Laertes Turns, but Only When Facing Death, 5.2: (Part 10) Labors of Gratitude and Regret in Hamlet
This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property). For more notes on the series and an index of previous posts in this series, see the end of this post.
[L: Nathaniel Parker as Laertes in the last scene of Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 Hamlet, surprised to hear that Gertrude will drink from what Laertes and Claudius know is the poison cup;
R: Image from the final scene of Kenneth Branagh's 1996 Hamlet: Laertes (played by Michael Maloney) realizes that in falling, he has lost hold of the poison rapier he used to scratch Hamlet, but now it has slid across the floor to Hamlet. It will soon be used by Hamlet, unaware of the poison, to scratch Laertes in return.]
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By the time Laertes finally turns against Claudius at the end of the last scene in Hamlet (Act 5, scene 2), Laertes witnesses a number of new things: First, he hears Hamlet’s careful apology, constructed so as to communicate his regret for his actions and for hurting Laertes, but also not to admit that Claudius was his intended target when he killed Polonius.
Second, he witnesses Gertrude, shockingly, take the cup both Laertes and Claudius know is poison, and later the disobedience of Gertrude, who is asked by Claudius not to drink, but asks forgiveness for being determined to do so. Gertrude will not obey her husband and king. At some level in his psyche, Laertes may feel he has been given permission and an example for disobeying his king.
Third, between the initial shock of Gertrude taking the cup and her disobeying Claudius, Laertes watches as Claudius tries to stop Gertrude from drinking the poison cup, but tries only half-heartedly. As he said in the prayer scene (3.3), Claudius is like a man who serves two masters, “like a man to double business bound,” to both his lust for power and his love for Gertrude. But the first wins out: He does not love Gertrude enough to make sure she stops—by confessing to Gertrude the scheme to poison Hamlet, and thereby save Gertrude from drinking the poison at the expense of being exposed as a murderer, and losing the throne.
At some level of Laertes’ psyche, he may feel that Claudius offers him another example besides the disobedience of Gertrude: If Laertes, like Claudius, finds himself torn between two alternatives—between a premeditated plan, on the one hand, and sparing the life of someone who loves him, on the other—the example of Claudius gives Laertes the chance to reconsider and make a different choice.
Who is Hamlet to Laertes?
Laertes left for France assuming Hamlet may have been a sexual predator, ready to take advantage of his sister and then marry better. But in the graveyard, Gertrude drops a bomb: She had hoped Ophelia would have been Hamlet's bride! And Hamlet further chipped away at that image in Laertes' mind of himself as a sexual predator: He proclaimed, "I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum."
And he asked Laertes, "Hear you, sir;
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I loved you ever".
There is obviously a huge gap between how Laertes understood the situation, and how Gertrude and Hamlet understand it. If Laertes is paying attention, he must be experiencing cognitive dissonance. One resolves cognitive dissonance sometimes by doubling down or explaining it away but clinging to one's original assumptions, or by changing one's mind. Laertes is not ready to do the second.
Hamlet’s apology in 5.2 now blames his madness for anything that hurt Laertes and claims his madness was as much Hamlet’s enemy as it was Laertes’. Some commentators have noted that this sounds similar to the way St. Paul blames the sin in himself for doing what he does not want to do (Romans 7:15). (This implies that in a way, what is rotten in Denmark is the madness of sin.)
So it seems (1) Hamlet’s apology, (2) the half-hearted efforts of Claudius to prevent Gertrude from drinking, and (3) Gertrude’s choice to drink, and determined disobedience when asked not to drink——may work together to finally prepare Laertes to turn toward confession and reconciliation before his death, but not until after he has wounded Hamlet with the poison and been wounded himself.
So let’s examine these aspects and the rest of the scene in more detail.
