Yeah. Not really. Really he is just a threat to Claudius at this stage. Though, in the end, he is not wrong – with all of the stuff that happens – the entire kingdom of Denmark does fall apart. But that’s not Hamlet’s fault so much as it is Claudius’.

1) He tries to have Hamlet killed by England – which backfires and kills Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
2) He tries to have Hamlet killed with a poison pearl in his drink which backfires and kills Gertrude.
3) He tries to have Hamlet killed with an anointed sword (or rather he agrees to Laertes’ plan to have Hamlet killed this way) and while it technically works and it also backfires and kills Laertes.
So pretty much every death from here on out (with the exception of Ophelia’s and the King’s) is a result of trying to have Hamlet killed.
So really, it’s Claudius’ liberty that is the ultimate threat to all.
But also – I love this sentence. It’s so obviously meant to mask his own fear – the repetition of all and everyone – the way he hides himself in the royal we and in the middle of the list….it’s just a beautiful construction of a man trying to hide his true concern.

Claudius is no dummy. He knows Hamlet was after him when he killed Polonius.
And he probably knows why, too.
But it is funny that his first response to hearing that Polonius has been killed is, “It might have been me! I just narrowly escaped death!”
It’s not, “Oh no! What? My good dear advisor is dead? Murdered? What?”
No – it’s, “It could have been me!”
Savvy and self-involved – always a winning combo in a king.

I love how hippies used the word “heavy.”
It’s fallen out of fashion – you don’t hear so much “That’s heavy, man.” Or even so much singing of “He ain’t heavy.”
“Heavy” these days is mostly used as an obnoxious euphemism for fat. (I’m inclined to use fat, myself, and in an act of political advocacy, I try to say, “a gorgeous fat woman” or that “beautiful fat man”) If we’re going to use euphemisms, I prefer “Person of Size” or “Attractive Person of Size.” Heavy feels like an inaccurate measure – as a fat person can be quite light. And we don’t call a skinny person “light.” Also – it’s a measure of something we’re not in the middle of experiencing – not unless the fat person is actively sitting on us. (Something I recommend all fat people do to anyone who calls them heavy.)

But a hippie heavy is one of my favorite uses of “heavy.” Its spirit is a little like this line here…giving a sense of being weighed down. My favorite hippie character is from an 80s show wherein the hippie character, Neil, was quite fond of saying “Heavy.” Like, when catastrophic things happened, he’d say something like, “That’s heavy, man.” Usually in his case, it was an extraordinary understatement.

The house blows up?
Heavy.
His friend beheaded?
Heavy.
Neil is the best for things heavy.

Hamlet does pretty well. I mean – even when a person knows nothing about Shakespeare or Shakespeare’s plays – he still probably knows Hamlet. He probably even knows a line from Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy.

Hamlet may be dead by the end of the play but his name, story and words live on and on and on – Hamlet is intertwined with the culture. He is everywhere.

I have been thinking about the names of the King and Queen. In the text, their lines are marked by KING and QUEEN – not CLAUDIUS and GERTRUDE.
They are rarely called by their names. In casting my memory around the play, I couldn’t think of any instance of these characters being called by their first names. But here we are – Claudius calls the Queen Gertrude here. And not just once – several times.
It is interesting that though Hamlet is the Prince, he is almost always referred to by name – while his mother and stepfather/uncle are almost always referred to by title. One might be inclined to think that Hamlet’s title is less powerful than the others – or that we are meant to relate to him more because we so often hear his name.

I think, too, about how I KNOW that these are the names of the King and Queen so their names are meaningful to me but there are times when I’ve taught the play and the students almost never see these names. I remember saying something about Claudius and they said, “Who?”
There are ways to cut the play wherein you’d never hear their names.

YOUR son. A formal YOUR.
No thy son here.
No OUR son
No MY son, definitely. (Something he was wont to try to employ earlier)
And an abrupt change in subject as well.
“Hey baby what’s wrong? Tell me what’s bothering you? Where’s that guy I’m mad at?”

And I appreciate how the Queen manages to respond to none of these things. She has the politician’s skill of not answering questions put to her.

Really? The Royal We?
You’re using the Royal We to talk with your wife?
Good grief.

We would like to understand how your day was, Wife.
We hope you had a pleasant afternoon.
We look forward to joining you at our earliest convenience for a discussion of your emotions.

And here Claudius makes his big mistake with his wife.
He does not comfort her in her obvious distress.
Instead of taking her hand or embracing her
He gives her an order – using the formal 2nd person “You.”
He doesn’t even ASK her why she’s sighing.
He just tells her she must use her words
And then doesn’t give her time to answer.
His first question is about Hamlet’s location – not her state of mind.
I wonder, if Claudius were better able to be with his wife in her suffering, might he have kept her trust?

It’s a rare sigh that does not have matter in it. This moment is interesting in that Gertrude is clearly sighing, clearly upset and her husband doesn’t say, “What’s the matter?” “What happened?” or “What can I do?”
He doesn’t comfort her at all. He just states the obvious and tells her what to do.

There’s a question of whether there was or is genuine love or even lust between these two characters and I wonder if that’s a question for Gertrude, as well. When she begins this scene sighing, is she hoping Claudius will comfort her, ease her distress and/or fears?

He doesn’t.

Well that IS unfortunate!
You mean you don’t get a pass just for saying the prayer? You have to mean it, too?
Like, when someone is forced to apologize for something he’s done and he says, “Sorry” with a tone that suggests he is not in the least bit sorry. Then if it’s a parent doing the compelling, then the parent has to somehow get across the idea that you have to MEAN it, too. Or at least SOUND like you mean it.
The trick is – with heaven – I guess you couldn’t get away with just SOUNDING penitent. Apparently God can see your thoughts, too – so you not only have to sound like you mean it but also actually mean it. Because HE’LL know. Which – wow – talk about never getting a moment alone!
And what a big job – to read the actual thoughts of all people. I would not want that gig. TMI!