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THE COMEDY OF "HAMLET"Author(s): Manfred DraudtSource: Atlantis, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Junio 2002), pp. 71-83Published by: AEDEAN: Asociación española de estudios anglo-americanos
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41055046 .Accessed: 04/02/2015 19:00
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8/9/2019 The Comedy of "Hamlet"
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8/9/2019 The Comedy of "Hamlet"
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12
ManfredDraudt
The classic comic conflict
between
blocking
father nd
young
lovers,
which
underliesthe actions of
many Shakespeareancomedies,1
nforms
ne strandof the
action of Hamlet: the
relationship
between
Polonius,
Ophelia
and the Prince. Also
prominent
n
other
tragedies
such as Romeo and Juliet and
Othello,
the conflict
between old and
young
is
significantly
ransformed
n
the
revengetragedy though
its comic
origin
annot
be denied.2Anne
Barton s
clearly
aware of it when
pointing
out thatHamlet "is the
only
...
[tragic]
hero
[who]
is unmarried nd
eligible"
(1980:
24).
Yet whereas the
other
overs,
and
particularly
he
daughters,
re
all rebellious
and
defy
heirfathers'
will,
Ophelia
meekly
accepts
Polonius's
command,
"from his
time forth/..
[not]
to
give
words
or talk with the Lord Hamlet"
(1.3.132-134).3
Her
unquestioning
obedience,
which
distinguishes
her from the more
spirited
and
independentyoung
ladies
in similar
situations,
causes
-
at least
indirectly
her
madness and
tragic
death;
yet
the
Prince, oo,
is overawed
by
parental
uthority4
nd
appears
to
resign
himself o
the will of the obstructive ather.
s Harold Jenkins
uts
it,
Ophelia's "tragedy
... is that
Hamlet has left her
[chaste]
treasure
[i.e.
her
virginity]
ithher"
1982: 152).
Whereas
the
(potentially
omic)
lovers' conflict
with
the
father akes
a
tragic
turn,
olonius
is
clearly
conceived
by Shakespeare
as a comic
figure,
classic
senex,
as the
stage-direction
t
the
opening
of
act
2,
scene
1,
in the Second
Quarto
(1605)
shows: "Enter old
Polonius"
(sig.E
[Ir]).5
A
stock
comic
type,
Polonius
is
nevertheless
composite
figure,
ombining
featuresderived
from
Roman
comedy,
where the senex was the father f a son, withothers fromthe Italian commedia
erudita,
n which
the vecchio could
be the father
f a
daughter.6
At
the
end of the
fishmonger
cene,
when he has
deflated
Polonius's self-
esteem and
dignity,
amlet
aptly
characterizes
im as a "tedious old
fool"
(2.2.212),
an
opinion
he is
going
to confirm
fter
having nadvertently
illed
him.
Deliberately
playing
the role
of a fool
to the old
dotard,
Hamlet
exposes
Polonius's
physical
failings
nd holds
up
an
unflattering
irror o his advanced
age:
The
satirical
rogue
says
here
that old
men
have
grey
beards,
that
their
faces are
wrinkled,
heir
yes purging
hick mber and
plumtree
um,
and
that they have plentifullack of wit, togetherwith most weak hams.
(2.2.193-96)
1
See,
for
xample,
The
Taming f
the
Shrew,
he Two Gentlemen
f
Verona,
A Midsummer
ight's
Dream
nd The
Merry
Wives
f
Windsor.
For he radition
f hemotifnd
brief
urvey
f
Shakespeare's
se
compare
Miola
2000: 87-97.
3
Referencesre
o Hamlet.
d.
Philip
dwards.
Edwards
rgues
hat
Ophelia's
ragedy,
ike
Hamlet's,
s
the
ragedy
f
obedience o
a father"
1985:
46).
"old
gives
a clue
to
Shakespeare's
onception
f
the
character",
ccording
o Jenkins
982
Note
on
stage-direction
.1).
In
his
"Polonius,
er
Typus
des Senilen"
B. Scherer
1930)
confirms
hakespeare's
type-casting
rom
psychological
oint
f
view.
For
he
lassical
raditionnd
the istinction
etween he
wo
ypes
f enex ee
Hosley
1966:
137-38.
A
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The
Comedy
fHamlet
73_
Hamlet
gainharps
n his
age
when,
o the
ctors,
e
contemptuously
efers
o
"Thatgreatbaby ... notyetout of
his
swaddling
louts"
2.2.351).7
Polonius's
senility
lso becomes
palpable
whenhe is
giving
directionso
Reynaldo
nd
gets
lost
nmid-sentence:
And
hen
irdoes a this a does whatwas about o
say?
By
themass was about
o
say omething.
here id leave?
(2.1.49-50)8
In the ame scene
he
shows nother
rait ssociatedwith ld
age, pedantry,
y
splitting
airs
or words)
when
proposing
o accuse Laertesof
"drabbing",
.e.
whoring,
ut
notof
"incontinency",
.e. sexual excess
2.1.26-30).
