HAMLET ALL CLEAR SHAKESPEARE. Act 1, Scene 1. Who s there? No, you answer me. Stop and reveal yourself. Long live the king!

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "HAMLET ALL CLEAR SHAKESPEARE. Act 1, Scene 1. Who s there? No, you answer me. Stop and reveal yourself. Long live the king!"

Francine Conley
5 years ago
Views:

1 ALL CLEAR SHAKESPEARE HAMLET Act 1, Scene 1 Original Text Enter and, two sentinels All Clear Two watchmen, and, enter Who s there? Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. Long live the king! Barnardo? He. You come most carefully upon your hour. Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco. For this relief much thanks. Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. Not a mouse stirring. Have you had quiet guard? Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who s there? And liegemen to the Dane. Friends to this ground. Give you good night. O, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath relieved you? Barnardo has my place. Give you good night. Holla, Barnardo. Say what, is Horatio there? A piece of him. Enter and Exit Who s there? No, you answer me. Stop and reveal yourself. Long live the king! Barnardo? Yes, me. You arrived right on schedule. The clock just struck twelve. Go to bed, Francisco. Thanks for relieving me. It s bitterly cold, and I m sad and depressed. Has your guard duty been quiet? Not a mouse stirred. Well, good night. If you see Horatio and Marcellus, who are going to stand guard with me, tell them to hurry. I think I hear them. Stop! Who s there? Friends of this country. And loyal servants of the Danish king. Good night to you. Good-bye, good soldier. Who s relieved you? Barnardo s taken my place. Good night. Hello, Barnardo. Say, is Horatio here too? More or less. and enter. exits.

2 Welcome, Horatio. Welcome, good Marcellus. What, has this thing appeared again tonight? I have seen nothing. Horatio says tis but our fantasy And will not let belief take hold of him Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us. Therefore I have entreated him along With us to watch the minutes of this night, That if again this apparition come He may approve our eyes and speak to it. Tush, tush, twill not appear. Sit down a while And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against our story, What we have two nights seen. Well, sit we down, And let us hear Barnardo speak of this. Last night of all, When yond same star that s westward from the pole Had made his course t illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, The bell then beating one Peace, break thee off. Look where it comes again! In the same figure like the king that s dead. (to ) Thou art a scholar. Speak to it, Horatio. Looks it not like the king? Mark it, Horatio. Most like. It harrows me with fear and wonder. It would be spoke to. Question it, Horatio. What art thou that usurp st this time of night Together with that fair and warlike form In which the majesty of buried Denmark Did sometimes march? By heaven, I charge thee, speak. It is offended. See, it stalks away. Stay! Speak, speak! I charge thee, speak! Tis gone and will not answer. Enter GHOST Exit GHOST Welcome, Horatio. Welcome, Marcellus. So, has the thing appeared again tonight? I haven t seen anything. Horatio says it s all our imagination, and won t let himself believe in this awful thing we ve now seen twice. I asked him to join us in our guard duty tonight, so that if the ghost appears he can confirm what we see and speak to it. Oh, come now. It s not going to appear. Sit down for a while, and let us tell you again the story you refuse to believe, about what we ve seen the last two nights. Sure, let s sit down and listen to Barnardo speak. Last night, when that star to the west of the North Star had moved across the heavens to brighten that spot in the sky where it s shining now, at precisely one o clock, Marcellus and I Quiet, stop talking! Look, it s come again. Looking exactly like the dead king. The GHOST enters. (to ) You re well-educated. Speak to it, Horatio. Doesn t he look like the king, Horatio? Exactly like him. It fills me with fear and wonder. It wants us to speak to it. Ask it something, Horatio. What are you, that you disturb this time of night, appearing just ike the dead king of Denmark dressed in his battle armor? By God, I order you to speak. You ve offended it. Look, it s moving away. Stay! Speak! Speak! I order you, speak! It s gone, and won t answer. The GHOST exits.

