Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Part 3

_Enter_ Hamlet, Horatio _and_ Marcellus.

The Beginning of this Scene is easy and natural. The King's taking his Rowse, seems introduced to fill up a necessary s.p.a.ce of Time, and also perhaps to blacken still more the Character of the Usurper, who had revived a sottish Custom (as appears by the Prince's Remarks upon it) omitted by several of his Predecessors; for it would have been improper to have had the Ghost appear the Minute the Prince was come on to the Platform. Some Time was requisite to prepare the Minds of the Spectators, that they might collect all their Faculties to behold this important Scene, on which turns the whole Play, with due Attention and Seriousness; although, indeed, I must think that the Prince's Speech would not be much worth preserving, but for That Reason: for expressed and amended, according to the best that can be made of it, (as Mr.

_Theobalds_ has done it) it is but of very obsure Diction, and is much too long; for a very short Moral is to be drawn from it.

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_Enter the Ghost._

We now are come to the sublimest Scene in this whole Piece, a Scene worthy of the greatest Attention; an Heroical Youth addressing the Shade of his departed Father, whom he tenderly loved, and who, we are told, was a Monarch of the greatest Worth. Surely there cannot be imagin'd any Scene more capable of stirring up our n.o.blest Pa.s.sions. Let us but observe with how much Beauty and Art the Poet has managed it. This Spectre has been once spoken to by the Friend of our young Hero, and it must be confessed, that _Horatio's_ Speech to it is truly great and beautiful: But as the like Incident was again to happen; that is, as the Ghost was again to be addressed, and with this Addition, by the Hero of the Play, and Son to the King, whose Spirit appears; it was necessary, I say, upon these Accounts, that this Incident should be treated in a sublimer Manner than the Former. Accordingly we may take Notice, that _Hamlet's_ Speech to his Father's Shade is as much superior to that of _Horatio_ upon the same Occasion, as his is to any Thing of that kind that I have ever met with in any other Dramatick Poet.

_Hamlet's_ Invocation of the heavenly Ministers, is extremely fine; and the begging their Protection upon the Appearance of a Sight so shocking to human Nature, is entirely conformable to the virtuous Character of this Prince, and gives an Air of Probability to the whole Scene. He accosts the Ghost with great Intrepidity; and his whole Speech is so full of the Marks of his Filial Piety, that we may easily observe, that his Tenderness for his Father gets the better of all Sentiments of Terror which we could suppose to arise, even in the Breast of the most undaunted Person, upon the seeing and conversing with so strange an Apparition.

His breaking from his Friends with that Vehemency of Pa.s.sion in an Eagerness of Desire to hear what his Father could say to him, is another Proof of his Filial Tenderness.

The Reader of himself must easily see why the Spectre would not speak to the Prince, but a-part from those who were with him: For it was not a Secret of a Nature fit to be divulg'd. Their earnest Intreaties, and almost Force which they use to keep him from going, are much in Nature; the Reasons they give him, and the Reflections they make after he is gone, are poetically express'd, and very natural.

The Ghost's Account of the base Murther committed on him, is express'd in the strongest and most nervous Diction that Poetry can make use of; and he speaks with such Gravity and Weight of Language as well suits his Condition. The Ideas he raises in the Audience by his short Hint concerning the Secrets of his Prison-House, are such as must cause that Terror which is the natural Effect of such Appearances, and must occasion such Images as should always accompany such Incidents in Tragedy.

The Ghost's bringing out the Account of his Murder by Degrees, and the Prince's Exclamations as he becomes farther acquainted with the Affair, are great Beauties in this Scene, because it is all entirely conformable to Nature; that is, to those Ideas by which we naturally conceive, how a Thing of this sort would be managed and treated, were it really to happen.

We are to observe further, that the King spurs on his Son to revenge his foul and unnatural Murder from these two Considerations chiefly, that he was sent into the other World without having had Time to repent of his Sins, and without the necessary Sacraments, (according to the Church of _Rome_,) as Mr. _Theobalds_, (See his Note, _p._ 253.) has well explained it, and that consequently his Soul was to suffer, if not eternal d.a.m.nation, at least a long Course of Penance in Purgatory; which aggravates the Circ.u.mstances of his Brother's Barbarity. And, Secondly, That _Denmark_ might not be the Scene of Usurpation and Incest, and the Throne thus polluted and profaned. For these Reasons he prompts the young Prince to Revenge; else it would have been more becoming the Character of such a Prince as _Hamlet's_ Father is represented to have been, and more suitable to his present Condition, to have left his Brother to the Divine Punishment, and to a Possibility of Repentance for his base Crime, which by cutting him off, he must be deprived of.