Polonius
lways
attemptso appear earned ndwitty, ethispride nhis ownskill, unning,nd
wisdom
makes him
appear
all the moreridiculous.
n
addition o his
"laboured
quibbling"
Hibbard
987:
34),
his tediousness nd
long-windedness
re hallmarks
of
his character. is
twenty-three-line-instruction
o his son Laertes
opens
with
"And
thesefew
precepts
n
thymemory"
1.3.58),
and he
again promises
o
"be
brief,
"since
brevity
s the soul of wit/And tediousness he imbs nd outward
flourishes"
2.2.90-92),
whenhe believes
hathe
"ha[s]
found/ he
very
ause of
Hamlet's
unacy"
2.2.48-49).
Yet his
preliminaryexpostulation"
nd circular
reasoning9
"for
o define rue
madness,/
hat s'tbut o be
nothing
lse but
mad?",
2.2.92-94)
bore he
Queen
o much hat he
mpatiently
ries o
nterrupt
im: More
matterwith ess art" 95). She fails,however,much ikeLady Capulet,who is
equally
nable o
stop
he fficious
oquacity
f heNurse.10
Romeo nd
Juliet
s
echoed
again
when
n
his
exaggerated
how of
paternal
affectionnd
anxiety
orhis
daughter's
onour he
blocking
ather ehaves
xactly
like old
Capulet,11ruelly idiculing
is
daughter y
picking
p
a wordfrom er
speech
nd
repeating
t n
differentenses:
Do
you
believe is
Hamlet's]
enderss
you
all
them?
Marry
'll teach
you.
Think
ourself baby
Thatyouhave ane hese endersor rue ay,
Which
reno
sterling.
ender
ourself
ore
early,
Rosencrantz
acks
Hamlet's
mockery
ith he
proverbial
aying
an old man s twice child"
2.2.352).
Compare aques
n
As YouLike
t,
whodescribes he ast
cene
f
ife s "second hildishness"
2.7.165).
His servant ssists
with
he
cue,
"At
closes at the
consequence1",
hich s
eagerlypicked up by
Polonius.When
xpounding
he
ause of Hamlet's
madness,
olonius
gain
ppears
o ose the hread f
his
rgument
nd
nonsensicallyepeats
imself:Thus t
remains,
nd he
emainderhus"
2.2.104).
According
o Dr
Johnson,
olonius's
hetorical
tyle
was meant
toridicule he
practice
f those imes"
(in
Hibbard
987,
Noteon
2.2.86-104).
After er
Enough
f
this,
pray
heehold
thy eace",
he
Nurse arries n for
nother
ight
ines o
that venJulietnterferes:And tint hou oo, pray hee,Nurse".Yetshe, oo,fails o
stop
her 1.2.50-
59).
Compare
.5.149-152:
How
how,
how
how,
hopt-logic?
hat s
this?/
Proud',
nd I thank
ou',
nd
'I thank
ou
not',/
nd
yet
not
proud',
mistress
minion
you?/
hankme
thankings,
or
proud
me no
prouds".
ATLñífifrlS
4.1
2O02)
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ManfredDraudt
Or
-
notto
crack the wind of
a
poor phrase,
Roaming
tthus
you'll
tenderme
a fool.
1.3.103-109)
The
discrepancy
etween
Polonius's
benign appearance
and his
real nature s a
hypocrite,
pportunist
nd
flatterer
indirectly uggested by
his trite
nd hollow
sententiousness12 is
relentlessly
xposed by
Hamlet.
In
his
first
rivate
ncounter
he
immediately uestions
Polonius's
honesty:
I
would
you
were so honest
man
[as
a
fishmonger].
.. To
be
honest,
s
this world
goes,
is to
be one man
picked
out often
thousand"
2.2.174-77).
There is
good
reason to
assume that
Polonius
has
already
served Hamlet Senior as lord
chamberlain,
yet
he
eagerly
supports
he
new
King
-
or whoever s in
power.
In
his remarks o
Laertes,
Claudius
leaves no
doubt that
he
is
heavily
ndebted o his trusted
ounsellor,
whose
age
and
experience
may
well
havecontributedoauthorising is claim tothe throne:
The head
is not more native o the
heart,
The hand more
nstrumentalo the
mouth,
Than is thethrone f Denmark
o
thy
father.
1.2.47-49)
Thereforewe
should
not be
surprised
hat,
n
contrast o
Hamlet,
Claudius calls the
chamberlain faithfulnd honourable"
2.2.128).
His
meddlesomeness,
to which
Hamlet draws attention n
his
contemptuous
epitaph,
"Thou
wretched,rash,
intruding
ool,
farewell"
3.4.31),
is another
major
comic trait,for which Lily B. Campbell has identified specific classical model,
Plutarch's "De curiositate" fromthe Moralia.
