what happens to horatio at the end of hamlet
Horatio, At that place When Needed 
Guide to Symbols and Abbreviations
** = will be amplified
apud = co-ordinate to
CN = commentary notes (use search function to locate private lines and their CNs.
DNB = Dictionary of National Biography in print and online.
TLN = Through Line Number(s), © Random House, used by permission.
Due north.b. A proper name in bold pocket-sized caps denotes an editor of a Shakespeare edition (in parenthesis, the siglum appears: run into bibliography of editions for total information). A name in bold roman denotes a publication other than that in an edition (see the alphabetical or other bibliographies for full data).
[ ] brackets indicate hamletworks.org editors' comments.
[[ ]] double brackets bespeak brackets within quoted textile.
a five at the start of a siglum denotes a variorum edition, i.e. a gathering of interpretation. Since Furness's groundbreaking v1877 is available in full on the website, nosotros quote it sparingly. See "Search other texts" on hamletworks homepage.
Most who comment about Horatio applaud him, the loyal friend, the tactful advisor, the wryly witty academy student, the sympathetic listener wearisome to give his own opinion. While his attributes in some scenes may appear to contradict those in others, he arguably serves a dramaturgical purpose in every scene, taking on whatever role Shakespeare requires. Almost all Horatio's attributes that some have constitute inconsistent have been explained by others, and acting, of course, can force consistency even where information technology does non be. His age, for case, seems as malleable equally Hamlet'southward: he is a boyfriend student of the prince's at Wittenberg, but he suggests that he has seen the male monarch in person when he fought his famous battles with the King of Norway (77) and with the Poles (79)—battles that obviously took place long ago. Because of his near-silent presence in several scenes, he may give spectators and readers very unlike impressions.
In the first scene, his master purpose is to convince the audience of the reality of the specter that has appeared before Marcellus and Barnardo on ii previous nights. He is the skeptical philosopher who does non believe in apparitions and certainly not in ghosts, and when he is convinced that a supernatural beingness has appeared to him and his companions, the audience is convinced as well. He is the scholar well versed in classical and recent Danish history, a natural leader to whom the others accept turned to for communication. His skepticism is never unkind. He even suggests a belief in spirits:
147 Hor. And so it started like a guilty affair, 148 Vpon a fearefull summons; I haue heard, 149 The Cock that is the trumpet to the {morne}
But when Marcellus responds with his more than pious observation,
156 Mar. It faded on the crowing of the Cock. 157 Some {say}
Horatio answers with a quiet reservation:
164 Hora. Then haue I heard and doe in part belieue it,
and he quickly changes the field of study with a rare extended metaphor, which moves away from mysticism by conjuring up an prototype of a workman in rustic clothing walking through the forenoon dew on his way to his employment. He speaks more volubly in this scene than in any other until the last scene of the play. It is not surprising, however, that a tactful man would be able to speak at large most comfortably with those who are his equals or his social inferiors.
In the 2nd scene, we learn that Horatio has non taken advantage of his friendship with the prince to insinuate himself into the courtroom but has quietly attended the funeral of Male monarch Hamlet without making his presence at court known to Hamlet. More importantly, peradventure, he is the immediately empathetic friend: To Hamlet's bitter annotate that information technology was not the funeral but the wedding to which Horatio had come up (366), Horatio responds "Indeed my Lord it followed difficult upon," readily sanctioning Hamlet's view. In both aspects Rosencrantz and Guildenstern differ. They are at Elsinore to curry favor with the king and queen, and they answer very differently to Hamlet'south invitations to prove that they are sympathetic to his views (2.2.1288-1329). They fail his tests almost immediately. Village tin confide in Horatio because he is a selfless friend.
Accompanying Hamlet and Marcellus on the ramparts to wait the arrival of the ghost Horatio shows that he knows zilch of court life, questioning Hamlet about the booming cannons and wondering if it is a custom of the court. Some have considered his ignorance here to be inconsistent with his intimate noesis of Danish war history in the offset scene (77-lxxx), merely the two kinds of knowledge are separable. He joins Marcellus in warning Hamlet that the visitation may exist from an evil spirit. Dramaturgically, Shakespeare uses him to lay the ground for Village's subsequently idea that the spirit may exist a devil (1639). Horatio'southward description of the dangers also help to create images of the setting—the cliffs, the sea—in the spectators' or readers' minds. Horatio does not hesitate to tell Hamlet that he is speaking "wild and whirling words" (825), that whatever is happening there and perhaps Hamlet'south reaction to those happenings "is wondrous foreign" (861).
Curiously, Horatio so disappears for an entire very long act (888-1645). Hamlet's close friend he may exist, but at that place is no sign of him accompanying Hamlet on his long walks in the anteroom, during Village's conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or upon the arrival of the players. Later on it seems he knew goose egg of Hamlet'south feelings nearly Ophelia. Non until the 2nd scene of human activity iii does Shakespeare thrust Horatio back into the action, but he does so in a way that implicitly suggests the boyfriend scholar'south closeness to Village: Horatio responds immediately when Hamlet calls out to him (TLN 1902-3). [The 1980 BBC-TV production has Village find Horatio reading, with the latter only reluctantly giving up his own pursuit to listen to the prince, but this interpretation is non common.] Critics take paid conscientious attention to Hamlet'southward heartfelt praise of Horatio (1904-25), finding in it traits that Village does or does not have and clues to Hamlet'southward values.
As he often does, Shakespeare points to action that had taken place offstage when Hamlet refers to the play presently to be performed.
1927 One scene of it comes neere the circumstance 1928 Which I haue told thee of my fathers death . . . .
Thus we learn that at that place have been conversations betwixt the scenes. Tellingly, considering it has taken identify offstage, Shakespeare does not give Horatio an opportunity to answer to Hamlet's revelation. Shakespeare makes Hamlet work out his problem with the ghost on his ain and with us, the audition. We can gauge that Horatio would accept been as noncommittal nigh what Hamlet should do every bit he is almost the outcome of the play scene. Hamlet asks Horatio to detect the king closely while he is watching the play and so that they can share their thoughts about its effect on him. Information technology seems from this request that Hamlet did not expect the king to reveal his crime so overtly that anyone at all could have seen his guilt. Nor did he trust his own observation or expect to act immediately.
