...theme of death. Denmark had assumed that King Hamlet was stung by a serpent, but now his Ghost reveals: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life / Now wears his crown" (39-40). It was Claudius who with serpentine treachery poured poison in King Hamlet's ear as he slept,...

...beast" (1.5.42). Surrounded by flourishes of personal perspective, his essential message is succinct: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life / Now wears his crown" (1.5.39-40). However, Old Hamlet's story is a counter-narrative from the start, challenging the current...

...serpent, also suggests Eden. ("'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, /A serpent stung me . . . The serpent that did sting thy father's life / Now wears his crown," 1.5.35—6, 39—40). It is not, however, the original sin of disobedience that is enacted there, but...