ummmm. hi. i've talked about this literally a million times but i will talk about it again because i'm deranged
hamlet's father says to him. as a ghost. IF YOU EVER LOVED ME. you will KILL for me. right?
hamlet, as he dies. says to horatio IF YOU EVER LOVED ME… you will LIVE for me .
and in that moment. hamlet's big question, "to be or not to be", is answered, isnt it? not for himself, but for horatio. HE cannot be, but horatio can, horatio MUST if he loved him
and ANOTHER thing. hamlet says to horatio in the middle of the play that he holds horatio in his heart's core, ay, in his heart of heart……. he then changes the subject abruptly, not allowing horatio to respond
as hamlet DIES.. he says "if thou didst ever HOLD ME IN THY HEART" (a CLEAR connection to the earlier conversation) and asks him to live and mourn him and tell his story, and AGAIN hamlet did not ASK "did you love me?" he NEVER asks "did you love me?"
no, he says IF you loved me… (dont tell me. i dont want to know. just listen, dont tell me.) he doesnt want to know the answer, i don't think. i think he's scared to hear it, first in that moment of vulnerability when he shared the largeness of his feelings and bared himself so completely and utterly that he had to brush past it and pretend he hadnt... and last in the moment of vulnerabilty when he is about to die. it's natural, isn't it? to be scared? scared of knowing the truth?
but horatio DOES answer…….. only, he does it when hamlet is already dead. he does it very subtly. he says "good night sweet prince, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"
using the intimate, familiar terms.
for the ENTIRE PLAY he used "you" and "your". only now, when HAMLET IS DEAD, does he use the intimate form. to show how dear hamlet was to him
and another thing……. you'll notice that horatio tries to drink of the poison and kill himself alongside hamlet….. who does that remind you of?
and hamlet's RESPONSE, that its no good for them BOTH to die, that ONE must live on, is SO CLEARLY contrasting (yuppp) romeo and juliet !!
and what is romeo and juliet? a SATIRE. it's a MOCKERY of young love and the foolishness that comes with it, so when HAMLET AND HORATIO are faced with THE SAME SITUATION, and they handle it better than romeo and juliet, who were a MOCKERY of young love, it leads me to the conclusion that hamlet and horatio are the TRUE example of love. love done the right way, great and true love in the realest sense.
also, as a side-note, it's just so interesting to me that horatio, who hamlet said WAS NOT A SLAVE TO HIS PASSIONS, who did NOT get over-emotional and rash in situations like this...... tries to DIE rather than live without hamlet…….. but hamlet stops him. like!! thats his main thing, yet he got so overwhelmed in this moment with grief and honour and whatever you may call it.... it seems significant.
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