I missed one REALLY obvious parallel and so I gotta tell you all about it now.
CADEROUSSE = RODERIGO
For all of you who are like “who’s Roderigo?” And “what does Caderousse have to do with Roderigo?” It’s ok. I’ll tell you the similarities right now.
SO They both have this “friend” who gives them bad advice in a way that sounds like good advice, so they take the advice, which turns out to not end too well for them. And that “friend” ends up stabbing them and they die. But they happen to have a letter in their pocket at the time listing the crimes of this “friend”, which is later found and used against the “friend”. SO YEAH I THINK IT’S A PRETTY GOOD PARALLEL.
who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite
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OK LET ME TALK ABOUT HORATIO
Horatio is such a good foil to Hamlet. And such a good friend. And also the fact that Horatio is even friends with Hamlet in the first place says *so much* about pre-dead dad Hamlet. Because Horatio’s a very sensible guy. He wouldn’t be friends with just anyone. Which means that pre-dead dad Hamlet would have to have been 1) at least somewhat of a polite and respectful person, because I can’t imagine Horatio being friends with someone who isn’t at least moderately respectful 2) not overly intense, because Horatio seems to be more of an introvert, and (generally speaking) overly intense people would be exhausting to hang out with. Not saying he wouldn’t be friends with *anyone* like that, just saying it would be hard to become super *close* friends with intense people. Both of those two things change post-dead dad Hamlet. But we can be nearly certain that Hamlet was somewhat polite and chill back when he met Horatio.
So yeah I know I’m supposed to be talking about Horatio and I went off on a tangent about Hamlet. Oh well.
Anyway in conclusion I think Horatio’s neat and kinda underrated (not by the fandom, but by High school students as a whole).
Also. Can I just say. I have no idea how he puts up with Hamlet throughout the play. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hamlet. But I love him as a fictional character. If he were a real person and I were Horatio I’d probably tell him to shut up and leave me alone. So yeah congrats to Horatio for somehow tolerating him.
Loving Shakespearean Characters is so annoying because YES I love Horatio NO I don’t know why (what does he even do other than put up with Hamlet’s stupidity?) YES I love Ophelia NO I don’t know why (what does she even do other than NOT put up with Hamlet’s stupidity?) YES I love Laertes NO I don’t know why (he’s cool but he did technically kill Hamlet) Yes it goes without saying I love Hamlet, No I don’t know why
And repeat this process for every single Shakespeare play.
This has always been such a strange exchange to me. Why is Hamlet asking Horatio if it’s cold? Dude doesn’t have a thermometer on him; he can’t tell any better what the temperature is than you can. Why is Hamlet asking Horatio the time? He doesn’t have a watch; he doesn’t know the time any better than you do.
For a long time I saw this as an extremely clunky way of setting the scene: Telling the audience the time and the temperature by having the characters tell each other things they would already know. But it occurs to me now that what Shakespeare is actually doing is showing us that Hamlet doesn’t trust his own senses: He feels cold, but he isn’t sure if it’s actually cold. He heard the clock strike, but he doesn’t know what time it is. What it is setting up is the idea of Hamlet’s madness: the idea that he can’t tell what’s real.
THIS. I rarely ever reblog anything, but THIS needs to be reblogged. THIS is the excellent literary analysis I log on to tumblr for.
I have nothing to add on to this, or any extra points to point out like I’d normally do when I reblog something, because this is already perfect as is. What percentage of Hamlet’s madness was faked is such an interesting topic, and for this short interaction to be alluding to his madness- that’s just fantastic.
OP, I haven’t yet done Hamlet in school, and unfortunately I don’t see many posts analyzing if the ghost of Hamlet Sr. was really in Act 3 Scene 4. Please OP, what’s your take on that?
I honestly haven’t been able to make up my mind on that. Most of what I’ve read comes down on the side of the ghost being real, giving some hand-waving excuse for why Gertrude can’t see him. And you know, the ghost is clearly real in Act 1, so why wouldn’t he be in Act 3? But, personally, I think it’s really weird that Gertrude can’t see him. I’d love to hear other people’s explanations for this.
(Oh, and thank you for the praise. I’m sure I can’t be the first person to have come up with the idea. What I find interesting about this scene is that it’s before Hamlet has actually seen the ghost. Perhaps he is doubting not his own senses but Horatio’s? But I don’t think so. Horatio is the only person he trusts, and he trusts him completely. I just find it interesting that Hamlet is already doubting his own mind even before seeing the ghost.)
I agree with you- this answer is kinda unsatisfying. Mainly because it goes all into the symbolism of the ghost, and the symbolism of Gertrude not seeing the ghost/Hamlet seeing it. Which I don’t particularly like, because people’s ability to see ghosts shouldn’t depend on if they’re cheating on said ghost or not.
Idk. If I were a ghost and my ex-spouse was cheating on me, I would 100% haunt them. But that’s just me.
Hamlet didn’t tell Horatio he’s a prince when they met because he assumed he already knew. Horatio didn’t know and tbh wouldn’t have become friends with him because he’s smart enough to know that becoming friends with a prince = a high probability of getting mixed up in unnecessary drama.
Hey dad, dead dad I need a little help here I’m prob'ly talking to myself here But dead dad, I gotta ask Are you really in the ground? ‘Cause I hear you all around me Are you here, dead dad? Dead dad
Dead dad,
I’m tired of trying to iron out my creases
I’m a bunch of broken pieces It was you who made me whole Every day they’re staring at me Like all, “Hurry up, get happy Move along Forget about your dad”
'Cause mother’s in denial Mother doesn’t wanna feel She wants me to smile And clap like a performing seal Was faking for a while But I might lose my mind for real You won’t believe the mess that we’ve become
You’re my home My destination And I’m your clone Your strange creation You held my hand And life came easy Now jokes don’t land And no one sees me Nothing seems to fit Father is this it? Are you receiving? I want something to believe in or I’ll go mad
They’ll soon ship me to England
or I’ll be here in Denmark
Call when vengeance can be had! Mother’s moving forward Mother didn’t lose a dad
Father won’t you send a sign? I’m running out of hope and time My two friends spied, My girlfriend died Hope’s nowhere to be had
No more playing Uncle’s game I’ll go insane if things don’t change Whatever it takes ‘til vengeance can be claimed Dead dad!