Plutarch's
description
f the
overly
curious
n
many respects nticipates
he character f
Polonius: he is so
busy looking
for he
hidden
that
he misses the
overt;
he
has too much confidence n his
wisdom,
but cannot
apply
it;
he must bleat out what he
knows;
and his
espionage
leads
him
into rouble
295-313).
His
tendency
to
eavesdrop,
to
spy
and to
meddle
in other
people's
lives
is
another comic
device
that
Shakespeare
inheritedfrom classical
comedy
(Miola
2000:
72).
Spying
on his own
son,
he shows his
deviousness
in
instructing
eynaldo
to slanderLaertes, for he believes that the end justifiesthe means: "Your bait of
falsehood takes this
carp
of truth"
2.1.61);
and he concludes his directionswith
what
can stand as the motto
of his whole
existence:
"By
indirections inddirections
out"
(64).
Characterized
by "opportunist
hifts,
deceit and distorted
ngenuity"
(Wickham
1969:
212),
Polonius
proves
an
outright
ypocrite, ccusing
the
Prince of
the
very immorality
f which he himself is
guilty:
Hamlet's "vows ... are
[but]
brokers/
or
pimps, erving]
..
mere[ly]
..
The better o
beguile"
1.3.127-31).
Polonius
tries to
sound
Hamlet
in
the
fishmonger-scene
"I'll
board
him
presently",
.2.168),
uses
Ophelia
as a
decoy
when
overhearing
heir
conversation
(3.1.43ff.),
and
again spies
on the
Prince in
Gertrude's
closet
(3.4.1-25);
yet
he
12
Compare
is dvice o Laertes
1.3.55-81),
his nstructionso
Reynaldo
2.1.1-72)
nd his
ecturing
o
the
King
and
Queen 2.2.85-157).
According
o
Draper
1935,
"his
pithy
moralistic
ayings
ave often
beendescribeds
stupid
nd lltimed"
82).
ATL1W&IS24.1
(2JO02)
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fHamlet
75_
foolishly
believes thatHamlet's
(seeming) lunacy
is
caused
by
"the
very ecstasy
of
love"
(2.1.100)
and thus fails
to
discover Hamlet's
"mystery".
he Prince
not
only
makes
him look ridiculous n the
fishmonger
cene but also outwitshim
throughout
so that the lord chamberlain s reduced
to a comic butt
for his
jests.
In this he is
associated
with another omic
stereotype,
he deceiver
deceived,
whose fall
will be
precipitated
y
excessive confidence
n his
own
wisdom
and
cunning.13
Polonius's
petty
ntrigues
nd abortive
attempts
o find out the truth bout
Hamlet "fall on th'inventor's ead"
(cf.
5.2.364)
in the
Queen's
closet,
where he is
mistaken for
"[his]
better"
i.e.
Claudius)
and finds his
sudden but
appropriate
ending during
his
favourite
occupation
-
spying:
"Polonius mistook and was
mistaken",
observes Susan
Snyder
(1979: 131).
His
pathetic
death, however,
becomes a turning-pointn theplay's action,precipitatinghecatastrophe:Hamlet's
banishment,
phelia's
madness and
suicide, and,
ast butnot
east,
Laertes's
revenge.
Although
he is
mainly
a butt and outlet for the Prince's
pent-up
feelings,
several
traits of Polonius show
surprising
parallels
with Hamlet: both have a
university
education and close associations with the
theatre,
so
that both feel
qualified
to
comment
extensively
on the
travelling
actors and their
court
performance.
et whereas Hamlet
proves
an
accomplished
actor,
gives sophisticated
instructions o the
players,
and even
composes
a
speech
for
"The Murder of
Gonzago"
(2.2.493),
Polonius's
pretensions
o
wit,
erudition nd
literary
aste
appear
a mere
parody
of
the Prince's
ntellectualitySnyder
1979:
109).
His
alleged
love of
"jig[s]
or ...
tale[s]
of
bawdry"
2.2.458)
is ridiculed
by
Hamlet,
as is his
pride
on
having
been "accounted a
good
actor"
(3.2.89).
Boasting
that he "did enact Julius
Caesar ...
[who]
was killed
i'th'Capitol"
(91),
he
only
feeds Hamlet's
scathing
quibble:
"so
capital
a calf. His mock death
as Caesar has both comic and
tragic
implications:
n
the Globe theatre he actor of
Polonius
may
okingly
refer o the role
he has
just
been
performing
n
Shakespeare's previous
tragedy,
Julius
Caesar,
yet
there s also an
anticipation
f the "real"
stabbing
of Polonius
-
the "brute
part"
n
which
will
be taken
by
Hamlet.
