the comedy of "hamlet"

8/9/2019 The Comedy of "Hamlet"

1/14

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

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2/14


3/14

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


4/14

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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5/14

J74

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)




6/14

The

Comedy

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)




7/14

76

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.

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8/14

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)




9/14

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).

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10/14

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).

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(2M2)




11/14

_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).

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12/14

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)




13/14

_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

Campbell,

Lily

B. 1948: "Polonius: The

Tyrant's

ars".

JosephQuincy

Adams

Memorial tudies. d. JamesG. McManaway, iles E. Dawson, ndEdwinE.

Willoughby. ashington:

he

Folger hakespeare

ibrary.

95-313.

Campbell,

Oscar James and Edward

G.

Quinn,

eds. 1966:

A

Shakespeare

Encyclopedia.

ondon:

Methuen Co

Ltd.

David,

Richard 1978:

Shakespeare

in the

Theatre.

Cambridge:

Cambridge

University

ress.

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