play following would dispel it. And Rosencrantz and Polonius have already mentioned Hamlet's joy at the arrival of the players, his command that they shall give a play, and his desire that the King and Queen shall witness it. Polonius has said; "He beseech'd me to entreat your majesties to hear and see the matter." Claudius would be a dreamy simpleton indeed if he did not realize that the facts of the murder have been discovered. He is far from being a stupid man, and, as the play gives abundant testimony, his apprehensions have reached a high pitch of nervous tension. Moreover, Shakspere's audience, who, with Hamlet, have listened to the Ghost's revelations, know that the King is aware that Hamlet possesses his dreadful secret. But the Danish court, with the single exception of Horatio, who has been told of the Ghost's narrative, are ignorant of the guilt of Claudius, and there is no reason why the dumb-show should enlighten them, especially as the Poisoner is not shown to be related to the poisoned Player King.
What is Claudius to do? Is he to give the whole black business away by his demeanor? Not a bit of it; he is too clever and too resourceful a villain for that. He is not, as some critics would have us believe, set to go off like a mechanical toy as soon as the events of the murder are represented before him. Any view of Claudius which does not credit him with bravery, adroitness, subtlety, and a determination to play his evil game for all it is worth, and to the bitter end, is surely mistaken. Consider his courage in the scene where Laertes, with the rabble at his heels, utters open defiance; his adroitness in his first address to the court from the throne after his brother's death; the insistence which even the Ghost lays upon the "witchcraft of his wit," and the resolution with which he turns to new crimes in the latter part of the play, to secure his crown, his ambition, and his queen. To betray agitation, to stop the play upon the evidence of the dumb-show, will be to direct suspicion against himself—suspicion of the blackest sort. It will be far wiser for him to await further developments. Dumb-shows were frequently not much like the play they preceded in action; it is possible that the king, as Dowden suggests,[1] takes comfort in the thought that the action of the play to follow will be less disturbing. In any case, his best line of conduct for the present is watchful waiting and dissembling.
- ↑ Tragedy of Hamlet, 1899, p. 116, note.
