Act One Scene Four
Interlude
The
ghost I was
“Father,
I beg of thee.” Laertes pleaded with the father in his chamber at the castle.
“I do not want to attend the same abode as him.”
“Both
of you are friends since childhood. Your sister is the same. What is wrong to
be educated to adulthood in the same abode?” Polonius stood by the fireplace
with his eyes on the picture of his dead wife.
“Ruth,
if you are still with us. Do educate the child here. He is …”
“Mother
is dead, Father. She died years ago after the bout of madness.” Laertes snapped
back.
“Madness?
How dare you say your mother died of that? She was sane to her last breath.”
Polonius was upset that his only son will accuse the mother of being mad. “She
was ill.”
“Denial
won’t save your soul, father. She died because of you. Your devotion to the
King drove her mad. We are interned here in this castle because of you. My
sister, God save her soul, was preserved here for the lust of the prodigal
son.”
“Enough
of this, Laertes lest I denounce you of your inheritance.” Polonius threatened
the other.
“Our
well being….your mother’s care were all of the King. If not for him, I would be
struggling….No, I will be a speck of dirt in the street with you and your
sister holding begging bowls.” Polonius owed a lifetime of gratitude to the
King.
“The
King took me off there and fed us, clothed us, and above all, even educate you
and Ophelia…”
“Ophelia?
Is that the name you called? Not, as a daughter but as another actor in the
play.” Laertes moaned out his grief. “Are we all actors in the play here? Our
fate is determined by the stroke of your pen.”
“Hush your words, Laertes. I am still your father.”
Polonius took offense to his works. He had been a playwright for the King and
upon the King’s request, lines may be changed, and thus the mood of the play.
“And
I thought we were the Capulets and Montagues to play out the fate of our
children here?” Laertes referred to the play Romeo and Juliet where the fate of
their union was to be the mainstay of the play. And it ended in tragedy.
“What
madness ruled your young mind? You are only twelve of age now and yet you act
with the rebellion of the older youth.”
“Pardon
me, Father. This is not my mind that speaks but the years of voices listening
to you and your plays. You are good at it, with the stroke of the pen, you
could have changed Moses into near Godly in the looks.”
“Your
theology studies alongside your sister may have paid off, but your mind is ever
ruinous with twisted facts. Moses did return to his people with a shining face
as told in Exodus 34:29-34. He did hold the metaphysical point of explaining
that he was having the face of God. He later placed on the veil to cover the
radiance of God.” Polonius placed
his thinking expression of his when have to describe a scene to the actors.
“But
we must pace ourselves, find times to dim the intensity of our spiritual Light
so that we can rest, relax and interact with others who might be blinded or
frightened by seeing a Light that they are not yet ready to understand or
accept. How will when know when to reach for the veil? God's guidance is as
constant and certain within us as God's light. Blessings!” (https://www.unity.org/bible-interpretations/exodus-3429-34-moses-came-down-mount-sinai-and-he-came-down-mountain)
“Bravo,
Father. Once again you had to whelm your readers on the learning. Do you know
that act by the King was given salutations that scored the headlines for weeks?
Every play that week was overbooked twice the numbers.” Laertes said. “I am of
young in years, but reading the news is my daily chore. As I read, I took notes
yet none was said of you.”
“Enough
of my plays, why do you resent going to the same abode as Hamlet?” Polonius
pushed to change the subject.
“I
am not his shadow, Father. Nor his ghost.” Laertes said out plainly. “I desire
to be my man. I loved the plays like him, but I am more like you. I used the
pen to develop my lines, and not the tone of my voice or the veil to hide my
true radiance.”
“The
actors shall read my lines though they may speak with their voice. I do not wish
to be like you; the Great Chamberlain that pens those great lines yet he is to
get the approval of the actor. I will not.”
“Son,”
Polonius reduced to submission and finally pleaded with Laertes.
“We
owe our lives to the King, and him, we will serve. One day, the King will be
dead, and the next takes over. I want us to continue.”
“In
servitude or as a peer? If my sister marries the impotent Prince, she may just
be his peer as frigid as the cold snows but not me.”
“Why
do you object to Ophelia with Hamlet?”
“None
whatsoever. I am her brother and not her lover. She will decide on her own. As
I will be my King in my land. I will famous not for a ghost nor a shadow but
for my radiance.” Laertes finally spoke his piece. “I shall do as you pleased,
Father. Once I am done with the studying, I will be on my trail to my kingdom.”
“So,
you will go where Hamlet studies?”
“For
now, my dear Father. I am still hanging onto your teats for milk.” Polonius
headed out leaving the young boy to himself.
While on the walk to the hall, the elderly man ponders the words of his
son.
He
may be right for I am in the shadow of the King, but I owned no such kingdom.
Be it, Hamlet the Prince one day be King, then with Ophelia as the wedded half,
perhaps I may not lose it all.
Only
if Hamlet is the next King.
The
pen is stronger than the sword here.
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