So much for this, sir. Now let me see the other;
You do remember all the circumstance?
So, we're back at court. You know what's happened.
So. Here we are. You know what's coming.
we're back you know
Remember it, my lord!
I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night, stick fiery off indeed.
You're the better swordsman. I'll make you look even better by comparison.
you're better i'll make you look good
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutinies in the bilboes. Rashly,
And prais’d be rashness for it,—let us know,
Our indiscretion sometime serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us
There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
You mock me, sir.
You're joking with me.
you joke
That is most certain.
Set on.
Begin.
begin
Up from my cabin,
My sea-gown scarf’d about me, in the dark
Grop’d I to find out them; had my desire,
Finger’d their packet, and in fine, withdrew
To mine own room again, making so bold,
My fears forgetting manners, to unseal
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,
Oh royal knavery! an exact command,
Larded with many several sorts of reasons,
Importing Denmark’s health, and England’s too,
With ho! such bugs and goblins in my life,
That on the supervise, no leisure bated,
No, not to stay the grinding of the axe,
My head should be struck off.
Everything is ready. The match begins soon.
The match is prepared.
ready
Is’t possible?
A hit, a very palpable hit.
He hit you.
hit
Here’s the commission, read it at more leisure.
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed?
Here's to thy health.
To your health.
your health
I beseech you.
Gentlemen, prepare yourselves.
Get ready.
prepare
Being thus benetted round with villanies,—
Or I could make a prologue to my brains,
They had begun the play,—I sat me down,
Devis’d a new commission, wrote it fair:
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair, and labour’d much
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now
It did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou know
The effect of what I wrote?
The foul practice!
I'm betrayed!
betrayed
Ay, good my lord.
The treachery!
Treachery!
treachery
An earnest conjuration from the King,
As England was his faithful tributary,
As love between them like the palm might flourish,
As peace should still her wheaten garland wear
And stand a comma ’tween their amities,
And many such-like ‘as’es of great charge,
That on the view and know of these contents,
Without debatement further, more or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving-time allow’d.
The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.
The poison—I drank it. I'm dying.
poison i'm dying
How was this seal’d?
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, drink off this potion: is thy union here? Follow my mother.
Here's your poison. You murderer. You poisoned my mother. Now drink it yourself. Go to hell with her.
poison you murderer my mother hell
Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
I had my father’s signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal:
Folded the writ up in the form of the other,
Subscrib’d it: gave’t th’impression; plac’d it safely,
The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight, and what to this was sequent
Thou know’st already.
O, the drink, the drink! I am poison'd!
Poison—I'm poisoned.
poisoned
So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to’t.
The foul practice shall be known; Laertes, thou art slain by the sword; the treacherous instrument is in thy hand, unbated and poison'd: the foul practice hath return'd to the inventor of the wrong.
I was betrayed. The poison was meant for you. My own father's plot killed me. Forgive me, Hamlet. Forgive me. I was used as a weapon.
i was betrayed my own father's plot killed me forgive me i was a weapon
Why, man, they did make love to this employment.
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow.
’Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensed points
Of mighty opposites.
Horatio, I am dead; thou livest; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied.
Horatio, I'm dying. You have to live to tell my story. Tell them the truth.
i'm dying tell my story tell the truth
Why, what a king is this!
The rest is silence.
That's all.
silence
Does it not, thinks’t thee, stand me now upon,—
He that hath kill’d my king, and whor’d my mother,
Popp’d in between th’election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage—is’t not perfect conscience
To quit him with this arm? And is’t not to be damn’d
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
He's gone. A noble heart. Goodbye, Hamlet. May you find peace.
noble heart goodbye hamlet peace
It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there.
What is it ye would see? If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
I claim Denmark for my own. The young prince is dead. The king is dead. There is no more Denmark.
i claim denmark prince is dead king is dead
It will be short. The interim is mine;
And a man’s life’s no more than to say ‘One’.
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;
For by the image of my cause I see
The portraiture of his. I’ll court his favours.
But sure the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a tow’ring passion.
Let Hamlet, like a soldier, fall to earth: a piece of him shall live in story.
Hamlet will be honored. His story will live on.
hamlet honored story lives on
Peace, who comes here?
The match is ready. Laertes has agreed to fight you with swords.
