New Blog Coming Soon! I swear...
Just finished Will In The World by Greenblatt, and have some interesting insights...
I really need to get on to the real challenge, but I'm currently in the middle of catching up with everything in Lost.
Yea, I've turned into that.

Hamlet: Dream Production

I've totally be failing in this reading thing. So I'm cheating again by posting an old essay from school. This was our final for the Hamlet class. We had to write out our dream production of Hamlet....

I think that everyone who has ever read Hamlet has imagined his or her dream production of it. Whether it is a totally original production or an adaptation of a current one (such as somehow merging the Oliver with Branagh) taking aspects of different ones and using them to create “the perfect Hamlet.” The problem that I have just realized is the fact that no one can make “the perfect Hamlet” (at least not perfect for the entire world) but only “THEIR perfect Hamlet.” The Hamlet that they most relate to, or imagine whenever they read the play.

My perfect Hamlet would actually be a motion picture. I feel that a play like Hamlet is perfect for film with its many cinematic qualities such as the action of the final battle scene and the intimacy of a soliloquy. Many people may state the recording the production as a film takes away some of the magic that occurs when performed in front of a live audience. This is true, but also they must realize that one can reach more people with a film than with live productions. Also, while live productions do reach the audience on a deeper level because of the personalized atmosphere, I believe that a motion picture, when done correctly, can also do the same thing. For example: Schindler’s List. This is one of the most inspirational and moving films of all time. Would seeing this as a play improve the story? No. In fact, it would take away from it, destroying a world we recognize as “real”, even though the people in it are characters created by actors (yes, based on real people, but this is not a documentary or historic reproduction). I think that we can create the same kind of real world for Hamlet, with characters that you believe in and see as real people, not just characters, (modeled after the studies that A.C. Bradley has done with the character of Hamlet) and the story is something that can be believed as actual events, even though it is not historically founded. All in all, I’m looking for realism in this production.
The play would need a great deal of textual cutting, and even a rearranging of scenes. I would spare the Branagh-esque uses of flashbacks when not needed, nor will I abuse the use of motion picture editing and the ability to create any scene by adding in scenes that are spoken of, but not seen. I think there is a reason Shakespeare left them unwritten and only mentioned, so they will not be filmed. We will not see Hamlet interact with Ophelia, nor shall we see the pirates or the switching of the letters on board the ship. We will also not see Ophelia’s death, or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, for it is more powerful to have other characters announce these moments.
The film would open with a tense bell tolling midnight over the production company credits (no real opening credits, no title revealed, just whatever is legally needed). At the stroke of midnight, an ancient, yet restored and well cared for, watchtower appears and looms large on the dark screen, barely visible. The two guards (Barnardo and Francisco), in modern military fatigues, would have their initial exchange in startlingly loud military drill sergeant speech, almost shouting at each other, finally calming down in time for Horatio and Marcellus to arrive. Marcellus is also dressed in modern military fatigues and Horatio (played by Scottish actor, James McAvoy ) is more like a modern student playing at dressing soldier. In fact, Hamlet, Horatio, and Laertes share the same kind of attire. Horatio’s character will be more like a brotherly role to Hamlet than most productions have shown. He is almost like a poor man’s Hamlet for the audience before we are introduced to the man himself. Horatio is the friend that knows most about Hamlet and understands the implication of this visitation of the ghost of King Hamlet (played by Patrick Stewart , which is a nice contrast from his usual casting as Claudius). Throughout the scene, light is slowly growing, as the dawn approaches. By the end of the scene, Horatio’s line: “But look, the morn in russet mantle clad / Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill” will be accompanied by a glorious sunrise to the flourish of celebratory trumpets. This action leads directly to the next morning, continuing with the original text, where Claudius (played by Jeremy Irons , who is 8 years younger than Stewart) and Gertrude (played by Helen Mirren , 5 years younger than Stewart) greets the court and we also are introduced to our other major players: Hamlet (played by American actor Leonardo DiCaprio ), Laertes (played by James Purefoy ), Polonius (played by Bob Hoskins ), and Ophelia (played by Laura Fraser ). This scene is played in the main throne room in a modern court.

