hi everyone welcome back to five quote Shakespeare Hamlet today we're going to look at act one scene 4 what I do in the series is I first give you a nutshell overview of the plot events of each scene and then we dive deeply into each scene and pull out five quotes that I think are really useful to help you understand the plays characters and themes act one scene 4 is what we could call a transition scene now if you remember at the very beginning of the play we were introduced to the ghost by marcelis and then by Horatio and then in scene 2 act 1 SC 2 Horatio revealed to Hamlet uh what was going on that they had seen his father's ghost and then the story changed track and we saw some of the domestic problems with uh with ofilia and ponus and lores now we're getting back into this into the into the tension of the ghost now remember what's happening think about what's what Shakespeare is doing to the audience he's making them he he teases them with this spooky ghost stuff which is great scene or or a car tra chase scene or something like that and then he he calms down things a little bit brings it back to the do domestic front uh and then he starts to ratchet it up again well this transition scene is merely a ratcheting up because Hamlet doesn't meet his father here and we're waiting for him to meet the ghost we really really are that's what we're on our Edge The Edge edges of our seats about but we don't meet the ghost until uh Hamlet doesn't speak to the ghost until uh scene five so this is that kind of transition scene so Hamlet meets her show and Marcel on the battlements Hamlet goes off on some kind of you know poetic you know Meandering semi- rant about Humanity's flawed nature and the cruelty and Injustice of public opinion um again that's that's just kind of Hamlet's philosophical musings uh the ghost arrives and beckons to Hamlet and Hamlet follows and that's where the scene ends and that's where again we're on the edge of our seat waiting for what happens next okay well this is a transition scene but there are a few important points that I I really want you to pay attention to because they'll be very useful when you're trying to decide whether or not Hamlet's a coward for not killing Claudius earlier or whether he's smart and and you could you could write two essays one person could write two essays arguing both cases and and and the and the single person writing both essays would be convinced in both essays that's how hard Hamlet is to to come to grips to okay so they're out there Horatio and Hamlet and marcelus and it's very very cold blah blah blah they hear some trumpets blow and Horatio asks what it's all about now this is the first thing that I'd like you to pay attention to in terms of of Hamlet's character Hamlet says the king doth wake tonight and take his Rouse now What's Happening Here is that that Claudius likes his drinks he likes to party he's a he's a bit of a party animal and it seems according to this that that's a Danish national character anyway and and and some some some Nations some cultures take pride in their you know they're drinking prowess and St stuff like that and I think that's part of what's going on here the Danes take pride in their drinking not in their partying their partying Powers not so Hamlet okay so he he laments the fact that this is the custom it's the custom in Denmark to to to have these parties uh and he he doesn't like it he says um because it it ruins our reputation abroad uh neighboring Nations clip us drunkards and with swinish phrase sour our reputation addition means reputation so he's he's he's afraid for Denmark's reputation and I I'm I'm I really don't know what the truth this here um I mentioned this in one of my early videos as well does is this evidence that indeed Claudius is that sataish kind of character is he too low brow not not just low brow but is is is he is he gross do you know what I'm saying is he a hedonist is he is he is he deserving of Hamlet's contempt and I'm not sure I'm really not sure because throughout the play at various points of the play Hamlet does demonstrate that he's a bit priggish he's a bit of a Puritan he's he's sexually repressed it seems there's lots of evidence for that as well so again try writing both essays you know is should we fault Claudius for being a gross pig or should we fault Hamlet for being um a prude I really really don't know um part of this is connected to the Wasteland theme uh it seems like Denmark is is not doing well it's not it's well but this is through Hamlet's eyes do you see so it's through Hamlet's eyes so how much can can we trust that Hamlet is very much an unreliable narrator like Holden Coffield in in uh in Catcher And The Ry it does however hint at one side or the other of the Mind Body Duality go back and watch my theme video I talk about that that's what I mean about you know there's the body satisfaction of the body's desires or the satisfaction of the nobler quote unquote nobler desires of of the human creature I really don't know I really don't know we could also throw into this the the wonderful theme of projection I love this theme it comes up again and again and the Best Literature has some