Hamlet

Stuff that happens before the play

• Hamlet, King of Denmark, dies.
• Claudius, his brother, is crowned King and marries the dead king’s widow, Gertrude.
• Prince Hamlet returns to court at Elsinore from studying at Wittenburg University.
• The ghost of the dead king appears on the battlements twice.

Stuff that happens during the play

• Two soldiers bring Hamlet’s friend Horatio to the battlements where the ghost appears again but does not speak.
• King Claudius addresses his court and grants permission for Polonius’s son Laertes to return to France, but Claudius beseeches Hamlet not to return to school in Wittenburg.
• Laertes says goodbye to his sister Ophelia and gets much advice from his father before departing.
• Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet has “made many tenders of his affection” towards her. Polonius says “do not believe his vows” and tells her to stop speaking to Hamlet.
• Hamlet goes to the battlements where the ghost appears again, claiming to be Hamlet’s dead father; it tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered the King by pouring poison in his ear.
• The ghost asks Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.”
• Hamlet makes Horatio and Marcellus swear not to speak of the ghost and tells them he will “put an antic disposition on.”
• Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to Paris to check up on Laertes.
• Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet came to her chamber acting strangely after she “did repeal his letters and denied his access.”
• The King and Queen welcome Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and ask them to discover what’s troubling Hamlet.
• Fortinbras of Norway vows to keep the peace with Denmark and requests permission to march his army through Denmark to battle Poland.

Folio/second quarto sequence

first quarto sequence

Hamlet calls Polonius a “fishmonger,” greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and asks them if they were “sent for” or if “it is a free visitation.”

Polonius positions Ophelia where Hamlet will encounter her while Polonius and Claudius hide to eavesdrop.

Players arrive at Elsinore; Hamlet knows them and requests a performance of The Murder of Gonzago.

Hamlet questions “to be or not to be” before Ophelia tries to “redeliver remembrances” to him; he urges her to “get thee to a nunnery.”

Hamlet tells the audience that the players will “play something like the murder of my father.” Hamlet will watch how Claudius reacts to the play to know for sure if the ghost speaks the truth.

Hamlet calls Polonius a “fishmonger,” greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and asks them if they were “sent for” or if “it is a free visitation.”

Polonius positions Ophelia where Hamlet will encounter her while Polonius and Claudius hide to eavesdrop.

Players arrive at Elsinore; Hamlet knows them and requests a performance of The Murder of Gonzago.

Hamlet questions “to be or not to be” before Ophelia tries to “redeliver remembrances” to him; he urges her to “get thee to a nunnery.”

Hamlet tells the audience that the players will “play something like the murder of my father.” Hamlet will watch how Claudius reacts to the play to know for sure if the ghost speaks the truth.

• Hamlet gives acting advice to the players; the players perform their play for the court.
• Discoveries, drowning, plotting, poisoning, and other tragedies ensue.

Flip a coin

Shakespeare’s Hamlet was probably first performed in 1602 with Richard Burbage in the title role. Three different versions of this play were subsequently published:

1603: First Quarto (Q1)

• previously thought to have been printed from an “unauthorized” manuscript created by actors and/or be an earlier and cut version as performed by Shakespeare’s company;
• more recent theories suggest that Q1 was prepared specifically for print by unknown agents with access to a range of memorial and material sources.

1604: Second Quarto (Q2)

• thought to have been printed from Shakespeare’s working papers

1623: First Folio (F1)

• the first collected works of Shakespeare, thought to be printed from a theatrical manuscript.

Each version contains peculiarities that make it unique. Q2 and F1 are very similar but not identical. Q1 was printed first but contains many lines and speeches that scholars call “corrupt,” but maybe it was an earlier, unrevised version. Q1 has about 2800-2900 lines and is, therefore, closer to the length of most Renaissance plays. Q2 has about 3800 lines. F1 is about 3650 lines, but it omits 230 lines from Q2 and adds 80 lines not found in Q2 or any other version. Harold Bloom calls Q2, F1, and the conflated Hamlet of 3880 lines “Shakespeare’s White Elephant” and “an anomaly in the canon” because they are so long. Andrew Gurr writes:

Shakespeare and his company were in the habit of trimming and redrafting his scripts for use on the stage quite drastically. They shortened long speeches and cut redundant characters in order to streamline the text into something that could easily be put on as a two-hour performance.

The most intriguing difference found in these versions (revisions?) of Hamlet involves the sequence of scenes. Q2 and F1 feature identical scene order while Q1 places the “to be or not to be” soliloquy (followed by the “get thee to a nunnery” scene) much earlier in the play. Some believe that the Q1 scene order is “more logical” and that the story it tells is more direct and immediate. In Q1, “to be or not to be” and the nunnery scene are followed by the fishmonger scene, the arrival of the players, Hamlet formulating his plan “to catch the conscience of the king,” and Hamlet putting that plan into immediate action. In Q2/F1, the fishmonger scene comes first, followed by the arrival of the players, then Hamlet formulating his plan; but then Hamlet seems to lose his momentum, contemplating death with “to be or not to be,” followed by the nunnery scene, and THEN the players perform their play. Obviously, the arc of the story is significantly different in each of the two sequences; but which version has the “right” sequence? Which sequence plays “better”? Do the two sequences feel different for an audience?

Our 2014/15 Hamlet will use the length of the Q1 text as our guide, but we will be selecting speeches and word choices from all three versions. And we will be rehearsing both scene sequences.

At this point, my plan is to work up two version of the show and perform the Q2 sequence on some nights and the F1/Q2 sequence on other nights. In homage to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, maybe we’ll flip a coin each night and let an audience member choose our scene order by calling heads or tails. The fact remains that we can never know which version of Hamlet is “correct” or “definitive” or “Shakespeare’s favorite.” With such an abundance of material from which to choose, the adventure lies in the exploration.

Jim Warren

Co-founder and Artistic Director