NATURAL+ACT+IV

Danielle Hartwig Hour 1


 * __Act IV, Scene 3, Lines 27- 32:__**
 * Hamlet:** A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
 * King:** What dost thou mean by this?
 * Hamlet:** Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.

What Hamlet is stating, to the befuddlement of Claudius, is that although in our material world we have rank and order and the king is glorified above all but God, in the natural world, this isn't true. A worm does not decipher that what it is consuming is the remains of a king. Nor does the beggar who is looking for bait know that the worm it is using to catch a fish contains the remnats of royalty. It is very possible that the worm that ate the king will be eaten by a fish that will be eaten by a beggar. This beggar is the very same who is considered unworthy in comparison to the king, is now eating him. What this may be suggesting is that these class ranks are unnatural, because the natural world does not regard them.

Hamlet:** What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more sure he that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused. Now whether it be bestial oblivion or some craven scruple of thinking too precisely on th'event...
 * __Act IV, Scene 4, Lines 35-43:__

Hamlet, in this moment, is struggling with whether or not it is natural to have to think every action through so meticulously before making a decision. He's making the claim that if God didn't want man to use his sense of reason, He wouldn't have given it to man. He questions how much of a man can one be if the greatest acts one performs is eating and sleeping. At the same, however, he says at the same time that he doesn't know if it is the forgetfulness of a beast or a cowardliness from thinking //too// much that has stopped him from acting. It is this balance of thinking like a human, but not overthinking and, as a result taking no action, that Hamlet is having difficulty finding.

Laertes:** Too much water hast thou, poor Ophelia, and therefore I forbid my tears. But yet, it is our trick; nature her custom holds, let shame say what it will. When these are gone, the woman will be out.
 * __Act IV, Scene 7, Lines 188-192:__

This lines follows Gertrude telling Laertes that Ophelia had drowned in the stream. At first Laertes says that Ophelia has had enough water (referring to the fact that she had drowned), and that he will not cry. Then he changes his mind and says that it is a natural part of the mourning process to cry, however, after he is finished, the feminine part of him will be gone. This brings up the natural roles of male and female, and whether or not it is in a woman's character to cry and it is in a man's character to refrain, or whether it is natural for both to shed tears.

Samantha Krohn Natural vs. Unnatural

//"Ay, sir, that soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps them like an ape an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again."//
 * Scene 2: p. 191, lines 15-20**

This particular segment in scene 2 accurately demonstrates an instance where the natural vs. unnatural motif is prevalent. The context of this line takes place shortly after Polonius is murdered by Hamlet. After hearing of the news, Rosencrantz immediately asks Hamlet where he has disposed of the body. Hamlet, confused by the notion that Rosencrantz could possibly expect him to "keep your counsel and not mine own", replies with this interesting metaphor. It is natural for Rosencrantz to feel loyalty to the king; after all, that's who he has been working for all along. What's unnatural is the new perspective Hamlet gives to this position. He refers to Rosencrantz as a "sponge" as he "soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities." While Rosencrantz has probably always viewed these duties as responsible and civic, he is now beginning to question them, and wonder if Hamlet is really right. Hamlet implies that, as soon as the king gets what he wants/needs from Rosencrantz (and the sponge is "dried out" so to speak), the whole process will repeat itself, making Rosencrantz seem like a pathetic and useless assistant to the king's deeds. Because Rosencrantz is now questioning his own responsibilities, the natural vs. unnatural motif is starting to show itself.

//"Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar."//
 * Scene 3: p. 195, line 28**

In this scene, Hamlet has just been questioned by Claudius about the whereabouts of Polonius, or Polonius's body. After Hamlet alludes to the fact that Polonius is now being eaten by worms, he makes this interesting analogy. He explains to the king that "A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed to that worm," implying that, as much of a rich and cultured life the king has led, nothing will stop him from someday finding himself in the "guts of a beggar." This, clearly, is unnatural not only to Claudius, but to all readers/viewers of Hamlet. Obviously, it's natural for worms and maggots to eat rotting flesh, just like it's natural for people to fish with those worms and maggots, and then to eat the fish they catch. But, using his interesting words and twisted thoughts, Hamlet has, once again, managed to make the natural seem completely unnatural.

//"And let all sleep, while to my shame I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men that for a fantasy and trick of fame go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try he cause, which is not tomb enough and continent to hide the slain?"//
 * Scene 4: p. 203, lines 62-66**

This scene is probably one of the most defining moments in this entire play. It is a climactic moment in that Hamlet is making a decision, and coming to a conclusion about where he stands and where he wants things to go from this point on. While fighting a war for your country and defending the honor of its people certainly seems natural, fighting over a worthless piece of land that is not even big enough to fight on, let alone bury all the killed soldiers, seems very unnatural. Hamlet, at this point, realizes that. This line is also significant for the reason that it leads Hamlet to his ultimate decision: that every action he takes from now on will be meaningful and revengeful, or worth nothing at all.