice clothes to lead a woman into filthy acts. To put it plainly, don’t waste your time with Hamlet. Do as I say. Now come along.
OPHELIA
I shall obey, my lord.
OPHELIA
I’ll do as you say, father. Exeunt They exit.
Act 1, Scene 4
Enter HAMLET , HORATIO , and MARCELLUS HAMLET , HORATIO , and MARCELLUS enter. HAMLET The air bites shrewdly. It is very cold.
HAMLET
The air is biting cold. HORATIO It is a nipping and an eager air.
HORATIO
Yes, it’s definitely nippy. HAMLET What hour now?
HAMLET
What time is it? HORATIO HORATIO
Original Text Modern Text
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou comest in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee. I’ll call thee “Hamlet,” “King,” “Father,” “royal Dane.” O, answer me! Let me not burst in ignorance, but tell Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death, Have burst their cerements; why the sepulcher,
heavenly breezes or blasts of hell fire, whether your intentions are good or evil, you look so strange I want to talk to you. I’ll call you “Hamlet Senior,” “King,” “Father,” “royal Dane.” Answer me! Don’t drive me crazy with curiosity, but tell me why your church-buried bones have burst out of their coffin, and why your tomb,
Act 1, Scene 4, Page 3
Wherein we saw thee quietly interred, Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws To cast thee up again. What may this mean, That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon, Making night hideous and we fools of nature, So horridly to shake our disposition With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? Say why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?
where we quietly buried you, has opened up its heavy marble jaws to spit you out again. What could it mean that you have put on your armor again, you corpse, and have come back to look at the moon, making the night terrifying and stirring us humans with supernatural fears? Why? What do you want from us? What should we do?
GHOST beckons HAMLET The GHOST motions for HAMLET to come with it. HORATIO It beckons you to go away with it, As if it some impartment did desire To you alone.
HORATIO
It wants you to go off with it, as if it wants to tell you something alone.
MARCELLUS
Look, with what courteous action It waves you to a more removèd ground. But do not go with it.
MARCELLUS
Look how politely it’s pointing you to a place that’s farther away. But don’t go.
HORATIO
No, by no means.
HORATIO
Definitely not. HAMLET It will not speak. Then I will follow it.
HAMLET
It’s not going to speak, so I’ll follow it. HORATIO Do not, my lord.
HORATIO
Don’t do it, sir.
HAMLET
Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life in a pin’s fee, And for my soul—what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself? It waves me forth again. I’ll follow it.
HAMLET
Why, what’s the danger? I don’t value my life one bit. And as for my soul, how can the ghost endanger that, since it’s as immortal as the ghost is? Look, it’s waving me over again. I’ll follow it.
HORATIO
What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his base into the sea,
HORATIO
What if it tempts you to jump into the sea, sir? Or to the terrifying cliff that overhangs the water,
Act 1, Scene 4, Page 4
75 And there assume some other horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness? Think of it. The very place puts toys of desperation,
where it takes on some other horrible form that drives you insane. Think about it. The edge of the sea makes people feel despair even at the best of times. All they have to do is look into its depths
Original Text Modern Text
Without more motive, into every brain That looks so many fathoms to the sea And hears it roar beneath.
and hear it roar far below.
HAMLET
It waves me still. —Go on. I’ll follow thee.
HAMLET
It’s still waving to me. —Go ahead, I’ll follow.
MARCELLUS
You shall not go, my lord.
MARCELLUS
You’re not going, sir. MARCELLUS and HORATIO try to hold HAMLET back
MARCELLUS and HORATIO try to hold HAMLET back. HAMLET Hold off your hands.
HAMLET
Let go of me.
HORATIO
Be ruled. You shall not go.
HORATIO
Calm down. You’re not going anywhere.
HAMLET
My fate cries out And makes each petty artery in this body As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve. Still am I called.—Unhand me, gentlemen. (draws his sword) By heaven, I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me. I say, away!—Go on. I’ll follow thee.
HAMLET
It’s my fate calling me. Every nerve in my body is now as tough as steel. The ghost is still waving me over. Let me go, gentlemen. (he draws his sword) I swear, if anyone holds me back, I’ll make a ghost of him! I say, get away!—Go ahead, I’ll follow you. Exeunt GHOST and HAMLET The GHOST and HAMLET exit. HORATIO He waxes desperate with imagination.
HORATIO
His imagination is making him crazy. MARCELLUS Let’s follow. 'Tis not fit thus to obey him.
MARCELLUS
Let’s follow them. It’s not right to obey his orders to let him go alone. HORATIO Have after. To what issue will this come?
HORATIO
Go ahead and follow him. But what does all this mean, where will it all end?
Act 1, Scene 4, Page 5
MARCELLUS
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
MARCELLUS
It means that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. HORATIO Heaven will direct it.
HORATIO
If that’s true, we should let God take care of it. MARCELLUS Nay, let’s follow him.
MARCELLUS
No, let’s follow him. Exeunt They exit.
Act 1, Scene 5
Enter GHOST and HAMLET The GHOST and HAMLET enter. HAMLET Where wilt thou lead me? Speak, I’ll go no further.
HAMLET
Where are you taking me? Speak. I’m not going any farther. GHOST Mark me.
GHOST
Listen to me.
