Author: erainbowd

I commend my duty to your lordship.

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The joke reading of this line is not obvious. That is, as the set up for the joke that’s coming, it is not obvious. Nor is the joke, when it comes. Without examination, the line just seems like someone paying respects. If it were another character commending duty to this lordship, it might draw no notice at all. But as it is, it’s Osric, so of course this line is heard by Hamlet and Horatio as self praise instead of an expression of duty to a prince.

They hear it as Osric honoring himself – honoring his own honoring, as it were.

To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will.

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Flourish?! Me, sir? What could you possibly mean? Me, with a flourish? My nature demands a flourish? Why, the seraphim would take offense in their gilded heavens to hear my humble spirit described this way. My nature, good sir, demands no flourish, no embellishment, no gilding, no ornamentation. I am as simple as the precious the earth.

Shall I re-deliver you e’en so?

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I’m curious about the “re” in “re-deliver.” Delivering the message, sure, that makes sense – but why would this message be re-delivered? Is it re-delivered in the sense that Hamlet said it first and now to pass it on, Osric must re-deliver what Hamlet said?

Is there another sense of “re” here separate from delivering again?

If not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.

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This balance is not quite obvious. So. He wins the thing for Claudius. If he doesn’t – he doesn’t gain anything but a few points in the duel. And his shame. There’s no real clear balance. It’s not like he’s saying, ”If I lose, I will lose nothing.”

He’s not saying, “What have I got to lose?” He’s laying out a losing proposition – which he’s not wrong about at all – but in such a way that it SOUNDS like something we’re more accustomed to.

Let The Foils be brought, the gentlemen willing, and the King hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can;

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I have a weapons question, Internet!
Now, to me, a foil is a very particular kind of sword used in fencing. It’s a thin bendy thing with a handle. Like a little poking device.
Is a foil the SAME as a rapier? Rapier comes from the French for two edges sword – whereas a foil is more round. But then “foil” comes from “thin piece of metal” – so it well may be the same.
I’ve seen this fight scene with fencing foils. I’ve seen it with broadswords. I’ve seen it with daggers. I’ve seen it with daggers and swords.
In terms of contemporary staging, the sky’s the limit. But I’m curious about any shifts in the language around the swords here. Is Hamlet calling the swords “foils “ a small dis on Laertes’ famous French swords? Or is “foils” just a generic word for light swords?

If it please his majesty, ‘tis the breathing time of day with me.

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I love that Hamlet has a regular exercise time. He’s got his schedule all organized – some breathing time (wherein he exercises) some reading time (words, words, words) some walking in the hall time (he walks four hours together here in the lobby) so predictably they can loose Ophelia on him at the right time. He really is the modern man.
I feel like I’d rather have a breathing time than an exercise time. Maybe if I named some time of day the breathing time, I’d get more exercise in it.

I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.

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Does Osric think that Hamlet hasn’t understood the proposition? Is he genuinely trying to clarify the wager? Or is he just flustered by Hamlet’s refusal to play the game? Of course he doesn’t have an answer for what would happen if Hamlet answered “no” – finding a response to that question would require a much higher pay grade.
It’s like asking the most rule-following cultural-norm-fulfilling, rote society-participator what would happen if you broke the rules; he doesn’t know and cannot even begin to imagine a world where people don’t follow their expected roles.

How if I answer no?

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I mean – this is the real question, isn’t it? It’s kind of a joke question, like, a sort of facetious response to the way Osric has made the request for the wager. But what if Hamlet said no?
Like – is this a request or a demand? Is this wager something he can choose not to do? In a way, it isn’t. It’s pitched to him as an invitation but is more like a demand – which is all the more galling coming from Osric who should, in no way be in a position to make demands on Hamlet.