Horatio is ready to join with Village in observing the male monarch for what tin can only be one purpose: to define his guilt as a prelude to action confronting him.
Later on the play scene, Horatio responds wittily to Hamlet's song "You might haue rym'd" with "was" (2157); that is, Hamlet might take referred to the male monarch as an ass. But Horatio's response to Hamlet's direct query depends entirely on intonation and affect: the words themselves are noncommittal:
2158-9 Ham. O expert Horatio, Ile take the Ghosts discussion for a thousand 2159 pound. Did'st perceiue? 2160 Hora. Very well my Lord. 2161 Ham. Vpon the talke of the poysning. 2162 Hor. I did very well notation him.
Hamlet's repetition of his request for an answer, "Vpon the talke of the poysning," suggests that he is not satisfied with Horatio'due south tepid response. Horatio continues to evidence that he is not a toady, not a "yes man," as is Polonius, who agrees with Hamlet that the clouds wait like a menagerie of animals (2247-57). But having served his purpose in the scene, Horatio stands past silently (from 2163 to 2270, over 100 lines) during Hamlet'due south confrontation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern over the recorder and with Polonius. In performance, of course, he can continue to limited a characteristic demeanor, whatever the director has decided, such every bit empathy or entertainment.
Peradventure his strangest advent is in act four, scene five, when he takes on the unlikely office of advisor to the queen and, in performance, trusted assistant to the king. But the scene does lay the background for Horatio' significant part in the last segment of human activity five. In Ophelia'south mad scene, Q2 and F1 differ about whether Horatio or a gentleman speaks to the queen about Ophelia's wish to encounter the queen (2744-58). In Q2, Horatio enters with a admirer and says merely the last lines before Ophelia comes in (2759-61), urging the queen, for political reasons, to allow Ophelia to enter. In F1, Horatio has the admirer'southward lines and the queen has Horatio's lines with the political overtones. One can only gauge why Shakespeare would have given Horatio either the Q2 or F1 office in this scene: neither seems likely. Any number of other actors in the troupe would have been bachelor to play this role here—an early advent for the thespian playing Osric, perhaps, or an additional appearance for the ane playing Marcellus. After Ophelia'southward archway and exit, the male monarch says to someone unnamed, "Follow her close, giue her adept watch I pray y'all" (2811-12). Near productions accept the king direct the request to Horatio, only neither Q2 nor F1 has a stage direction indicating to whom he speaks. Of form, once productions give the role of Ophelia-watcher to Horatio, they must account for Ophelia's escaping to drown herself, and productions practice this variously, Olivier by having Horatio assess her state of affairs as harmless, and Branagh by confining her in a locked prison cell, for which nonetheless she has somehow secured a key.
In act five, scene one, Horatio answers monosyllabically to Hamlet's wandering, philosophical comments. Simply once does he have a rejoinder: "Twere to consider too curiously to consider so" (3393), referring to Hamlet'southward speculation that Alexander, rust-covered to dust, could stop a bunghole (3390-ii). And hither Hamlet immediately argues his point without any further contradiction from Horatio. Only once, and only in Q2, does Horatio speak during the scene at Ophelia's grave, urging Hamlet to "be quiet" (3462). But in F1 this line goes, more appropriately perhaps, to an unnamed admirer. Again, however, an actor playing the part can silently convey much past his reactions to Hamlet's ideas and beliefs. Olivier'south Horatio, for example, immediately upon seeing the funeral cortege recognizes that the deceased must be Ophelia; he tries to shield Hamlet from that painful truth, thus indicating that he did know about Hamlet's dearest for her—noesis the text never discloses to him.
Horatio's importance is at its meridian in the last scene. In the showtime segment, he listens and responds tersely as Village tells the story of his ocean voyage towards England. As about commentators interpret Horatio's line "Then Guyldensterne and Rosencraus goe too't (3559), Horatio disapproves of Hamlet's disposal of the pair of toadies, who may or may not be guilty of complicity in the plot to murder him. Hamlet's defense of this act in the next lines suggests that the tone of Horatio's comment should be regretful or even censorious. But Horatio does not button the signal. He says nil farther in Q2 until Osric enters. In F1 just, Horatio seems to urge Hamlet to some activeness: "It must be shortly known to him from England What is the consequence of the businessse there" (3575-6).
In the second segment of the last deed, Horatio joins with Hamlet in teasing Osric, and encourages Hamlet—peculiarly if his "minde dislike whatever thing" (3666)—not to play the wager the king has proposed between Hamlet and Laertes. But it seems that Horatio no more than than Hamlet suspects the king and Laertes, obvious enemies, of a plot against him.
Finally, Horatio can play a role as Hamlet's second in the fencing lucifer, though he has no stated part in the always skimpy phase directions. His only line in this segment is "They drain on both sides, how is information technology my Lord?" (3781). His next speech declares his wish to die with Hamlet, who insists that his friend remain alive to report his cause aright to the unsatisfied (3823-4). In some productions, the dying Hamlet has to wrestle the poisoned cup away from Horatio; in others, his asking lone is enough to convince Horatio.
At last, nosotros hear Horatio's understanding of the events that he will expatiate upon in total afterward the end of the play, and in his concluding words he again becomes an counselor to royalty:
3874 . . . let me speake, to nonetheless vnknowing world 3875 How these things came about; so shall yous heare 3876 Of carnall, encarmine and vnnaturall acts, 3877 Of accidentall iudgements, casuall slaughters, 3878 Of deaths put on by cunning, and for no cause 3879 And in this vpshot, purposes mistooke, 3880 Falne on th'inuenters heads: all this can I 3881 Truly deliuer.
Fortinbras responds:
3882 For. Let vs hast to heare it, 3883 And telephone call the noblest to the audience, 3884 For me, with sorrowe I cover my fortune, 3885 I haue some rights, of memory in this kingdome, 3886-7 Which at present to clame my vantage doth inuite me.
