jumpingjacktrash:

shakesankle:

So let’s discuss the last scene of Hamlet, shall we? (Caution: long post.)

It starts out with just Hamlet and Horatio, discussing the deceit of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Horatio is explicitly made aware that King Claudius was at the root of the plot to kill Hamlet. Then Osric enters and informs them that Claudius has made a wager on Hamlet beating Laertes in a swordfight.

A swordfight. You know, with those sharp, pointy, potentially lethal things?

Come on, it’s obvious that this just the next attempt to get Hamlet killed. But it’s also fairly obvious that Laertes is not going to just come out and stab Hamlet to death – that would be better done in private and not in the most public situation imaginable at court, implicating the king. So, another plot is rather obviously afoot. Yet Hamlet hardly seems worried; instead he proceeds to make fun of Osric.

Why so? Well, the only rational explanation would be that Hamlet and Horatio have a plan of their own. Horatio’s offer to forestall the king’s arrival and “say you are not fit” could be read as a final test of resolve: “Do you really want to go ahead with this?” – And Hamlet replies with “We defy augury.” Given that the scene is replete with references to fate (e.g. the famous “divinity that shapes our ends”), this is hardly a throwaway comment. It is Hamlet answering: “Yes, let’s do it. Let’s play fate.”

Claudius and his party promptly enter. Hamlet, rather unsurprisingly, goes off on one of his hotch-potch rants. Its contents actually make sense – denial of responsibility due to insanity – but the phrasing is still rather more complicated than necessary, half mocking, half confused. You can just picture him waving his arms around wildly and drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile, no mention at all is made of what Horatio is up to.

So, what if he used the distraction provided by Hamlet to manipulate the rapiers? Being Horatio, he is of course well prepared. Romeo and Juliet teaches us that there is a non-lethal potion that can be used to fake death. What if Hamlet and Horatio, given the ominous circumstances, had already discussed its use in situations like this. What if Horatio, ever since then, carried a clean cloth and a flask of the potion. What if Horatio picked out the rapier which was anointed which that rather suspicious-looking liquid, wiped it clean, and dosed it instead with the non-lethal potion. What if Horatio thereby saved Hamlet using Juliet’s potion.

It explains why they went with the rapier fight at all – it gave them an opportunity to resolve things in a way that would get Hamlet out of the spotlight and allow them to start a new life in peace and quiet elsewhere. It explains why Hamlet isn’t bothered about which rapier he chooses – he knows that Laertes will choose the one carefully prepared by Horatio and actually wants to be hit. It explains why, after stabbing Claudius, Hamlet also forces him to drink from the poisoned cup – neither Gertrude’s nor Claudius’s death were intended, but the poisoned drink was not part of the plan. The fact that Claudius just lets Gertrude die gives Hamlet the final kick to actually kill him too, though, and he knows that the stab wound alone would do no harm.

It also explains all the references to playing fate – by successfully using the make-me-seem-dead potion that Shakespeare was so fond of, Hamlet and Horatio shaped their own ends in a way that would seem like fate to anyone else. All they had to do was act out the rest of the scene for the remaining courtiers (rather dramatically, one might add) and then sneak off sometime the next day. “Goodnight, sweet prince” literally means “sleep well, darling, and see you tomorrow morning”.

tl;dr: Headcanon that Hamlet and Horatio are happily living on a desert island together (just like Mercutio and Benvolio).

HEADCANON ACCEPTED