Laertes has agreed to the duel.
laertes will fight you
Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.
I accept. Let's do it.
I'll fight.
i'll do it
I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this waterfly?
Horatio, if there's anything you need to tell me before this, tell me now.
Horatio. Before we start. If there's anything—
horatio if there's anything
No, my good lord.
Hamlet, I'm afraid. Something's wrong here.
I feel it. Something's not right.
something's wrong i can feel it
Thy state is the more gracious; for ’tis a vice to know him. He hath
much land, and fertile; let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib
shall stand at the king’s mess; ’tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious
in the possession of dirt.
The time is now. Whatever happens, happens.
The time has come. Whatever will be, will be.
the time is now whatever will be
Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing
to you from his Majesty.
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
ready
I will receive it with all diligence of spirit. Put your bonnet to his
right use; ’tis for the head.
Let's begin.
Let's begin.
begin
I thank your lordship, ’tis very hot.
They fight.
They fight.
No, believe me, ’tis very cold, the wind is northerly.
I hit him.
A hit!
hit
It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.
Again!
Again!
again
Methinks it is very sultry and hot for my complexion.
They fence.
They continue.
Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry,—as ’twere—I cannot tell how.
But, my lord, his Majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid a
great wager on your head. Sir, this is the matter,—
I've got you.
Got you!
got you
I beseech you, remember,—
I'm hit.
I'm hit.
hit
Nay, in good faith; for mine ease, in good faith. Sir, here is newly
come to court Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most
excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing. Indeed,
to speak feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry; for
you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.
Again!
Again!
again
Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you, though I know, to
divide him inventorially would dizzy th’arithmetic of memory, and yet
but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of
extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article and his infusion of
such dearth and rareness as, to make true diction of him, his semblable
is his mirror and who else would trace him his umbrage, nothing more.
Now I have your sword!
Now it's mine!
now i have it
Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him.
Now you're hit!
You're hit!
now you're hit
The concernancy, sir? Why do we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer
breath?
[She falls] The drink, Hamlet. I'm poisoned!
[She falls] The wine was poisoned!
poison the wine
Sir?
Claudius! You did this!
Claudius! You poisoned her!
claudius you did this
Is’t not possible to understand in another tongue? You will do’t, sir,
really.
[He stabs Claudius]
[He stabs Claudius]
What imports the nomination of this gentleman?
Drink this poison yourself!
Drink your poison!
drink it
Of Laertes?
[He dies]
[He dies]
His purse is empty already, all’s golden words are spent.
Hamlet, I'm dying. We're both poisoned. Forgive me. The poison was Claudius's plot.
I'm dying. It was all Claudius. Forgive me.
forgive me it was claudius
Of him, sir.
I forgive you. And now I'm dying too. There is nothing more.
I forgive you. I'm dying.
i forgive you i'm dying
Hamlet's 'readiness is all' speech is one of the most discussed philosophical passages in English literature, and it draws on at least two distinct traditions. The first is Stoicism — the Roman philosophical school that taught acceptance of fate, the distinction between what is in our control (our responses, our character, our readiness) and what is not (outcomes, death, fortune). Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius all articulate versions of this position, and Shakespeare would have known Stoic thought through Montaigne and through the Roman plays. The second is Christian providence — Matthew 10:29, the sparrow passage — which frames even the smallest event as within God's plan. Hamlet's argument is that since all events are providentially ordered and since death is inevitable, the only thing worth cultivating is readiness. The 'to be or not to be' speech earlier in the play is also about death, but from a position of crisis and fear: the 'undiscovered country' is terrifying. Here, the same subject is approached with a calm that is not resignation but genuine acceptance. The philosopher who could not act has become someone who, finally, understands what acting in the face of uncertainty requires: not knowledge of outcome, but readiness for whatever comes.
I know you are not ignorant,—
Horatio, you must tell my story. So that people will know the truth.
Horatio. Tell them. Tell them everything.
tell them the truth
I would you did, sir; yet in faith if you did, it would not much
approve me. Well, sir?
The rest is silence.
That's all.
silence
You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is,—
[He dies]
[Dies]
I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence;
but to know a man well were to know himself.
Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
He's gone. Goodnight, sweet prince.
goodnight sweet prince angels carry you
I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him, by them
in his meed he’s unfellowed.