HAMLET’S APOLOGY AND ITS POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON LAERTES
Hamlet’s apology gives Laertes yet another example, this time, of a person regretting and repenting of past actions, perhaps planting a seed for Laertes to consider repenting of his planned revenge:
HAMLET
Give me your pardon, sir: I've done you wrong;
But pardon't, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows,
And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd
With sore distraction. What I have done,
That might your nature, honour and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet:
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it, then? His madness: if't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.
Laertes’ response is interesting in that it shows he is still committed to his plan of revenge, but also instructive in that he ends it with a lie:
LAERTES
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honour
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungored. But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love,
And will not wrong it.
Before leaving to return to France, Laertes was advised by his father in 1.3,
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.
Yet Laertes seems so determined to be true to his vengeful self that he is willing to be false in claiming he receives Hamlet’s “offer’d love like love, and will not wrong it.” In fact he will wrong it. So perhaps the apology of Hamlet, along with his father’s advice about being true, and in fact also his sister’s warning about avoiding hypocrisy (1.3), combine in an interior dialectic that may be at work in Laertes. Something within him is at war with himself.
GERTRUDE’S DISOBEDIENCE & CLAUDIUS’ PRIORITIES
Claudius loves to have an audience to perform for when he wishes to make an impression about his generosity. He does so in 1.2, claiming that he owes a debt of gratitude to Polonius, so it would be hard for him to refuse any request from the son of Polonius--who only wishes to return to France. In the final scene, Claudius wishes to display his generosity again, this time by saying that whoever has the first hit in the duel between Hamlet and Laertes will win a pearl larger than any in Denmark’s crown. But the cup is poisoned, and in fact, the pearl may be dipped in poison, or Claudius may secretly add the poison along with the pearl to the cup.
This scene demonstrates that the generosity of Claudius is in fact poison, so Laertes, bound by a debt of gratitude to Claudius in 1.2, will soon die because Claudius was generous enough to include him in his murderous schemes.
But Gertrude spoils the plan. After Hamlet gets the first hit, he wants to continue to play; he gets the second hit at well, but still wishes to continue the duel. Gertrude wishes to wipe his sweaty brow, which seems to echo a famous image in Medieval and Renaissance art, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus on the way to his crucifixion, as David Kaula has noted. But she also uses the moment to toast to Hamlet, a strange thing for a woman who had asked Hamlet to offer Laertes some gentle entertainment to reconcile for their argument at Ophelia’s grave. Here’s how the passage unfolds:
CLAUDIUS
Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here's to thy health.
[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within]
Give him the cup.
HAMLET
I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile. Come.
[They play]
Another hit; what say you?
LAERTES
A touch, a touch, I do confess.
CLAUDIUS
Our son shall win.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
He's fat, and scant of breath.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows;
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
HAMLET
Good madam!
CLAUDIUS
Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me.
CLAUDIUS
[Aside] It is the poison'd cup: it is too late.
HAMLET
I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, let me wipe thy face.
Note that Gertrude does not ignore Claudius: She responds in a way that indicates her choice is quite intentional. She asks to be pardoned, perhaps for disobeying her husband, the king, or perhaps for suspecting that there may be foul play involved and poison in the cup.
Laertes, for his part, is honest and honorable enough to admit to another hit and admits it in an interesting way:
“I do confess.”
When he and Hamlet are both wounded and poisoned, soon to die, he will soon have more to confess.
Claudius merely says, “Gertrude, do not drink.” Not, “Stop, do not drink; it is poison! I confess!” That was an option, but he makes his choice and through it, shows what his priorities are: Kill Hamlet and keep the throne, even if Gertrude is collateral damage.
THE CONSCIENCES OF LAERTES & CLAUDIUS BEGIN TO AWAKEN
Something is stirring in Laertes’ slumbering conscience, but this happens slowly, not quickly enough to change his course of action:
LAERTES
My lord, I'll hit him now.
KING CLAUDIUS
I do not think't.
LAERTES
[Aside] And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience.
