22. Balance
Francisco
is waiting to be relieved from sentry duty. He is on
edge. The air is damp and cold. The battlements where he patrols
have been visited by a ghost – the ghost of the dead king.
The ghost has a message to impart – of evil done unto the dead king or done by the dead king. In the background, a dim rumour of celebration can be heard from the banqueting hall where the new king, Claudius, is feasting, night after night …
A sudden noise and Francisco starts and spins round to cry out:
'Stand and unfold yourself?'
Once he is certain it is indeed his relief and not the ghost, he grumbles:
'You come most carefully upon your hour …'
Shakespeare's Hamlet begins with this scene on the battlements of the great, grey brooding Elsinore castle. I always imagine it overlooking some steep, rocky North Sea cliff. At the Globe theatre, the scene is played in daylight. The actors' skill convinces us that they are in darkness.
There is a clever act going on here between suspense
– 'Who's coming?' 'What's he so worried about?' – and reassurance
– 'It's OK, I know who it is.'
One thing I like about this wonderful scene is that it gets our attention
without putting us on edge. In prose, too, it's a good technique to
practice – to draw the reader in and, once you've got them, crank
up the tension.
