Would Horatio’s View of Hamlet in the Play Be Different
from the Audiences?
When the audience reaches the conclusion of the play, hamlet requests that Horatio
will express and explain the events, which lead to his death. Horatio who was in turn
then surrounded by the four bodies of Claudius, Gertrude Laertes and Hamlet,
Horatio’s best friend and closet person to him at the time. Horatio then says he will:
‘Speak to th’yet unknowing world
How these things came about.’
We can tell that Horatio was extremely close to Hamlet as when Hamlet was dieing
Horatio was content to take his life as well. He says he will:
‘I am more an antique Roman than a dance
Here’s yet some liquor left’
The reason Horatio says this is top make sure that Hamlet would have a good
reputation when he dies and he would be remembered for as the victim and not the
victor:
‘And in this harsh would draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story.’
Although saying this Horatio will not be able to create the full picture to inform
Fortinbras of the events that have occurred as much as the Audience would be able to
do. There are many captivating reasons for this. Firstly, like every person in the world
he is restricted to his feelings and his own personality in terms of what he can
understand. Hamlets character is far more complex than his own.
Secondly as I have already stated he was Hamlets longest and closet friend that he has
had. Horatio sees Hamlet more of a brother in arms than a friend so his view and the
way he tells the story will obviously be biased.
Finally the occurrences of the play are only truly known by a few characters yet the
whole story is only known by the final element of all plays, the audience. Horatio was
not there for many of the important scenes. I shall now explore the issues in turn.
Hamlet’s Character is extremely complex and it is likely that no two people will have
the same opinion on any matters at hand. Hamlet character has more cunning and
complex plans due to he is more intellectual the Horatio.
‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
Hamlet has a character that he has the intelligence to play around with words and
direct it at his adversary. He can also managed to make people believe that he was
mad when in actual fact he was just giving himself time to consider his options and
plan ahead.
‘Perchance hereafter shall I think meet
To put on an antic disposition’
At this point in time Hamlet is telling Horatio that he would be just putting an act of
being mad so that he could gather information so that Claudius would become
suspicious.
Another weird occurrence of Hamlet’s personality is that when he is acting mad due
to what I have stated above is that according to Claudius hamlet is still loved by the
people:
‘Is the great love the general gender bear him,’
This is when Claudius is telling the audience and many people within the play why he
will not kill Hamlet he claims due to his love for Gertrude and that hamlet is popular
with the people. How this can be is confusing as if he is pretending to go mad he must
only do it to certain people he is planning on getting at whilst when he is out in town I
think that is when the real hamlet comes out again and shows his true face rather than
hiding behind a mask so to speak.
Hamlets character is very impulsive and he acts at the moment and then has time to
him self to think about his actions. Hamlet reflects on death in Act 3 scene 1 line
56/82. He questions if it is
Worth fighting suffering and thinks about the effects after death.
“ To be or not to be, that is the question – “
At this present moment in time hamlet is saying the only reason we do not kill
ourselves is because we are too scared of the consequences of death.
So even with these occurrences happen through this play Hamlet is continually getting
praised for actions another example of this is right at the end when the prince of
Norway, Fortinbras enters the kingdom at the end of the play and says:
‘Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royal; and for his passage,’
All of these praises I think Horatio will welcome as they are what Horatio see’s in
Hamlet as some one who is thicker than water but closer to blood:
‘Give me that man
That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him
In my hearts core, ay in my heart of heart,’
Although in other aspects criticism have said that hamlet is a sick, cynical and in
humane. And sees Claudius as a kind and gentle king. These were the words of a very
famous critic called Wilson Knight. This a view that most people within the play
agrees with, as they do not see the whole picture whilst the audience’s opinion is
diverse to the characters in the play. The audience is far more complimentary towards
Hamlet and more cynical towards Claudius.
Horatio does not see all the occurrences of the play and does not see the whole of the
play.
A great moment of this is when Hamlet kills Polonius when polinios is behind the
curtain. So obviously Horatio’s view would be biased towards Hamlet.
With him not being there for these happenings he is restricted by his own personality
and what he sees. He is not there for many scenes of which Hamlet loses the plot so to
speak. Another great of example of this is when he is speaking to Ophelia and Hamlet
says:
“Get thee to a nunnery – why wouldst thou be a breeder of
sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me
Of such things, that it were better my mother had not borne me.”
Horatio does not witness this and will most likely not fill Fortinbras in. So Hamlets
character is, to a certain extent, a diverse villain when he is pretending to be mad. The
compelling thing is that he most likely is putting on a mad disposition as he says. The
question is did Hamlet go mad towards the end of the play?
Ophelia is very upset by what Hamlet says to her and is convinced that the
Reason Hamlet has gone mad is because of her ending the relationship on the
Order of Polonius.
“That unmatched form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. Oh woe is me
T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see.”
She is distraught after having to end the relationship with Hamlet and what he
Has told her and what she has seen of him.
So when Horatio has to tell Fortinbras about the happenings of over the past few
weeks his overall view of Hamlet will defiantly be biased as he misses out on the key
moments of when Hamlets character in some retrospect’s comes out.
Hamlet’s complex character is only again seen completely by all the audience,
This means that characters in the play do not have any insight to the thoughts
Of Hamlet. Hamlet plays many roles throughout the play including disturbed
Outsider, potential.
“ Help, help, ho!
What ho! Help, help, help!
How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead.”
This is another pat that Horatio fails to see and it is in act 3 scene 4 lines 22-23 where
Hamlet kills polinious and does not show any remorse for his actions Again if Horatio
was there he could be able to see this but because he was not there he did not. Again
his view from the audiences would differ to the view of himself.
The problem is that n matter what Horatio would always be a good friend to Hamlet
even after his death and their will always be biased actions when Hamlet dies. Horatio
wants to make sure that he
There is one final reason for any differences between Horatio’s and the
Audience’s view. Hamlet and Horatio are best friends and probably have been for
Quite a while. This is emphasized at the end of the play when Horatio says that
He will die for Hamlet:
“Never believe it.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here’s yet some liquor left.”
However, Hamlet stops him from drinking the poison because Horatio is needed to
Tell Fortinbras what had been happening over the last week.
Unlike Hamlet’s other friends who all betray him, Horatio comes across as the
Hero because he came back to support Hamlet at the
Time of his father’s funeral:
“My Lord, I came to see your father’s funeral.”
He also praises Hamlet’s father Old Hamlet the Ghost.
“I saw him once, a was a goodly King.”
They think highly of each other especially Horatio of Hamlet as he always calls
Him Lord. However, Hamlet has a strong bond with Horatio as he explains in Act 3
Scene 2:
“Give me that man
That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him
In my heart’s core, ay in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.”
They obviously have a very close friendship and this will inevitably influence
The way Horatio thinks. Horatio’s view of Hamlet could be biased because they
Are so friendly.
The original title question was would Horatio’s view of hamlet in the play be different
from the audiences. The question ca not really is answered as it is right in some
aspects but in others it differs. Horatio can only truly say what were the good points
about hamlet and cannot tell us what happened in the rest of the time. Yet saying this
many people have different views on Hamlet as I have stated and it is difficult to
judge a person who has such a complex and articulate personality.