As a side note I would like to attempt at a timeless/non-location-specific setting. Almost like Branagh’s, with a sense of a general time period (contemporary) without giving it a direct set down location and date. I would also like to take this time to discuss the casting choices. Although it is a star-studded cast, I would really like to use one aspect of Granville-Barker that I really connected with, and that is the idea of an ensemble as opposed to a star of the show. This cast is full of stars, who are incredible in their own right, but I believe that together, they can be an incredible ensemble of actors, telling a story together. The choice of casting an American as Hamlet, DiCaprio, alongside the British cast is simply because I really believe that when surrounded by talent and given the right material, DiCaprio performs better than most of the actors in his generation. He also has the intellectual yet childlike personality that was displayed in The Departed that really made me think of him as a Hamlet figure. I think he would really succeed in this role and it will be interesting to see the other actors, who could clearly outshine him, work with his style of performance.

The casting of the other characters is really based on who I think would add to the ensemble well, as opposed to who would be shine in that role. Mirren and Irons have chemistry, which was notable in their Emmy and Golden Globe-award winning performances in Elizabeth I. Also, I would love to see how Patrick Stewart could portray the character of the Ghost of King Hamlet, with his memorable voice (rivaled by few, including Irons). The choice of Horatio and Laertes is simple: these two actors are almost the extremes of Hamlet. Horatio is the more intellectual, Laertes the warrior. Both actors have a personal style of acting that really compliment not only Hamlet but also each other. You can see the contrast between the two and note what must be internally going on inside of Hamlet. Laura Fraser shined in her powerful performance as Lavinia in Julie Taymor’s Titus, which I think lends itself to the tortured Ophelia.

Returning to the order of events in the play; I would like to finish the throne room scene with the first of Hamlet’s soliloquies, which will be said out loud after the room is emptied of all of the revelers (who are off to the great dining room to feast). Some major set design points will be a large portrait of King Hamlet placed above the throne with black fabric draped around it. Next to the thrones, unveiled through Claudius’s speech, is a new portrait of Claudius and Gertrude, still on its presentation easel. There is also a portrait of Young Hamlet somewhere in the throne room, visible but not profound. These will be used as points of references during the soliloquy. The last line of the soliloquy: “But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue” is said as a reaction to the approaching Horatio and soldiers, who are now in ceremonial dress, as they were also in attendance at the ceremony that morning. They approach Hamlet and the scene continues as written with only minor line cuts. The transition to the next scene will be homage to the classical tradition of one character walking off as another walks on with continuous action. Hamlet will exit with Horatio and the soldiers, and Ophelia will enter from across the room, only seeing the back of Hamlet. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but Laertes enters behind her, with a glass of wine in hand, and begins the next scene, also referencing the portrait of Hamlet, which Ophelia looks at, prompting Laertes’s speech. When Polonius enters, Laertes ditches the drink and leaves as the scene plays out. Polonius and Ophelia then continue their scene, but during this scene, Polonius takes it upon himself to replace the portrait of King Hamlet with that of Claudius and Gertrude. The scene ends as normal.

We then cut back to the watchtower for the visitation of the ghost, again the soldiers in their fatigues, always prepared for invasion. This scene plays out as written, using many different levels and routes around the watchtower. While Hamlet shows the soldiers the wassail, it is through a kind of skylight.

I have decided to cut the Reynaldo scene, sorry Reynaldo. The scene will begin with Polonius reading a French newspaper in his office in the palace, which is his way of making sure his son is staying out of trouble, when Ophelia bursts in and continues the scene. As we have moved into Act II, we will be seeing changes in everyone to denote the passage of time. The blacks that were worn by many characters will be changing to brighter colors, and the décor of the palace will change drastically, as the king and queen have obviously hired new decorators. This is also where scenes and speeches will be rearranged a little.

The next scene is Polonius and Gertrude meeting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who from the start are the exact opposite of what Hamlet has become. It is almost as if as a young man Hamlet had a choice as to whether he wanted to become a scholar or a soldier, and chose the scholarly route, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern chose the Laertes route of traveling around the world to have a good time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Laertes was a part of this motley crew as a youth as well. The king, however, doesn’t see this contrast in interests and thinks that Hamlet will be welcoming his friends with open arms, which he does, but like many people who have gone away to college and return, things are awkward with their old friends.

After Claudius talks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and sends more letters to Norway, Polonius approaches with Ophelia and from this scene (II.2) we go into the nunnery scene. With the text going something like this:

POLONIUS
At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him:
Be you and I behind an arras then;
Mark the encounter.