Something may be stirring in Claudius too, who seems to be reconsidering the whole plan, now that he knows Gertrude will soon die of the poison intended for Hamlet. “I do not thnk’t” may mean, there’s no use in killing Hamlet, and all of this now seems meaningless now that I’m losing Gertrude. But Claudius is conflicted and will still call out for help when wounded by Hamlet with the poison sword. He will also lie and claim Gertrude only swooned, fainted to see Hamlet and Laertes bleed.
PUBLIC CONFESSION & RECONCILIATION
Laertes’ own wound after changing weapons with Hamlet is the final element that makes him change his mind and confess. Osric inquires:
OSRIC
How is't, Laertes?
LAERTES
Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric;
I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
HAMLET
How does the queen?
CLAUDIUS
She swounds to see them bleed.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, no, the drink, the drink,--O my dear Hamlet,--
The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.
[Dies]
HAMLET
O villany! Ho! let the door be lock'd:
Treachery! Seek it out.
LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain;
No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom'd: the foul practise
Hath turn'd itself on me lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd:
I can no more: the king, the king's to blame.
So Laertes confesses, an important development that allows Hamlet to act with a certain authority, though merely a moral authority and not an official political authority.
HAMLET EXECUTES CLAUDIUS
Laertes’ public confession and blaming of Claudius finally moves Hamlet to make his choice:
HAMLET
The point!--envenom'd too!
Then, venom, to thy work.
[Stabs CLAUDIUS]
All
Treason! treason!
CLAUDIUS
O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.
HAMLET
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
CLAUDIUS [dies]
The David Tennant Hamlet directed by Gregory Doran (2009) had onlookers restrain Hamlet after he wounds the king, and he offers Claudius the cup, which Claudius accepts and drinks of his own volition, knowing his treachery will be revealed. This solves a problem that some scholars struggle with: if Hamlet wounds Claudius with the poison sword that will kill him, is that justice, and is forcing the rest of the poison cup down his throat then overkill, more than justice, more vengeful? David C.H. Morgan * has argued that Hamlet merely wounds Claudius with the poison sword he deserves, and Claudius drinks the cup to take his own life.
[* Morgan, David C.H. “‘When mercy seasons justice’: How and (Why) Hamlet Does Not Kill Claudius.” Hamlet Studies 10.1-10.2 (1988): 47-78.]
[From the 2009 film, Hamlet, directed by Gregory Doran, with David Tennant as Hamlet (L) and Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius (R)]
Laertes continues his confession and asks forgiveness of Hamlet. There is no priest in the scene, but this public confession and mutual reconciliation include the most important essential qualities that a Christian confession might contain in an age when some in England argued in favor of a return of public confession:
LAERTES
He is justly served;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
Dies
HAMLET
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee…
There is no priest present to give Laertes last rites and hear his confession unless we consider Hamlet and Laertes members of the priesthood as some liturgical and scriptural language traditionally does. I have blogged before about how Hamlet seems to exhibit qualities of priest, prophet and king, Christianity’s “threefold office.” This action in this scene is not a traditional affirmation of the organizational Church of England or Roman Catholic church, but rather a more democratic vision, where Laertes and Hamlet can confess to one another and reconcile (perhaps without the help of what Laertes called the "churlish priest" in 5.1).
OVERVIEW OF LAERTES’ CHARACTER ARC
It is helpful at this point to consider the overall arc of Laertes journey from the first time we see him in 1.2 to his reconciliation with Hamlet in the end.
1.2 As mentioned previously, when we first met Laertes, he is being drawn into the circle of gifts and gratitude (or web of favors and deception) enjoyed by Claudius and Polonius, but Claudius uses the moment to grandstand about what a grateful recipient he is of the loyalty of his trusted adviser. The question Claudius poses to Laertes regarding what he might ask for that would not be offered by Claudius in some ways resembles the question put by Herod to Salome, as I have argued in previous posts (here, and here, and here) on this blog. Laertes also refers to Claudius as his “dread Lord” (the aspect of fear I've written about before here), showing that Laertes understands the relationship as one of a subject who fears his king, not as one of mutual love, service, and friendship like the relationship Hamlet describes to Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo.
