Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
Hamlet Act III Scene I
Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, & Lords
King
And were you unable
To figure out the thing behind why
He’s disturbing his quiet days
With all the turbulence and displays of lunacy?
Rosencrantz
He does confess that he is perturbed,
But he refused to talk why.
Guildenstern
He refuses to answer our question.
When we ask him and tend to iron out the truth,
He always acts silly to avoid our query.
Queen
Did he treat you well?
Rosencrantz
He treats us with great manner.
Guildenstern
But appears to be doing so with great awkwardness
Rosencrantz
He had no questions,
But answered at length whenever we asked him.
Queen
Have you attempted to tempt him with a pastime of some sort?
Rosencrantz:
Ma’am, a group of players happened to cross
Our paths on our way here. When we told Hamlet about it
He seems to be really happy.
Now that the players are in the palace,
I think Hamlet has asked them to perform this night.
Polonius
Exactly.
He even ask me to invite your majesties
To attend the performance as well.
King
I am glad to hear of his interest in this matter.
Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
Good sirs, please do further enhance his interest,
And let this play do him some good.
Rosencrantz
As you command, my lord.
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Lords exit
King
My dear Gertrude, please give us a moment, will you?
We’ve arranged in secrecy for Hamlet
To come here so that he can encounter Ophelia “by accident”.
Her father and I, as justifiable spies, shall conceal ourselves
And observe Hamlet’s behavior, to make certain
Whether it’s love that’s causing his suffering.
Queen
Ok, I’ll go.
Listen, Ophelia, I hope that
Your beauty is the source of Hamlet’s madness,
Just as I hope your virtues
will bring him back to normal some day,
For the good of both of you.
Ophelia
(sigh) Ma’am, I hope so too.
Queen exits
Polonius
Ophelia, come. Your majesty,
Let us hide here. Ophelia, take this prayer book to prevent
Hamlet from suspecting your lone presence here.
Well, to think of it, there are in fact many people
Who cover their evil heart with religious appearance
Or honest skin.
King (aside)
True indeed! His words bring up my innermost feelings.
The whore’s make-up is very like the artful language
Used to disguise my ugly deeds.
Ah! What a burden to my soul!
Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
Polonius
I hear Hamlet coming. My liege, let’s hide. (They withdraw)
Enter Hamlet
Hamlet
To be or not to be--that is the question:
Is it nobler to deal with all these things and suffer
Or is it better to end it once and for all. To die, to sleep-That all dying is--a sleep that ends all
The heartaches and shocks
That life gives us--it is an accomplishment
To Wish for. To die, to sleep-To sleep and maybe to dream. Ay, there’s the obstacle,
In the sleep of death who knows what dreams may come,
When we have untangled ourselves from the flesh,
We get peace. There is the consideration
That makes us put up with unhappiness for such a long time.
But who would bear the humiliations of life,
The abuse from superiors, the insults of arrogant men,
The pangs of unrequited love, the inefficiency of the legal system
The rudeness of people in office, and the mistreatment
Good people have to take from bad,
When he could settle his own account
With a mere dagger? Who would bear burdens
Choose to grunt and sweat through an exhausting life,
Unless they are afraid of something after death,
The unexplored country from whose frontier
No visitor returns, paralyzes the will
And makes us stick to the evils we know
Rather than rushing off to seek the ones we don’t?
Thus knowledge of death makes us all cowards,
And the natural color of resolution
Becomes weak with too much thinking,
And enterprises of great height and importance
On this account are like rivers that turn away
And lose momentum and become stagnant.-- Hold,
Here comes the beautiful Ophelia.--Pretty lady,
Please remember all my sins.
Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
Ophelia
How are you, my lord?
Hamlet
I am well, thank you
Ophelia
Here are some gifts you had given to me.
I have wanted to give them back to you for a long time
Take them now.
Hamlet
Huh? It wasn’t me. I’ve never given you such things.
Ophelia
My lord, you know that you did, I’m sure.