And Horatio takes the initiative once again:
3888 Hora. Of that I shall haue also crusade to speake, 3889 And from his mouth, whose voyce will drawe no more than, 3891 But let this same exist presently perform'd 3892-3 Euen while mens mindes are wilde, least more mischance 3894 On plots and errores happen. ....
Probably Horatio's almost famous line, all the same, is his eulogy:
3848-nine Hora. Now cracks a noble hart, | good nighttime sweete Prince, 3850 And flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.
Thus, Horatio seems to solve a crux that informs the entire play: What sort of man is Hamlet? For Horatio, Village is a proficient human being who dies with a soul unburdened by sins of omission or commission. For others, he is more complicated, but Horatio's panegyric and Fortinbras's that follows, print upon an audience strong images of nobility, sweetness, and potential—unless like Lyth, Bergman, Branagh and other directors on stage and film they have strong remedies to annul the appeal of that ending.
Beneath, a selection of the comments that express the relatively modest range of traits writers observe in Horatio, who is to a higher place all Village's honest dependable friend.
On hamletworks.org homepage searchHW type Horatio to detect further comments about the grapheme. Below is a selected prepare of comments:
Downes (1663 [published 1708, p. 21] re Betterton's Hamlet, apud Shakspere Allusion-Book two: 436) lists Horatio 2d, later Mr. Betterton himself as Hamlet and just before the king: "Horatio by Mr. Harris . . . . "
Pope ([pope2] ed. 1728, 8: U7v): Horatio is "a fine Character [i.e. model] of Friendship."
Thirlby ([thoutby2] 1723-) notes that Horatio, after recognizing the bogeyman at TLN 56 repeats 3 times that he knew King Hamlet (375, 402, 440); past these repetitions Sh. builds the audition's trust in the character.
Thirlby ([mtby4] 1747-) explores the possibility that Horatio is a sentinel, citing 23, 35-6, 399, 419-20, and 834.
Johnson ([john1] ed. 1765): "The speech of Horatio to the spectre [128-36] is very elegant and noble, and congruous to the common traditions of the causes of apparitions."
Gentleman (1770, ane: 36-7): <p. 36> "Horatio is the only amiable human being in the slice, yet except his first scene, is very inconsiderable: what could exist made of such a graphic symbol, Mr.
shewed in full; and it would be wronging Mr.
'due south sensibility, for such feelings as actuate </p. 36> <p. 37> Hamlet'due south friend, not to acknowledge he does him great justice." </p. 37>
Hawkins ([ham3] ed. 1771, glossary) without referring to Horatio (3306), defines dogie's-pare as "the fool'due south glaze." It is possible that Horatio puns on the term when Hamlet asks whether lawyers' parchments are made of sheep-skins, and Horatio responds, "I my Lord, and of Calues-skinnes to." Village picks up the pun: "They are Sheepe and Calues which seeke out assurance in that . . . ." Horatio and Hamlet are attuned to each other. Without knowing that calve-skin means a fool'due south coat, i might think it was Hamlet alone who puns; with Hawkins' definition, Horatio begins the pun—or responds to the pun he hears coming in Hamlet'southward question.
Warner (apud [v1773] ed. 1773) proposes that rivals in TLN 17 be emended to rival: "Horatio is presented throughout the play equally a gentleman of no profession. Marcellus was an officer, and consequently did that through duty, for which Horatio had no motive just curiosity. Likewise there is merely one person on each watch . . . . "
Gentleman ([[gent1]] ed. 1773): "The requisites for Horatio are an like shooting fish in a barrel deportment, genteel effigy, and smoothen level delivery."
Steevens ([v1793] ed. 1793) cannot take the idea that Horatio would be so naive as to tell Marcellus to try to stop the ghost or that after Marcellus would be the ane to say they should non accept washed it.
Campbell (Blackwood's, 1833, qtd. Thurber. ed. 1922, p. 180) points out that only Horatio, "that noble soul of unpretending worth" pays attending to Ophelia. "He information technology is who feelingly. and poetically, and truly describes the bedlamite; he is it who bring her in; he it is who follows her away—impaired all the while! And who with right soul but must have been speechless amidst these gentle ravings." Ed. note: Williamson, p. 44, quotes these lines also.
Verplanck ([verp] ed. 1844): "While every other grapheme of this play, Ophelia, Polonius, and even Osric, has been analyzed and discussed, information technology is remarkable that no critic has stept forward to observe the great beauty of Horatio'south character, and its exquisite accommodation to the consequence of the piece. His is a character of slap-up excellence and accomplishment; simply while this is distinctly shown, it is but sketched, not elaborately painted. His qualities are brought out past unmarried and seemingly accidental touches—equally hither [TLN 1904], and in the ghost-scene, 'You are a scholar, Horatio' [54 but misremembered], &c. The whole is toned down to a quiet and unobtrusive beauty that does not tempt the mind to wander from the primary interest, which rests alone on Hamlet; while information technology is nonetheless distinct enough to increase that interest by showing him worthy to be Hamlet'south trusted friend in life, and the chosen defender of his honour later expiry. Such every bit character, in the easily of another author, would take been made the centre of some secondary plot. Just here, while he commands our respect and esteem, he never for a moment divides a passing interest with the Prince. He does not interruption in upon the main current of our feelings. He contributes only to the general effect, and then that information technology requires an effort of the mind to separate him for disquisitional admiration."