What's this? So much blood? What's happened here?
What's happened here?
what happened
What’s his weapon?
The king is dead. The queen is dead. The prince is dead. And the man who did it is also dead—Claudius.
They're all dead. The king, the queen, the prince, and Claudius.
all dead
Rapier and dagger.
From this time forward, Denmark is mine. But Hamlet deserves the highest honor.
Denmark is mine. But Hamlet will be honored.
denmark hamlet honored
That’s two of his weapons. But well.
So ends the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
So ends the story.
the end
The King, sir, hath wager’d with him six Barbary horses, against the
which he has imponed, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards,
with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so. Three of the carriages,
in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most
delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit.
Hamlet, wait—
Hamlet—
hamlet
What call you the carriages?
I cannot stay.
I'm going.
i'm dying
I knew you must be edified by the margin ere you had done.
Tell them all. The truth.
Tell everything.
tell them everything
The carriages, sir, are the hangers.
From this hour, Denmark is mine.
Denmark is now my kingdom.
denmark is mine
The phrase would be more german to the matter if we could carry cannon
by our sides. I would it might be hangers till then. But on. Six
Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three
liberal conceited carriages: that’s the French bet against the Danish.
Why is this all imponed, as you call it?
Still, Hamlet will be honored with a soldier's funeral.
Hamlet deserves honor.
hamlet honored
The King, sir, hath laid that in a dozen passes between you and him, he
shall not exceed you three hits. He hath laid on twelve for nine. And
it would come to immediate trial if your lordship would vouchsafe the
answer.
So ends the tragedy of Hamlet.
The end.
end
How if I answer no?
The match will begin now.
Now.
now
I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.
Take your positions.
Begin.
begin
Sir, I will walk here in the hall. If it please his Majesty, it is the
breathing time of day with me. Let the foils be brought, the gentleman
willing, and the King hold his purpose, I will win for him if I can; if
not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.
They fence.
They fight.
Shall I re-deliver you e’en so?
A hit for Hamlet!
Hamlet!
hamlet
To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will.
Again!
Again!
again
I commend my duty to your lordship.
They fight on.
On.
Yours, yours.
[Laertes touches Hamlet]
[Touch!]
This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
Mother! No!
No!
no
He did comply with his dug before he suck’d it. Thus has he,—and many
more of the same bevy that I know the drossy age dotes on,— only got
the tune of the time and outward habit of encounter; a kind of yeasty
collection, which carries them through and through the most fanned and
winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are
out.
Hamlet... I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
sorry
My lord, his Majesty commended him to you by young Osric, who brings
back to him that you attend him in the hall. He sends to know if your
pleasure hold to play with Laertes or that you will take longer time.
Drink this!
Drink!
drink
I am constant to my purposes, they follow the King’s pleasure. If his
fitness speaks, mine is ready. Now or whensoever, provided I be so able
as now.
[Dies]
[Dies]
The King and Queen and all are coming down.
[Dies]
[Dies]
In happy time.
Now I go. Horatio will tell the story.
Tell them. Everything.
tell everything
The Queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes
before you fall to play.
The rest... is silence.
That's all.
silence
She well instructs me.
[Dies]
[Dies]
You will lose this wager, my lord.
What is this?
What happened?
what
I do not think so. Since he went into France, I have been in continual
practice. I shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not think how ill
all’s here about my heart: but it is no matter.
The King, Queen, Prince—all dead.
They're all dead.
all dead
Nay, good my lord.
I shall rule Denmark now.
Denmark is mine.
denmark
It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving as would
perhaps trouble a woman.
Hamlet shall have soldiers' rites.
Hamlet will be honored.
honored
If your mind dislike anything, obey it. I will forestall their repair
hither, and say you are not fit.
Let us go.
Come.
go
Not a whit, we defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of
a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it
will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.
Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is’t to leave betimes?
I won't worry about this. There's a divine plan in everything—even which sparrow falls. If I'm meant to die now, I will. If not now, then later. If not later, then soon. The important thing is to be ready. No one takes anything with them when they leave. What does it matter to leave early?
I'm done worrying. There's something bigger than me deciding things. Even sparrows fall by design. If I die now, I die. If not now, then later. Whenever. What matters is I'm ready. Nobody keeps anything anyway—we leave empty. So what does it matter when?
i'm ready whatever happens the readiness is all no one keeps what they leave behind
Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.