And with them such romantic words,
So sweet that they made the gifts even more valuable.
But now that the sweetness has gone, take them back.
Valuable presents lose their worth
When their givers turn out to be not as pleasant.
Here, my lord.
Hamlet
Ha! Are you pure?
Ophelia
Excuse me?
Hamlet
Are you beautiful?
Ophelia
My lord, what do you mean?
Hamlet
I’m saying that if you’re both pure and beautiful,
neither has anything to do with the other
Ophelia
What does beauty have to do with purity?
Hamlet
Well, yeah, since beauty is capable of quicker transforming purity into
something it’s not than the other way around. It may seem paradoxical, but now
after some time I have understood it.
I used to love you.
Ophelia
Yes, and I had once believed you.
Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
Hamlet
You shouldn’t have believed me. Since we’re all sinful by nature it doesn’t
matter what attempts we make to make a difference. I did not love you.
Ophelia
I was deceived.
Hamlet
Get yourself to a nunnery. Why would you even wish to give birth to sinners?
I’m fairly pure myself, but even so I could accuse myself of such crimes that it
would’ve been better if my mother had never brought me to this world. Besides,
I am proud, vengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck and call than I
can fit into my thoughts, and more than I have time to formulate them and
actually carry them out. Why should such people as I be wandering between
earth and heaven? Every one of us cannot be trusted. Don’t believe any of us. Go,
hurry yourself to a nunnery. Where’s your father?
Ophelia
At home, my lord.
Hamlet
Let the doors lock him in, so that he can fool around only in his home. Bye.
Ophelia
Oh God, please help him!
Hamlet
Oh, by the way, if you do marry, I’ll give you this curse as your wedding dowry:
even though you’ll try to be as pure as ice, as clean as snow, you’d still get a bad
reputation. Now, get yourself to a nunnery. Good-bye. Or if you really have to
marry, marry an idiot, since wise men know all too well that you’ll be cheating
on them. Bye.
Ophelia
God, restore him!
Hamlet
I’ve heard all about cosmetics as well. God gives you one face, but you women
paint yourselves another. You dance and stroll around and lisp; you nickname
God’s creations and you calling your immorality (affectation) ignorance. Go now,
I won’t have any more of this. It’s made me mad. I now declare we will have no
more marriage. Whoever is already married, except for one person, shall live.
Everyone else will remain the same. Get yourself to a nunnery, now.
He Exits
Ophelia
Oh, how lost he is now!
He used to have a gentleman’s grace,
A scholar’s wit, and a soldier’s strength.
Jean, Bobo, Toni, Eddie
He’s gone and with his courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s,
Eye, tongue, sword, and his right to the throne.
I feel like a wretch.
I had believed all of your sweet words.
I don’t believe we can get him back!
King
You say his madness is caused by love!?
It doesn’t seem that way judging from the way he acts.
His words, although slightly disorganized,
Weren’t sprung from craziness.
His melancholy is set upon something, like how a hen sits upon her eggs.
What lies within may very well be dangerous.
So, to prevent any potential harm, I’ve made a quick decision:
He’ll be quickly sent to England to request
The English king the tribute they owe us.
Hopefully, the sea and different countries
Will purge these thoughts that seem to have
Settled in his mind and knock some sense into him.
What do you say?
Polonius
That will be a good plan.
But I still believe his madness is caused by
His misfortune in love. Oh, my dear Ophelia,
You don’t need to tell us what Mr. Hamlet has said.
We’ve heard everything. My majesty, have it your way.\
But, if you think it acceptable, after the play,
Let our highest queen talk to Hamlet alone,
And make him talk about his secret in his heart.
She has to talk with him frankly.
I’ll find a place to hide and listen to their words.
If even Gertrude couldn’t discover Hamlet’s heart,
Send Hamlet to England or even further jail him
In a proper place.
King
Be it this way then.
Madness in important people must not be neglected.
They exit