Hamlet and Horatio Are In Love

Literature is often heteronormative. When a man and woman interact, people insist that one is in love with the other. That’s right: Iago secretly loves Desdemona. Mercutio mocks Romeo’s love for Juliet because he wants to be with Juliet himself. Rosencrantz is pining for Ophelia. Meanwhile, when two characters of the same gender might be in love, most people will never even consider the possibility. What’s with the double standard?

All right, I originally included Rosencrantz and Ophelia as a joke because nobody would make that much of a stretch, but I later discovered that the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by W. S. Gilbert (not to be confused with Tom Stoppard’s play) actually does have Rosencrantz in love with Ophelia. Okay, man.

Often, these heterosexual theories are viewed as interesting interpretations that contribute to the story regardless of textual support. If you propose that two guys are in love, people suddenly don’t care about adding character depth. They care about the absence of definite evidence. And any evidence is brushed off as, like, really strong friendship. It can really transform your perspective to ask, “If these characters were a man and a woman, would people interpret their relationship as romantic?” The answer with Hamlet and Horatio is a definite yes, and I wholeheartedly believe that this interpretation really does make Hamlet much more interesting—and is also pretty dang accurate. My reasoning is an amalgam of research (which was tougher than I’d expected since I’d actually thought this interpretation was more obvious) and mostly the many things I’ve noticed while reading Hamlet (and re-reading several parts with this idea in mind).

We first see Horatio giving Hamlet a surprise visit from Wittenberg, their university. Aside from being a pretty awesome character on his own, Horatio brings out a side of Hamlet that the audience hasn’t previously seen: in contrast with his former misery, Hamlet expresses how glad he is to see Horatio. Some people prefer to think of Hamlet as this perpetually-gloomy guy without room for joy or love in his tragic narrative, but I disagree. Tragedy must be contextualized by comedy. We know from the family’s dialogue that Hamlet was once happy and well-adjusted, but we never witness it firsthand—until Horatio gives us a hint of who Hamlet could’ve been. Seeing this facet of Hamlet shows us what is lost. It shows us that things weren’t supposed to be this way.

HORATIO
The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever.
HAMLET
Sir, my good friend, I’ll change that name with you.

This is just the beginning: Hamlet un-servantzones Horatio, revealing that Horatio either already is or will later become a “good friend” rather than a “poor servant.” Even in these initial interactions, Shakespeare establishes that their relationship goes beyond what’s expected between a prince and a regular scholar, revealing or foreshadowing their exceptional closeness.

HAMLET
But what is your affair in Elsinore?…
HORATIO
My lord, I came to see your father’s funeral.
HAMLET
I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student;
I think it was to see my mother’s wedding.
HORATIO
Indeed, my lord, it follow’d hard upon.

Hamlet’s inquiries about why Horatio is here and his jab at his mother’s hasty remarriage are meant to test the waters; Horatio’s agreement hints that he’s on Hamlet’s side. And thus it begins: Horatio’s soon-to-be unwavering support for Hamlet and Hamlet’s soon-to-be unwavering trust in Horatio. This is what their interactions are all about.

As we start to witness, Horatio’s dynamic relationship with Hamlet undergoes a unique arc when interpreted as love. Horatio’s character explores the question of how strong love can be, and the story ends by showing that their bond is truly unbreakable. His love is constantly tested, but he remains loyal to Hamlet even through the misery and murder as the story progresses into extreme territory. Hamlet’s character, meanwhile, explores the question of trust. He becomes more and more willing to fully trust Horatio, which is especially important in a play where almost nobody can be trusted.

While this doesn’t directly involve Horatio, we also receive an exchange in Act 2 Scene 2 that openly discusses the possibility of Hamlet feeling attraction towards men, albeit jokingly. During my first time reading the play, this was something that caught my attention and drew me towards the possibility.

HAMLET
Man delights not me. No, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.
ROSENCRANTZ
My lord, there was no such stuff in my thoughts.
HAMLET
Why did you laugh then, when I said “man delights not me”?
ROSENCRANTZ
To think, my lord, if you delight not in man, what Lenten entertainment the players shall receive from you.