Ramsay (1856, pp. 118-22): "
(1856, pp. 118-22): <p. 118> "In contradistinction to the glorious imagination and mysteriously deep philosophy of Hamlet, stands the sober mutual sense of Horatio, but its very contrast giving greater prominence to, and heightening the consequence of the character of Hamlet. Horatio was specially a healthy-minded homo. If Hamlet's mind was cast in the Platonic mould, Horatio was eminently an Aristotelian, or rather, perhaps, as he says of himself, 'More an antique Roman than a Dane.' [3826] </p. 118> <p. 119>
"His philosophy, such as it is, begins and ends in doubt. Its materialistic and sensualistic character is brought forward in the very first scene of the play, where he calls that mysterious appearance, which at the midnight hour is occupying the thoughts and attention of the officers on the platform, 'this matter' [30]; and says of it, 'tush, tush, 't will not appear' [39]. In fact the coldness and the oppressive stillness of the dark—'not a mouse stirring' [fifteen]—the glimpses of the moon in a higher place, the time-worn towers behind, the hollow murmur of the sea below, the mixed feeling of awe and alarm in the officers on the watch, and the strongly assorted antipathy of Horatio for the supernatural, are the most remarkable points in this opening scene, so artistically introduced, and then well fitted to set united states for the appearance of the ghost of Village'southward male parent, and the mysterious character of the whole play. [Quotes 32-four;71-three]. And when this unbelief of his has proved to be foolishness, he is full of the philosophy of the schools, and sets to work to resolve the miracle into an historical prodigy. [Quotes 124+5.] In the midst of his theorizing the ghost re-enters, when he fancies it must either be an illusion, or else have mankind and blood; [127-ix] and when it answers not, he is for assuring himself, by ways of his hands, of the reality of the prodigy, bidding Marcellus terminate it, and strike at it, and seeing that he does it 'Wrong to be so majestical To offer information technology the show of violence' [142]. That which is beyond the comprehension of the sensuous Understanding, Horatio is for rejecting as 'wondrous strange,' so that Hamlet takes occasion to tell him [quotes 863-4]. The contrast between the imaginative spirit of Village and the applied </p. 119> <p. 120> understanding of Horatio, runs through the whole play. For imagination to revel in philosophizing on the littleness to which all the sensible greatness of man may be reduced, and to trace 'to what base uses me may return' [3390], Horatio thinks 'Twere to consider too curiously' [3393]. Some of Hamlet'due south sublime speculations he reduces to 'Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness' [3258]; others he takes no interest in, merely answering with 'It might, my lord,' 'Ay, my lord' [3270, 3277]. In the church building-yard he evidently dislikes the whole scene by which he is surrounded. To Hamlet'due south question, 'Is not parchment fabricated of sheep-skins,' he replies, with the nearly technical gravity, 'Ay, my lord, and of calves-skins too' [3305-half-dozen]. This question he can resolve, but it is patently that Hamlet's cute address to the skull of Yorick makes little or no impression on his mind. And yet, though in Horatio the Agreement does predominate over the Reason, still it has non wholly extinguished the latter. Nay, it would seem that his sensualistic philosophy was in a great measure learnt in the schools, and was, perhaps, rather the external outcome of his instruction, than the internal law of his ain mind; every bit it is, every now and then he gives utterance to a note-worthy truth, of a nature not to be expected from him. Nosotros may too observe that Bernardo's opening salutation to him [29] shew him to accept been held in some degree of respect; and most truthful to nature (equally when is he non?) is Shakspere, when he makes Hamlet love, value, and respect Horatio, always appealing to his judgment, [and praises him 1919-22] . . . . Horatio, as well, is a good friend, honest, and sincere, as well as sensible and </p. 120> <p. 121> judicious, and moreover, like Hamlet, a scholar and a gentleman." </p. 121> Ramsay adds, p. 122: ". . . Horatio commands respect and esteem even from one and so differently constituted equally Village . . . "
Hudson ([hud1] ed. 1856): "Horatio is a very noble character; but he moves so quietly in the drama, that his modest worth and solid manliness have non had justice done them. Should nosotros undertake to go through the play without him, we should and so experience how much of the best spirit and impression of the scenes is owing to his presence and character. For he is the medium through which many of the hero's finest and noblest trait are conveyed to us; yet himself so clear and transparent that he scarcely catches the attending." Hudson continues with the quotation from verp, higher up.
Lloyd (1858, p. [thirteen]): "This tradition, with its god of day opening wide eyes at the summons of the officious cock, is a Pagan class, and Horatio is equally interested in noting the natural truth that it expresses as my friends and colleagues of the Archæological Found of Rome in their ingenious reductions of the mythic decoration of a Greek vase. Marcellus, of less recondite acquirements [than Horatio], follows up [Horatio's comments 149-55] with a contemporary and living superstition:[quotes 156-63]. Horatio receives the Christian illustration expressively:—[quotes 164]; but what form his belief takes, and which office he disbelieves, he keeps to himself . . . . "
Clarke (1863, pp. 75-six): <p. 75> "Horatio, gentleman and scholar, is a fit companion for Hamlet. Only he is farther developed: his honourable nature, his bland and trusting disposition, his prudent mind, and steadfastly affectionate middle, take raised him to the highest social rank that man tin can obtain in this globe—he is his prince's confidant and bosom-friend. The character of Horatio is the merely spot of lord's day-light in the play; and he is a cheering, though not a joyous gleam coming across the dark hemisphere of treachery, mistrust, and unkindness. . . . [He is] a placid and pensive man; making no protestations, all the same constantly prepared for gentle service. Pocket-size, </p. 75> <p. 76> and abiding his time to exist appreciated, his friendship for Hamlet is a purely disinterested principle, and the Prince bears a high testimony to it,—[quotes 1904-25, Horatio . . . thee] . . .
Horatio would even have followed Hamlet to the grave. "It is worthy of discover, that Horatio's speeches, after the outset scene, consist almost entirely of elementary assents to the observations of Hamlet; but when the final catastrophe has ensued, he comes forwards, and assumes the prerogative of his position; and, every bit the companion and confident of his Prince, he </p. 76> <p. 77> " takes his station by Fortinbras, and the ambassadors, and at once assumes the office or moral executor and apologist for his friend." Clarke likens the structure of the friendship to Doric compages: "simple and unornate in outside pretension; only massive and steadfast in design and construction." </p. 77>
Hudson (1870, apud Thurber , ed. 1922, p. 181) ≈ Clarke: "Horatio is one of the very noblest and well-nigh beautiful of Shakespeare's characters; and at that place is non a single loose stitch in his brand-upward; he is at all times superbly self-contained; he feels deeply, but never gushes nor runs over; a most manly soul, full alike of forcefulness, tenderness, and solidity. But he moves so quietly in the drama that his rare traits of character have hardly had justice done them. Should we undertake to go through the play without him, we might experience and then how much of the best spirit and impression of the scene is owing to his presence. He is the medium whereby many of the hero'south finest and noblest qualities are conveyed to us, yet himself and then clear and simple and transparent that he scarcely catches the attending . . . . The neat charm of Horatio's unselfishness is that he seems non to be himself in the least aware of it; 'equally one, in suffering all, that suffers null.' His mild scepticism at showtime, 'touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us,' is exceedingly svelte and scholarly. And indeed all that comes from him marks the presence of a calm, clear head, keeping bear on and time perfectly with a good heart."
