The Missing Scene

As I watched the Hartford Stage production of Hamlet (see 11/16/14 post), something was rotten in Denmark (or, at least in Connecticut).  I've seen the work many a time, but I couldn't recall a scene starring Horatio and Gertrude.  Yet, here it was playing out before me.  Horatio was telling Gertrude about a letter he had received from Hamlet.  He told her of the treasonous plot against Hamlet's life, a plot perpetrated by Claudius.  He told of Hamlet's success at foiling the plot.  Gertrude learned that Hamlet was on his way home and that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had been killed.  She was left anticipating her son's return and realizing that her husband was almost a murderer for the second time.

Where on Earth did all of that come from?  Where were the usual references to "High and Mighty" and pirates?  I checked a print copy of Hamlet at the first opportunity and could find no reference to this scene.  Oddly, though, it seemed vaguely familiar.  When I sat down to write a post about the version of Hamlet that I had seen years before at the World Financial Center in NYC (see 8/3/13 post), I had a note about a scene between Horatio and Gertrude.  I blamed it on a trick of the memory; after all, I couldn't find any trace of such a scene, and I had never seen it again.  Maybe this addition to the Hartford version was what I had stored away subconsciously, or maybe that was an example of misremembering after all.

As it turns out, there is indeed evidence for this conversation.  The First (or "Bad") Quarto of Hamlet includes this scene.  I have included the text below, with the spelling edited into a more modern presentment.  A modern-day DVD release might call it an Outtake or Deleted Scene, as the Second Quarto and Folio dropped it entirely.  So a typical reading or viewing of the play would not include it at all.  One could go many years--or forever--without ever knowing that the scene existed.  Maybe that was the playwright's intent (if it was even his creation in the first place).

The conversation adds a new dimension to the characters involved.  We see that there is a more than casual relationship between Horatio and Gertrude.  We know Horatio as a friend to Hamlet.  Apparently the prince thinks highly enough of Horatio to ask him to deliver a message to Gertrude, and Horatio holds Gertrude in enough regard to deliver the message personally.  He even offers to carry the wishes of the mother back to her son, whom he will meet upon his return.

I believe that this scene also has an effect on the conclusion of the play.  By the time we have reached the duel, Gertrude knows the capabilities of Claudius.  She has been told by Hamlet that Claudius murdered her first husband, which she may have doubted.  In this new scene, she has learned that Claudius has attempted to have her son murdered, which may have confirmed her initial suspicions.  When Claudius urges her not to drink from the poisoned chalice, does she suspect that another plot is afoot?  Does she drink knowing that she may be sacrificing her own life?

Enter Horatio and the Queen.

Hor. Madame, your son is safe arriv'd in Denmark,
This letter I even now receiv'd of him,
Whereas he writes how he escap'd the danger,
And subtle treason that the king had plotted,
Being crossed by the contention of the winds,
He found the Packet sent to the king of England,
Wherein he saw himself betray'd to death,
As at his next conversion with your grace,
He will relate the circumstance at full.

Queen Then I perceive there's treason in his looks
That seem'd to sugar o'er his villany:
But I will soothe and please him for a time,
For murderous minds are always jealous,
But know not you Horatio where he is?

Hor. Yes Madame, and he hath appointed me
To meet him on the east side of the City
Tomorrow morning.

Queen O fail not, good Horatio, and withall, commend me
A mother's care to him, bid him a while
Be wary of his presence, lest that he
Fail in that he goes about.

Hor. Madam, never make doubt of that:
I think by this the news be come to court:
He is arriv'd, observe the king, and you shall
Quickly find, Hamlet being here,
Things fell not to his mind.

Queen But what became of Guildernstern and Rosencrantz?

Hor. He being set ashore, they went for England,
And in the Packet there writ down that doom
To be perform'd on them pointed for him:
And by great chance he had his father's Seal,
So all was done without discovery.

Queen Thanks be to heaven for blessing of the prince,
Horatio once again I take my leave,
With thousand mother's blessings to my son.

Horat. Madam adieu.