Hamlet: I’m looking at HIM! Gertrude: there’s NOTHING THERE! (3.2.121-131) #InkyCloak #SlowShakespeare

HAMLET         On him, on him! Look you how pale he glares,

His form and cause conjoined preaching to stones

Would make them capable. [to Ghost] Do not look upon me

Lest with this piteous action you convert

My stern effects! Then what I have to do

Will want true colour, tears perchance for blood.

GERTRUDE    To whom do you speak this?

HAMLET         Do you see nothing there?

GERTRUDE    Nothing at all, yet all that is I see.

HAMLET         Nor did you nothing hear?

GERTRUDE    No, nothing but ourselves.   (3.4.121-131)

But what, who are you looking at? Gertrude has asked. On him, on him! Right there, HIM! Look you how pale he glares—and while glares might suggest anger, it’s more generally intensity, a fixed stare—his form and cause conjoined preaching to stones would make them capable. If he were to look like that at even the most inanimate of objects, they’d come to life at his command—and pity him, so beseeching is his look. The Ghost’s countenance, it seems, is still showing more sorrow than anger. Hamlet can’t take it anymore, this reproach, this reminder of his own inadequacy, at the very moment when he’s been venting his fury on his beloved mother rather than converting it into action. Do not look on me lest with this piteous action you convert my stern effects! I’ll just lose it completely, I’m barely keeping it together (as you can see), I’ve got to remain focused on revenge, yes, and the way you’re looking at me now—it just makes me so, so sad. Dad. Then what I have to do will want true colour, tears perchance for blood. I’ve only just said that I was capable of drinking hot blood, and now that’s all fading away with my resolve, dissolving in tears, in grief.

Gertrude’s baffled, concerned, appalled, by the situation and by Hamlet’s anguish: to whom do you speak this? Hamlet’s equally baffled: do you see nothing there? Nothing at all, yet all that is I see. I can’t see anything there, no, but I’m in full possession of my faculties, I can see everything else. I can see you, your distress. Nor did you nothing hear? No, nothing but ourselves. (And as I’ve suggested before, occasionally in performance Gertrude does see the Ghost, which is a bold choice, and hard to pull off in light of this bit of the exchange in particular.) Nothing but ourselves is defiant, a bit, but also sad: it’s just the two of us here now.

View 2 comments on “Hamlet: I’m looking at HIM! Gertrude: there’s NOTHING THERE! (3.2.121-131) #InkyCloak #SlowShakespeare

  1. Most productions have Gertrude not see the ghost. If she does, then she is lying to Hamlet either because she is complicit in the plot against her husband or she is desperate to prove Hamlet mad. Very few productions have Gertrude share Claudius’ guilt; the Indian movie adaptation ‘Haider’ added a back story where Gertrude starts the betrayal and ends up a much more active participant in Hamlet Sr’s murder.
    One interesting variation I saw was a few years ago at American Players Theatre (a superb rep company in Wisconsin). The scene was blocked very carefully so Gertrude always had her back to the Ghost as she tried to convince Hamlet he was talking to nothing. The physical tension in the actress suggested that she was aware there was something she did not want to see; her interactions with Claudius made it clear she found a refuge in him and he was always loving towards her. This hinted that Hamlet Sr was abusive towards Gertrude and that may have been another motivation for Claudius to kill him and marry Gertrude.
    It is amazing that a play this long and with these many lines is capable of such varied interpretations that are still true to the text.

    1. Gertrude seeing the Ghost but not letting on has been a Thing in a couple of productions I’ve seen – notably Simon Godwin’s at the RSC in 2016/18. It’s a big call, but an interesting one! You’re right about the blocking, yes. And yes, back-stories are an interesting thing; the temptation is always to ask, for instance, was the first marriage happy, were Gertrude and Claudius having an affair, etc etc. Unknowable, and critics probably shouldn’t speculate – but actors do, all the time…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *