Where is the court and where isn’t it? It sort of seems like everywhere royalty is is the court. I think of Touchstone’s debate with Corin about court life versus country life. Court isn’t a room in that case, I don’t think. It’s, like, the castle, the environs. Duke Frederick in that same play suggests that Rosalind isn’t really gone until she’s 20 miles from court.
But. . .maybe sometimes it’s just a room. Certainly today it’s a room, not for royalty but for justice. But what constituted a court to Hamlet and what constituted a court to Shakespeare? In other words, where is Hamlet suggesting they go now? To go see Claudius? To a more formal setting? He’s not suggesting they go to the pub or to play at some sport. He’s not suggesting they go to their quarters. What are his intentions at the court? And what/where is it?
The Hamlet Project 