Rosencrantz nd
Guildenstern,
who are
employed by
Claudius to find out the
truereason of Hamlet's "transformation"14nd to entertain im,appear as identical
twins
Snyder
1979:
113)
who never re seen
separately:
King:
Thanks
Rosencrantz,
nd
gentle
Guildenstern.
Queen:
Thanks
Guildenstern,
nd
gentle
Rosencrantz.
2.2.33-34)
Gertrude's
repetition,
or rather
correction
(with
the
names
reversed),
of
Claudius's
acknowledgment
uggests
that
he two courtiers re
"so
indistinguishable
that the
King
ha[s]
mistaken
one for the other"
David
1978:
78)
on their first
appearance. They
are
faceless tools who
comply
unquestioningly
with the
King's
commands
-
in
some
productions
"sweeping
off their hats" in servile but
He
prides
imself,
or
xample,
o
the
Queen:
"I'd fain
know
hat,/
hat have
positively
aid,
tis
o,/
When t
proved
therwise?"
2.2.151-53).
14
"Whether
ught
o us unknown
fflicts im"
2.2.5, 7).
JVTLZitëTS
4.1
(2002)
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ManfredDraudt
meaninglesspoliteness,15
ery
muck like Osric
(Tom
Stoppard exploits
these
comic
aspects
n his
play
Rosencrantz
nd Guildenstern re
Dead).
In
spite
of
being
welcomed
by
the Prince as his friendsfrom he
university,
they
do not deal
honestly
with
him,
evade his
questions
(2.2.261-274)
and
clearly
rank their
llegiance
towards
the new
King higher16
han their
oyalty
towards
the
Prince.
In
his
characteristic
nigmatic
manner
Hamlet tells them not
to interfere
n
matters
hey
do not understand
nd also warns them
that his behaviour
may
be
deceptive:
"I am but mad
north-north-west. hen
the
wind
is
southerly,
know a
hawk from
handsaw"
2.2.347-48).
Nevertheless,
hey
continue
n
their
ttempts
o
"pluck
out the
heart of
[Hamlet's]
...
mystery"
3.2.330-31)
-which are as
amateurish s
those of Polonius
and so arouse the Prince's scorn
and
contempt
(Hibbard 1987: 54). After he abortiveperformance f "The Murderof Gonzago",
Hamlet fools
them
by
deliberately misinterpreting
heir
reproach
concerning
the
"distempered"
3.2.273),
i.e.
annoyed,King
as
if
they
were
referring
o
his excessive
drinking.
Hamlet
also
implies
that
they
are
lying17
nd
sarcastically reproves
Guildenstern:
'Sblood,
do
you
think am easier
to be
played
on than
a
pipe?
Call
me
what instrument
ou
will,
thoughyou
can
fret
me,
you
cannot
play
upon
me.
(3.2.334-36)
Having openly
sided
with the
King,
Rosencrantz
s
rudely
nsulted
by
Hamlet
as a flatterer nd
sycophant,
compared
with a
"sponge"
(4.2.12),
i.e. Claudius's
willing
instrument,
nd derided
for his
stupidity:
"A knavish
speech sleeps
in a
foolish ear"
(4.2.21).
Hamlet
even
plays
hide-and-seek
with them nstead
of
telling
them he
whereabouts
f Polonius's
corpse.
Their
deaths,
which are
brought
bout
by
the
forgery
hat aves
his own
life,
"are
not near
...
[his]
conscience", for,
s
he later
confesses o
Horatio,
hey
oved
their
employment"
5.2.57-58).
Whereas
Hamlet
has become
increasingly
impatient
and scornful
with
Rosencrantz
and
Guildenstern,
e rather
eems to smile
at the
"waterfly"
5.2.82)
Osric,
whom
he ridicules
more
mildly
and
whose foibles
he
exposes
by parodying
his style.18 sric's affected raiseof Laertes,"you shall find n him the continent f
what
part
gentleman
would
see",
Hamlet mocks
by echoing
him:
Sir,
his
[Laertes's]
definement
uffers
o
perdition
n
you
...
in the
verity
of
extolment,
take ... his
infusion f such
dearth
.. who else
would
trace
his
umbrage?
5.2.106-11)
15
For
example
in the National
Theatre
production
f
1976
(David
1978:
78).
See 2.2.30-32: "[we] heregive up ourselves in the full bent/To lay our service freely t yourfeet/ o
be commanded".
"play ing] upon
this
pipe
... is as
easy
as
lying"
3.2.318-24).
Hamlet's
versatility
s a
parodist
s
unique.
He also
mocks the hollow
rhetoric f Claudius
and
Laertes
at
Ophelia's
grave:
"I'll
rant s
well as
you"
(5.1.278).
Compare
Barton
1980:
44.
ATL&AÇ7S2A1
(2002)
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The
Comedy
of
Hamlet
77_
Osric is a
younger counterpart
o
Polonius,19
superficial
busybody
and
go-
between,possiblya nouveau riche thanks o theKing's favour:"he hath much land
and
fertile",
observes Hamlet
(5.2.85).
