Scene 3
Enter King, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
King I do not like the way Hamlet has been acting. His recent behaviour causes me great disquiet. It poses a threat to allow him to do as he pleases while in such a troubled state of mind. You are both, therefore, to prepare yourselves. I’m issuing a decree forthwith that he is to be dispatched to England, accompanied by the two of you. My position as king is threatened; I could face ruin if he remains so near to me. The danger he presents grows by the hour.
Guildenstern We will make ourselves ready. Your concerns are most warranted. It is a great source of worry being obligated to protect and preserve the safety of the many subjects who rely upon your Majesty to be a competent and fair king. It is a most assuredly prudent measure to keep at a distance any potential menace.
Rosencrantz An individual is equipped with all the strength of mind and fortitude needed to be able to endure and tolerate adversity; but this is much more so in the case of someone upon whose well-being the lives of many depend and rest. The cessation of a monarch’s reign is never an isolated occurrence, but like a maelstrom drawing in everything around it, it affects, and has repercussions for, those who are near to them. It can be likened also to the wheel of fortune, at the highest point of which is your position in society, to which are connected and fastened the places of many lesser individuals: your courtiers, statesmen, family members and so forth, when the wheel turns and the point at which fate has placed you falls from its summit causing everything linked to fall along with it. Even those of comparatively minor importance would be affected by the downfall of the King, were he to become the focus of some scandal or outrage. Never alone does the sovereign fall, not without having a considerable impact on a great many others, engendering consequences which ripple throughout the kingdom.
King Prepare yourselves quickly for this voyage. We must take measures, with some haste, to ensure that the source of our fears, which presently goes unchecked, is shackled and restrained, so to speak.
Rosencrantz We will make haste.
Exit Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Enter Polonius
Polonius My lord, he’s going to his mother’s private chamber. I’ll position myself secretly behind the arras so I can hear everything that goes on between them. I guarantee she’ll take him to task and reprove him over his recent behaviour. And as you said, most wisely, it would be appropriate to have someone there other than his mother, since they are as closely related as it is possible to be and therefore inclined to be very open and straightforward with each other, and so it will be to our great advantage to hear what he will say under such circumstances, what he will reveal of himself. Farewell, my liege. I’ll call upon you before you retire to bed, and tell you what I know.
King Thank you, my lord.
Exit Polonius
O, my offence is utterly vile and despicable, thoroughly evil. The world’s first murder was that of a brother so I’m damned even more because of the biblical significance of such a sinful act. I am unable to pray, to beg forgiveness for my mortal sin. Though my inclination is potent, my crime is unpardonable, my guilt too strong for prayer to be of value. And like a man with two tasks to perform, undecided as to which to address first, who in his hesitance neglects both, I stand in pause. If this cursed hand is thick with my brother’s blood, is there not rain enough in the Heavens to wash it white as snow (biblical allusion: Isaiah: 1: 18: Crimson-dyed be your guilt, it shall turn snow-white)? Is there nothing in Heaven that can grant me absolution from my sin? What purpose does mercy really serve except to make us more aware of our wrongdoing? And what is prayer but a request, a plea, that we be forestalled whenever we are about to sin and that we be pardoned should we succumb to temptation? Then I’ll pray to Heaven. I have already sinned; all I can do is repent in the hope of being granted forgiveness, but what form of prayer can serve me now? ‘Forgive me my foul murder?’ That cannot suffice, since I still possess the rewards for which I committed the murder: my crown, my queen; my ambition remains fulfilled, I still profit from my crime. Can a sinner be pardoned and yet retain the assets and benefits which are the result of their crimes? In the corrupt affairs of this world, bribery is a means of averting justice. A gilded hand may buy one’s escape from punishment, and often it is the case that the proceeds of the crime itself are what buy the law. But this is not so in matters of the soul. Here, there is no footing for corruption or fraudulence, everything is laid bare, its true nature exposed, and, confronted with our sins, we can but acknowledge our faults in their entirety as if compelled to testify unreservedly to our own wrongdoing. And what then? To what extent can repentance actually mitigate or absolve us from our sin? Whatever the answer, it can do nothing when one cannot repent. O what a wretched state I am in, my soul as black as death! My soul is trapped; I am condemned by my sin and in trying to seek forgiveness, to find some way of lessening the weight of my guilt, I’m forced to recognise all the more how damned I really am. Help me, angels! I must kneel in contrition. May my hardened heart be filled with penitence. All may then be made well.
He kneels
Enter Hamlet
Hamlet Now I might do it; now he’s praying. Now I’ll do it.
Draws his sword
And so he goes to Heaven, and my father’s murder is not avenged. That would be interpreted thus: a villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to Heaven. Why, this is payment, not revenge. He took my father’s life when he was unprepared for death, afforded no opportunity to confess his sins. Who knows how he will be judged by Heaven now? But in terms of our human ways of thinking on these matters, his situation is extremely unfavourable. This is not revenge, taking him in the purging of his soul, when he has reconciled himself with God and is absolved of his sins. No. I must await a more suitable opportunity: when he is in a drunken stupor, or in his rage, or indulging in the incestuous pleasures of his marital bed; when he is gambling or engaged in some act that has no trace, no vestige, of honour or decency in it, something which will bring him anything but salvation. Then, I will exact my father’s revenge, that he may stumble before Heaven, his soul damned and black as Hell, to where it will then go. My mother is waiting for me. This praying merely prolongs your sickly days.
Exit Hamlet
King Though I speak as in prayer, my true appetites remain carnal. Mere words, without sincerity, carry no weight in Heaven; have no substance or worth in a spiritual sense.