Escape Logan Estate Act 3

CLAUDIUS, ROSENCRANTZ, and GUILDENSTERN enter.

To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you.

And he to England shall along with you.

Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow

I don’t like the way he’s acting, and it’s not safe for me to let his insanity get out of control. So get prepared. I’m sending you to England on diplomatic business, and Hamlet will go with you. As king, I cannot risk the danger he represents as he grows crazier by the hour.

Most holy and religious fear it is

10That live and feed upon your majesty.

We’ll take care of it. It’s a sacred duty to protect the lives of all those who depend on Your Highness.

With all the strength and armor of the mind

That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest

Dies not alone, but, like a gulf, doth draw

Fixed on the summit of the highest mount,

20Are mortised and adjoined, which, when it falls,

Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone

Everyone tries to avoid harm, but the public figure demands even more protection. When a great leader dies he doesn’t die alone but, like a whirlpool, draws others with him. He’s like a huge wheel on the top of the highest mountain whose spokes touch the rim of ten thousand smaller things—when it falls down the mountain, every little object goes down with it. Whenever a king sighs, everyone groans.

25For we will fetters put upon this fear,

Prepare yourself, please, for this trip. We’ll put a leash on this danger that’s now running wild.