3 How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale. Is not this something more than fantasy? What think you on t? Before my God, I might not this believe Without the sensible and true avouch Of mine own eyes. Is it not like the king? As thou art to thyself. Such was the very armour he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated. So frowned he once when, in an angry parle, He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. Tis strange. Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. In what particular thought to work I know not, But in the gross and scope of mine opinion This bodes some strange eruption to our state. Good now, sit down and tell me, he that knows, Why this same strict and most observant watch So nightly toils the subject of the land, And why such daily cast of brazen cannon And foreign mart for implements of war, Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task Does not divide the Sunday from the week. What might be toward, that this sweaty haste Doth make the night joint laborer with the day? Who is t that can inform me? That can I. At least, the whisper goes so: our last king, Whose image even but now appeared to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto pricked on by a most emulate pride, Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet (For so this side of our known world esteemed him) Did slay this Fortinbras, who by a sealed compact Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands Which he stood seized of to the conqueror, Against the which a moiety competent Was gagèd by our king, which had returned To the inheritance of Fortinbras Had he been vanquisher, as, by the same covenant And carriage of the article designed, His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimprovèd mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes, For food and diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in t, which is no other As it doth well appear unto our state But to recover of us, by strong hand And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So by his father lost. And this, I take it, Is the main motive of our preparations, The source of this our watch, and the chief head Of this posthaste and rummage in the land. What now, Horatio? You re pale and trembling. Isn t this something more than just our imagination? What do you think about it? I swear by God, I d never have believed this had I not seen it with my own eyes. Doesn t it look like the king? As much as you look like yourself. That was the same armor the king wore when he fought the ambitious king of Norway. And the ghost frowned just like the king did once when he fought the Poles, who traveled on the ice in sleds. It s weird. It s happened like this twice before, always at just this time. Dressed like a warrior, he walks by us at our guard post. I don t know exactly what this means, but I have a general feeling it signals that something bad is about to happen to our country. Speaking of that, let s sit down so that, whichever of you knows, can tell me why we ve been keeping such a strict schedule of nightly watches, and why we ve been building so many cannons and buying so many weapons from other countries, and why the shipbuilders are kept so busy that they don t even rest on Sunday. What s coming that forces us to work day and night in this way? Who can tell me? I can. At least, I can tell you the rumors: the greatness of our former king, whose ghost just now appeared to us, inspired the competitive pride of Fortinbras, king of Norway. Fortinbras dared him to single combat. During that fight, our courageous Hamlet (as we Danes thought of him) killed old King Fortinbras, who on the basis of a signed and sealed agreement and in full accordance with the law and rules of combat surrendered, along with his life, all the lands he possessed to his conqueror. By that same agreement, our King bet lands of equal value that he would have had to give up had he been defeated. Now, Fortinbras s son, young Fortinbras, who is daring but has yet to prove himself, has on the outskirts of Norway hastily gathered a group of lawless brutes. For no pay other than food, they re willing to give their courage to the effort of forcefully regaining the lands the elder Fortinbras lost. This, I believe, is the reason that we ve been set to watch, and the primary source of all the recent hustle and bustle in Denmark.

4 I think it be no other but e en so. Well may it sort that this portentous figure Comes armèd through our watch so like the king That was and is the question of these wars. A mote it is to trouble the mind s eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun, and the moist star Upon whose influence Neptune s empire stands Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. And even the like precurse of feared events, As harbingers preceding still the fates And prologue to the omen coming on, Have heaven and earth together demonstrated Unto our climatures and countrymen. 125 But soft, behold! Lo, where it comes again. I ll cross it though it blast me. Stay, illusion! If thou hast any sound or use of voice, Speak to me. If there be any good thing to be done That may to thee do ease and grace to me, Speak to me. If thou art privy to thy country s fate, Which happily foreknowing may avoid, Oh, speak! Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, Speak of it. Stay and speak! Enter GHOST GHOST spreads his arms I think that s right. It makes sense that this ghost of the late king would haunt our guard duty now, since he was such an important part of these wars. The ghost is definitely something to worry about, like a speck of dust bothering your eye. In the powerful Roman Empire, just before the mighty Julius Caesar was assassinated, the graves stood empty while the ghostly dead ran through the streets of Rome squeaking and jabbering. Shooting stars streaked across the sky, blood fell along with the morning dew, and omens of disaster appeared on the sun. The moon, which controls the tides of the sea, was so eclipsed it almost disappeared completely. We ve had similar signs of disaster, as if heaven and earth have joined together to warn us of what s to come. The GHOST enters. Wait, look! It has returned. I ll meet it if it s the last thing I do. Stop, you illusion! The GHOST spreads his arms. If you have a voice or can make sounds, speak to me. If there s anything that I can do that might bring you peace and me honor, speak to me. If you know something abut your country s fate, which we could avoid if we knew about it oh, speak! Or if you ve got a treasure buried somewhere in the earth, which they say often makes ghosts restless, then speak of it. Stay and speak! The cock crows A rooster crows. Stop it, Marcellus. Don t let it leave, Marcellus. Shall I strike at it with my partisan? Should I hit it with my spear? Do, if it will not stand. Yes, if it doesn t stand still. Tis here. It s here. 140 Tis here. It s here. Exit GHOST The GHOST exits. 145 Tis gone. We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence, For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery. It s gone. We were wrong to threaten it with violence, since it looked so kingly. And, like the air, it was beyond our ability to hurt, and our blows were but nasty silliness. It was about to speak when the cock crew. It was about to say something when the rooster crowed.

