#13: Hamlet Blog Post 1: Something's Rotten in Denmark

 Sit us down and I shall tell a story. But a babe, Hamlet fails to understand my motives. To say I love Claudius! ‘tis a thought of fancy. The way he introduces me to his court is deplorable. He calls me, “our sometime sister, now our queen” (1.2.8). I chose to marry him, yes, but more because the nation is in such a deplorable state—“ rank and gross” (1.2.136). But ‘tis more my duty than anything else to marry a man as odious as Claudius. I do miss my husband, “Arm’d from top to toe,” I can picture him now (1.2.127-128). I wish Hamlet could see that. I, not being a noblewoman by any stretch, am heartbroken to hear my son claiming my predation through utterances as “Frailty, thy name is woman!”(1.2.146). In the end, he fails to understand that I waited but a month for the protection of this nation above all. We pray to veer from the predatory path of Fortinbras. I only hope Hamlet can keep his sanity in these trying times. He is depressed and somber. One can only hope things get no worse, lest he fall to an “antic disposition” (1.5.172). One can but hope.