A Bit of Shakespeare

Dear Readers,

I'm just on fire tonight with TWO POSTS! I've been giving you lots of my writing for Book of Mormon, so I figured I'd give some writing for Civ. Keep in mind that this is Music Civ, so this writing assignment is fairly informal. Literature is not the focus of this course.

Here are my responses to a couple of questions on Hamlet, which asked me to relate Hamlet to Castiglione's The Courtier and to compare three pairs of characters in roughly the same line of thought. It was interesting to write about. Unfortunately we were limited to one page, ten-point font with permissible but discouraged overflow onto a second page. It was also supposed to be double-spaced, but I single-spaced it because I had so much to say (and yet I feel I've barely made a dent in what I could say on the subject). If I get in trouble for single spacing I'll plead innocent by saying it wasn't on the syllabus (and it's true, it never says anything about spacing on the syllabus). Anyway, if you expand it to twelve point font, double spaced, it's four pages of text, which is pretty hefty for an "informal writing assignment." The writing gets progressively worse as I go along because I was, one, getting tired and, two, running out of space. Still, I think I was able to say some interesting things. Let me know what you think.

Hamlet Discussion Notes

1. Upon commencing our study of Hamlet in my senior literature class, my teacher introduced the seven deadly sins and the great chain of being, two sets of theology and philosophy that greatly affected the ethics and morals of Elizabethan England. She explained that in Hamlet, all seven deadly sins had been violated by the climax in act three, and the mishaps in and out of the court could be explained by the imbalances in the great chain of being that came as a result of these violations. Though she never introduced the influence of Castiglione’s The Courtier on the construction of Hamlet, it certainly fits into this same line of thought. Shakespeare so brilliantly took a well-known set of ideals and deliberately twisted it to illustrate the ill effects of the perversion of what’s right.

The ideal of platonic love is a perfect example of a virtue that is perverted in the course of the play. Platonic or courtly love of course means the chaste devotion that a courtier would show to his lady love, which was often the queen, but could include any lady of the court. Though sexual relationships obviously existed within an ideal court for the purposes of procreation, the generally pious society of medieval and Renaissance Europe typically saw overt expressions of sexual desire or overt manifestations of sexual sins (i.e. incest) to be inappropriate and contrary to the code of a good courtier. The marriage of Claudius and Gertrude is an overt violation of this code. Hamlet complains of his mother’s “most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets” and was correct to declare that “it is not, nor it cannot come to good” (I, ii, 156-158). Despite the blind eye that the court and the subjects typically pay to the indiscretions of royalty, the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude was definitively incestuous. Additionally, the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia certainly crept over the line of courtly devotion. Though it is never stated outright, several passages indicate a sexual relationship between the two. In Act II, scene ii, Polonius confronts Hamlet in an attempt to comprehend the beginnings of his feigned madness. In a series of loaded insults, Hamlet indicates that Ophelia might be pregnant. Much later, in Act IV, scene v, Ophelia recites sexually loaded rhymes in a fit of pre-suicidal madness brought on by Hamlet’s rejection and her Father’s death. It is no coincidence that, in her mad state, her sexual relationship with Hamlet is the source of much of her distress. She cries out, “ ‘Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed,” which promise was obviously broken (IV, v, 62-63). This, too, is a clear violation of one of Castiglione’s ideals.

The violation of courtly love is just one of many ideals that are broken in Hamlet. Shakespeare’s purpose in these perversions is clear; by so overtly demonstrating the violation of well-known social codes, Shakespeare is able to communicate the consequences of such actions. The use of ideas from Castiglione’s The Courtier is one of many means by which Shakespeare made a story set in Medieval Denmark accessible and poignant to millions of English speakers in his time and ours.

2. Hamlet and Claudius make an interesting pair to analyze because each possesses certain qualities which were praised by Castiglione while hiding vices that would be publically criticized. Furthermore, the virtues of one are lacked by the other. Were the characters to be somehow spliced together, an ideal courtier might well emerge. Two of Hamlet’s virtues are his education and his sense of justice. In Act I, scene ii, when he is first introduced, we learn that he recently returned to Elsinore from his studies at the University of Wittenberg, a well-respected medieval university. His education is proved with a heavy injection of word-play and cleverness in his conversation with Gertrude and Polonius. His command of language and use of logic transform his aggressive banter from feisty to formidable. Hamlet’s sense of justice is another admirable quality (after the Castiglione model). Though frightened by the task, he readily accepts his father’s ghost’s charge to exact revenge upon Claudius because he believes it is just. Though often excruciating, his hesitation to perform the deed is justified by his insistence on exacting revenge in a way that will adequately satisfy the demands of justice. For example, in Act III, scene iii, Hamlet gives up a perfect opportunity to take his uncles life because he finds him praying. Hamlet, knowing that death-while-praying sends a soul straight to heaven, hesitates yet again to insure that Claudius not only suffers death, but also eternal damnation as payment for his crime. One of Hamlet’s vices is his caution to the point of cowardice. A good courtier needed to be bold, direct, and competent. Hamlet philosophized his way out of action one too many times to merit those compliments. By contrast, Claudius is very direct and forthcoming. In his outward behavior (with the exception of the whole murderer thing), he is the perfect politician. He is well-spoken, charming, socially connected, and persuasive. He is a generous host (he invites and welcomes Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern) and even a patron of the arts (he readily opens his doors to the traveling theatre troupe in Act III). On the other hand, he has no sense of right and wrong and ruthlessly pursues the object of his greed (hence fratricide and incest for the sake of the crown). The unusual way in which Hamlet and Claudius complement each other makes the warlike dynamic of their relationship all the more powerful.