Moberly ([mob1] ed. 1870. p. xi; repeated in 1973 ed. p. xiii): "In like mode [as Ophelia] Horatio
stands in the directest dissimilarity to
He is the 'pruner of periods,' the controller of his flights of imagination, the protestor against extravagancies of voice communication. He is also opposed to him equally beingness the man on whose sophistication expert or bad fortune has no influence; the man then faithful to himself that he never can be false to any other man."
Marshall (1875, p. 77): in 4.5, "the Queen seems to care for Horatio with more respect and conviction, because she has become aware with how much trust and love he was regarded past Hamlet . . . ."
Furness ([v1877] ed. 1877), re TLN 76, discusses the armor is relation to Horatio's age—how he would know that this was Male monarch Hamlet's armor.
Furness ([v1877] ed. 1877), re TLN 441: "It is eminently characteristic of the precise Horatio (e'en the justest homo Ham. had e'er establish) to depict a nice distinction between 'grizzled' and 'sable silvered. He had been almost verbal in his estimate of the time the Ghost stayed, and he would be as exact as to the colour and texture of the bristles."
Bowman (1882, in Thom 1883, p. 110): Horatio is "calm, practical."
Gervinus (1883, pp. 560, 562-3) says that Horatio is an exception to the other characters in that <p. 560> he "merely observes and never acts." </p. 560> <p. 562> In contrast to Hamlet, who believes in ghosts, the more than "rational friend Horatio, who hardly believes, later he has seen it, that 'the thing' [thirty, 147, 401] is the ghost of Village; who in its very presence calls it an 'illusion' [127] and attempts to strike at it with his partisan [138]; who, co-ordinate to his own confession, believes the traditions of Christian superstition but 'in office' [164], and according to his tone not at all. . . . Horatio is indeed just as fiddling an energetic character as Village; such a one equally Fortinbras would be too unlike for his friendship' but Horatio is </p. 562> <p. 563> a man of perfect calmness of heed; schooled to bear suffering and to take with equal thank you fortune's buffets and rewards; he is a hero of endurance, one of those blessed ones on whom Hamlet might look with green-eyed [quotes 1920-2a through please ], nor are they the resistless slaves of passion." </p. 563>
Feis (1884, rpt. 1970, pp. 72-3): <p. 72> Horatio is a homo Feis can adore; the man of reason. Horatio calls Hamlet's declaration that he volition go pray [824], "wild and whirling words." [825]. Hamlet cannot explain </p. 72> <p. 73> "his thoughts and sentiments to the clear, unwarped reason of a Horatio, to whom the Ghost did non respond and to whom no ghost would." </p. 73>
MacDonald
Verity ([ver] ed. 1904): "It seems odd that a Dane should ask the question ['Is it a custome?'] and from Hamlet's respond it would certainly be inferred that Horatio is non 'native here.' Cf. also [363]. Perhaps, nonetheless, some stardom between unlike parts of Kingdom of denmark is intended."
Verity ([ver] ed. 1904, pp. lix-lx): <p. lix> Horatio serves every bit a foil to Hamlet non for what he does only for what he is. "He is typically the cool, unimpassioned man of action; not without deep feeling [as when he wants the cup in 5.2], but with feeling sternly disciplined; like Shakespeare's hero Henry V, not without a gift of oral communication when occasion needs, but sparing of speech, and very sparing of self-revelation [n. iii]; a man, in fact, who gives the rein neither to imagination (compare </p. lix> <p. lx> Village'due south hint [referring in 864-five: to Ham.'s comment most philosophy]), nor to emotion, who takes things every bit they come and disarms fortune herself of her weapons [1916-18], whose activeness could never be other than directly [3526, 3559 Horatio'south response to news of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern'due south expiry and the king's machinations, respectively]. All this is lightly but sufficiently suggested. Thus Horatio is sceptical well-nigh the Ghost, and though for the moment overcome by the dread apparition, apace recovers sophistication, is cool enough to discover advisedly [400-13, 428, Horatio's description of the ghost], and the 1 [northward.1] to accost information technology. Again, earlier the Play-scene he accepts Hamlet'southward unexpected command without the least surprise, and after is totally unaffected, at least outwardly, past the stress of the scene and Hamlet's ain hysterical excitement. Similarly, at the close he quickly puts self aside, at the phone call of duty to the State and to Hamlet." </p. lx>
'A human being,' says Sir Thomas Browne, 'may confide in persons constituted for noble ends, who dare do and suffer.' Of such is Horatio. In his strength and steadfast friendship Village'southward agonising spirit finds support, and just with him do nosotros see Hamlet's happier self—the Hamlet that might have been.
[n. iii] "Still what beautiful touches there are: e.g. [816-17, 825] where he would salve his friend and Prince from himself; [1906] and [3848-50] (the one glimpse below the surface)."
[n. 1] "Note how the others plow to him [54, 58]."
Bradley (1904, p. 121) gives Horatio a larger role than the playtext affords: he thinks, for example, that Horatio, betwixt the lines nosotros have, must surely take told Village, about the return of Laertes.
Ed. note: Besides the fact that most critics are against writing the play that is between the lines without textual evidence, Hamlet'southward line "That is Laertes, a very noble youth" [3413] suggests that he doesn't think that Horatio has ever heard of Laertes.