5 And then it started like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. I have heard The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of day, and, at his warning, Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, Th extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine, and of the truth herein This present object made probation. It faded on the crowing of the cock. Some say that ever gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long. And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad. The nights are wholesome. Then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowed and so gracious is that time. So have I heard and do in part believe it. But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, Walks o er the dew of yon high eastward hill. Break we our watch up, and by my advice, Let us impart what we have seen tonight Unto young Hamlet, for, upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? Let s do t, I pray, and I this morning know Where we shall find him most conveniently. Exeunt And then it looked startled, like a guilty person summoned to appear in court. I ve heard that the rooster, which calls to signal the coming morning, awakens the god of day and makes all wandering ghosts, wherever they are, hurry back to their hiding places. What we ve just seen is proof of that. It faded away when the rooster crowed. Some people say that just before Christmas the rooster crows all night long, so that no ghost dares go wandering, and the night is safe for all. Then no dark fates control us, no fairy can cast a spell on us, and witches cannot hurt us with their charms. That s how holy and blessed Christmas is. I ve heard the same thing, and partially believe it. But look, the red glow of morning is breaking beyond that hill in the east. Let s end our watch and go tell young Hamlet what we ve seen tonight. I d bet my life that this ghost, which will not speak to us, will speak to him. Do you agree that we should tell Hamlet, that we owe it to him to him out of our duty and our love? Let s do it. And I know where we can find him this morning. They exit. Act 1, Scene Original Text Enter CLAUDIUS, king of Denmark; GERTRUDE the queen; HAMLET; POLO- NIUS; his son LAERTES; and his daughter OPHELIA; LORDS attendant CLAUDIUS Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe, Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him Together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we as twere with a defeated joy, With an auspicious and a dropping eye, With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole Taken to wife. Nor have we herein barred Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone With this affair along. For all, our thanks. Now follows that you know. Young Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth Or thinking by our late dear brother s death Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, Colleaguèd with the dream of his advantage, He hath not failed to pester us with message Importing the surrender of those lands Lost by his father, with all bonds of law, To our most valiant brother. So much for him. All Clear CLAUDIUS, the king of Denmark, enters, as do GERTRUDE the queen, HAMLET, POLONIUS, POLONIUS s son LAERTES and daughter OPH- ELIA, and LORDS of Claudius s court. CLAUDIUS Though my memories of my brother Hamlet are still fresh, and though it was proper for me and our entire kingdom to grieve for him, yet life doesn t stop. And so, while we must remember to mourn for him, it is also wisdom to remember our own happiness. Therefore with a sad joy, with one eye merry and the other crying, with laughter at a funeral and grieving at a wedding, with equal measures of happiness and sadness I have married my former sister-in-law and made her my queen and assured the continuity of our nation. In this marriage I know I ve done exactly what all of you have been advising me to do all along. To all of you, my thanks. Now, let s move on to news that you all know: Young Fortinbras, dreaming of glory and thinking that I am weak or perhaps that the death of my brother has thrown our country into chaos, continues to bother me with demands that I surrender the lands that his father lost to my brother when he was alive. That s the news on Fortinbras.

Scene 2 A state room at the castle.

Scene 2 A state room at the castle. 180 Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? Marcellus. Let s do t, I pray, and I this morning know Where we shall find him most convenient. [They exit.]