Not
only
his affected manners and
fashionable
argon
but also the
stage-direction
f the First
Quarto
(1603),
"Enter a
Bragart
Gentleman"
I2[r]),
leave
no doubt that
he
originated
from nothercomic
type,
the
braggart
oldier: the miles
gloriosus
of Latin
comedy
and the
capitano
of
the ommediadell'arteor the oldatoof
thecommedia erudita.
t
may
even be
possible
that
Osric is a
prominent
instance of
Shakespeare's self-borrowing20
because of his
striking
esemblance
with
Monsieur Le
Beau,
the
pretentious
nd
foppish
courtier
ttending
n Duke Frederick n As You
Like
It. Since Hamlet was
probably
written
n
1600 and the
comedy
between 1599 and
1600,
it seems
likely
that Le Beau was
Shakespeare's originalcreation,
lso
because Osric's
appearance
and
language
are much more elaborate. In
any
case the
striking
similarity
n
character nd situation
ndicates
he
closeness
in
composition.
Both Le Beau and Osric
are servants o a
usurper,
ossipy
conveyers
f
news,21
who
prepare
and announce the
wrestling/
encing
match in which the hero is
involved
and
in
which the
odds
are
heavily against
him)
and who also officiate t
and commenton
the
fight.
n
keeping
with
theirrole as
(cowardly) braggarts, hey
prove
their
xpertise
by
pompouslytalking
bout
weapons, dangers,
nd odds. Their
affected
manners nd ceremonious
peech
are
clearly
ntended
o
impress
thers;
yet
in
fact
they
re
ridiculed
by
the
superior
wits of
Rosalind and
Hamlet,
who not
only
make fun of their diction22 ut also deliberatelybaffle and confuse them and thus
expose
their low wits
again
the deceiver
deceived comes to
mind).
Both therefore
serve as foils to
the heroine/
hero,
contrasting
with
their
genuine
wit,
their
straightforward
onesty
and their
aversion to
the
usurper.
The Prince
gives
a
piercing
nalysis
of Osric's
character
fter e has left he
stage:
Thus has
he ...
only
got
the tune
of the time and
outward habit of
encounter,
kind
of
yeasty
collection ... do but
blow
them
to their
rial,
the
bubbles are out.
5.2.165-70)
According
to A
Shakespeare Encyclopedia,
"Osric is a minor
gem
of
Shakespearean
delineation,
who,
in a few short
ines,
emerges
unforgettably
s a
typical
fawning,
sycophantic
Elizabethan
courtier"
s.v. Osric).
With
this comic
figure
nd his
model or
counterpart
e
Beau,
Shakespeare
provides
an
important
link
between the
classical
braggart
igure
nd the
affected,
retentious,
nd
fawning
fop,
a
character
type
that
was to
become
enormously popular
in the
Restoration
comedy
of manners.
19
"youngOsricke",accordingtothe Folio stage-directionnd theSecond Quarto (compare5.2.171).
Compare
Draudt
2001.
Compare
Rosalind's,
"his mouth
full of
news ... Then
shall we be
news-crammed"
(As
You Like It
1.2.86-88),
and
Osric's
"sir,
here is
newly
come
to court
Laertes"
(Hamlet
5.2.100-01).
Rosalind
picks
up
Le
Beau's
"presence"
and
puns
on
legal
argon
"...
by
these
presents-"
1.2.109-1 1).
XHMins
24
J.
2J00Z)
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8/9/2019 The Comedy of "Hamlet"
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78
Manfred
Draudt
As time-servers
who
outwardly
defer
to the Prince all these
comic characters
lack a backbone and unthinkingly
ccommodate
to
any politicalchange:
this
makes
them the antithesis
of the
morally principled
hero,
whose
mockery
and
contempt
they provoke.
A
comparison
of Hamlet's
conversations
with Polonius
and Osric
(Snyder
1979:
111-12)
again
shows
the
striking arallel
between
hetwo courtiers:
Hamlet
Do
you
see
yonder
loud
that's lmost
n
shape
of a
camel?
Polonius:
By
th'mass,
nd
tis
ike a camel
indeed.
Hamlet:
Methinks
t s
like a weasel.
Polonius:
It is backed
like a weasel.
Hamlet:
Or
like a whale?
Polonius:
Very
ike a whale.
(3.2.339-44)
Osric
changes
his
opinion
as
quickly
s
Polonius does:
Osric:
... it s
very
hot.
Hamlet:
No,
believe
me,
tis
very
old,
the
wind is
northerly.
Osric:
It is indifferent
old
my
ord,
ndeed.
Hamlet:
But
yet
methinks
t
s
very ultry
nd
hot for
my complexion.
Osric:
Exceedingly
my
lord,
it is
very
sultry,
s 'twere
-
I
cannot
tell
how.