His Caution to his Son concerning his Mother, is very fine, and shews great Delicacy in our Author; as has been observ'd by a great Writer of our Nation. The Ghost's Interrupting himself (_but soft, methinks, I scent the Morning Air_, &c.) has much Beauty in it, particularly, as it complys with the received Notions, that Spirits shun the Light, and continues the Attention of the Audience by so particular a Circ.u.mstance.

The Sequel of this Scene by no Means answers the Dignity of what we have hitherto been treating of. _Hamlet's_ Soliloquy, after the Ghost has disappeared, is such as it should be. The Impatience of _Horatio_, &c.

to know the Result of his Conference with the Phantom, and his putting them off from knowing it, with his Caution concerning his future Conduct, and his intreating them to be silent in Relation to this whole Affair; all this, I say, is natural and right; but his light and even ludicrous Expressions to them; his making them swear by his Sword, and shift their Ground, with the Ghost's Crying under the Stage, and _Hamlet's_ Reflection thereupon, are all Circ.u.mstances certainly inferiour to the preceeding Part.

But as we should be very cautious in finding Fault with Men of such an exalted Genius as our Author certainly was, lest we should blame them when in reality the Fault lies in our own slow Conception, we should well consider what could have been our Author's View in such a Conduct.

I must confess, I have turn'd this Matter on every Side, and all that can be said for it (as far as I am able to penetrate), is that he makes the Prince put on this Levity of Behaviour, that the Gentlemen who were with him, might not imagine that the Ghost had reveal'd some Matter of great Consequence to him, and that he might not therefore be suspected of any deep Designs. This appears plausible enough; but let it be as it will, the whole, I think, is too lightly managed, and such a Design as I have mention'd might, in my Opinion, have been answered by some other Method more correspondent to the Dignity and Majesty of the preceeding Part of the Scene. I must observe once more, that the Prince's Soliloquy is exquisitely beautiful.

I shall conclude what I have to say on this Scene, with observing, that I do not know any Tragedy, ancient or modern, in any Nation, where the Whole is made to turn so naturally and so justly upon such a supernatural Appearance as this is; nor do I know of any Piece whatever, where a Spectre introduced with so much Majesty, such an Air of Probability, and where such an Apparition is manag'd with so much Dignity and Art; in short, which so little revolts the Judgment and Belief of the Spectators. Nor have I ever met in all my Reading, with a Scene in any Tragedy, which creates so much Awe, and serious Attention as this does, and which raises such a Multiplicity of the most exalted Sentiments. It is certain, our Author excell'd in this kind of Writing, as has been more than once observed by several Writers, and none ever before or since his Time, could ever bring Inhabitants of another World upon the Stage, without making them ridiculous or too horrible, and the Whole too improbable and too shocking to Men's Understandings.

ACT II.

_Polonius_ and _Reynoldo_, and afterwards _Ophelia_.

_Polonius's_ Discourse to _Reynoldo_ is of a good moral Tenour, and thus far it is useful to the Audience. His forgetting what he was saying, (p.

260) as is usual with old Men, is extremely natural, and much in Character for him.

_Ophelia's_ Description of _Hamlet's_ Madness, does as much Honour to our Poet as any Pa.s.sage in the whole Play, (p. 261, and 262.) It is excellently good in the _Pictoresque_ Part of Poetry, and renders the Thing almost present to us.

Now I am come to mention _Hamlet's_ Madness, I must speak my Opinion of our Poet's Conduct in this Particular. To conform to the Ground-work of his Plot, _Shakespeare_ makes the young Prince feign himself mad. I cannot but think this to be injudicious; for so far from Securing himself from any Violence which fear'd from the Usurper, which was his Design in so doing, it seems to have been the most likely Way of getting himself confin'd, and consequently, debarr'd from an Opportunity of Revenging his Father's Death, which now seem'd to be his only Aim; and accordingly it was the Occasion of his being sent away to _England_.

Which Design, had it taken effect upon his Life, he never could have revenged his Father's Murder. To speak Truth, our Poet, by keeping too close to the Ground-work of his Plot, has fallen into an Absurdity; for there appears no Reason at all in Nature, why the young Prince did not put the Usurper to Death as soon as possible, especially as _Hamlet_ is represented as a Youth so brave, and so careless of his own Life.

The Case indeed is this: Had _Hamlet_ gone naturally to work, as we could suppose such a Prince to do in parallel Circ.u.mstances, there would have been an End of our Play. The Poet therefore was obliged to delay his Hero's Revenge; but then he should have contrived some good Reason for it.

His Beginning his Scenes of Madness by his Behaviour to _Ophelia_ was judicious, because by this Means he might be thought to be mad for her, and not that his Brain was disturb'd about State Affairs, which would have been dangerous.

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_Enter King, Queen_, Rosincrantz, Guildenstern, &c.

The King in this Scene, seems to be but half perswaded that _Hamlet_ is really mad; had he thoroughly believed it, it was to no Purpose to endeavour to sound his Mind; and the shortest and best Way, and what, methinks, the King ought most to have wished for, was to have had him confin'd; and this was an excellent Reason to give the People for so doing.

