NOTES AND COMMENT ACT I. SCENE I. The first thing which the dramatist has to do is to give the audience the facts which must be known in order to understand the play. He must make clear, to begin with, enough of what has preceded the opening of the play to enable us to grasp quickly and intelligently the significance of the situation with which the action starts; the opening scenes, that is, must look backward. We must, further, be made to feel that this situation is not put before us merely for its own sake, but because it is charged, so to speak, with latent possibilities-because it carries within it the seeds of further actions, further situations; the opening scenes, that is, must also look forward. The speakers, moreover, must be at once so presented that we shall know, without too much puzzling, who they are and where they are, with some indication of time as well; what is happening before us now, that is, must define itself without obscurity. And finally-although this last is not always attempted-the dramatist may seek to awaken in us a particular mood, to create a particular atmosphere, which shall foreshadow, in a way, the spirit of the drama. All that portion of the play (usually the first two or three scenes) which accomplishes these ends is called the Exposition. The first scene of Hamlet is a very wonderful piece of exposition, and should be carefully examined in order to see just what information, of the kinds indicated, Shakespeare has actually given us, and how he has accomplished it. And this exercise will gain both interest and value, if one compare with the first scene of Hamlet the first scenes of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Cæsar-all of them striking examples of skill in exposition-and try to discover wherein their methods are alike, and wherein different. Moreover, all that has been indicated the dramatist must accomplish by means of dialogue and action alone; he must do it with the extreme of brevity, because the time of performance is inexorably limited; and he must do it with the utmost freedom from obscurity or ambiguity, because the actors cannot be stopped and asked to repeat what is not clear. To the opening of a novel, however, none of these restrictions apply, and it will amply repay the time, if one compare with the first scene of Hamlet (and of the other plays named as well) the opening chapters of (for instance) Ivanhoe, Silas Marner, A Tale of Two Cities, The House of the Seven Gables, The Last of the Mohicans, and observe the totally different fashion in which the necessary information is there given. It is after four long paragraphs that Scott remarks, in Ivanhoe: "This state of things I have thought it necessary to premise for the information of the general reader," etc.; it is after some thirty pages of preliminary information that Hawthorne concludes: "And now ... we proceed to open our narrative." How does Shakespeare give us this same sort of preliminary information? The notes on the first three scenes are intended, in part, to emphasize their qualities as exposition, and to suggest the sort of observation that should be applied throughout the play. 2. Nay, answer me. Observe that me is emphatic. Why? Whose business is it to challenge? Notice that the first two lines of the play, with their accompanying action, disclose at once a certain nervous tension among the watchers on the platform. Shakespeare's preparation of the audience for the appearance of the Ghost begins with the first two words of the play. 8-9. 'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. What does this add to the effect already produced? IO. Have you had quiet guard? Observe the implication that for some reason Bernardo thinks the watch may not have been quiet. 13. Bid them make haste. Is Bernardo unwilling to be left alone? Or is he expecting something to happen at any moment? Or is it both? 14. Stand, ho! Who's there? Notice that Francisco, who has been relieved, is startled into the challenge which Bernardo should now give. What impression of the state of things on the platform has Shakespeare succeeded in producing in the first fourteen lines? 19. What, is Horatio there? Observe the skill with which Shakespeare leads up to Horatio's part in the scene. Has Bernardo been certain that he would come? Does the reason for his doubt appear later? 19. A piece of him: a playful remark, into which no deep significance is to be read. a 21. What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? The reason for the agitation of the sentinels now begins to appear. But observe how gradually it is still led up to: "this thing"; "this dreaded sight"; "this apparition "—then the Ghost itself, and finally, "like the king that's dead." Compare the approach of the phantom ship in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: “ something in the sky" (Part III, line 6); "a little speck (line 7); a mist (line 8); "a certain shape" (line 10); a sail! a sail!” (line 19)—and then the detailed description. It was Coleridge who pointed out that in Marcellus's question even the word 'again' has its credibilizing effect." How? 29. And speak to it. Why should not the others speak to it? See note on line 42 below. 36. Yond same star: probably the Great Bear, or some star in it. 36. The pole: the pole star. Observe the heightening of Bernardo's language under the stress of his feeling, and notice, too, the naturalness of representing him as marking the time, on his lonely watch, by the position of the stars. 39. The bell then beating one. What time was it in line 7? What time is it now (cf. line 65)? How long does it take to speak 32 lines? The time allowed to represent the action on the stage must inevitably be very much shorter than the actual duration of the action itself, and Shakespeare's skill in making us forget that there is such a discrepancy is strikingly illustrated here. [Enter Ghost]. The Ghost in Hamlet is remarkable, among other things, for the number of its appearances, and for the amazing skill with which each appearance is made to come as a surprise. We have seen how its first appearance has been led up to; the way in which the others are introduced should be carefully observed. And a comparison with the |