(5.2.92-97)
All fourcomic type-charactershare
an
ignorance
of
what
is
going
on around
them,
nd
three of
them
will
pay
with
their
ives for
nterfering
n
spheres
beyond
their
nderstanding:
Tis
dangerous
when
the baser
nature
omes
Between
the
pass
and
fell ncensed
points
Of
mighty pposites.
5.2.60-62)
Finally,
should
like to
look
at the
hero
himself.
Hamlet's
very
firstwords
in
the
play,
"A little
more
than
kin,
and
less
than
kind"
(1.2.65),23
with which
he
satirically
ttacks
Claudius's
claim
that
he
Prince
is both
his "cousin"
i.e.
kinsman)
and his "son",are a quibblingaside. In thisway Hamlet immediately stablisheshis
role
as a bitter
ourt
ester
exposing
the
hollowness
of
political
talk;
at
the same
time,
he
sets
up
an
intimate
elationship
with
the
audience,
who
are induced
to see
the action
from
his
point
of
view
(Davison
1983:
32).
Both his
critical
pirit
nd
his
wit show
again
in
the
ensuing
wordplay
n
which he
contradicts
Claudius
with
the
observation
hat
"the clouds"
no
longer
hang
on
him but
thathe
rather
s
"too
much
i'the'sun"
punning
on
the
literal
nd
metaphorical
meaning
of sun
as
an emblem
of
royalty
nd on
the
homophone
on,
that
s,
offspring).
Throughout
Hamlet's
wit
is indicative
of
his
intellectual
uperiority.
He
is
a
true
"university
it",
a student
f
Wittenberg,
he
university
ssociated
with
Luther
and Dr Faustus,the
very
name ofwhichappearsto play on wit Davison 1983: 32).
Only
because
of
his
intellectual
rilliance
an
he
play
the fool
and
"put
on]
an antic
23
Alluding
to the
proverb
The nearer
n
kin,
the
ess
in kindness"
Tilley
K38).
WTLM&7S2A1
(2O02)
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The
Comedy
fHamlet
79_
disposition"
1.5.172),
i.e.
a fantastic ehaviour. This assumed madness
gives
him
the license of a court
ester
who is not held accountable for his
ibes
at
the
mighty,
and who
can utter he truth bout
the
King,
the
Queen,
and
the
courtiers
o their
faces.
In
exposing
his
antagonists'
oibles and vices he
simultaneously ives
vent
to
his own
pent-up
frustrations,
o
his
disgust
with
hypocrisy,
flattery
nd moral
corruption.
urthermore,
e wins time to findout whether he Ghost
was honestand
even
provokes
the
King
into
action,
so
that
he can
eventually
trap
him with
the
performance
f a
play
that esembles
his crime.
Under cover of his
pretended
madness he resorts
mainly
to
using puns,
which
show his "relentless
iteral-mindedness"
Barton
1980:
44),
his desire to deflate
the
puffed-up
ourtly
discourse and to reduce
it
to its
plain meaning.
In
this
respect
Hamlet's verbal strategiesclosely resemble those of the insolentservants and the
fools
of the
comedies,
who
deliberately
misconstrue he
meaning
ntended
y
others.
In
addition,
he
employs
scornful
irony,
for
example
when
he
remarks
on his
mother's
emarriagemmediately
fter is father's eath:
Thrift,hrift,
oratio. The funeral aked meats
Did
coldly
furnish orth
he
marriage
ables.
1.2.180-81)
Throughout,
is
linguistic
actics
show
him an
outsider
who
constantly
affles
the
people
he talks to
-
as well as the audience.
Although
he
appears
to be
overawed when
facing
his father's
Ghost,24
his second encounter
with the
supernatural apparition
in the
company
of Horatio and Marcellus borders on
burlesque
or low
comedy
(Davison
1983:
27),
since he then
rudely
addresses his
father s the "fellow n
the
cellarage":
Ha,
ha,
boy, sayst
hou so? art houthere
ruepenny?
Well
said,
old
mole,
canstwork
'th'eartho fast?
A
worthy
ioneer.
1.5.155-63)
This
incongruous
behaviour
immediately
receding
his admission that he will
be pretendingmadnessmaywell itselfbe an instance of play-acting, n attempt o
disguise
how
seriously
the Ghost's
revelation and command have affected him.
Characteristic f this
particular
cene,
and of the
play
as a
whole,
is the curious
combinationof
awe-inspiringhappenings
with comic
elements. Later instances
are
the murder of
Polonius
with
Hamlet's callous
response
(act
4,
scene
2)
and the
grotesque
gravedigger
cene.
The
significance
f the
graveyard
cene is underlined
y
its
ength:
with ts 266
lines it is in
fact the
longest
penultimate
cene of
any
of
Shakespeare's tragedies.
