Whose blood and judgement are so well co-mingled, To sound what stop they please: Give me that man In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of hearts, The representation of the mock play confirms Hamlet of the guilt of the King, but the Queen showing no emotion when it is said In second husband let me be accurst, None wed the second but who kill'd the first, has given rise to a controversy whether the poet intended her throughout the drama as being accessory to the murder of her husband: much has been written upon a subject that perhaps requires little elucidation, for notwithstanding the lines which appear in the lately-discovered quarto copy of 1603, where the Queen is made to say But, as I have a soul, I swear by heav'n, I never knew of this most horrid murder. it is only necessary to refer to the remarkable speech of the Ghost, where Hamlet is admonished not to extend the mandate of revenge to his mother, which, while it couveys a sentiment of great beauty, obviously implies her guilt. But howsoe'er thou pursu'st this act, Against thy mother aught; leave her to heav'n, The incidents of the mock play affecting the conscience of the King, the audience is broken up, confusion ensues, whilst Hamlet and Horatio are left alone. If, in any part of the drama, a suspicion could with plausibility be entertained, with regard to the young Prince's intellect, it is, perhaps, in this scene, where the ebullition of feeling in Hamlet's mind is certainly of an extravagant nature; his scheme in detecting the King had succeeded, and amidst that frivolity which we sometimes see in his disposition, he says to Horatio "Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers (if the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me), with two Provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me a fellowship in a cry of players?" The recital also of two disjointed verses of doggrel poetry, is of the same character; this waywardness of thought, however, is purely transient, having its origin from a temporary excitement, produced by the success of his plan; Hamlet was now convinced of the real purpose for which the ghost of his father had left the mansions of the dead, and Horatio participating in his feelings, should remove all idea, that the poet intended, under this hallucination of the moment, to represent the Prince as labouring under a state of actual insanity. The poetry of the mock play differing very materially in its style and character from that of the drama itself, has given rise to much minute and elaborate criticism, and amongst the authors who have directed their attention to its peculiar composition Schlegel remarks that, "Shakspere has composed the play in Hamlet, altogether in sententious rhymes, full of antithesis," in order to distinguish ifs theatrical character from the natural composition of the drama. The action of the piece, hitherto characterized by no movement, which could speedily facilitate the denouement of events, now assumes a more progressive aspect. Hamlet hears from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, that the King in his retirement is "marvellous distempered," and that the Queen, struck with amazement at his late behaviour, desires to speak with him in her closet; the vein of satire, mingled with the liveliness of wit, in which Hamlet indulges at this interview, create in our minds no small degree of interest, especially when amid this sprightliness of feeling, we see those clouds of sadness occasionally bursting forth, on a wounded and almost broken heart. The allusions to his mother are pointedly severe, yet partake of no harsh or acrimonious language; whilst the manly rebuke which is extended to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when the latter expresses his inability to play upon a pipe, indicates, in a pleasing manner, the fertility of Hamlet's imagination. "Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me? You would play upon me: you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from the lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ; yet cannot you make it speak. S'blood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me." The busy Polonius being also commissioned with the wish from the Queen that Hamlet should see her presently, the old courtier meets with the same kind of reception that his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern experience, though Hamlet informs him he will come by and by." Left alone, we now behold the Prince overcome with the deepest meditation, his bosom struggling with all the contending passions of his nature, yet guided by those sentiments of filial tenderness which form so excellent a feature in his character. Soft, now to my mother, O, heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom : Let me be cruel, not unnatural : I will speak daggers to her, but use none. Previously to this remarkable interview, the King is seen in deep conference with his courtiers, fixing the arrangement that Hamlet shall be sent to England. Polonius at the same time makes his appearance, and proffers that he will take his stand behind the arras, and relate what passes between Hamlet and his mother. The King, ultimately left alone amidst the solitude of the midnight hour, becomes a prey to the terrors of his guilty and troubled conscience, and endeavours to seek consolation by supplication to heaven. At the moment he is about to kneel, Hamlet, who seems to have had the free range of the palace, enters, and contemplates that deed of revenge which the ghost of his murdered father had enjoined him to perform. He loses, however, the opportunity, by the consideration, that killing the King whilst in the act of devotion, would in itself produce the advantage of salvation. The indecision which marks the character of Hamlet is, perhaps, nowhere more strongly exemplified than during this emergency; he resolves to wait until he finds the usurper Or in the incestuous pleasures of his bed; Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heav'n : As hell, whereto it goes. a mode of retribution which has justly called forth the severest animadversion, though Mason has well observed, "that horrid as the resolution of Hamlet is, some moral may be extracted from it, as all his subsequent misfortunes were owing to this savage refinement of revenge." The closet scene excites a deep and thrilling interest :-Polonius, true to the fulfilment of his promise, secretes himself behind the arras, but it leads to his destruction. The salutation 66 of Hamlet to his mother creating alarm, she calls for help; Polonius responding to the cry, Hamlet, in a fit of indignation, kills him; this act, characterized by the Queen as a rash and bloody deed," was, however, on the part of the Prince, sudden and unpremedidated; with feelings averse to the shedding of human blood, it produced with Hamlet great anguish, as the Queen afterwards says, "he weeps for what is done." Polonius, however, falls unregretted; his mean servility brought upon him his own ruin, and whatever sagacity he possessed, by long experience of the world, the unworthiness of soul which is exhibited even to the last action of his life, warrants no other consideration, than that which Hamlet bestows on him, Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! At It is true, Hamlet to his mother uses no daggers, but he speaks them; his eloquence arouses in her bosom every feeling of remorse; in a strain of unparalleled energy, the extent of her guilt is vividly brought before her, and in glowing language the cruel and murderous character of the King is depicted. this moment the Ghost appears, 66 a visitation to whet the almost blunted purpose," of Hamlet; the Queen, unconscious of the presence of the spirit of her murdered husband, the same tenderness of expression as before alluded to, is here repeated. But look, amazement on thy mother sits; O, step between her and her fighting soul; No sentiment ever uttered, exceeds in sublimity this high moral feeling; in contemplating its beauty, Shakspere stands |