The Queen seems to have no Design or Artifice in relation to her Son, but mere Affection; which, considering all Things, one would little expect from her.

The Account of the Emba.s.sy to _Norway_, was necessary towards the Introduction of _Fortinbra.s.s_, in the Sequel, whose coming in at the Close of the Play winds up all very naturally.

_Polonius's_ Character, (p. 267, 268.) is admirably well kept up in that Scene, where he pretends to have discovered the Cause of the Prince's Madness, and would much deserve Applause, were such a Character allowable in such a Piece as this.

_Hamlet's_ Letter to _Ophelia_, which _Polonius_ reads, is none of the best Parts of this play, and is, I think, too Comick for this Piece. The whole Conduct of _Hamlet's_ Madness is, in my Opinion, too ludicrous for his Character, and for the situation his Mind was then really in. I must confess, nothing is more difficult than to draw a real Madness well, much more a feign'd one; for here the Poet in _Hamlet's_ Case, was to paint such a Species of Madness as should not give cause of Suspicion of the real Grief which had taken Possession of the Prince's Mind. His Behaviour to those two Courtiers, whom the Usurper had sent to dive into his Secret, is very natural and just, because his chief Business was to baffle their Enquiries, as he does also in another Scene, (p. 304.) where his falling into a sort of a Pun upon bringing in the Pipe, is a great Fault, for it is too low and mean for Tragedy. But our Author in this (as in all his Pieces) is glad of any Opportunity of falling in with the prevailing Humour of the Times, which ran into false Wit, and a constant endeavour to produce affected Moral Sentences.

He was very capable of drawing _Hamlet_ in Madness with much more Dignity, and without any Thing of the Comick; although it is difficult, as I said, to describe a feign'd Madness in a Tragedy, which is not to touch on the real Cause of Grief.

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The Scene of the Players is conducive to the whole Scheme of this Tragedy, and is managed with great Beauty. We are to observe, that the Speeches spoken by the Prince, and one of the Players, are dismal Bombast, and intended, no doubt, to ridicule some Tragedy of those Days.

The Poet's stepping out of his Subject to lash the Custom of Plays being acted by the Children of the Chapel, is not allowable in Tragedy, which is never to be a Satire upon any modern particular _Foible_ or Vice that prevails, but is to be severe upon Crimes and Immoralities of all Ages, and of all Countries.

Hamlet's Speech, (p. 281.) after his Conversation with the Players, is good; and by it we see that the Poet himself seems sensible of the Fault in his Plot. But that avails not, unless he had found Means to help it, which certainly might have been.

The Prince's Design of confirming by the Play, the Truth of what the Ghost told him, is certainly well imagin'd; but as the coming of these Players is supposed to be accidental, it could not be a Reason for his Delay.

ACT III.

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_How smart a Lash, that Speech doth give my Conscience_, &c.

The Poet here is greatly to be commended for his Conduct. As consummate a Villain as this King of _Denmark_ is represented to be, yet we find him stung with the deepest Remorse, upon the least Sentence that can any ways be supposed to relate to his Crime. How Instructive this is to the Audience, how much it answers the End of all publick Representations by inculcating a good Moral, I leave to the Consideration of every Reader.

Hamlet's Conversation with _Ophelia_, we may observe, is in the Style of Madness; and it was proper that the Prince should conceal his Design from every one, which had he conversed with his Mistress in his natural Style could not have been.

I am perswaded, that our Author was pleas'd to have an Opportunity of raising a Laugh now and then, which he does in several Pa.s.sages of _Hamlet's_ satirical Reflections on Women; but I have the same Objections to this Part of the Prince's Madness, that I have before mentioned, viz. that it wants Dignity. _Ophelia's_ melancholy Reflections upon _Hamlet's_ having lost his Sovereignty of Reason, is natural and very beautiful. As to the King's sending him to _England_, See Mr. _Theobald's_ Note. I purposely omit taking Notice of the famous Speech, _To be, or not to be_, &c. every _English_ Reader knows its Beauties.

The Prince's Directions to the Players are exceeding good, and are evidently brought in as Lessons for the Players, who were _Shakespeare's_ Companions, and he thought this a very proper Occasion to animadvert upon those Faults which were disagreeable to him. Whoever reads these Observations of his, if one may prove a Thing by a negative Argument, must believe _Shakespeare_ to have been an excellent Actor himself; for we can hardly imagine him to have been guilty of the Mistakes he is pointing out to his Brethren.

Notwithstanding all this, and that the Opportunity seems natural enough to introduce these Remarks, yet I cannot think them agreeable in such a Piece as this; they are not suitable to the Dignity of the Whole, and would be better plac'd in a Comedy.

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