Bradley (1904, pp. 122-three) <p. 122> claims that Hamlet's final words leave us dissatisfied, but that Horatio's benediction [3848-fifty] provide the seal the audience wishes. Bradley speculates that Sh. "then much against his custom [introduced] this reference to another life" </p. 122> <p. 123> perchance to indicate, though we never see annihilation but glimpses of Hamlet before his terrible ordeals, that after all " 'This was the noblest spirit of them all.' " </p. 123>
Bradley (1904, northward. 15): Village says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he doesn't engage in whatever of his usual activities [1343] and to Horatio that he has been constantly practicing his fencing [3663] since Laertes left; therefore, Bradley suggests, we are to believe what he says to Horatio to whom Hamlet would not lie.
Chambers ([cham] ed. 1905, p. xi): "There is Horatio, a straightforward upright soldier, i whom Village intensely respects, comes even to envy, but who is not subtle enough to be of much apply to him."
Trench (1913, pp. 45-7) <p. 45> <p. 45> casts aspersions on Hor.'s character, and then highly esteemed by Hamlet and by most critics. </p. 45> <p. 46> He calls him "one-half a scholar", 1 whose scepticism was not profound and who "follows the lines of popular superstition in the list he gives of the several " </p. 46> <p 47.> possible reasons for which 'spirits' may 'walk' [128-36] while without hesitation he now addresses it as the spirit of the dead king, after once, as a sole reminiscence of his original sceptical attitude, inconsistently calling it an 'illusion' [127]." </p. 47>
Bradby (1929, pp. 145-fifty): <p. 145> "Readers and auditors are non likely to notice whatever discrepancies in Horatio's character because, mainly, he merely agrees with Hamlet. He seems to exist much older than Hamlet, because he recognizes the armor the ghost wears; all the same, according to Hamlet'south praise of him in 3.ii, it seems they must have been great friends and for a long time. </p. 145> <p. 146> One trouble is Horatio's failure to contact Village since arriving at Elsinore for the funeral, almost a month before the outset of the action. And their commencement meeting does not sound equally if they are intimates. More than important is that he seems to be 2 characters: one well-known to Marcellus and Barnardo, knowledgeable almost Danish history and political affairs, who knew the king well; </p. 146> <p. 147> in act iv, he attends the queen herself. But in 1.2, ane.4, Horatio knows much less: Hamlet has to explain a Danish custom to him. He does not know what the flourish of trumpets ways. </p. 147> <p. 148> Hamlet's 'Though I am native hither' suggests that Horatio is non. Also, in ane.ii Horatio only saw the king in one case. Also, he hasn't heard of Yorick, and does not recognize Laertes." </p. 148> <p. 149> </p. 149> <p. 150> Bradby ascribes the discrepancies to Sh.'s inverse plans, having started to make him Hamlet's foster brother and ending by making him something else. He points out that Sh. jumps dorsum and forth between the ii characterizations: His theory is that the second Horatio was interspersed in the existing material for the first Horatio. He theorizes that since Horatio matters only with respect to Hamlet, the modify in Horatio must be connected to a change in the Hamlet. </p. 150>
Travers ([trav] ed. 1929): "Habitual and gradual suspension of belief, in the absence of full testify, is characteristic both of Horatio'due south temperament (cp. [1904-25] ) and of his intellectual preparation (cp. e.g. [33, 83-4, 97, 154-5, 164])."
Granville-Barker (1930, rpt. 1946, i: 55 and n. 12) believes that every bit a mark of Horatio's special status from their offset encounter, Sh. has Village "depict Horatio from the others (who stay respectfully by the door) to stroll or stand up with him, friendly arm through arm, while he questions and confides. [n. 12: It is unthinkable that Village would speak as he does of his mother's hymeneals in the hearing of Marcellus and Bernardo. Only the conventional distances of the platform stage exit the two friends, if they are at the front of information technology, in perfect privacy, The two others do not arroyo till Horatio turns to them with 'Upon the witness of these gentlemen' 384;1.2.194]."
Granville-Barker (1930, rpt. 1946, 1:198): refers to Horatio as self-effacing, "a conservatively patriotic and educated gentleman. . . a scholar . . . , level-headed and open-minded . . . ." Seeing the bogeyman with his ain eyes, he believes it is a ghost, but he is not afraid of information technology [127], though he had trembled and looked pale at first seeing it [68].
Granville-Barker (1930, rpt. 1946, i: 200): "Hamlet's appreciating welcome of him adds to Horatio'south status [350] ; and he adds to it himself past the serenity adept sense with which he responds to Hamlet's hysterical treatment of him after the Ghost'southward vanishing [816]."
Knight (1930, p. 41): Hamlet "has no friend except Horatio, and Horatio, after the ghost scenes, becomes a queer shadowy character who rarely gets across 'E'en so, my lord,' 'My lord,'—and such-like phrases."
Waldock (1931, rpt. 1973, p. 72) thinks it is incorrect to go, every bit Allardyce Nicoll does, "behind the scenes, to reconstruct interviews and imagine attitudes . . . . Now we know that Horatio, at the outset of the activity, was cautious about accepting the Ghost as genuine. I would suggest that nosotros know, and tin can know, nearly nothing else concerning his mental attitude or advice."
Wilson ([cam3] ed. 1934, pp. xlvii-xlix) <p. xlvii> explains that the discrepancies between Hor. every bit i who knows Kingdom of denmark's past history [96] just not its customs [617] is not a problem if one recognizes it as part of Sh.'s technique; he rejected consistency for dramatic effect, knowing that audiences would non worry about such things. </p. xlvii> <p. xlviii> Wilson explains that Hor. "is not a person in actual life or a character in a novel but a piece of dramatic construction. His function is to exist the chief spokesman of the first scene and the confidant of the hero for the rest of the play. As the sometime he gives the audience necessary information about the political situation in Denmark, every bit the latter he is the recipient of information even more necessary for the audition to hear. The double role involves some inconsistency, but rigid logical or historical consistency is inappreciably compatible with dramatic economy which requires all facts to be communicated through the mouths of the characters. Still merely a very indifferent playwright volition allow an audience to perceive the joins in his flats. And Shake-</p. xlviii> <p. xlix> speare is able to requite his puppets an appearance of life so overwhelming that his legerdemain remains unperceived non only by the spectator, who is allowed no time for consideration, but fifty-fifty past most readers. In the instance of Horatio he secures this cease by emphasising his humanity at iii disquisitional moments of the play: in the beginning scene, just before the Gonzago play, and in the finale. In brusk, nosotros feel we know Hamlet's friend so well that it never occurs to usa to ask questions well-nigh him." </p. xlix> Ed. note: Wilson, who may exist responding to Bradby, clarifies why Sh, does not give the long historical review in scene one to Barnardo (whereby he would avoid the inconsistency in Horatio'southward character): it's an opportunity for Horatio to show his discernment, intelligence, and patriotism (to name only three traits revealed by his discourse).