1.3 Laertes continues this theme of his fear of royalty in the next scene when he counsels his sister to fear Hamlet and the possible loss of her “chaste treasure.” He uses the word
Fear” three times. He and his father also use the word “prodigal” in reference to her relationship to Hamlet and the possibility that their passion might make them become prodigals, but as I’ve argued in previous posts, both Laertes and Polonius seem to miss the main message at the heart of the story of the prodigal son in the Christian gospels. Ophelia, to her great credit, warns her brother not to preach to her about chastity and then become a hypocrite in his travels in France.
4.5 When we next see Laertes, he has heard the news of his father’s death and returned from France, approaching the castle with a mob, seemingly ready to blame Claudius for his father’s death and to kill him. He is a man who has defined kingship in terms of fear, so his return to Denmark is as a grieving son who is to be feared if Claudius is responsible. And of course, Claudius is responsible as well as Hamlet, because Hamlet thought he was killing Claudius. But Claudius flatters Laertes and convinces him that they are on the same side, against Hamlet.
4.7. While Ophelia is off somewhere near a brook and about to drown, Claudius is still flattering Laertes with man-talk and toxic masculinity, asking Laertes to what lengths he would go to avenge his father’s death, and speaking of a Norman horseman named Lamond who supposedly spoke highly of Laertes and his skill with a rapier. The way this conversation is constructed, Claudius may be eliciting from Laertes the name of Lamond, and then making up a compliment Claudius never actually heard, in order to trick Laertes into the duel with Hamlet. The contrast between the distraction of the man-talk and the news of Ophelia’s death by drowning is stark and suggests that both Laertes and Claudius are negligent for not having prevented Ophelia’s death, and Laertes in particular for not watching after his sister more carefully in her compromised state.
5.1 After Hamlet’s Jonah-like sea-voyage and Emmaus-like encounter with a gravedigger-clown who knew (and resembles) the clown-jester-fool Yorick, Laertes dramatically asks that a mountain of earth be piled on him alive with the corpse of Ophelia, and Hamlet is offended to be blamed for her death, so they argue at the grave, with Hamlet showing more restraint and warning Laertes of “something dangerous” in himself. Hamlet asks why Laertes uses him thus, and says to him, “I loved you ever.” This does not square with Laertes’ understanding of Hamlet as a sexual predator who was after his sister, and who killed his father.
Gertrude’s importance to Laertes in his turning:
Last week I explored some of the ways Gertrude is key to Laertes’ turning, and how Hamlet and Ophelia help prepare her, perhaps, to drink from the cup suspecting poison. If you have not read that post and are interested, you can find it here.
We should also bear in mind that many scholars believe the character of Polonius was based at least in part on William Cecil, Lord Burghley, perhaps the most important advisor to Elizabeth, and whose son Robert succeeded him. Robert had a sister Anne Cecil, who married Edward de Vere and became the Countess of Oxford; they had marital difficulties, and she died at the age of 31 of unknown causes, a bit like Ophelia's questionable death. (Some of those who highlight this are Oxfordians, who believe de Vere wrote what we know as Shakespeare's plays; I am not an Oxfordian.)
Thanks for reading!
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Continued Next Week
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Future posts:
Hamlet & Ophelia /
Claudius & gift exchange
Horatio & character development
Fortinbras & character development
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NOTE ON THIS SERIES OF POSTS:
Hamlet quotes are taken from the Complete Moby(tm) Shakespeare at mit.edu, not for any preference in a particular version or editor, but for simplicity & accessibility.
This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property).
- The more I examine characters in this way, the more I realize how the major characters in Hamlet are dynamic characters who change, becoming better or worse in one way or another. This approach goes against the grain of a great deal of scholarship that seems to reify (or thing-ify) too many characters (as foil, as Oedipal, as Machiavellian, etc.) and view them as more static, rather than as dynamic, fluid, interacting. For an index of previous posts in this series, see below.
