Hamlet Act III: Hamlet’s Good Friend Horatio

Hamlet's tone and way of talking to everyone is different than the way he talks to Horatio. Horatio is his loyal friend, who has never left his side, in other words the only person Hamlet still trusts. His way of speaking to everyone in the play and even when he speaks to the public, sounds as hiding a deep sense of anger and revenge, something that he doesn't show when talking to his dear friend. Horatio, being the only person trusted by Hamlet, is given by Hamlet the task to observe Claudius's reaction to the play they are about to see. He asks his favor by saying "I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, even with the very comment of thy soul observe my uncle" (Act III Sc ii ln 83). First Hamlet is asking a favor to Horatio by starting with "I prithee", being a rare word used by him throughout the play. Hamlet doesn't ask a lot of favors throughout the play, rather he addresses the other characters more aggressively and with direct orders being more like commands. Shakespeare uses this difference in tone of speech to show the affection he has towards Horatio, being the last person he has left and his accomplice in his final act.

Horatio's task is to observe Claudius while the act is being put on, with the comment of his soul. The word soul is used to refer to the way he must see the king's reaction. Soul is a word that evokes truth being that the soul is pure, therefore unable to lie. Hamlet is asking his loyal friend to do everything according to his soul, to do what is right, to help out his friend. The word soul could have also been used in this part meaning with meticulous care and being aware of every detail. In the end the reaction of the kings wasn't as secret, standing up and walking away from the play. Hamlet also talks to Horatio by saying "This realm dismantled was […] and now reigns here a very very- pajock" (Act III sc ii ln 307). The way Hamlet speaks to Horatio wouldn't be the same way he would speak to any character, including his mother. The realm being dismantled is the uncovering of the crime. In these two lines Hamlet summarizes the outcomes of the plan they carried out, observing Claudius's reaction to the play which was to run away, reconfirming the fact that the ghost had said. A pajock is a peacock, which in the time of Shakespeare meant a lustful and cruel person. When Hamlet said this he is saying that of the king. He is actually insulting the king in his kingdom, but again he is saying that to his good friend Horatio knowing that he is in his side.