Hamlet Close Analysis

Hamlet Close Analysis

Merrik Saunders

One of the things that makes good writhing is the use of every line in the story. In Shakespeare’s plays he shows that even the smallest part is important to the play and viewer. The example that shows this is Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This scene is right before Hamlet goes to see the ghost. Horatio, one of the guards with Hamlet, is trying to talk him out of going with the ghost. Horatio isn’t close to one of the important characters of this story but what he has to say in this moment is very important.

In this scene Horatio is trying to get Hamlet to stay and not go with the ghost. “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,”(lines 77-79). This is the start of Horatio showing his concern towards Hamlet and how the ghost might hurt Hamlet. Horatio is saying that the ghost might drown him or send him off the cliffs. These are generic things that might happen in tragedies and dramas. These lines are used as a masking for the lines that are coming up next. Horatio isn’t a main character and him saying these lines first will make the viewer feel like he is only worried for Hamlet. The lines after these are the lines that are the most important.

Horatio’s small speech is a foreshadow for the whole play. In the next lines he continues to name things that could happen to Hamlet but what Horatio says applies to the rest of the play. “And there assume some other horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness? Think of it.”(lines 80-82). This section of Horatio’s small speech is saying that the ghost will take Hamlet’s mind and Hamlet will go insane. This is what the rest of the play is about. Hamlet is trying to find out if the ghost is real and if he is going insane. This small part at the beginning of the play has mapped out the entire play. Everyone around Hamlet thinks that he is insane and his actions are irrational. This is what Horatio warned, that Hamlet could go insane from seeing his dead father or just experiencing a paranormal incident. Also Hamlet is carrying the pain and grief of his recent fathers death, mom marrying his uncle with great hast, and Polonius trying to get him away from Ophelia. Seeing his fathers ghost could be the thing that pushed him over the edge. From the beginning of this play Horatio has given an overview of what was to come.

The last part of Horatio’s speech is saying how fear can be stricken into the best and strongest of us. “The very place puts toys of desperation, Without more motive, into every brain That looks so many fathoms to the sea, And hears it roar beneath.” This whole section is saying that even the strongest of people can look over a cliff into the sea and they will be filled with despair. The despair would come from talking with the ghost. Into the play Hamlet starts to question himself and questions if what he is doing is wright. When it comes down to it Hamlet goes through with his plan to kill his uncle but in the process he is filled with fear of himself.

This small section shows that every line and character is important to the story. From the very beginning there was this foreshadowing from Horatio. Horatio tried to stop Hamlet from seeing the ghost. Maybe Horatio was right and Hamlet would have been better off not seeing the ghost. The rest of the play tells that.