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Index of other posts in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/09/index-character-arcs-labors-of.html
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
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My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
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[L: Nathaniel Parker as Laertes in the last scene of Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 Hamlet, surprised to hear that Gertrude will drink from what Laertes and Claudius know is the poison cup;
R: Image from the final scene of Kenneth Branagh's 1996 Hamlet: Laertes (played by Michael Maloney) realizes that in falling, he has lost hold of the poison rapier he used to scratch Hamlet, but now it has slid across the floor to Hamlet. It will soon be used by Hamlet, unaware of the poison, to scratch Laertes in return.]
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By the time Laertes finally turns against Claudius at the end of the last scene in Hamlet (Act 5, scene 2), Laertes witnesses a number of new things: First, he hears Hamlet’s careful apology, constructed so as to communicate his regret for his actions and for hurting Laertes, but also not to admit that Claudius was his intended target when he killed Polonius.
Second, he witnesses Gertrude, shockingly, take the cup both Laertes and Claudius know is poison, and later the disobedience of Gertrude, who is asked by Claudius not to drink, but asks forgiveness for being determined to do so. Gertrude will not obey her husband and king. At some level in his psyche, Laertes may feel he has been given permission and an example for disobeying his king.
Third, between the initial shock of Gertrude taking the cup and her disobeying Claudius, Laertes watches as Claudius tries to stop Gertrude from drinking the poison cup, but tries only half-heartedly. As he said in the prayer scene (3.3), Claudius is like a man who serves two masters, “like a man to double business bound,” to both his lust for power and his love for Gertrude. But the first wins out: He does not love Gertrude enough to make sure she stops—by confessing to Gertrude the scheme to poison Hamlet, and thereby save Gertrude from drinking the poison at the expense of being exposed as a murderer, and losing the throne.
At some level of Laertes’ psyche, he may feel that Claudius offers him another example besides the disobedience of Gertrude: If Laertes, like Claudius, finds himself torn between two alternatives—between a premeditated plan, on the one hand, and sparing the life of someone who loves him, on the other—the example of Claudius gives Laertes the chance to reconsider and make a different choice.
Who is Hamlet to Laertes?
Laertes left for France assuming Hamlet may have been a sexual predator, ready to take advantage of his sister and then marry better. But in the graveyard, Gertrude drops a bomb: She had hoped Ophelia would have been Hamlet's bride! And Hamlet further chipped away at that image in Laertes' mind of himself as a sexual predator: He proclaimed, "I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum."
And he asked Laertes, "Hear you, sir;
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I loved you ever".
There is obviously a huge gap between how Laertes understood the situation, and how Gertrude and Hamlet understand it. If Laertes is paying attention, he must be experiencing cognitive dissonance. One resolves cognitive dissonance sometimes by doubling down or explaining it away but clinging to one's original assumptions, or by changing one's mind. Laertes is not ready to do the second.
Hamlet’s apology in 5.2 now blames his madness for anything that hurt Laertes and claims his madness was as much Hamlet’s enemy as it was Laertes’. Some commentators have noted that this sounds similar to the way St. Paul blames the sin in himself for doing what he does not want to do (Romans 7:15). (This implies that in a way, what is rotten in Denmark is the madness of sin.)
So it seems (1) Hamlet’s apology, (2) the half-hearted efforts of Claudius to prevent Gertrude from drinking, and (3) Gertrude’s choice to drink, and determined disobedience when asked not to drink——may work together to finally prepare Laertes to turn toward confession and reconciliation before his death, but not until after he has wounded Hamlet with the poison and been wounded himself.
So let’s examine these aspects and the rest of the scene in more detail.
HAMLET’S APOLOGY AND ITS POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON LAERTES
Hamlet’s apology gives Laertes yet another example, this time, of a person regretting and repenting of past actions, perhaps planting a seed for Laertes to consider repenting of his planned revenge:
HAMLET
Give me your pardon, sir: I've done you wrong;
But pardon't, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows,
And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd
With sore distraction. What I have done,
That might your nature, honour and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet:
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it, then? His madness: if't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.