Schücking (1937, p. 74): "Horatio himself appears as courageous, likeable and filled with comradely feeling for his friends."
Kittredge ([kit2] ed. 1939), referring to "A peece of him," (28) considers Hor. "a sedate person, constitutionally decumbent to such mild pleasantries" every bit this affirmative. Kittredge lists 816-17, 1940-1, 2151, 2157, 2980, 3622+ane.
van Lennep (1950, p. 22): "But for Horatio, the thousandth human, a boon companion of proved probity to whom he clings, he might tend to misanthropy. . . . With words directly from the center the heir to the throne eulogizes that upright impecunious youth [1904-25] to his face, . . . a sincere, glowing tribute, . . . . "
van Lennep (1950, p. 49) declares that it never occurs to Village to use his uncle's death warrant: "would he otherwise have neglected to depict Horatio's attending to its quite exceptional import?" van Lennep does not question why Horatio himself did non point out the usefulness of the document, except by calling him "guileless."
Joseph (1953, p. 155): Among the characters introduced in the play'south first movement, "Horatio stands out immediately as at-home and well-balanced, a reliable friend . . . ."
Craig (1962-3, Huntington Library Box f. 85, unpublished lecture 7 of 9, p. 79): "Horatio is a specially sane individual" who "recognizes his duty [that is, to speak to the ghost] and courageously and eloquently addresses the apparition."
Wilson, E. C. (1973, p. 135): The one comic line in the first scene is Horatio'due south " 'a piece of him' [TLN 28]. This 'mildly jocose' or humorous remark helps to circular out a character who all along will embody sense, any the tangle of sense and sensitivity around him."
Spencer ([pen2] ed. 1980) says that though Horatio is a consistent grapheme, his office in the play is not. In deed ane he knows more well-nigh Danish affairs than his companions; later he knows less nearly Danish community.
Jenkins ([ard2] ed. 1982, long annotation): "The play shows Shakespeare in two minds most [Hor.]"
Willson Jr. (1983, p. 144): "In Hamlet we enter a globe charged with confusion and feet. Chief amid the figures in the scene is Horatio, who, equally a scholar and friend to Village, has been brought by the soldiers to speak to the Ghost . . . . Horatio's response to Marcellus's words—'Then have I heard and do in part believe it'—signals his transformation from a skeptic to at to the lowest degree a partial laic . . . .What happens to Horatio prefigures Hamlet's transformation from skeptic to believer, non specifically about the Ghost, only in terms of general philosophic disposition."
Edwards ([cam4] ed. 1985): "Horatio'southward part is full of inconsistencies: he serves the role which the moment demands. Though he has been absent-minded at Wittenberg, he is able to inform the Danish soldiers about what is happening in their own country in the commencement scene. Yet in [3413] he has to be told who Laertes is!"
Hibbard ([oxf4] ed. 1987), echoing Dover Wilson, 1934: "It is a waste of time to try to fit Horatio's various references not merely to onetime Hamlet but also to Kingdom of denmark into a coherent whole. No audience is likely to detect that [I saw him once, 375] is inconsistent with what Horatio has already said about the old Rex at [sixty-1], or that his ignorance of Danish community at [617] is incompatible with the knowledge of Danish history he shows at [97-134]. Horatio is essentially a slice of the dramatic machinery, a Johannes fac totum who volition say or practice whatsoever the plot requires of him, even to the extent of appearing from nowhere at a phone call from Hamlet [1903]. What remains constant in him is his fidelity to the Prince."
Kliman (1988, pp. 69-2): <p. 69> "The [1980] BBC production keeps all of his exchanges with Marcellus and Bernardo that are specifically almost the ghost, but many others eliminate some of </p. 69> <p. 70> these. The BBC, following Q1 and F1, and indeed most productions, omits . . . lines in which he expostulates on the significance of ghosts in Rome before Julius Caesar died [124+v - 124+xviii]. Since Horatio says petty to Hamlet, and since many of his lines must disappear when Fortinbras is eliminated . . . Horatio's lines on Rome give us the opportunity to hear him at his well-nigh voluble, when he is with those of equal or perhaps inferior status. . . .
"A side of Village's relationship with Horatio disappears with the omission of their playful banter later the play scene. [2147-57]" The BBC, the 1981 Boston Shakespeare Visitor Production, and many others [including the 2009 Theatre for a New Audition Production in New York] cut these lines. "Horatio is no 'yeah' human, the kind Village deplores in several of his speeches, including the dialogue about clouds with Polonius in the aforementioned scene [2247-55]. "Afterward Hamlet sings the song denigrating Claudius, Horatio'southward approves Hamlet's unexpressed idea with the line 'Y'all might have rhym'd' [2157], meaning y'all might have chosen Claudius an ass. The BBC's Horatio could not take been then daring, Olivier's [1948] Horatio so ungentlemanly, Kozintsev'south [1964]so lighthearted; thus these productions all omit the lines. </p. 70>
<p. 71> "Olivier, in spite of cuts, raises Horatio'due south stature when Hamlet dismisses Bernardo and Marcellus and reserves 'come, let'due south go together' [887] for Horatio alone. The cut of the first 'permit united states of america go in together' [883] emphasizes the subtext of Hamlet's feelings for Horatio . . . . Olivier' motion-picture show, in fact, makes the most of Horatio'south grapheme, because, in the absence of Fortinbras, Horatio will assume authority at the end [and he appears at the beginning too, conducting a viewing of Hamlet'southward dead body on the ramparts]. This is in spite of cutting his lines explaining the reasons for the warlike preparations (more often than not retained in the BBC version) besides as his lines about Rome . . . Closeups, a magnificent costume, and a strong, handsome physical presence, give Olivier's Horatio, played by Norman Wooland, the importance that even his missing lines could not have supplied. So too the Boston Shakespeare Company product increases Horatio's importance in spite of cuts past keeping him on stage well-nigh all the time, throughout near of 2.two [when the script does not have Horatio on stage], for instance, and during Village's advice to the players [iii.2]. In contrast, the BBC production shifts Horatio into nonentity condition not but by eliminating his longest speeches only besides past casting Robert Swann [who evidently was directed to play him as a sweetness-faced simply pallid actor in the role].