Come here, Hamlet. Let me shake your hand.
Come on, Hamlet. Shake my hand.
come shake my hand
Give me your pardon, sir. I have done you wrong;
But pardon’t as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows, and you must needs have heard,
How I am punish’d with sore distraction.
What I have done
That might your nature, honour, and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was’t Hamlet wrong’d Laertes? Never Hamlet.
If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away,
And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it, then? His madness. If’t be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong’d;
His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purpos’d evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts
That I have shot my arrow o’er the house
And hurt my brother.
Forgive me. I've wronged you. I'm asking you—as a gentleman, as a man of honor—to pardon me. Everyone here knows what's happened to me. You've heard that I've been struck by a terrible distraction, a madness. What I did—the things that might have wounded your honor and your nature, that might have shocked you awake—I declare now those came from madness, not malice. Was it Hamlet who hurt Laertes? No. Never. If Hamlet can be taken away from himself—if he becomes someone other than Hamlet, someone who wrongs Laertes—then Hamlet doesn't do the wrong. Hamlet rejects it. Who does the wrong then? His madness. His madness is Hamlet's own enemy. The man who's wronged here is Hamlet. His madness hurt him most. In front of all of you, I say this: let my rejection of purposeful evil, let my genuine disclaimer of intended harm, clear me in your minds. I've shot an arrow over the house—I meant to miss—but I've hurt my brother anyway. I regret it.
I'm asking for your pardon. I've done you wrong, but please—as a gentleman—forgive me. You know what's happened. You've heard I've been sick, distracted, out of my mind. What I did—things that might have shattered your honor—I swear came from madness, not from malice. Hamlet didn't hurt Laertes. Never. But when Hamlet isn't Hamlet—when he's mad and stops being himself—then that's not Hamlet doing it anymore. That's just the madness. The madness is Hamlet's own enemy. In front of everyone here: I'm telling you my evil intentions are gone. I didn't mean to hurt you. I shot an arrow and it landed on you instead. I'm sorry.
i wronged you please forgive i was mad not myself it was madness not me forgiving myself is harder
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive in this case should stir me most
To my revenge. But in my terms of honour
I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement
Till by some elder masters of known honour
I have a voice and precedent of peace
To keep my name ungor’d. But till that time
I do receive your offer’d love like love,
And will not wrong it.
My heart wants to forgive you—that's my nature. What matters most is revenge, and revenge calls for my blood to boil. But honor is different. I have to stand apart until I can get the word of some elder man of honor that it's right to forgive you. I'll take your hand as a gesture of peace, but I can't fully reconcile until I have that elder authority backing me up. I don't want to forgive too quickly and then find out I've betrayed my father's memory. But for now, I accept your offer of peace.
My heart naturally wants to forgive—I'm that kind of person. What should make me want revenge is my blood, but honor is harder. I can't just shake your hand unless some respected elder says it's okay, that my honor is satisfied. So I'll accept your gesture of peace for now. But I need that permission before I fully forgive.
i want to forgive but honor won't let me not yet i need the elders to say it's okay to let this go
Osric is one of Shakespeare's most compressed satirical portraits. He appears in a single scene, says almost nothing of substance, and exists entirely as a type: the courtier who has money, social position, fashionable manners, and nothing else. His language is a parody of courtly affectation — swollen, indirect, decorated with elaborate qualifications that say nothing. Hamlet's response to him is to echo and escalate his style until Osric is baffled by his own idiom. The joke is at the expense of a whole social class: men who have risen through wealth alone, who have mastered the surface of courtly behavior without possessing any of its supposed virtues (honor, wit, learning, courage). Osric is the court of Claudius reduced to its essence — all ceremony, no substance. In a play about performance and authenticity, he is the most purely performative figure: a man whose entire self is a fashion choice. Hamlet's description — 'got he his breeding at the capriole of his horse,' meaning he learned his manners from his horse rather than from education — is the play's final word on what the Danish court has become under Claudius.
I embrace it freely,
And will this brother’s wager frankly play.—
Give us the foils; come on.
I take your forgiveness freely. And I'll play this match with you openly, generously. Give us the swords—come on, let's start.