Laertes’ response is interesting in that it shows he is still committed to his plan of revenge, but also instructive in that he ends it with a lie:
LAERTES
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honour
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungored. But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love,
And will not wrong it.
Before leaving to return to France, Laertes was advised by his father in 1.3,
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.
Yet Laertes seems so determined to be true to his vengeful self that he is willing to be false in claiming he receives Hamlet’s “offer’d love like love, and will not wrong it.” In fact he will wrong it. So perhaps the apology of Hamlet, along with his father’s advice about being true, and in fact also his sister’s warning about avoiding hypocrisy (1.3), combine in an interior dialectic that may be at work in Laertes. Something within him is at war with himself.
GERTRUDE’S DISOBEDIENCE & CLAUDIUS’ PRIORITIES
Claudius loves to have an audience to perform for when he wishes to make an impression about his generosity. He does so in 1.2, claiming that he owes a debt of gratitude to Polonius, so it would be hard for him to refuse any request from the son of Polonius--who only wishes to return to France. In the final scene, Claudius wishes to display his generosity again, this time by saying that whoever has the first hit in the duel between Hamlet and Laertes will win a pearl larger than any in Denmark’s crown. But the cup is poisoned, and in fact, the pearl may be dipped in poison, or Claudius may secretly add the poison along with the pearl to the cup.
This scene demonstrates that the generosity of Claudius is in fact poison, so Laertes, bound by a debt of gratitude to Claudius in 1.2, will soon die because Claudius was generous enough to include him in his murderous schemes.
But Gertrude spoils the plan. After Hamlet gets the first hit, he wants to continue to play; he gets the second hit at well, but still wishes to continue the duel. Gertrude wishes to wipe his sweaty brow, which seems to echo a famous image in Medieval and Renaissance art, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus on the way to his crucifixion, as David Kaula has noted. But she also uses the moment to toast to Hamlet, a strange thing for a woman who had asked Hamlet to offer Laertes some gentle entertainment to reconcile for their argument at Ophelia’s grave. Here’s how the passage unfolds:
CLAUDIUS
Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here's to thy health.
[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within]
Give him the cup.
HAMLET
I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile. Come.
[They play]
Another hit; what say you?
LAERTES
A touch, a touch, I do confess.
CLAUDIUS
Our son shall win.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
He's fat, and scant of breath.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows;
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
HAMLET
Good madam!
CLAUDIUS
Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me.
CLAUDIUS
[Aside] It is the poison'd cup: it is too late.
HAMLET
I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, let me wipe thy face.
Note that Gertrude does not ignore Claudius: She responds in a way that indicates her choice is quite intentional. She asks to be pardoned, perhaps for disobeying her husband, the king, or perhaps for suspecting that there may be foul play involved and poison in the cup.
Laertes, for his part, is honest and honorable enough to admit to another hit and admits it in an interesting way:
“I do confess.”
When he and Hamlet are both wounded and poisoned, soon to die, he will soon have more to confess.
Claudius merely says, “Gertrude, do not drink.” Not, “Stop, do not drink; it is poison! I confess!” That was an option, but he makes his choice and through it, shows what his priorities are: Kill Hamlet and keep the throne, even if Gertrude is collateral damage.
THE CONSCIENCES OF LAERTES & CLAUDIUS BEGIN TO AWAKEN
Something is stirring in Laertes’ slumbering conscience, but this happens slowly, not quickly enough to change his course of action:
LAERTES
My lord, I'll hit him now.
KING CLAUDIUS
I do not think't.
LAERTES
[Aside] And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience.
Something may be stirring in Claudius too, who seems to be reconsidering the whole plan, now that he knows Gertrude will soon die of the poison intended for Hamlet. “I do not thnk’t” may mean, there’s no use in killing Hamlet, and all of this now seems meaningless now that I’m losing Gertrude. But Claudius is conflicted and will still call out for help when wounded by Hamlet with the poison sword. He will also lie and claim Gertrude only swooned, fainted to see Hamlet and Laertes bleed.