Right
from the first
appearance
of the
Ghost in act
1,
scene
1,
and Claudius's
reference o
"our dear brother's
death"
(1.2.1)
Hamlet is a
play
about death: the
protagonist ppears to have been livingunder this shadow all thetime. It is in the
graveyard
cene
where the
subject
of death
becomes
absolutely
central.Not
only
in
24
"Remember
hee?/
y
thou
oorghost"
1.5.95-96).
ATLZiA&rs
4
(2M2)
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8/9/2019 The Comedy of "Hamlet"
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_80
Manfred Draudt
the famous
soliloquy
(3.1.56)
but
already
at the end of the
second
scene,
"O ... that
the
Everlasting
had not fixed/His canon
'gainst self-slaughter"1.2.129-32),
Hamlet
has
pondered
on suicide and
death; now,
in the
graveyard
act
5,
scene
1),
two
Clowns are
commenting
n the ssue of
suicide
-
Ophelia's,
but
n
a
way
that
makes
complete
nonsense of conventional
ogic
and
legal argument:
[Has]
she drowned
herself
n
her own defence? ..
Argal,
he
that s
not
guilty
of his own death shortens
not his own life"
5.1.5-17).
The
gravediggers,
who are criticalof their
betters,25
re
acutely
aware of
potential
ocial
injustice:
"the more
pity
hat
great
folk
should have
countenance
in
this world to drown or
hang
themselves more than
their even-
Christians"
22).
With their
quibbles
and
riddles
Adam
was the first
entleman
o
bear
arms),26
heyprove
to be
genuine
English
rusticswho combine
shrewdwit and
bluntness
with a
careless
ignorance
of the conventions of
language, logic
and
propriety.
Hamlet wonders whether this fellow
[has]
no
feeling
of his business"
(55),
because he
sings
while
throwingup
skulls and
digging
a
grave.
Yet
it is the
seemingly
dull
gravedigger
at
first
disparaginglycompared
to an "ass"
(67)
by
Hamlet who
eventually
outwitsthe
sophisticated
ntellectual: How absolute
the
knave
is ",
the
Prince
remarks
to
Horatio,
"We must
speak
by
the
card,
or
equivocation
will undo us"
(115-16).
The Clown
brings
about
a radical
change
of
perspective
n the
play,
from
he
metaphysical
concerns associated
with the
protagonist
to the macabre
physical
reality
f
digging
grave, knocking
bout
skulls and the
question
of a
corpse
rotting
in the earth:
... if
a
be not rotten
before a die
... a
tanner
will last
you
nine
year
...
[because]
his hide is so
tanned with his
trade,
hat will
keep
out
water a
great
while.
140-45)
This
change
of
perspective
lso entails
a
profound hange
in Hamlet
himself.
Through
his new awareness
of the
great
evelling power
of
death,
he
finally
omes
to
terms
with ll
the
fears,
ualms
and
obsessions thathave troubled
him for
o
long.
Whereas
in
the
great soliloquy
he felt
almost
paralysed
by thoughts
f "the
law's
delay/ and]
The insolence
of office"
3.1.72-73),
now,
facing
he
reality
f
death,
he
laughs
at the absurdities f
lawyers:
"Wherebe his quidditiesnow, his quillets,his
cases,
his
tenures,
nd
his tricks?
Why
does
he suffer he rude
knave to
knock
him
about
the sconce
with a
dirty
hovel,
and
will not tell
him
of
his action of
battery?"
(5.1.84-87).
In the
grotesque panorama
of the
dead,
including politicians,
fashionable
courtiers nd
ladies,
as well
as the "mad"
(149)
jester
Yorick
who is
equated
with
great
conquerors
such as
Alexander
and
Caesar,
Hamlet becomes
aware
of a
"comic relativism"
(Snyder
1979:
127).
He is struck
by
the "fine
revolution"
75)
which turns
a beautiful
lady
into a
grinning
kull and
changes
emperors
who
kept
the
world
in
awe"
into
the dust
that
an be
used
to
"stop
a beer-
barrel"
r
patch
hole
in thewall
(179-83).
25
If the mad
young
Hamlet does not
recover
his wits
in
England,
"'tis no
great
matter
,
because]
there
the men are as
mad as he
[is]"
(5.1.124-31).
Compare
also the
gallows-maker,
who builds
the
strongest
rame
5.1.35-37).
A1LÄ9&7S241
(2002)
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The
Comedy
fHamlet
81_
HereHamlet
s,
in
fact,
icking p
a
thread f
thought
hathe first
ursued
n
his hockinglyacabre eplies s to thewhereaboutsfPolonius's orpse:
At
supper
.. not where
he
eats,
but wherehe is eaten .. we
fat all
creatureslse to fat
us,
and we fat urselves or
maggots.
our fat
king
and
your
ean
beggar
s
butvariable
ervice,
wo
dishes,
utone table....