variation of the projection theme because we all do it it just depends on how pathological um our doing of projection is and I think Hamlet is very much uh a pathological Hamlet has a problem with the lower energies Hamlet has has a repressed uh he's got a prudish sense of what is good and what is bad and everything that's low and you know partying and all that kind of stuff is is according to him really really bad uh is he projecting his own moral puritanical Vision onto the world or is Claudius just having having a having a good time is it is it bad to have a good time like that do do you see what I'm saying so is he projecting or is he uh or is he is or is he correct I don't know this next little mini rant is it's kind of weird it's it's kind of hard to understand um the gist of it is is that he hamet's lamenting he's lamenting the gossipy nature of of of of humanity and he he he laments that one defect in someone's character can can destroy a relationship despite how wonderful everything else is about us so we're 90% wonderful person hardworking generous minded good friends loyal whatever and one little part of us happens to have a fault and then we just judge the person by that fault uh it's strange it's strange that he's lamenting this except if we think of it in terms of the hypocrisy theme because he is very hypocritical he's he rails at his mother and IA especially um and and refuses to cut them any slack whatsoever giving them none of the benefit of the doubt uh so he's guilty of doing this more than anybody in the play that I can see um which is which is weird that is here except to reveal Hamlet's own hypocrisy okay he's interrupted in these these musings and I think Horatio is just kind of listening to him say dude we got we got some business to take care of why are we talking about this anyway they are interrupted by the ghost thankfully Hamlet has to shut up okay this I believe is the main takeaway of this short transition scene they do see The Ghost and Hamlet Says angels and Ministers of Grace defend us so he's freaked out by this and he calls on the powers of goodness of the grace of God to protect them now that's telling it means that he doesn't trust this ghost immediately and he goes on to say that be thou a spirit of health or Goblin damned bring with thee HS from heaven or blasts from Hell by thy intents Wicked or charitable thou comest in such a questionable shape that I will will speak to thee I'll call thee Hamlet so that's the key do you see now the whole question in this whole play and you will never be satisfied with your answer ladies and gentlemen boys and girls you'll never be satisfied no matter what side you come down on is Hamlet a coward for not just walking up to Claudius and sticking him with a knife or is he smart to hedge his bets at every moment to pause and to wait for the absolutely right time both opinions are absolutely correct and this is some evidence that is actually quite wise uh not to kill um not to kill claudus immediately until he has firm proof because as as um uh as Horatio suggests confirms down here what if the ghost tempt you towards the flood my Lord or to some Dreadful Summit off the cliff he doesn't trust the ghost either so this is not Hamlet's projection this is not Hamlet's cowardice back in those days they believed in ghosts it was a Christian they had a Christian worldview and in in that particular Christian and and medieval worldview they belied that ghosts came back when there was something rotten in the state of Denmark when when the world was Topsy Turvy when something was not right with the world the ghost would return to to have it corrected DC they also believed however that the devil could take the shape of somebody uh that means something to a person in order to trick that person do you see so he's not sure he's not sure if it's the devil or if it's an angel he really really doesn't know therefore paralysis how is he going to act should he just should he just would you believe a ghost that came to you in the shape of a dead relative and say hey could you go kill this guy for me please I'm a ghost from beyond the grave and I'm telling you to kill somebody in real life for me please would you do it do you see what I mean you'd stop and you say wait a minute here maybe I should get some better evidence on whether I should whether or not I should before I go out and do this so it's understandable this is the thing um okay so there's the thought versus Act action theme if you're smart and if you're thinking about all angles you can be paralyzed you might want to do an action but if you think about it you can see reasons why you shouldn't and those reasons might be legitimate even though you're a coward you can think your way out of something but those thoughts might be legitimate do you see what I'm saying so is maybe we can classify Hamlet as a legitimate coward does that make any sense uh it's it's it's it's tough It's really pry tough so there he is Hamlet The Thinker not a doer he's smart uh it is the Wasteland the the great chain of being and because you know something's rotten in the state of Denmark this the ghost coming back suggests that something