In this scene, Hamlet is monologuing about how nothing makes him happy when he says, “man delights not me.” He means this in the sense that humanity can’t bring him joy, but Rosencrantz interprets this as Hamlet saying he’s not attracted to men and laughs. Hamlet corrects himself, clarifying with “nor women neither” that he means nobody can make him happy—and that he’s not talking about attraction, just general happiness. Rosencrantz says what basically amounts to, “I just thought it was funny because if you were straight, how would you entertain the male actors who are visiting?”

Although this scene is mostly played for laughs, I found its implications interesting, even if they aren’t entirely serious: Rosencrantz laughs at the prospect of Hamlet calling himself straight. Hamlet corrects himself after accidentally implying that he’s straight. Rosencrantz jokingly suggests that Hamlet being straight would be a problem because he couldn’t entertain the actors. By doing so, Rosencrantz also implies that he’d previously assumed that Hamlet wasn’t straight and would entertain them.

In a heteronormative society, all of this might seem backwards. You can probably imagine the inverse: a straight guy accidentally implies that he’s gay, his friend laughs, the straight guy corrects himself, and the friend jokes about his relations with guys. The conversation is possible because both of them know or assume that the speaker is straight. Conversely, Hamlet’s conversation suggests that Hamlet isn’t straight. (Gay and straight are kind of anachronistic terms for Shakespeare’s time, but you get the idea.) While this whole exchange might just be in jest, it’s definitely a notable scene and only further supports such an interpretation.

As for Hamlet and Horatio, their love becomes more evident later on compared to their initial conversations—Act 3 Scene 2 is particularly notable. In fact, the whole possibility of a romantic interpretation originally struck me when I was first reading this scene.

HAMLET
What ho, Horatio!
HORATIO
Here, sweet lord, at your service.
HAMLET
Horatio, thou art e’en as just a man
As e’er my conversation coped withal.

Horatio enters the scene and Hamlet basically tells him, in the words of No Fear Shakespeare, “Horatio, you’re the best man I’ve ever known.” Pretty self-explanatory. It’s also worth noting Horatio’s address to Hamlet: “sweet lord.” Considering that “sweet” sometimes carries romantic and feminine connotations, it’s an interesting choice for describing a prince, although other characters (Osric) also use this for Hamlet.

HAMLET
Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice
And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath sealed thee for herself.

No Fear Shakespeare translates this line as, “Ever since I’ve been a free agent in my choice of friends, I’ve chosen you.” The idea of Hamlet choosing Horatio is pretty telling. However, there’s romantic subtext here that this modern translation doesn’t capture, and it’s so obvious that I can’t believe I missed it until like my fifth time reading this monologue: Hamlet’s choice of metaphor is that of a mistress choosing a romantic partner. And he’s really blurring the lines here between making a metaphor and straight-up actually saying that his soul has chosen Horatio in a romantic sense. To the point where this honestly reads more like a confession of love than a declaration of his chosen friends (seriously, read it again).

HAMLET
Give me that man
That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him
In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.

Hamlet tells Horatio that he keeps him in his heart’s core. In his heart of hearts. Again, pretty self-explanatory.

HAMLET
Something too much of this.

I’ve read various interpretations of this line by actual Hamlet actors and directors, including that they had just previously been leaning in to kiss, that they actually kissed, that Horatio was hoping for Hamlet to kiss him, or that “this” refers to the intimacy of Hamlet’s words. Take your pick.

Don’t worry, I’m not forgetting about Ophelia here. Obviously, Hamlet and Horatio aren’t the only characters who share romantic feelings. I don’t believe that these two relationships (Hamlet and Horatio / Hamlet and Ophelia) detract from each other; on the contrary, they contextualize each other and provide points for comparison. You’ve heard of Horatio and Rosencrantz/Guildenstern serving as foils for each other, but what about Horatio and Ophelia?

There’s no doubt that Hamlet loves both men and women, considering his strong feelings for Ophelia, although the sincerity or superficiality of this particular relationship is debatable. Things get pretty messy between them, and despite his claims, I honestly don’t believe that Hamlet loves her as much as he believes. (You care about Ophelia more than forty thousand brothers could? Please.) These two relationships serve as foils for each other: where Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia is depicted as passionate but confusing and unhealthy, Hamlet’s relationship with Horatio is sincere, consistent, and characterized by trust. After all, Hamlet and Horatio are both lovers and best friends, which is the most genuine kind of relationship there is. Take note.