"The BBC does not cut very much more than from Horatio's lines; only the opening of the scene when the sailors come with their message from Hamlet [2973-7], and a couple of bits from the graveyard scene. This production allows him his full scope in the concluding scene, giving him the memorable lines upon Hamlet'southward decease ('Good nighttime, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!' [3850]) and also his longest speech since the first scene, . . . lines addressed to Fortinbras [3870-82]. The fact that a Horatio with lines cut (Olivier'southward) can still appear to be magnificent and that a Horatio with most of his lines cn sink in importance (BBC's) demonstrates that visual business can conquer the force of the words. . . . . </p. 71>
<p. 72> The BBC omits Horatio's closing lines in scene i [167-72]:
Breake we our watch vp and by my aduise
Let vs impart what we haue seene to nighttime
Vnto young Hamlet, for vppon my life
This spirit dumb to vs, will speake to him:
Doe y'all consent we shall acquaint him with it
As needfull in our loues, fitting our duty.
"Horatio's proffer . . . makes it possible for a question to rise in our minds about what their duty is. Why not [refer to Hamlet as] King Village in this mention of the dead king's son? If he is not the king, why not tell the king [about the visitation]? Horatio seems to be trying to persuade Marcellus and Bernardo when he refers to 'loves' and 'duty.' If Horatio says 'Do y'all consent' blandly, no significance would attach to the lines, and they might as well be cut [as they are in the Boston Shakespeare Company production, Olivier, Richardson, Burton, and many productions listed by Halstead]. But if they are spoken conspiratorially, followed by an earnest pleading tone and then a gesture of relief upon their agreement, the political significance would exist clear." Actors could convey the political undertone subtly.</p. 72> Ed. note: The Hudson Warehouse'south summer 2009 product in NYC, with a script past Joe Hamel, is one of the few to go on Horatio's lines and even has him respond decisively by taking Marcellus'southward terminal sgreement [173-4].
Cantor (1989, rpt. Greenhaven 1999, p. 122): "Horatio's distinctive set up of beliefs helps to highlight Hamlet's." He has the infidel idea of the correctness of suicide [3826]. Hamlet's praise suggests Horatio has Stoic virtues [1904-22]. Even his proper name suggests his Roman nature. "The fact that rational skepticism seems to be the keynote of Horatio'south character may explain why Hamlet feels compelled to distinguish his philosophical position from his friend's: [quotes 863-4]" Ed. note: That is, if ane interprets your every bit Cantor suggests.
Barker (1991, pp. 48, 54, 65-vi, apud Wilson (2007, p. 231, who highly praises her essay, "Which dead? Village and the ends of History" (pp. 48, 54, 65-half dozen): Barker argues that Hamlet historicizes the crisis of history. She notes "Indeed, about the beginning, the ghost of a father who was as well a king says 'remember me.' At the end the son at present likewise dying, begs Horatio to survive to tell the story. It is the near important thing. A civilization is losing its retentiveness. Defenseless in a network of failing voices, this tragedy never does disclose which dead it mourns."
Kliman (The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC, at the Lansburgh, viii Dec. 1992, directed by Michael Kahn): Horatio says "a piece of him," and then as to emphasize his skepticism; he does non extend his hand because he is too far away, below Bernardo. Horatio responds ambiguously nearly Claudius'south guilt after the play scene. Horatio was not well-dressed plenty to take over Fortinbras's last lines as he does: these lines crave a forceful personality, like that of the Horatio in Olivier's film. Like Hamlet'south costume, Horatio'due south was low-key, though with color, in the midst of excellent gowns, ruffs and the similar.
Schleiner (SQ 1999, p. 309) includes Horatio in her list of servants, one among many: writing near early plays, she concludes that "Shakespeare's career . . . would be propelled forth on the shoulders of a parade of passionately loyal (or passionately, parodically disloyal) servant interlocutors of each hero's subjectivity . . . . "
Thompson and Taylor. (2004, p. 124): "The least able to double is the actor playing Horatio (who cannot actually play whatever other part in whatsoever of the three texts) . . . . That the actor playing Horatio should be someone who can never be anyone else—is a striking thought. Does his marking . . . call attending to his relationship with Hamlet. . . ? Does information technology reinforce our sense that he is to a remarkable degree unengaged with the activeness in the play? Or does information technology reinforce Hamlet's own view of Horatio as an always-fixed marking. who must exist encouraged to go on existence himself to the end of the play?"
Kliman contra Thompson and Taylor 2004 (2009): The actor playing Horatio could double either Cornelius or Voltemand in 1.2: they can enter where F1 brings them in (204) and exit (221) before Horatio enters with Barnardo and Marcellus. They announced once again in ii,2, a scene in which Horatio does not enter. The actor could besides take the role of the messenger who brings the letters to the king in 4.7: in that location is time to alter garments between the end of 4.vi and the archway of the messenger, and it would be, if he were recognizably Horatio, an opportunity for him to spy on the king. For the almost part audiences are not invited to notice insignificant doubling.
Nuttall (2007, p. 193): re TLN 1916-23: "Village, lost in a new subjective darkness, sees in Horatio an innocent stoic."
Source: http://triggs.djvu.org/global-language.com/ENFOLDED/ABOUT/Horatio-12-20-08.html
0 Response to "what happens to horatio at the end of hamlet"
Post a Comment