has been disrupted There Is A Wasteland that must be cured by the hero go back and watch my theme videos appearance versus reality that's a major theme in all Shakespeare's plays or almost all of them and this one absolutely we have a a shape that looks trustworthy it looks it looks like the the guy's father who Hamlet trusts but in reality they're not sure whether or not it's it's it's something that they shouldn't trust like like a devil okay so tough call okay so all all through this he he's he's he's looking at the vision of his dead father and as you can well imagine he's just overwhelmed anybody would be by the vision of a dead loved one now Hamlet especially if we if we if we decide and if we agree and I will argue that Hamlet Hamlet's father was actually overbearing and Hamlet was very much a shrinking little boy in the massive shadow of a domineering father I I I believe that to be true um and I think as I explained before that's one of the I think Claudius as a younger brother was overshadowed by his older brother um um uh King Hamlet as well so I think that explains a lot um anyway so after you know being a struck you know in just caught in in in the in in the in the overpowering glow or blazing glow of of this of this superpower of this super being that in Hamlet's mind he's very much is the Hyperion Sun God this blazing forth his uh his his his power and and and he's totally paralyzed look at this look at the language here he says to this Vision he says say speak to me why is this what what the hell's going on wherefore wherefore means why why why what should we do look at that completely helpless little boy he's reduced to a little boy um it's it's very tender the these lines are very tender and very quite and they're quite sad and and I think they they they give me a lot of sympathy for for Hamlet as messed up as the poor boy is um to be over shadowed by a father like that tough really really tough the ghost beckons Hamlet and Hamlet is determined to go but his friends are determined to not let him go which is significant because it demonstrates that Hamlet is right not to trust The Ghost and he's right to delay the revenge in order to get confirmation that he he's doing the right thing by by murdering Claudius um and he says I'm going I'm going I'm going I'm going what should I fear I do not set my life at a pins fee now I don't want to read too much into this but it is curious remember if if you're in the hands of a great artist then nothing on the page is an accident um um everything is an the author's choice and Shakespeare put this in here for a reason and I think it connects back to his first Hamlet's first Soliloquy where he says oh that this two two solid flesh would melt and resolve itself into a do there's a death wish there a path a passive Death Wish DC and this may be some this may be a bit of a you know death by cop it's it's like the person wants to wants to end their life life but they they don't have the courage to do it themselves and fair enough it's a must be a tough job uh so they so they approach danger and they pursue danger in the hopes that that danger Will snuff them out DC I think I think that that that might that might be part of it I I don't know if you want to go too far with that or not but but there it is um so as we've seen already Horatio confirms Hamlet's suspicions merely that they should be suspicious not necessarily that the ghost is evil but that they have to be careful that's all and that again is important it waves to me still so again if if if you seen one of the movies they're physically holding Hamlet back and Hamlet's trying to go off hold off your hands I'm going I'm going I'm going the ghost beckons and then Hamlet goes um here he as we said Hamlet is is is the undoer he's the guy who can't do he he for a guy who can't do much he talks the talk but he doesn't always walk the walk here he's kind of doing both my fate cries out and makes each Petty artery in this body each small vein in my body as strong and Hearty as the nimian Lion's nerve so he feels he he's manned up here that's for sure as he's going to his father figure that's that's pretty significant and or to his death D youc so is that merely the Death Wish and that's why he's so courageous I don't know there's there's more more mystery okay so Hamlet exits and we'll just wrap this whole thing up now with the famous line said by Marcel Horatio and marceles are alone and marcelis doesn't get many lines but he gets a good one uh something is rotten in the state of Denmark he got a really good one that that's lasted for 400 years and it's it's merely as we've talked about several times it's the Wasteland theme the great chain of be something has been disrupted go back and watch my theme video something has been disrupted in society in the great chain of being and the hero has to set it right the big question is is Hamlet up to the task and the answer is no and that was five quote Shakespeare Hamlet act one scene 4 come back for my next video act one scene 5 the big Revenge plot initiating reveal where we find out what happened in the garden between King Hamlet and his younger brother Claudius thanks for watching