I take it. I'll play this game honestly with you—no tricks. Give us the swords. Let's go.
i accept no tricks let's fence let's play
Come, one for me.
I need one for myself.
I'll take one.
one for me
I’ll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance
Your skill shall like a star i’ th’ darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.
I'll be your background, Laertes. My lack of skill will make your talent shine like a bright star in the darkest night.
You're better than me. My weakness will make your skill look brilliant—like a star in the dark.
you're the star i'm just making you look good
You mock me, sir.
Are you mocking me?
You're joking with me.
you mock me
No, by this hand.
No, I swear on my hand.
No, I mean it.
i mean it
Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet,
You know the wager?
Give them the swords, Osric. Hamlet, you understand the wager?
Osric, hand them the foils. Hamlet, you know the bet?
do you know what you're fighting for
Very well, my lord.
Your Grace has laid the odds o’ the weaker side.
Yes, I understand it well. You've put the odds on the weaker side—my side.
Yes. And you've set the odds against me—which is smart.
the odds are against me i know
I do not fear it. I have seen you both;
But since he is better’d, we have therefore odds.
I'm not afraid. I've watched you both fence before. But since he's improved so much, the odds are on you—that's only fair.
I'm not worried. I've seen you both fight. But he's gotten better, so the odds have to favor you.
he's better now so the odds go to you
This is too heavy. Let me see another.
This one's too heavy. Let me try a different one.
This is too heavy. I want another.
too heavy another
This likes me well. These foils have all a length?
This one suits me fine. Are all these foils the same length?
This one feels good. Are they all the same size?
this one works all the same length
Ay, my good lord.
Yes, my lord.
Yes, sir.
yes
Set me the stoups of wine upon that table.
If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire;
The King shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath,
And in the cup an union shall he throw
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark’s crown have worn. Give me the cups;
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth,
‘Now the King drinks to Hamlet.’ Come, begin.
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
Put the wine cups on the table there. If Hamlet wins the first or second hit, or if he lands a winning hit in the third round, let all the cannons fire from the battlements. When Hamlet scores, the King will drink a toast to his health and throw a pearl into the cup—a pearl more valuable than any pearl that's ever adorned the Danish crown. Get the cups ready. Signal the trumpet, the trumpet will signal the cannons, the cannons will signal the heavens, and the heavens will echo back 'Now the King drinks to Hamlet.' Begin the match. You judges, watch carefully.
Set the wine on the table. If Hamlet wins the first or second point, or scores on the third exchange, fire the cannons from the walls. I'll drink to his health and throw in a pearl—worth more than any crown jewel ever made. Get the cups. When I drink, the trumpet sounds, the cannons fire, and everyone knows the King honors Hamlet. Begin. Judges, watch carefully.
if he wins fire the cannons i'll drink toss in a pearl worth more than the crown
Come on, sir.
Let's begin.
Let's go.
let's start
Come, my lord.
Come on, sir.
Come on.
come on
One.
One hit for me.
One.
one
No.
No.
No.
no
Judgement.
The judges must decide.
Judge.
judge
A hit, a very palpable hit.
A hit, absolutely undeniable.
That's a hit.
hit
Well; again.
All right. Again.
Again.
again
Stay, give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here’s to thy health.
Wait. Give me a drink. Hamlet, this pearl is yours now. Here's to your good health.
Hold on. A drink. Hamlet, that pearl is yours. To your health.
here's to you here's to your health
I’ll play this bout first; set it by awhile.
I'll finish this match first. Set the drink aside for now.
I'll play first. I'll drink later.
play first drink later
A touch, a touch, I do confess.
A touch—I'll admit it.
You touched me.
you got me
Our son shall win.
Our son will win.
Hamlet will win.
he'll win
He’s fat, and scant of breath.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows.
The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
He's breathing hard and running short of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin and wipe your face. The Queen drinks to your fortune, Hamlet.
He's sweating and out of breath. Here, wipe your face. I'm toasting your good luck.
wipe your face i drink to you to your luck
Good madam.
Thank you, madam.
Thank you.
thank you
Gertrude, do not drink.
Gertrude, don't drink!
Gertrude, wait!
don't drink no
I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me.
I will, my lord. Please forgive me.
I will. Pardon me.
i will pardon me
I dare not drink yet, madam. By and by.
I can't drink yet, madam. In a moment.
