THE CLOSET SCENE LINES 11-15

Analysis

At line 11 Hamlet focuses on his father’s death by using the word “was”: he used it also at line 3, to show his pain and sorrow towards the dead king. After the reference to him, Hamlet draws her mother attention on Claudius’ picture by breaking the sentence in the middle with the full stop. He uses an imperative tone to appeal to the queen: moreover, he emphasizes his critical appeal by saying the word “you” after the imperative form. He wants his mother to feel totally involved.

At the same line, the phrase “What follows” is particular: first of all, Hamlet says what to speak about a human being, even a king. He could have used ‘who’ in order to give more importance to his noble uncle. In contrast, in this way he turns to Claudius as if he were a thing. The man is considered by the nephew neither as the head of the State nor a worthy person. In addition, Hamlet uses the verb to follow as a vehicle to underline that Claudius is not as much valiant as his murdered brother. It indicates the smaller role of Claudius, since he is not a virtuous king at all. He is the second one.

At line 12 Hamlet wants Gertrude to understand her current husband is a rough copy of his perfect father: Claudius is not a relevant and fair king, but the queen loves him as much as he loved the king Hamlet. The prince, as a consequence, tries to show her Claudius’ lack of personality and beauty. He is compared to a “mildewed ear”: besides he is unattractive, he is also “diseased”. He is also supposed to blast his “wholesome brother”, at line 13. Hamlet refers to an infection, a sick influence to underline Claudius’ bad qualities. On the other hand, it could refer to Claudius’ trap, when he planned to poison his own brother. The verb to blast reminds betrayal and misery.

“Wholesome” refers to the best qualities of the dead king, he was a perfect and complete man.

At the close of 13th line Hamlet reproaches his mother indirectly, by using the question “Have you eyes?”. He aims at underlining the difference between the two brothers, the same difference that Gertrude seems not to notice/see.

At line 14 the main character of the tragedy is keeping on blaming the queen, always by using a high register. He respects his mother as the queen of Denmark, but he also manages to convey his disdain and anger.

He asks Gertrude how she should “leave” such a perfect man and prefer the “moor”, line 15. He uses the verb to “batten” to refer to his mother’s choice: Hamlet wants to focus on her attitude. She behaves like an animal that only aims at feeding and that is never replete. She is depicted as a woman who needs to satisfy her passion (feelings towards Claudius) and power desires. She demands power and wealth, she does not mind a lot about his husband’s death: she just cares about keeping on being relevant and distinguished. Therefore, he accepts to become Claudius’ wife one month after king Hamlet’s death.