A
man
may
fishwith heworm
hat ath at of a
king,
nd eat
of
the
fish
thathath fed of this
worm,
whichmeans]
... that a
king may go
a
progress
hrough
he
guts
f
beggar.
4.3.18-28)
In
the confrontationith he hated
Claudius,
danger
harpened
is
tongue
(Hibbard
987:
60),
and
he
employed
is
sarcastic
it
o
provoke
he
King:
"If
your
messengerind imnot herein heaven],eekhim 'th'otherlace yourself4.3.31-
32);
now,
n
the
graveyard
cene,
we encounter
totally
ew Princewho
is
calm,
composed,
nd
emotionally
etached o that
he can
laugh
t
absurditiesnstead f
desperatelyailing
t them. arlier t
was he who
putKing
Claudius n
his
place;
now it is a foolish
gravedigger
ho
puts
the
Prince
n
his
place. Intellectually
superior
o
anybody
lse at
court,
e is
finally
utwitted
y
a clown.
Just ike the
clever
ouchstones defeated
y
the
imple
hepherd
orin
n
As YouLike
t
act
3,
scene
2),
so Hamletmeetshis match n
the
gravedigger,
ho treats
im
n
exactly
the
ame
way
as Hamlet as
treatedheother
members f the ourt f
Elsinore. ust
as he had
reduced iscourse o its
"non-metaphoric"
eaning
Barton
980:
45),
so
nowthegravediggereduces verything,ncludingeath, othemerely hysicalnd
literal
Snyder
979:
128):
he
does not ie in
the
grave,yet
t s
his,
and he
digs
t
neitheror mannor or
woman ut
one hatwas a
woman"
5.1.105-14).
In
the
confrontation ith
the
gravedigger,
Hamlet has
come to new
understanding
f death
nd of himself
hat s
characterized
y
detachments well as
by
a
new
humility.
e no
longer
ongs
for eath s
a releasenor
huns t outof the
dread f what
omes fter ut
ccepts
t as
the
unavoidable,
ommon
estiny
f all
men,
whether
ood
or
bad,
great
r
ridiculous. his
totally
ew
perception
f death
-
as well as
of life finds
ts
ultimate
xpression
n
the
ensuing
cene n
which
with
toic almhe
consciously
ubmits
o a
higher
rder:27
We
defy ugury.
here s
special
providence
n
thefall
of a
sparrow.
f
t
be
now,
tis
not o
come;
f t
be not o
come,
t will
be
now;
f
t
be not
now,
yet
twill
come
the
eadinesss all.
5.2.192-95)
Hamlet's
omment n his
salvation rom
mminent
eath,
There's
divinity
that
hapes
our ends/
ough-hew
hem ow
we will"
5.2.10-11),
uggests
hathis
miraculous eturn
o
Denmark,
rought
bout
by
Fate or
coincidence
s well
as his
encounterwith
the
pirates,
has
brought
him
to a
resignation
o
God's will.
Nevertheless,
t
was
his
confrontation
ith
he omic
gravediggers
hat as
effected
themost ecisive hangenhisdevelopment,is readiness or eath aswell as for
See Draudt
983,
where in
addition o
biblical
eminiscences
Matthew
0.29
nd
29.44)
Seneca's
Epistle
4
is
identifieds
the ource f
this
assage.
mZÄ^ns
24.1
2002)
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_82
Manfredraudt
thefinal ction f
revenge. lthough
eath nd suicidehave beenon his mind
or
long ime,
Hamlet s
exceptional
n that e does not akehis own ife
n
the
nd;bycontrast,he
tragic
heroes nthe
immediatelyreceding
nd
following ragedies
Romeo,
rutus nd
Othello,
ll kill hemselves.
The
comedy
f Hamlet ontributes
o the
play'suniqueness
n
many
ifferent
levels: the Prince's
harp
wit and his
puns
add
to
his
complexity
nd
convey
his
intellectual
rilliance,
nhancing
is attractiveness
o
audiences.On
theother
and,
the
very
imitationnd unawareness f the comic characters
Polonius,Osric,
Rosencrantznd Guildenstern direct he
udience's
ttentiono the
deeper
ssues
anddarker
spects
fthe
play.
Like the
ravesties,
hich
haveexamined
lsewhere
(Draudt 994),
hey
makeus
reconsiderhe ssence f
Shakespeare'sragedy
rom
new or unfamiliarerspective.heremayyetbe a grain f truthn theudgmentf
Thomas
Rymer,
hotended o condemn
hakespeare's
ragedies
rom neoclassical
point
of
view,
when he
remarked
hat
Shakespears enius ay
for
Comedy
nd
Humour"
1995:
156).
WORKS
CITED
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Lily
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ars".
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Comedy
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83^
Johnson,
amuel 1968: "Johnson
n
Shakespeare".
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herbo.
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ernhard
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y
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nd
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ATLA9&7S
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