Not yet, madam. Soon.
not yet later
Come, let me wipe thy face.
Let me wipe your face.
Let me dry you off.
let me wipe your face
My lord, I’ll hit him now.
My lord, I'll strike him now.
Now I'll hit him.
now i'll do it
I do not think’t.
I don't think so.
Not likely.
doubt it
Come for the third, Laertes. You do but dally.
I pray you pass with your best violence.
I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
Come on for the third round, Laertes. You're just playing with me. Show me your best—give me your full strength. I'm starting to think you're not trying your hardest.
Let's go for the third. You're just toying with me. Come at me with everything you've got. I think you're going easy on me.
come on third round stop playing show me your best full strength
Say you so? Come on.
You think so? Come on then.
Think so? Here I come.
come on then
Nothing neither way.
Neither of you has scored.
Neither side.
tied
Have at you now.
Take this!
Take this!
take this
Fortinbras arrives in the final scene to claim a kingdom he did not win, mourn a man he did not know, and inherit a tragedy he did not cause. His epitaph for Hamlet — 'he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royally' — is generous but also slightly wrong. Hamlet was not a man of action thwarted by circumstance; he was a man of exceptional thought for whom action was the specific difficulty. The soldier's rites Fortinbras orders — drums, cannon, military honor — are the wrong kind of ceremony for Hamlet. They honor a hero who died in battle, not a philosopher who was poisoned in a rigged duel. And yet they are what Denmark gets: the only conclusion available to a man who knows how to handle military victory but not moral catastrophe. Fortinbras's arrival and claim completes the political argument that began with the Ghost's account of the usurpation. Denmark was taken illegitimately by Claudius; its legitimate heir (Hamlet) is dead; and so it falls to the third claimant, who has the most straightforward relationship to power in the entire play — he simply wants it, he takes it, and he wins. The play's final image is of soldiers carrying Hamlet to a platform while Fortinbras orders a gun to be fired. It is not the ending Hamlet imagined. It is the ending his world provided.
Part them; they are incens’d.
Separate them. They're furious with each other.
Stop them. They're too angry.
stop too angry
Nay, come again!
No—fight me again!
Come back!
come again
Look to the Queen there, ho!
Watch the Queen! Something's wrong!
Look at the Queen!
the queen something's wrong
They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord?
They're both bleeding. How are you, my lord?
You're both bleeding. Are you all right?
both bleeding are you okay
How is’t, Laertes?
How is it, Laertes?
Laertes, you all right?
you okay
Why, as a woodcock to my own springe, Osric.
I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery.
I'm caught in my own trap, Osric. I've been justly killed by my own treachery.
I did this to myself. My own weapon. My own trap.
my own trap my own blade my own death
How does the Queen?
What's happened to the Queen?
Is my mother all right?
the queen mother
She swoons to see them bleed.
She's fainted at the sight of blood.
She fainted seeing you both bleed.
she fainted
No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet!
The drink, the drink! I am poison’d.
No, no—it's the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink! I'm poisoned.
No—the wine. The wine. I'm poisoned, Hamlet.
the drink poison i'm dying hamlet
O villany! Ho! Let the door be lock’d:
Treachery! Seek it out.
Treachery! Horror! Lock the doors—I want to find out who did this. Who did this?
Treachery! Lock the doors. Find out who did this.
treachery locked doors who who did this
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain.
No medicine in the world can do thee good.
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom’d. The foul practice
Hath turn’d itself on me. Lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poison’d.
I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, you are killed. No medicine in the world can help you. You have less than half an hour of life left. The blade is poisoned—unblunted and soaked in venom. My own plot has turned against me. Look at me here, dying. Never to rise again. Your mother is poisoned. I can't speak anymore. The King—the King is to blame.
It's the blade, Hamlet. You're poisoned. There's no cure. You have maybe thirty minutes. The weapon is poisoned—sharp and venomous. It was supposed to kill you, and it did. And it killed me too. Your mother is poisoned. I'm dying. But listen—the King did this. He's the one.
you're poisoned no cure thirty minutes the king the king did it to blame
The point envenom’d too!
Then, venom, to thy work.
The blade is poisoned too! Then, venom—do your work!
The blade is poisoned. Then do what you're made for.
the blade is poisoned then venom do your work
O yet defend me, friends. I am but hurt.