KING CLAUDIUS
We will try it.
(Claudius calls over a servant, whispers something to them as Polonius speaks to Ophelia)

POLONIUS
Ophelia, walk you here.
Read on this book;

KING CLAUDIUS
Sweet Gertrude, leave us;
For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither,
That he, as 'twere by accident, may here
Affront Ophelia:
Her father and myself, lawful espials,
Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing, unseen,
We may of their encounter frankly judge,
And gather by him, as he is behaved,
If 't be the affliction of his love or no
That thus he suffers for.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
I shall obey you.
And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish
That your good beauties be the happy cause
Of Hamlet's wildness: so shall I hope your virtues
Will bring him to his wonted way again,
To both your honours.

OPHELIA
Madam, I wish it may.

(Exit QUEEN GERTRUDE)

LORD POLONIUS
I hear him coming: let's withdraw, my lord.

(Exeunt KING CLAUDIUS and POLONIUS, Enter HAMLET)

HAMLET
To be, or not to be…

The reason for this change in scene order is because I want Hamlet to really have been beaten down by the time he gets to what I really find to be the most powerful speech in the play: “Now I am alone.” If we start with Nunnery ending with Ophelia running off, Claudius and Polonius speaking their lines to each other behind the arras and Ophelia meeting them back there, leaving Hamlet alone in the main room, move on from there back to the Polonius scene (also proving Ophelia’s lie about where her father his, which is something Polonius would do) and going from there to the order given in the play to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and finally the players. However now instead of the nunnery scene after Claudius talks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in III.1, he will just go into his speech (III.1.50-55) which although is a reference to them about to use Ophelia as bait, could also be referencing his command of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to “Drive his purpose onto these delights” with the players. Which is where we go directly to now. From here on in, we are continuing the play as normal, with only some line cuts here and there, but no more drastic scene movements.

The players, who will be almost like the Drama Club of Wittenberg, and you could almost speculate that they were invited by Hamlet to court and their meeting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was coincidence. They perform the scene for the king and queen in a small theatre space that the place has for such performances. Once the space is cleared, the players depart and Hamlet is once again left alone to discuss with Horatio and then bombarded by the nonsense of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Polonius. Throughout this scene, he has claimed the stage, as if he is continuing the story not completed by the players.

For me, the most important scene in the play is the scene where the king is praying and Hamlet almost kills him (III.3). This scene will begin with the king walking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern down a hallway, toward his room. When they have left, he is met by Polonius, who reveals his intentions to spy on Hamlet in the closet of the royal suite. Claudius ducks into the nearest room to wait; the chapel. This is what prompts him to begin his speech, and Hamlet, walking to his mother’s room hears Claudius mumbling and walks into the chapel behind him. He is still holding the recorder that he threatened Guildenstern with. Realizing that he does not have an actual weapon to kill the king with, he notices at the entrance of the chapel there is a sheathed dagger, which is Claudius’s (a trophy not of his own, but his soldier brothers, and something he wears throughout the film as if to mock his brother) that was taken of out of respect for the holy room.

At this point I would like to add another side note: this time about the use of religion in Hamlet. As known, the religion of Shakespeare was a mystery yet it is undeniable that he placed many references to Catholicism in this play. The glaring reference is the idea of King Hamlet’s Ghost announcing that he is in purgatory. I have decided that the realm of Denmark is Catholic and Hamlet, like many college students, lost his religious beliefs (or at least they dulled a bit) and especially the major Catholic dogma that many modern Catholics don’t believe in. But when he returns to Denmark with all of this insanity, he really has nothing to grasp that can help him through, so he, with the help of the Ghost’s revelation, returns in a way to the religion he was raised with. He becomes an almost Christ-like figure toward the end, allowing providence to take control.

Back to the action: Hamlet replaces the dagger with the recorder and then mentally (voice over) the speech is recited as Hamlet approaches Claudius, getting almost halfway down the chapel when he considers killing the king while he is praying. As he leaves with the dagger, the king stands and says his final line of the scene, returns to the doorway and confusingly picks up the recorder.

I’m sure you know where this is going. Hamlet goes to his mother’s closet, threatens her, she sees the knife and is scared, and he kills Polonius with it through a curtain. No Oedipal meaning in this scene at all, simply intense emotions. I think everyone at one point wants to have this kind of discussion with a parent; knowing that something is wrong and yet the person you have trusted your entire life is not helping you through it. After Hamlet leaves the room with the body of Polonius, Gertrude is left alone for a while, crying and sobbing. Claudius wanders in cautiously, still holding the recorder. The next scene begins and action continues as normal with the chase scene and Claudius sending Hamlet off to England. The small Fortinbras (IV.4) scene will be cut, sorry Fortinbras. But we will have Hamlet’s speech, said as a voice over as he is driven to the ship bound for England.

