Henry IV, Part 1 927trude “is so conjunctive for my life and soul / That,
as the star moves not but in his sphere / I could
not but by her” (4.7.11). To arrest Hamlet would
wound Gertrude, whom Claudius says he loves
profoundly. Of course, he could be lying to cover
his motive for the murder: love of power. After all,
he has secret plans to have Hamlet executed by the
king of England. He wants to appear innocent to
Gertrude but reckons that Hamlet is a greater threat
to him alive than Gertrude’s sorrow if Hamlet were
to die. We are left to ask ourselves what motivates
Claudius: love for power or love for Gertrude.
The metaphor of being driven mad by being
blocked from acting on the impulses of passion
applies to both Hamlet and Ophelia. The obstacle
to consummating their love is their respective filial
duty. The command to honor their fathers structures
the course of their relationship and their mental
well-being, ultimately leading both to their deaths.
In the case of Ophelia, as we have seen, Polonius
has advised her to “repel his letters and deny [him]
access” (2.1.98–99) after Hamlet has “importuned
[her] with love in honorable fashion” (1.4.110–111),
and she has done so. Subsequent to her rebuff, Oph-
elia is frightened by Hamlet’s appearance and con-
duct toward her, yet still has wits enough to observe
of Hamlet’s mad behavior, “O, what a noble mind is
here o’erthrown!” (3.1.146). By the end of that act,
Hamlet will have stabbed her father and hidden the
body from the court. In act 5, when Ophelia comes
into audience with Gertrude and Claudius, she is
mad, singing vulgar ditties and foreshadowing her
own death: “Indeed, without an oath, I’ll make an
end on’t” (5.5.56). There can no longer be love in a
world in which her mad lover has killed her father.
She must drown.
In the case of Hamlet, even if he has been affected
by Ophelia’s rejection of him, his father’s revelations
and demands, as delivered by the ghost, must take
precedence over everything. More than Ophelia’s
refusal of Hamlet, the question Hamlet grapples
with concerning the integrity of women seems to
be the most disturbing to him. As we have seen,
his confusion over his mother’s involvement with
Claudius raises for Hamlet the question of whether
all women are innately whores. He plagues Ophelia
with innuendoes about her base sexuality but has no
foundation to do so. In the end, the only thing left in
the world for Hamlet to love is Denmark.
Hamlet manifests this love of honor, order, and
country by convincing his last friend in the world,
Horatio, to speak to Fortinbras of what has trans-
pired. He restores honor to his father’s name and to
Elsinore by passing the rule of Denmark to Fortin-
bras, a military leader who loves honor as much as
Hamlet did.
Ellen RosenbergSHakESPEarE, wiLLiam Henry IV,
Part 1 (1598)
William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 was written
between 1596 and 1597 and first published in 1598.
Because of its memorable characters and fluid nar-
rative, the play remains one of Shakespeare’s most
enjoyable and accessible history plays. Shakespeare
effortlessly balances scenes of high drama and
pathos with scenes of bawdy humor, all the while
examining the dangers of civil war during the early
reign of Henry IV, and debating (through his char-
acters) what honor really means. For Falstaff, honor
is merely a word.
The main characters of Henry IV, Part 1 are
split into two factions: those who support Henry
IV and those who are rebelling against his policies.
While Henry is the king, he is nonetheless reduced
to a supporting role; his son, Prince Hal (the future
Henry V ), is the play’s protagonist and the one
who directs most of the action. With Hal we see
a troubled youth, someone who seems incapable of
leading his nation one day. Hal’s best friend is Fal-
staff, an overweight drunk who is the target of much
ridicule and trickery. Hal is seemingly ignorant of
the political machinations that are unfolding. Since
the deposition and death of Richard II, the Percys
(who aided Henry in his quest to dethrone Richard)
are upset with their king’s political dealings. Already
marked by an inharmonious relationship, the Percys
gain support for a rebellion and begin to organize
an army led by the young and rash Henry Percy
(Hotspur), eldest son of the earl of Northumberland.
The rebellion is crushed at the Battle of Shrewsbury,
and all conclude that rebellion is disastrous for all
persons involved.