Under such conditions the character of Hamlet is introduced to the reader. The King, in the room of the state, had spoken at length to the Queen and assembled courtiers in relation to his plans towards Fortinbras, had dismissed Voltimand and Cornelius, and had granted leave to Laertes to return to return to France. As a matter of fact, it is quite evident that the King's question is framed by the poet for the express purpose of making apropos, by the antithesis of clouds and sun, Hamlet's equally dark answer, for the young man denies that there are any clouds hanging on him, but affirms that his trouble is the contrary. As the critics have never yet clearly determined the meaning of Hamlet's answer, the King may well have been set to thinking by this enigmatic retort. But what this explanation is , and how it appears from the extract cited, we are left by Hudson in the dark to helplessly grope after.
Silence reigns supreme.
But when, in the idle curiosity, or in skeptical hardness of heart, we turn the searchlight upon the life and writings of Francis Bacon, things begin to appear that attract the attention, rouse the mind and make the eye glisten with interest. The return of a young student from a foreign land upon the death of his father, and the dashing of his hopes and expectations of advancement by a designing uncle, is heard again. The philosophy saturated character of Hamlet finds its natural derivation. In the same month Burghley attempted to place Bacon with the Queen, but she had required Lord Keeper Puckering to furnish her with the names of two other lawyers. On the same day Cecil wrote Bacon about the Solicitor's place, from which it appears that Bacon was then suffering under the displeasure of the Queen, and had been denied access.