"Our Sometime Sister, Now Our Queen" (Hamlet - Act 1 / Scene 2, Claudius Speech #1)

Salutations, my fellow humans! To kick off the next scene of Hamlet, we're going to look at speeches by individual characters.

First off, Claudius' first speech in Act 1 / Scene 2.

Characters in Shakespeare tragedies often give very long, rambling speeches that can be hard to understand. Claudius is one of these characters, and he often begins talking and doesn't stop for several long and confusing minutes.

Claudius kicks off the beginning of Act 1 / Scene 2 with a speech announcing his grief for the death of his brother, his marriage to the queen, and news of political affairs with Norway. To clarify, Claudius gives a speech because he is directing his words to a present audience. A monologue is a speech a character makes to themselves or to space when they are alone.

You can find a script of Hamlet online by searching for it, so I will not be displaying the original text of the speech in this post to save space. I will attempt to go line by line or point by point, so I suggest using my analysis as a guide to reading the speech itself. This speech is the first appearance of Claudius in the play and the very beginning of Act 1 / Scene 2.

P.S. In this speech, Claudius says "we" a lot, but he mostly means "I" instead, as the speech is about himself.

Analysis:

Though the memories of my elder dead brother are fresh in my mind

And the kingdom and I are rightfully grieving,

Life must go on.

I believe I should mourn him while also

Thinking of my own well-being.

Therefore, I've married my former sister-in-law,

The queen,

With happiness and sadness.

I know that by marrying her,

I am following the advise that all of you gave to me.

Thank you for your support.

And so we move onto business.

Whiny Prince Fortinbras thinks I am some weak sauce

Because Dead Bro Hamlet is dead.

He thinks our state is disjointed and that THAT

Makes him hot stuff.

He keeps whining to me that he wants the lands

(That his father lawfully lost to my dead bro, mind you)

Back in his possession.

I say-

So much for him.

And I'm going to tattle on him to his uncle

With this letter

That I'm holding

And that I'm going to send to Norway.

Uncle King of Nor-o-way will hear of WPF's temper tantrum

And put him in time out.

So, you two- Cornelius and the guy whose name looks like Voldemort,

Take this letter quickly,

And don't die on the way.

Claudius is a bit of an attention hog. That speech may seem short and insignificant, but it gives the reader important information about why Hamlet hates his uncle, as he mentions later on in the scene.