Protect me, friends. I'm only hurt.
Help me. It's just a wound.
help it's just a wound
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
Here, incestuous, murderous, damned Dane—drink this poison. Is your precious pearl in here? Follow my mother.
Drink this, you murdering bastard. This is your pearl. Go to hell with my mother.
drink this poison incestuous murderous followmy mother to hell
He is justly serv’d.
It is a poison temper’d by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
He's died as he deserved to. The poison was made by himself, boiled in his own evil intentions. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. My father's death and mine—they don't fall on you. And your death doesn't fall on me.
He got what he deserved. The poison was his own. Hamlet, I forgive you. Your death isn't your fault, and mine isn't yours either.
he deserved it the poison was his i forgive you no blame on you
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu.
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time,—as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest,—O, I could tell you,—
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead,
Thou liv’st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
May God free you from it. I follow you. I am dead, Horatio. Queen Gertrude, goodbye. You who stand here pale and shaking at what you've witnessed, who are only spectators to this terrible act—if I had time—if Death were not so strict in his arrest—O, I could tell you— But let it be. Horatio, I am dead. You remain. Tell my story and my cause truthfully to those who don't understand. Tell them.
May God forgive you. I'm dying too, Horatio. Mother, goodbye. All of you watching—if I had time, I could explain everything. But I don't. Horatio, you live. You have to tell them the truth—tell them what really happened, why I did what I did. Tell my story.
i'm dying horatio you live tell them my story the truth why i did what i did
Never believe it.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here’s yet some liquor left.
I won't believe you're dead. I am more a Roman than a Dane. Here—there's poison still in this cup.
Don't tell me you're dead. I'll follow you—like the Romans. There's still poison in this cup.
no i won't believe i'll follow you to death
As th’art a man,
Give me the cup. Let go; by Heaven, I’ll have’t.
O good Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me.
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.
Since you're a man, give me the cup. Let go—I will have it. O good Horatio, what a wounded name, what an incomplete story will be left behind me if you die too. If you've ever loved me, absent yourself from paradise awhile. Remain in this harsh world and endure its pain. Tell my story.
Give me the cup. As a man, let me have it. Horatio, if you die, nobody will know the truth. My name will be damaged forever. If you ever loved me, stay alive. Stay in this painful world and tell them what happened. Tell them why.
stay horatio stay alive please tell my story so they understand
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,
To the ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
Young Fortinbras has returned from conquering Poland and is greeting the ambassadors from England with a military salute.
Fortinbras just arrived from Poland and he's firing a cannon salute to the English ambassadors.
fortinbras from poland cannon salute
O, I die, Horatio.
The potent poison quite o’er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England,
But I do prophesy th’election lights
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.
So tell him, with the occurrents more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
O, I die, Horatio. The poison is overwhelming my spirit completely. I can't live to hear the news from England. But I do prophesy that Fortinbras will be chosen as the new king. He has my dying voice—my final vote. Tell him this along with everything else that has happened here, all the great and small events that led to this moment. The rest is silence.
I'm dying. The poison is killing me. I won't hear from England. But I know Fortinbras will be king—that's my last choice. Tell him that. Tell him everything that brought us here. The rest... silence.
i die fortinbras king my voice tell him tell everyone the rest silence
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Why does the drum come hither?
Now a noble heart breaks. Goodnight, sweet prince, and may flights of angels escort you to your rest. Why does the drum come here?
There goes a good man. Goodbye, sweet prince. May angels bring you peace. Who's coming?
noble heart breaks goodbye sweet prince angels rest why the drum
Where is this sight?
What is this sight?
What happened here?
what is this
What is it you would see?
If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
If you want to see something terrible or strange, stop looking. Everything you need to know is right here, in this room.
If you're looking for horror or wonder, you've found it. It's all here.
here woe and wonder all here
This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death,
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck?
This pile of corpses cries out against Death's cruelty. O proud Death, what feast is being prepared in your eternal palace, that you've struck down so many princes at once, so bloodily?
Look at this death toll. Death itself must be feasting—how many princes did you kill at once? All this blood.
quarry of death princdes fallen pride feast of death
The sight is dismal;
And our affairs from England come too late.
