Hamlet - The closet scene

The closet scene takes place in Gertrude's private rooms, when Claudius has lived the audience and the Queen summons Hamlet because she wants to know the reason of the play, and so demonstrate Hamlet's madness.

The main characters of this play are Hamlet and his mother Gertrude.

Hamlet is showing her two portraits: his father's and his uncle's, but he stops analysing the picture of his father. Hamlet describes his brow, using it as a metaphor to speak about the grace of his father. After that, Hamlet quotes a God: he is comparing the king's hair to Hyperion's curls, because at that time the curls were a symbol of beauty and nobility.

Then he stops on his father's eyes, saying that they are like Mars to threaten and command; in this way Hamlet refers to another God: Mars, the God of war, and so he is describing the war skills and ability of the king.

Moreover Hamlet compares his father's behaviour to the Mercury's once; Mercury was the speaking mouth of all the Gods, he was very intelligent and well educated, and so the prince, comparing his father to the God, is saying that the king was intelligent, helpful, open minded and very thoughtful (line 6: station refers to someone that usually stops thinking to the actions he should do).

In lines 7 and 8, Hamlet magnifies the figure of the father, saying that the king was lighted from the sun, on the top of a hill: in this way he creates a combination between mind and body, a God and a man, in fact the prince says that the king was a point of reference in the society but also pleasant and nice to the eyes. Light, in this context, is the symbol of beauty, and the connection between a God and a man, explains that every God seemed to set his seat place, to give the world the assurance of a man.

In line 11, Hamlet is trying to explain his mother the aim of the king's physical description: he wanted to compare his father to his uncle, saying that his mother's real husband was a real, good, perfect man, so sweet as a ear of corn that has blasted his brother in order to kill him.

Finally, in line 13 (have you eyes?), the prince tries to convince his mother that she has make a terrible mistake marrying hers' previous husband's brother.