Hamlet and Horatio
Hamlet and Horatio: one of the play's most-discussed relationships. What are they – merely fellow students? Friends and confidants? Mentor and mentee? Lovers? Master and servant?
And this is the moment of truth; the play's equivalent of "Hic Rhodos, hic salta." The way you present this one soliloquy (or its first half, anyway, up to "Something too much of this"), this one soliloquy structurally placed even closer to the tragedy's dramatic heart in the "play within the play" than "To be, or not to be," tells the audience more about their relationship than all the rest of their interactions, although it obviously has to be seen in context with those. Now, interestingly, Franco Zeffirelli chickens out and cuts its first part entirely. (For reasons of abbreviation only, I wonder?) Sir Laurence Olivier – who moves the first part of this passage to the very end of the play, to Hamlet's and Horatio's private farewell immediately before the duel (which makes sense: both are similarly intimate moments, and he does, after all have to find something to replace the Prince's report on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's death) – as well as Sir Kenneth Branagh and Sir Derek Jacobi seem to be fairly solidly in the "friends and confidants" corner; although Sir Derek may make you wonder a bit, kneeling as he is at a sitting Horatio's feet, his head in his friend's lap, which in turn rather explicitly foreshadows his posture vis-à-vis Ophelia only minutes later and his equally explicit reference to "country matters." But I don't think this alone should make us jump to conclusions. As I've explained in greater detail on Horatio's character page, while I do see a prominent element of – even unquestioning – loyalty in Horatio's attitude towards Hamlet, essentially to me they are close friends, not lovers, with a certain element of mentor and mentee (or elder and younger brother) developing over the course of the play; and as crucially, they are also our hero and the teller of his story. Thus, the placement of this particular soliloquy so close to the tragedy's structural heart not only drives home the way in which Hamlet finally opens up to Horatio after having decided to reveal to him what he has learned from the Ghost: this is also the moment when, once and for all, the play's hero connects with the chronicler of his fate; with him who will make sure that his struggle is not forgotten, and that Fortinbras – and all of us – the heirs to his legacy know precisely what we are heirs to.
Nevertheless, rumours of a gay relationship between Hamlet and his fellow student are as persistent as they are abundant. And I have to grant their proponents ...
Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man
As e'er my conversation cop'd withal.
... it starts ominously enough. "Conversation" my rear end, you almost feel compelled to comment.
O, my dear lord!
Oh, Miss Bennet, I ... (Ooops. Excuse me. Wrong movie ...)
Well, but no, actually, this response spells "modesty incarnate" to me. As it does to the Prince:
Nay, do not think I flatter;
Because Hamlet rushes to assure Horatio that he is perfectly sincere. Our Prince abhors flattery in others; why should he suddenly stoop to it himself?
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flatter'd?
Particularly considering that it would be pointless anyway. A flatterer expects a return for his golden words; and usually, that reward is of a tangible nature. So why flatter those incapable of giving such a return?
No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning.
And Hamlet wouldn't want to have it any other way. Indeed, to him Horatio's modest birth is a virtue in and of itself, just because it does not invite flattery, gluttony, and greed.
Dost thou hear?
Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice
And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath seal'd thee for herself.
Oh yes – there's been a strong and early attachment to Horatio on Hamlet's part certainly, but is it emotional – or even physical, for that matter?
For thou hast been
As one, in suff'ring all, that suffers nothing;
A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards
Hast ta'en with equal thanks; and blest are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. 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.
No – it's Horatio's mind; his rationality and even temper that Hamlet admires. "Passion's slave," subject to the most violent mood swings and rash, impulsive reactions himself, our Prince is drawn to Horatio because of his very equanimity, prudence and good sense; traits he values highly and probably dearly wishes he possessed as well. And only because Horatio has shown himself such a steady, loyal companion has Hamlet at last revealed to him even the terrifying news he has learned from the Ghost – which now unites them in their shared knowledge of a truly monstrous secret.
Something too much of this.
And it is that very knowledge which now must be addressed, ere we get carried away with the praise.
There is a play to-night before the King.
One scene of it comes near the circumstance,
Which I have told thee, of my father's death.
"I've told you what tonight's play is all about – where I am going with this."
I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot,
Even with the very comment of thy soul
Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt
Do not itself unkennel in one speech,
It is a damned ghost that we have seen,
And my imaginations are as foul
As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note;
For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,
And after we will both our judgments join
In censure of his seeming.
"Be my ally here; stand by my side and be my second pair of eyes and ears. Because I'm just no longer as sure as I used to be that I can trust my own senses – and simply too much depends on this for me to commit an error of judgement. Let's compare notes afterwards and see whether we both have observed the same things in Claudius."
Well, my lord.
If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing,
And scape detecting, I will pay the theft.
Oh, loyal Horatio. What but this would he have answered? But I think he is also very, very worried. Because even if he can't foresee Claudius's reaction with any kind of certainty, he knows enough about human nature to anticipate that something about this plan may backfire very, very badly ...
Copyright 2002 – 2009: Ulrike Böhm, all rights reserved.
