A Reason to Go On?

Hamlet …Horatio, I am dead.
Thou livest: report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

Horatio Never believe it.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here’s yet some liquor left.

Hamlet As thou’rt a man
Give me the cup. Let go! By heaven I’ll ha’t!
O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity awhile
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story.

Whenever I watch a film version of Hamlet, I always skip ahead to the end. The first thing I want to see, before I watch the whole of it, is how the film handles this scene.

Does Hamlet, already stabbed and poisoned, have to wrestle the venomous cup away from his friend? Or does Horatio hand it over upon Hamlet’s request? I don’t mind either way; I just want to see the interaction between the two men as Horatio makes it plain that he would sooner die than live without Hamlet.

Hamlet gives him a reason to go on. It’s not clear whether that reason is permanent—in theory, he could be saying, “My friend, if you love me stay alive long enough to tell my story; make sure the truth gets out. Then by all means join me in the oblivion of death.” But that’s a cynical take. I suspect Hamlet knows that Horatio will not finish telling and retelling the tale until he reaches the length of his days.

I find it interesting that Hamlet doesn't argue the Roman notion that death by suicide is acceptable and even respectable. He doesn't remind Horatio that suicide is against their faith.

Yet earlier in the play, when dealing with his own grief and misery, Hamlet had wished that “the Everlasting had not fixed His canon `gainst self slaughter.” Either Hamlet himself no longer takes his faith into account, or he knows that his friend is too Roman in thought and character to be swayed by an appeal to the God of Abraham.

In either case, the result is the same: Horatio will go on living. This may be a harsh world and Horatio may indeed draw his breath in pain—especially as he thinks on the loss of Hamlet. But his mission to tell Hamlet’s story, to set the record straight, will give his life purpose.

I’m of that same mind. This world is every bit as harsh as Hamlet says--but as long as there's a story to tell, life is still worth living.