L
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ure Three
Hamlet I—“Stand and unfold yourself”
Hamlet begins with a sentry’s command to “Stand and unfold [identify, disclose] yourself.” This lecture
addresses the work’s fascination with secrets, with disclosure—and with things that cannot be put into
words. It will discuss Hamlet’s own “self-unfolding” in his first soliloquy; the first two acts’ “unfolding”
of the multiple family dramas that introduce us to the hero’s foils, Fortinbras and Laertes; and the
“unfolding” of the Ghost’s terrible secret history to the prince.
The Ghost presents Hamlet with the impossible command to avenge his father without tainting his mind
in the process. A concluding meditation on the play’s emphasis on the power of memory will address
Shakespeare’s interest in anatomizing parent/child relations in a world in which a father can seek to
control his son’s actions even from beyond the grave.
Outline
I. The sentry’s command to “Stand and unfold yourself” in the first scene of Hamlet offers a suggestive
point of entry into the play.
A. To “unfold yourself” means to disclose your identity but also to tell your story.
B. The last thing Hamlet will do before he dies is ask Horatio to relate his story properly to those
who survive him.
C. The play is full of people demanding that other people “unfold themselves,” and the Ghost wishes
to “unfold” to Hamlet the story of his murder.
II. At the same time, the play is pervaded by a sense of things untold and untellable.
A. Hamlet insists he has grief within him that “passes show.”
B. The Ghost suggests that he could tell Hamlet horrors about the afterlife that he is withholding.
C. We ourselves might ask whether the mysteries of this play can ever be fully unfolded.
III. The play’s beginning also offers some unfolding of recent political history.
A. We learn from Horatio about “young Fortinbras,” nephew of the king of Norway, and his desire
to avenge his father (killed by Hamlet’s father).
B. Fortinbras, although hardly ever on stage, becomes a foil or double for “young Hamlet,” who has
also lost his father.
C. Neither Fortinbras nor Hamlet seems to have automatically succeeded his father to the throne:
Denmark is an “elective” monarchy.
IV. The second scene of Hamlet discloses the anxieties and resentments underpinning the relations
between Hamlet and his mother and stepfather.
A. Claudius attempts to play substitute father to Hamlet while keeping him under surveillance.
B. Gertrude criticizes the extremity of Hamlet’s mourning for his father and is criticized in her turn
for implying that he is merely “acting out” his grief.
C. Hamlet’s first soliloquy reveals the deeper reasons behind his alienation and world-weariness.
1. We see his horror at his mother’s speedy (and, technically, incestuous) remarriage to his
uncle.
2. He makes clear his personal loathing for Claudius.
3. He perceives his mother’s sexuality as a kind of animal lust.
4. But his emotional energy is entirely focused on the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius;
he shows no resentment that he is not king.
V. Our introduction to Polonius and his children offers another scene in which family and political
relations converge and a woman’s actions provoke anxiety.
A. Laertes and Polonius, like Hamlet, want to “police” the sexuality of a kinswoman; they
assume that Hamlet’s intentions toward Ophelia may be dishonorable.
B. Polonius’s unfeeling treatment of Ophelia suggests that he is mainly interested in the
market value of her virginity.
C. Although Hamlet may walk “with a larger tether” than Ophelia is permitted, it seems that
the older generations seek to control the actions of all the younger people in this play.
VI. The earlier scenes between parents and children climax in Hamlet’s encounter with his father’s ghost.
A. The status of the Ghost is complicated by its references to purgatory (whose existence was
denied by English Protestant doctrine).
B. Both the presence of the Ghost and the tale it tells expand upon Marcellus’s remark
that
“something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
C. The Ghost’s “unfolding” of the murder done by Claudius pours metaphorical poison in
Hamlet’s ear, just as Claudius poured poison in the living King Hamlet’s ear.
D. The Ghost’s specific command that, in avenging his father, Hamlet neither “taint” his mind
nor act against his mother places the prince in an impossible position.
1. Hamlet’s mind has already been “tainted” by the Ghost’s history.
2. Hamlet remains obsessed with Gertrude’s actions.
E. The Ghost’s command to “remember me” leads Hamlet to imagine erasing his previous
identity and subordinating his soul to the commands of his dead father.
F. Hamlet’s overwhelming revulsion at what he must do may arise from the fact that despite
his distaste for merely “seeming,” he must now mask and dissimulate his horrible knowledge.
Essential Reading:
Shakespeare, Hamlet.
Supplementary Reading:
Greenblatt, Hamlet in Purgatory, chapter 5.
Questions to Consider:
1. Polonius’s speech of advice to Laertes is well known and often quoted. How might our
attitude toward Polonius’s apparently sage counsel be complicated by the scene at the start of Act 2,
in which he sends his servant Reynaldo to spy upon his son?
2.
Just before the Ghost materializes in 1.4., Hamlet ponders the Danish national character and moves
on to some larger philosophical observations. Why might Shakespeare have chosen to give him
this speech at this particular moment in the play?