TEXT:
LAERTES
And so have I a noble father lost;
A sister driven into desperate terms,
Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood challenger on mount of all the age
For her perfections: but my revenge will come.
CLAUDIUS
Break not your sleeps for that: you must not think
That we are made of stuff so flat and dull
That we can let our beard be shook with danger
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more:
I loved your father, and we love ourself;
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine…
Enter a Messenger
How now! what news?
Messenger
Letters, my lord, from Hamlet:
This to your majesty; this to the queen.
CLAUDIUS
From Hamlet! who brought them?
Messenger
Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not:
They were given me by Claudio; he received them
Of him that brought them.
CLAUDIUS
Laertes, you shall hear them. Leave us.
Exit Messenger
NOTES:
Claudius
Claudius I was emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 AD. His reign occurred between those of Caligula and Nero, two of the more spectacularly crazy Roman Emperors. Due to his marriage to his niece Agrippina the Younger, Claudius was lumped into the same category of Roman depravity. The novelist Robert Graves gave his reputation something of a redemption in his novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God. (These two were the basis of a very memorable BBC adaptation in the late 1970s.) There’s an obvious parallel between the two Claudius figures - both are sinful, incestuous villains who stand in the way of their nephew’s progress. The analogy isn’t great for Hamlet, of course, since if Claudius is like his Roman namesake, that means that Hamlet must be like Nero. He even prays that this won’t be the case in the closet scene.
Coronation of the King of Hungary
Within the episode I mentioned Harold Jenkins’ edition of Hamlet for the Arden Shakespeare in 1982 - he has a charming footnote about the King of Hungary. Apparently the king, in full regalia, would climb not a mountain (as I described it) but an artificial hill, constructed from soil collected from all parts of his kingdom. He would climb this mound in full regalia, point his sword to the four corners of the realm, and vow to protect his kingdom and his subjects - thereafter his people would pay him dutiful homage. Laertes is certainly leaving no doubt about how special his sister was.