Bernardo is not present when Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus go to the platform to see the Ghost in Scene 4. His absence has a ready explanation, because of the cannons being fired to accompany Claudius's drinking. Personnel are needed to man those cannons, and since Bernardo is already on nighttime duty, he would be a natural choice for reassignment. We can take it, then, he got reassigned to cannon duty, much to his disappointment. | Bernardo is not present when Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus go to the platform to see the Ghost in Scene 4. His absence has a ready explanation, because of the cannons being fired to accompany Claudius's drinking. Personnel are needed to man those cannons, and since Bernardo is already on nighttime duty, he would be a natural choice for reassignment. We can take it, then, he got reassigned to cannon duty, much to his disappointment. |