PUBLIC CONFESSION & RECONCILIATION
Laertes’ own wound after changing weapons with Hamlet is the final element that makes him change his mind and confess. Osric inquires:
OSRIC
How is't, Laertes?
LAERTES
Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric;
I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
HAMLET
How does the queen?
CLAUDIUS
She swounds to see them bleed.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, no, the drink, the drink,--O my dear Hamlet,--
The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.
[Dies]
HAMLET
O villany! Ho! let the door be lock'd:
Treachery! Seek it out.
LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain;
No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom'd: the foul practise
Hath turn'd itself on me lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd:
I can no more: the king, the king's to blame.
So Laertes confesses, an important development that allows Hamlet to act with a certain authority, though merely a moral authority and not an official political authority.
HAMLET EXECUTES CLAUDIUS
Laertes’ public confession and blaming of Claudius finally moves Hamlet to make his choice:
HAMLET
The point!--envenom'd too!
Then, venom, to thy work.
[Stabs CLAUDIUS]
All
Treason! treason!
CLAUDIUS
O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.
HAMLET
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
CLAUDIUS [dies]
The David Tennant Hamlet directed by Gregory Doran (2009) had onlookers restrain Hamlet after he wounds the king, and he offers Claudius the cup, which Claudius accepts and drinks of his own volition, knowing his treachery will be revealed. This solves a problem that some scholars struggle with: if Hamlet wounds Claudius with the poison sword that will kill him, is that justice, and is forcing the rest of the poison cup down his throat then overkill, more than justice, more vengeful? David C.H. Morgan * has argued that Hamlet merely wounds Claudius with the poison sword he deserves, and Claudius drinks the cup to take his own life.
[* Morgan, David C.H. “‘When mercy seasons justice’: How and (Why) Hamlet Does Not Kill Claudius.” Hamlet Studies 10.1-10.2 (1988): 47-78.]
[From the 2009 film, Hamlet, directed by Gregory Doran, with David Tennant as Hamlet (L) and Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius (R)]
Laertes continues his confession and asks forgiveness of Hamlet. There is no priest in the scene, but this public confession and mutual reconciliation include the most important essential qualities that a Christian confession might contain in an age when some in England argued in favor of a return of public confession:
LAERTES
He is justly served;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
Dies
HAMLET
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee…
There is no priest present to give Laertes last rites and hear his confession unless we consider Hamlet and Laertes members of the priesthood as some liturgical and scriptural language traditionally does. I have blogged before about how Hamlet seems to exhibit qualities of priest, prophet and king, Christianity’s “threefold office.” This action in this scene is not a traditional affirmation of the organizational Church of England or Roman Catholic church, but rather a more democratic vision, where Laertes and Hamlet can confess to one another and reconcile (perhaps without the help of what Laertes called the "churlish priest" in 5.1).
OVERVIEW OF LAERTES’ CHARACTER ARC
It is helpful at this point to consider the overall arc of Laertes journey from the first time we see him in 1.2 to his reconciliation with Hamlet in the end.
1.2 As mentioned previously, when we first met Laertes, he is being drawn into the circle of gifts and gratitude (or web of favors and deception) enjoyed by Claudius and Polonius, but Claudius uses the moment to grandstand about what a grateful recipient he is of the loyalty of his trusted adviser. The question Claudius poses to Laertes regarding what he might ask for that would not be offered by Claudius in some ways resembles the question put by Herod to Salome, as I have argued in previous posts (here, and here, and here) on this blog. Laertes also refers to Claudius as his “dread Lord” (the aspect of fear I've written about before here), showing that Laertes understands the relationship as one of a subject who fears his king, not as one of mutual love, service, and friendship like the relationship Hamlet describes to Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo.