Moving on to Ophelia crazy scene (IV.5), again we must get the idea that time has passed since the last scene. Polonius is buried; Gertrude is walking around the palace in mourning and Horatio approaches with Ophelia in tow. It is almost as if Horatio has become her caretaker since he no longer has Hamlet and she no longer has Polonius. This scene plays out as written, with Laertes angrily entering, the country turning on Claudius so he must find a way to control Laertes, and does this by challenging Laertes devotion as a son. Ophelia’s reentrance distracts Laertes from this and Claudius once again must find a new approach. Laertes takes Ophelia home and Horatio is met by a messenger who passes along the messages from Hamlet, giving one to Horatio and the other to Claudius. Both read their letters and Claudius sends for Laertes. Horatio leaves the room and Laertes re-enters, reading the letter given to Claudius. They begin to plot Hamlet’s death as Gertrude enters, once again distracting Laertes from Claudius by revealing that his sister is dead. Laertes leaves and Claudius is nervous, worried about what Laertes will do and hoping he is still on his good side.

The clown scene is probably one of the most important scenes in the play. It really is the same as the Porter scene in Macbeth. The audience just needs a comic relief moment after all of this drama. Billy Crystal will reprise his role as The Clown/Gravedigger, as he performed it brilliantly in the Branagh version. Hamlet and Horatio wander in upon this scene and the funeral of Ophelia. Again, we can note the religious tension with the idea that a person who is accused of suicide cannot have a proper burial. Hamlet and Laertes fight in the grave of Ophelia, and Claudius’s men and Horatio part them.

Now here is something of note, at least in my opinion. After Hamlet discovers the death of Ophelia, he really becomes slightly more depressed. It is as if he really did love her, but didn’t fully understand it until she died. In the next scenes is where we see his resolve and his understanding and almost acceptance in his own death if he were to carry out his revenge. He reads the letters with Horatio and tells him about the voyage and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he is then greeted by Osric, who tells them of the king’s request that he duels with Laertes, which of course Hamlet accepts, leading to the final scene.

This final battle takes place in the grand dining area that we have only so far seen as a place of joy and carousing. But now it is just as violent a place as every other place in the palace that we thought was sacred (the chapel, the bedroom, and the throne room). Hamlet tries to gain the forgiveness of Laertes, but one of the reasons I love James Purefoy’s acting is because of his brazen stubbornness. Hamlet and Laertes battle, at first a game but then turned into a brawl, killing each other with the poisoned tip. The queen, whilst trying to play the hostess and not attempting suicide accidentally drinks the poison and Claudius, seeing everything falling apart around him clings to life, only to be killed using all of the forms he attempted against Hamlet. Although Hamlet doesn’t mention revenging his father, I have decided to add something that will make that clear. As Claudius lays dying from a sword wound, Hamlet will take the poisoned cup and after pouring the poison into his mouth, he will pour it into his ear while screaming the line “Is thy union here?” Hamlet and Laertes exchange forgiveness, Laertes dies and Hamlet, in the arms of the closet thing he has to family left, Horatio, dies.

The final scene ends with Fortinbras entering the castle to this dismal sight. We also hear of the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Horatio, not a politician, finds words to describe the tale to the Norwegian prince, who is now pretty much the ruler of Denmark. Fortinbras takes it upon himself to give Hamlet the proper burial he deserves and the film finishes with Hamlet’s body carried through the throne room, past the portrait of his father and his own portrait, which Horatio drapes with black fabric. At the end of the funeral procession, the ghost of King Hamlet slowly appears to Horatio and then vanishes, leaving him alone in the throne room.

These images best represent my cast: Amazing, they will be!!

Horatio:








Hamlet:








King Hamlet:








Claudius:








Gertrude:








Ophelia:






Laertes:








Polonius:

The Lost Plays...

I know, cheating again, but I want to get this show on the road, and I can't read a whole play in a day! So I'm starting with the tiny stuff. Totally valid.

There are two plays specifically indexed in the Norton that are considered the "Lost Plays of Shakespeare" these plays are Love's Labour's Won and Cardenio. They are lost as in, well, they don't exist in any way shape or form other than by mention. So we know they exist, but where they are or went is unknown. Talk about a treasure...if either of these plays (or the Ur Hamlet) were found, then the Shakespearean community would EXPLODE. And whoever found them would be richer than...well...pretty much anyone.