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing,
To tell him his commandment is fulfill’d,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
This is a terrible sight. Our news from England has come too late. The men who should be listening to us are dead—deaf to any news. We came to tell Claudius that his orders have been carried out, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. But where do we direct our gratitude now?
This is horrific. We came too late from England. The King is dead—he'll never hear our report. We were supposed to tell him Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. But there's nobody left to thank.
too late from england rosencrantz guildenstern dead no one to thank
Not from his mouth,
Had it th’ability of life to thank you.
He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jump upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England
Are here arriv’d, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view,
And let me speak to th’ yet unknowing world
How these things came about. So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forc’d cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall’n on the inventors’ heads. All this can I
Truly deliver.
Not from his mouth—he's dead and cannot thank you. He never gave the order for their death. But since you've arrived at such a critical moment, you from Poland's wars and you from England, I'll arrange for these bodies to be displayed on a stage for all to see, and I will speak to the world that doesn't yet understand. I will tell them of carnal sins and bloody deeds, of acts against nature, of deaths that seemed accidental but were actually deliberate, of slaughters that came about by cunning and forced cause, and of intentions that went wrong and fell upon the heads of those who plotted them. All this I can tell truly.
Not from him—he's dead. He never ordered their deaths. But since you're here now, let me tell you. I'll put the bodies on display and tell the whole world what happened: murders, unnatural acts, deaths that looked like accidents but were planned, schemes that backfired and killed the schemers. Everything. I can explain it all.
not from him dead i'll tell carnal bloody unnatural acts accidental judgments casual slaughters cunning and forc'd cause purposes mistook fall'n on inventors' heads truly deliver
Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.
Let's hurry to hear that story and call the noblest men to listen. As for me, I embrace my good fortune with sorrow. I have some hereditary rights to this kingdom, and now my position invites me to claim what is mine.
Let's hear it. I'll gather the nobles. As for me, I'm taking Denmark with sadness—I have a claim, and now I'll make it.
let us hear the story denmark is mine claim rights fortune with sorrow
Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.
But let this same be presently perform’d,
Even while men’s minds are wild, lest more mischance
On plots and errors happen.
I too have something to say. I have the word of a man whose voice will influence many others. But this story must be told now, while people's minds are in chaos, before more schemes and misunderstandings can take root and cause more harm.
I have things to say too. Someone important will back me up. But we need to tell this story now, while minds are open, before more plots can happen.
my mouth whose voice will draw on more tell now while minds wild lest mischance plots and errors happen
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov’d most royally; and for his passage,
The soldiers’ music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
Let four captains carry Hamlet's body like a soldier to the stage. He was likely to have been a great and royal man if he'd had the chance to prove himself. And for his death, let the soldiers' music and the ceremonial rites of war speak loudly for him. Take up these bodies. Such a sight as this belongs on a battlefield, but here in the palace it looks terrible. Go—order the soldiers to fire a salute.
Carry Hamlet like a soldier to the stage. If he'd lived, he'd have been a great king. Give him a soldier's funeral—music and ceremony. Take all these bodies away. This bloodshed belongs on a battlefield, not here. Fire the cannons for him.
like a soldier the stage would have prov'd most royally soldiers' music rites of war for his passage
The Reckoning
Everything the play has been building to arrives in this scene — and arrives in the wrong order, the wrong way, at the wrong speed. Hamlet does not plan the killing of Claudius. It happens in the chaos of a trap that was set for him. Gertrude dies by mistake. Laertes dies partly by his own weapon. Hamlet kills Claudius in the thirty seconds between learning that Laertes's blade was poisoned and dying of that same poison. It is not the deliberate, prepared revenge Hamlet kept promising — it is a compressed explosion of every accumulated wrong, triggered by another man's betrayal. And yet it is enough. Claudius dies. The Ghost is answered. The something rotten in Denmark is cut out — and Denmark is left to Fortinbras, who was never in the play in any meaningful sense until the last five minutes. Hamlet dies with 'the rest is silence,' having asked Horatio to tell his story. The story is the play.
If this happened today…
A man who has spent months unable to act finds himself in a rigged situation designed to kill him. In the space of one betrayal — a friend's dying confession — he finally acts: not as planned, not as rehearsed, but completely, without hesitation, in the seconds before his own death. He doesn't survive to see whether it was worth it. He asks his best friend to make sure people understand what happened. Then a stranger arrives and claims everything.