Hamlet Part 8: The End's Not Near, It's Here

Yes, I just named this post after an episode of The O.C. Deal with it. That show was great and I will fight anyone that says differently. Actually, I've been Christmas shopping all day, so I'll pretty much just fight anyone. Anyway, welcome to the final Hamlet post! I'm finally done with this damn play. It has taken me exactly the same amount of time to finish as a full damn novel. Sorry about that. But

The end has come, my friends. Prepare for the deaths of everyone.

there's a lot to be said about Shakespeare. Alright, on to the text.

Act 4 Scene 7

Between this scene and the last, Claudius and Laertes had their little off-screen "trial" to determine if Claudius was guilty of killing Polonius or not. Apparently, it came out favorably for Claudius because he and Laertes are totally bros now. Laertes has come to the (correct) conclusion that Hamlet killed Polonius and asks why Claudius hasn't done something about him yet. Claudius says that it's because of Gertrude, who is, you know, Hamlet's mother for Christ's sake. Also, people generally like him and would be upset if he died. Laertes begins to plot his revenge on Hamlet, which Claudius fully encourages.

Claudius is given Hamlet's letters. You know, the ones he somehow sent from a ship while being held captive by pirates. Totally a normal thing. Anyway, Claudius is confused by his letter, which says that Hamlet will be back in Denmark the following day. Claudius thinks that it must be a trick. Laertes, however, is excited because he knows he will soon have his revenge on Hamlet.

Whoopsie Daisy

My behavior has been terrible. I'm very sorry.

Okay... You may have noticed that I haven't been "posting" or "writing" or "acknowledging your presence in any way" in the last... while. Like, 2 weeks? That's all because I'm a generally shitty blogger with no follow-though and a shit-ton of things to do. Christmas is hard. Working 6 days a week is also hard. But let's make a deal right here and fucking now. I WILL POST FRIDAY NIGHT. This Friday, December 19th (yes, I had to look that up), I will post some motherfucking Hamlet so help me god. If I don't, you are cordially invited to come kick my lily-white Irish ass. I certainly deserve it.

So, there were are. I will return to my regularly scheduled nonsense and swearing this coming Friday. I promise not to take any more unscheduled, unmentioned breaks again. Hopefully, I will be finishing Hamlet soon (for fucks sake, it's taken far too long already) and then we will move on to something different. Maybe more contemporary work, like something written in the last 100 years might be nice.

Until Friday (I fucking promise), Happy Reading