The Editors of Norton thought they were pretty freaking important, which is why each play got exactly one page of information. (Love's Labour's Won is on page 837 and Cardenio is on page 3117.) They even put them in chronological order with the others! Those smart boys...

How do we know they actually exist(ed)? Well there is documented proof.

Lets discuss Love's Labour's Won first. Cause it came first.
In 1598 Francis Meres, an Elizabethan author, comments on the "excellence of Shakespeare" by citing a handful of his comedies...the list is as follows: "for Comedy, witnes his Gẽtlemẽ of Verona, his Errors, his Loue labors loſt, his Loue labours wonne, his Midſummers night dreame, & his Merchant of Venice"
Now, the argument can go two ways. There is no denying that there is a play in Shakespeare's catalog that is called Love's Labour's Won. But could it also be an alternate title for another play that we do know of? People through the centuries claimed that it may have been the alternate title for The Taming Of The Shrew which is so not a lost play...and was not listed by Meres even though it was a popular play at that time.
But then, in 1953 a booklist of the stationer Christopher Hunt from August 1603 lists plays written in quarto: "Marchant Of Vennis, Taming Of A Shrew, Loves Labour Lost, Loves Labour Won."
So that nixes that. Love's Labour's Won and The Taming Of The Shrew are two different plays. Or it could be an alternate title for Much Ado About Nothing or All's Well That Ends Well, both believed to have been written at around the same time as the others.
The alternate title theory goes with the fact that it has never been found.
But I think I agree more with the other theory...which is...
It is a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost. Think about it...the end of Love's Labour's Lost is a cliffhanger to beat all...the ladies depart and will return...blah blah blah...but the comedy doesn't have the classic end. No wedding! No bliss! It's actually kinda sad. So people think that Shakespeare wrote a continuation for The King Of Navarre and his merry, yet heartbroken, men...
I can live with that. So what happened to it? Why was it not included in the Folio by Heminges and Condell?
Well, it isn't uncommon for things to get lost in this world. It's a big planet. And in those days, sometimes the author didn't bother to put his name on the title page (copyright? ha!). So a guess is that one of the supposed 500 - 1500 copies that are usually made in quarto form may be floating around, but just not noticed as the actual original edition. Or maybe another author claimed it as theirs and people refuse to accept it as the original. All these possibilities.
Of course there is always my favorite theory...which is explained expertly in the Doctor Who episode "The Shakespeare Code". Love's Labour's Won was inspired by magical beings called the Carrionites who interweaved the code to the end of the world with the words of the greated genius ever, thus creating an ethical dilemma for the Doctor, who is unable to save the pages of Love's Labour's Won for fear that this ancient magic will return and destroy the world! :-) That one is plausable too.
Whatever the cause, the play is lost. Nothing is known other than the title and the fact that it existed in quarto form.

Which is more than can be said for Cardenio...

The History of Cardenio is credited to be written by Shakespeare and a John Fletcher. This is claimed in 1653 by a bookseller named Humphrey Moseley, who wasn't really the image of honesty. You see, if you wanted to sell a book, you claimed it was written by the greatest writer ever. So he had a habit of tagging Shakespeare's name onto things that were not written by him.
Cardenio is a character in Don Quixote. And the play is likely based on him.
Now, on the other hand, there are theories that the King's Men owned a play that was a similar story. And this was when Shakespeare and Fletcher were collaborating, so it is possible. And we do know that in 1613 that the King's Men were commissioned to perform a play called "Cardenno". Other than that, nothing is known about this play.
One writer, Lewis Theobald, published a play in 1728 called Double Falsehood which he claims is based on the original manuscripts of Cardenio.

Jury is still out on that one. Because the play is only "Shakespearean" in it's plot, and that can easliy be doctored up by any writer with skills. Or not. Having a heartbroken, raped female dress as a boy and join a group of shepherds, who try to rape her, and then she goes back and marries her repentant rapist isn't Shakespearean. That's some Titus shit. And this play is way past Will's Titus phase.

