Talk about a cloud (Act 3)

Ham. Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?

Pol. By th' mass, and 'tis like a camel indeed.

Ham. Methinks it is like a weasel.

Pol. It is back'd like a weasel.

Ham. Or like a whale.

Pol. Very like a whale.

Ham. Then will I come to my mother by-and-by.—They fool me to the top of my bent.—I will come by-and-by.

Pol. I will say so.

This is a untypical paragraph of description of scenery.

Here Hamlet and Polonaise had a discussion on the shape of a cloud. Honestly we can not see any shiny spot on this description for its ordinary words and the old-fashioned rhetoric method. However this is one of the rare scenery description of the whole play. Hamlet fooled Polonaise by talking about the shapes of a cloud. In Hamlet's mind, he said, "They fool me to the top of my bent." In this way Hamlet fooled them back. The mite thoughts of our hero make the pale description vivid.

2016-01-09

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