Why "Horatio"

'Horatio, you’re as steady a man as I’ve ever talked to … you have been the sort of man who has accustomed himself to suffering, having suffered to much; a man who tolerates both good luck and bad: and blessed are they whose temper and self-control are so well balanced that they aren’t at Fortune’s mercy, doing her bidding. Give me the man who isn’t a slave of his emotions, and I’ll take him in to my heart, the very center of it, as I do you."
Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act 3, Scene 2. Published by Barron’s, USA, translator Alan Durband, modern English version.

The man with the name Horatio was the personal counselor of Hamlet in the famous drama of Shakespeare, written in the year 1620. He had a similar position as Kent in the story of King Lear, who was always at the King’s side, protected him and opened doors for him when others tried to cast him out because of his behavior and stigmatize him as a mad man. In a lot of other Shakespearian stories have these kinds of personalities and are used to fire up the story or clarify the role when the main character could not express it for some reason.

In the character of Horatio, we see that at the beginning that he is very straight forward thinker and not attracted to issues who are not real or measurable. In the first act he is however confronted with a ghost –Hamlets father- a reality he can not deny. Then, he sees that Hamlet experiencing troubles with handling this very truth, also seen his father in a ghost, and on the other hand the life of his mother and uncle persuading Hamlet to take life more relaxed who life I an other reality. We see while the drama continues, Horatio getting confused and learning about life through Hamlet’s struggle.

In daily practice the psychiatric nurse is often confronted with a client or patience in a same position; finding it hard to live with two realities, 1) the desirable normal life like all people around him and 2) the involuntary life he has adopted, a life with a mental illness with influences his presence and maybe the future. The nurse is trying to make life for the patient worthwhile enough to carry on with, using his personality, knowledge and methods as an instruments to support the client / patient.

In the story of Shakespeare, Hamlet stood alone. He wanted to solve this alone with his own strength. He chose only one person, his friend Horatio, and the counselor and shares his thoughts, struggles and inner life. Horatio never took over the Hamlets responsibility and that made his task very difficult. Eventually the story end very bad with death, blood and poison, but with the very truth and Hamlet gets the honor being as genuine as possible, although this brought him to his death.

What happens eventually with Horatio? He has seen it all, with his hand tied. It was in a very personal and confidential position. Horatio’s life also changed drastically. Where he started as no-nonsense person, he has been confronted with the fact that there is more between heaven and earth, had to see suffering, the suffering which also brought salvation to Hamlet and the whole scene around it and experience compassion. Hamlet wanted Horatio in that role and position, and found his ultimate goal: what’s life about, to be or not to be. In that sense you can say he really ‘was’ with the help of Horatio. For Horatio there was no other choice or option than stay with his friend. This character and position reflects very much the role of the psychiatric nurse and the position between the patient and the world around him.

In Europe there are a lot of very ancient stories where the main character suffers from madness and are companied by a person who is always there. You can recall for example ‘Don Quichotte with Sancho Pansa’ from the Spanish novelist Cervantes, ‘Pippy Langstrompf with Tom and Annika’ from the Swedish novelist Astrid Lingren and ‘Antigone with Oedipus-Rex’ from Sophocles. There are a lot of other classical European stories with combinations in role performance. The name of Horatio stands for all other persons in that position.