Hamlet: Horatio

So I know this is cheating, cause I obviously haven't read Hamlet since I started this project. But considering I've seen it performed a few hundred times, have been in a production of it, and own three different versions of it (including the Branagh coffee-table edition) and, oh yea, took an entire college upper-level course dedicated to it, I think I can check that one off the list. In fact, that course inspired me to get a journal to write down my thoughts while I was reading for the class. I actually have three different entries that I will be transposing into this blog. Adding more fun stuff, of course...

The first, and one near and dear to my heart, is Horatio. Hamlet's sidekick. His loyal companion.

Horatio is the perfect name for a pet. And not any pet. I've had the two beta fish and named them Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (short lifespan and all), but to me Horatio is the name of a good, strong pet. Like a dog. Because he is Hamlet's constant, loyal companion even to the point of offering his own life when he sees Hamlet's slipping away. That is a friend.
The origins of this character must be a blast to research for any actor portraying him. He is a college student, very intellectual, and more studious than the rowdy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. What is interesting is how Hamlet greets him...

"HAMLET: ...Horatio,--or I do forget myself."

Is that statement made because he doesn't recognize him? Has he grown in the few weeks that Hamlet has been back to Elsinore? Or was Horatio Hamlet's freshmen room mate who was all brains but never partied with Hamlet when he was out wenching with Rosey and Guildy? I think that because of the relationship written in...

"HORATIO: The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever."

Poor servant? Friend? Don't even play the lover card, I'll smack your face...

"HAMLET: Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you:
And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?"

Ok, so Hamlet seems to have been the royal student of the year at Wittenberg, which is a very Protestant reference in this very Catholocised play...but more on that another time...
So it seems to me, looking strictly at these words, that one can play either that the confusion by Hamlet at the beginning can either be due to the fact that he is helluh depressed and in "Hamlet Mode" or that Horatio wasn't the popular kid in Hamlet's posse, but cares about him enough to see how he is handling life now that pops is out and Claudius is all up in the Queen's business...
So what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?

"HORATIO: A truant disposition, good my lord."
Truant = Slacker.
"HAMLET: I would not hear your enemy say so,
Nor shall you do mine ear that violence,
To make it truster of your own report
Against yourself: I know you are no truant."

But, Hamlet! You didn't recognize him before. What the heck, dude? Now you are all like "I know you are a freaking brainiac...and you would rather be reading Plato than dealing with my family's drama". I mean, we know Horatio is a Student. With a capital "S". One of the most famous quotes berates him for that (say it with me now...)

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

I totally now picture the backstory of Horatio as that guy who sits in the library and just reads. And when people need someone to write their paper, they are all like "Yo Horatio...I need someone to wrote this Socrates shit for me!" And he's all like "That would be unethical." Horatio is Spock.
He even takes care of Hamlet's girl when he is gone off to England.
Why does Horatio become Ophelia's keeper? And was he there when she died? Or was it just Gertrude. Also, why does he even stick around when Hamlet is peaced off to England? I know he probably feels obligated to care for Ophelia, who at this rate has a brother who is doing who-knows-what and who-knows-who in France and a father who Hamlet accidentally killed. She's got some issues and I wouldn't leave her alone. But Claudius doesn't exile him, Hamlet's loyal friend, after Hamlet is sent to England to be killed. Why is Horatio kept around? Is Claudius going to try to turn him to the Dark Side?
Spock will never turn.
In the Bad Quarto there is actually a scene between Gertrude and Horatio, where Horatio tells the Queen all about how Claudius tried to kill Hamlet in England. Well, you can see why that shit was cut. Talk about ruining a perfectly good debatable death! But Horatio never talks to the King. In fact, the two are never seen at the same level in a scene except for the Ophelia crazy scene, where Horatio has a respected level as a caretaker for the crazy bitch.
After Ophelia dies and Hamlet returns, he once again becomes the faithful companion. Never leaving Hamlet's side, even to the bitter end. Which is when Hamlet urges him to not follow him to death...but to live...long...and prosper. :-)

Explanation

As a passionate student of Shakespeare and lover of his works, I realized, to my dismay that I have actually not read all of his works. In fact, I haven't even read half of them!
So I have put this challenge to myself, to read every one of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets and even those little things that were rumored to be his writings...pretty much whatever is in the Norton Shakespeare. Which is pretty huge. 3419 pages huge.
Part of this exploration will also be recording my thoughts in this here Blog, which will also be open for discussion and commentary from whoever reads it. You don't have to read along with me. On the contrary, I have no idea what order I'll be doing myself! It's all part of the mystery...

So sit back, relax, and enjoy! I know I'll certainly try.