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So if you cut these lines from your production you're either clueless OR you're deliberately pushing the misguided 20th century interpretation of the play as being about Hamlet being indecisive.
Second: You've included the lines. Good work!
Then your ghost shows up and he doesn't have a beard. Or he does have a beard and it's grizzled.
You have either failed to understand the line and are now unintentionally undercutting Horatio's word and the ghost's faithfulness.
Then your ghost shows up and he doesn't have a beard. Or he does have a beard and it's grizzled.
You have either failed to understand the line and are now unintentionally undercutting Horatio's word and the ghost's faithfulness.
OR you're deliberately trying to paint the Ghost as being fake (which seems to have become en vogue in the past couple decades). I can see why this seems like an interesting choice, but it's incoherent: The Ghost being untruthful doesn't track because Claudius confesses.
(I did see one production that went so far as to cut Claudius' confession, apparently with the deliberate intent of painting Hamlet as an actual madman seeking revenge against an innocent man. I honestly have no idea what they were trying to achieve with this.)
To be fair: You may have cut the line specifically because you understood this and your actor doesn't have a sable silver'd beard.
BUT...
BUT...
Third: This line establishes the entire relationship between Hamlet and Horatio. It's so elegant.
Hamlet is peppering Horatio intellectually. Every other time we see him do this in the play, the person he's interacting with can't keep up.
Horatio does.
In fact, he one-ups him.
Hamlet is peppering Horatio intellectually. Every other time we see him do this in the play, the person he's interacting with can't keep up.
Horatio does.
In fact, he one-ups him.
Hamlet is trying to catch him out in a discrepancy between the ghost's appearance and his father's.
Horatio not only understands what he's doing, he gently reminds him that he knew his father in life; if he's lying Hamlet's technique isn't going to catch him.
Horatio not only understands what he's doing, he gently reminds him that he knew his father in life; if he's lying Hamlet's technique isn't going to catch him.
So we establish, in this one moment, that (a) Horatio is Hamlet's intellectual equal and (b) Hamlet can trust Horatio.
I've played both sides of this conversation on stage. Absolutely pivotal beat in the relationship between these characters.
I've played both sides of this conversation on stage. Absolutely pivotal beat in the relationship between these characters.
More on that bit about "Hamlet is indecisive" being a garbage interpretation of the play: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/36062/theater/shakespeare-sunday-in-a-web-of-tragic-flaws-hamlet-the-anti-tragic-hero