The difference between these relationships can be captured in something as simple as Hamlet’s letters. Our prince signs his love letter to Ophelia with, “Thine evermore most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, Hamlet.” While dramatic and emotional, there’s nothing in Hamlet’s proclamation of love that signifies trust or a strong mutual bond, making his feelings seem shallow. Although the poetry is definitely passionate, it’s also pretty generic, as Hamlet doesn’t really know or understand her. This is a far cry from his sign-off to Horatio, which is sweet and simple but reveals a much closer unspoken mutual understanding: “He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet.”—in modern English, “He whom you know is yours.”

While I do believe that Hamlet has strong feelings for Ophelia, the interactions that we actually see are mostly performative. Things like Hamlet mostly-feigning madness. There’s very little honesty or open communication involved, and Ophelia is pretty confused with him most of the time. Conversely, Horatio is Hamlet’s sole confidant, and the guy tells him everything. In a story where our protagonist is constantly putting on a show for others, his conversations with Horatio show us what Hamlet is really thinking. It’s fitting for a play about theatre itself—if Elsinore is the stage for everyone’s false pretenses, you could say that Horatio lets us look behind the scenes.

Because this narrative is filled with terrible relationships, Hamlet’s relationship with Horatio also provides necessary contrast. It’s really the only positive relationship in the play; otherwise you just have Hamlet and Ophelia, Gertrude and Claudius, and Gertrude and King Hamlet. Although the textual interactions between Gertrude and her lovers are limited, both of her relationships are framed negatively, not to mention that Claudius indirectly kills her.

Ultimately, the play’s comparisons between Hamlet’s interactions with Ophelia and Horatio reveal the important difference between passion and love. Within the narrative of Hamlet, passion is destructive, ultimately resulting in distrust, emotional pain, and chaos. Love is productive, fostering trust, support, and positive decisions. Seriously, Hamlet causes Ophelia to actually die and prevents Horatio from dying at the end of the play.

HORATIO
Goodnight, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Truly iconic.

The relationship concludes with this memorable line, providing both comforting words and beautiful images of angels amidst death and grief. We also observe some historically significant diction here with “thee” and “thy,” which were less formal than their polite alternatives in this time period, “you” and “your.” The fact that Horatio remains informal with someone of such high status speaks to their closeness—indeed, Horatio is more than just “[Hamlet’s] poor servant.”

Although my interpretation was never meant to center authorial intent, it’s also worth asking, how does Shakespeare himself play into all of this? As you might know, William Shakespeare was what we’d now probably consider bisexual and wrote many of his sonnets (including Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?) for a man, most likely the Earl of Pembroke. With this in mind, part of me wants to believe that there’s no way Shakespeare could have missed the subtext of Hamlet, especially because Shakespeare’s work is built upon subtext. Plays back then were frequently censored because Elizabethan England was a police state, so to give himself plausible deniability, Shakespeare buried unacceptable elements in layers of subtlety (and often jokes/wordplay). Because it’s a play about plays and a performance about performances, this idea holds especially true in Hamlet, where the protagonist similarly hides his general insolence in subtle riddles and puns—after all, it’s not socially acceptable to sass the king. Considering that Shakespeare was a master of writing and interpreting the implicit, it’s interesting to consider that he might’ve known that their relationship could be seen as romantic whether he intended for this or not. And maybe he did intend it.

No, there aren’t any sappy marriage proposals, or eloquent sonnets, or the typical signs of romance we’ve seen in some of Shakespeare’s straight couples. But this unconventional reading of Hamlet is not only viable, but conducive to thinking about the play in new ways. The perspective brings to light a beautiful (if somewhat dark, considering the murders and all that) narrative about the development of loyalty and trust as two people fall in love. It highlights valuable themes surrounding love and passion, providing a positive example of healthy love in comparison with the play’s other passionate but insincere relationships. It provides a new lens for these characters’ interactions, complicating more traditional heterosexual interpretations. Personally, I believe in my heart of hearts that Hamlet and Horatio are in love.

Check out parts one and three of my Hamlet series:
The Irony of Hamlet’s Fatal Virtues
The Divergence Between Hamlet and Ophelia