1.3 Laertes continues this theme of his fear of royalty in the next scene when he counsels his sister to fear Hamlet and the possible loss of her “chaste treasure.” He uses the word
Fear” three times. He and his father also use the word “prodigal” in reference to her relationship to Hamlet and the possibility that their passion might make them become prodigals, but as I’ve argued in previous posts, both Laertes and Polonius seem to miss the main message at the heart of the story of the prodigal son in the Christian gospels. Ophelia, to her great credit, warns her brother not to preach to her about chastity and then become a hypocrite in his travels in France.
4.5 When we next see Laertes, he has heard the news of his father’s death and returned from France, approaching the castle with a mob, seemingly ready to blame Claudius for his father’s death and to kill him. He is a man who has defined kingship in terms of fear, so his return to Denmark is as a grieving son who is to be feared if Claudius is responsible. And of course, Claudius is responsible as well as Hamlet, because Hamlet thought he was killing Claudius. But Claudius flatters Laertes and convinces him that they are on the same side, against Hamlet.
4.7. While Ophelia is off somewhere near a brook and about to drown, Claudius is still flattering Laertes with man-talk and toxic masculinity, asking Laertes to what lengths he would go to avenge his father’s death, and speaking of a Norman horseman named Lamond who supposedly spoke highly of Laertes and his skill with a rapier. The way this conversation is constructed, Claudius may be eliciting from Laertes the name of Lamond, and then making up a compliment Claudius never actually heard, in order to trick Laertes into the duel with Hamlet. The contrast between the distraction of the man-talk and the news of Ophelia’s death by drowning is stark and suggests that both Laertes and Claudius are negligent for not having prevented Ophelia’s death, and Laertes in particular for not watching after his sister more carefully in her compromised state.
5.1 After Hamlet’s Jonah-like sea-voyage and Emmaus-like encounter with a gravedigger-clown who knew (and resembles) the clown-jester-fool Yorick, Laertes dramatically asks that a mountain of earth be piled on him alive with the corpse of Ophelia, and Hamlet is offended to be blamed for her death, so they argue at the grave, with Hamlet showing more restraint and warning Laertes of “something dangerous” in himself. Hamlet asks why Laertes uses him thus, and says to him, “I loved you ever.” This does not square with Laertes’ understanding of Hamlet as a sexual predator who was after his sister, and who killed his father.
Gertrude’s importance to Laertes in his turning:
Last week I explored some of the ways Gertrude is key to Laertes’ turning, and how Hamlet and Ophelia help prepare her, perhaps, to drink from the cup suspecting poison. If you have not read that post and are interested, you can find it here.
We should also bear in mind that many scholars believe the character of Polonius was based at least in part on William Cecil, Lord Burghley, perhaps the most important advisor to Elizabeth, and whose son Robert succeeded him. Robert had a sister Anne Cecil, who married Edward de Vere and became the Countess of Oxford; they had marital difficulties, and she died at the age of 31 of unknown causes, a bit like Ophelia's questionable death. (Some of those who highlight this are Oxfordians, who believe de Vere wrote what we know as Shakespeare's plays; I am not an Oxfordian.)
Thanks for reading!
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Continued Next Week
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Future posts:
Hamlet & Ophelia /
Claudius & gift exchange
Horatio & character development
Fortinbras & character development
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NOTE ON THIS SERIES OF POSTS:
Hamlet quotes are taken from the Complete Moby(tm) Shakespeare at mit.edu, not for any preference in a particular version or editor, but for simplicity & accessibility.
This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property).
- The more I examine characters in this way, the more I realize how the major characters in Hamlet are dynamic characters who change, becoming better or worse in one way or another. This approach goes against the grain of a great deal of scholarship that seems to reify (or thing-ify) too many characters (as foil, as Oedipal, as Machiavellian, etc.) and view them as more static, rather than as dynamic, fluid, interacting. For an index of previous posts in this series, see below.
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Index of other posts in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/09/index-character-arcs-labors-of.html
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
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My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
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