sext: you look like the universe decided that it was tired of being so immense so it compressed all of its beauty and complexity and wonder into a smaller form so it could make everyone around it feel like they were a part of the stars
Time for a fun little analysis of one of my favorite lines in Hamlet: “I am but mad north-north-west; when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”
First, the context: he’s talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after figuring out they were spying on him for the king, following “My uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived.” Later, as soon as he drops this banger, Guildenstern doesn’t have a chance to respond because Polonius shows up.
Now, the dissection. “But mad north-north-west” implies that he’s only as off-key as a compass that points a little northwest instead of north. The “southern wind” was seen as a “remover of melancholy”, so this was very telling of him. A hawk in almost every context is a spy, and a handsaw is a tool, or a friend.
Finally, the summary: Hamlet was saying that his mind was only slightly askew, and when it was clear of melancholy (as, we can assume, it was in that moment, because the actors were coming and the thespian in him was excited) he knew the difference between a spy and a friend. And he managed to convey all of this in a way that was practically incomprehensible, adding to his assumed antic disposition.
But the line does fuck…
