Hamlet on the stage

[mike thomas]

No doubt this has been covered somewhere, so apologies for any rep rep repetition.

At the end of the play, Hamlet is dead, Fortinbras makes his first appearance, and tells four captains to:

"Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royally."

Putting aside the question of by what means was Hamlet's body carried by four men, it seems to me that the 'stage' being referred to is that stage upon which actors perform.

Hamlet is obviously into acting: take the Mousetrap for example - he even teaches an actor how to move his arms.

The phrase "had he been put on" puzzles the mind.

regards

[Beewulf]

The word "stage" had multiple meanings in Shakespeare's day, just as it does in ours. Shakespeare is probably using the word to refer to "a raised floor, platform, scaffold raised above the level of the ground for the exhibition of something to be viewed by spectators." (Oxford English Dictionary).

As for "put"; again, the word had multiple meanings in Shakespeare's day. One meaning was "to make a push; to exert oneself; to strive for a specified goal, to make an effort." In other words, the line may mean, "Had he wished to, he would have proved himself a very noble soldier."

[Gladys]

The phrase "had he been put on" puzzles the mind.

Had Hamlet been put to the test as king of Denmark.

[TwelfthNightCo.]

As Beewulf points out, "stage" is a word with many meanings. In a strict literal sense, Fortinbras is telling his men to put Hamlet's body on display, but certainly there's a double meaning. Ie, "Had he been put on the stage, in a play, he'd have done a pretty good job as a character." Hamlet is full of these self-reflexive moments. For example, he tells the ghost he will remember him, "As long as memory holds a seat in this distracted globe." As long as there are seats in the Globe Theater?

But it's kind of ironic, no? Hamlet was put on the stage, and how "royally" did he do? He kind of blows it, delaying for so long.