The contrast between Horatio and Polonius is also very telling of the perversion within Claudius’ court at Elsinore. Though the two are basically equal in rank and social standing, Polonius is somehow much more respected despite his utter lack of merit. The only viable reason for his comparatively respected position is his age. Horatio is perhaps the most honorable character in the play. He is educated, he is competent, he is considerate, he is humble, and he is committed to what is right. He’s even patriotic, traveling hundreds of miles from Wittenberg to Elsinore just to pay proper respects to the late Old King Hamlet. Polonius, on the other hand, is just a bumbling old man who has found himself in a position of decent authority. He is controlling, selfish, and incompetent. There is nothing charismatic or redeeming about him. Shakespeare came along just several decades after the glory days of Pico della Mirandola, who received great respect and admiration in his youth because of his achievement and merit. Being familiar with Humanist super-stars like Pico, Shakespeare was certainly developing the perverted model of a court by giving meritless Polonius precedence over the honorable and admirable Horatio.

In examining Gertrude and Ophelia, many parallels emerge. Both are guilty of sexual sin (Gertrude committed incest by marrying Claudius and Ophelia committed fornication by sleeping with Hamlet), both are used as political pawns (Claudius uses Gertrude to obtain the crown and Claudius and Polonius both use Ophelia to bait Hamlet as they try to bring him down), and both are torn by conflicting loyalties to significant men in their lives (Gertrude is torn by her maternal relation to Hamlet and her marital relation to Claudius and Ophelia is torn by her filial relation to Polonius and her romantic relation to Hamlet). The internal struggle caused by these conflicting loyalties was traumatic to both, and yet neither could ever take a side, despite the intense hatred the men bore for each other. The combination of Hamlet’s rejection and her father’s death drove Ophelia to insanity and suicide in Act IV, and in her ravings, the anguish associated with both crises was manifest. Gertrude reacted to this dilemma by turning a blind eye to the flaws of both men and ignored the dangerous tension between them up until the moment of their mutual murder. The result of this conflict was common to both women: death.

The unique dynamic of each of these three pairs is indicative of Shakespeare’s intent to compare the ideal with the perverse in Hamlet.

My T.A.'s have been scolding me for not adequately supporting my ideas, so I tried to give more evidence here. Do you think I did a good job of giving textual evidence? I know there are only three quotes, but the rest of it is chock full of references to plot, often giving citation to act and scene. It's hard to give meaningful quotes when the questions are so general and the space to write so limited. Plus Hamlet is a play and it's hard to find meaningful quotes (for relationship analysis) when the entire text is dialogue. Tell me what you think.

As long as we're in the line of Shakespeare, here are some fun videos:

This is a video of Bob Fosse and Carol Haney dancing in the film, Kiss me Kate. This is some of Fosse's earliest recorded choreography, and even in his youth, his choreography was pretty revolutionary. I wish Youtube had the full number so you could see the contrast between this segment, which was Fosse's choreography, and the rest of the dance, which was choreographed by Hermes Pan. The difference is amazing (though Pan's choreography is charming and enjoyable, it was certainly not revolutionary). I really recommend checking out Kiss me Kate from your local library. It's a fun one. "From this Moment On" :



Here's another number from Kiss me Kate, this time from the West End production of the 1999 (don't quote me on that date) Broadway revival of the show (meaning the show was revived in New York, and then a production with the same sets, costumes, orchestrations, choreography, lighting, a few New York cast members, et cetera opened in London a year or so later) which was professionally taped and televised. The song goes from the end of the first video to the beginning of the second video. There's a funny scene before the song for those who are interested and/or have the time, but for those who don't, the song begins roundabout two minutes and fifteen seconds. "Always True to You in my Fashion" :





The music and lyrics are by Cole Porter. Don't you think he does a good job emulating Shakespeare in his wordplay and content? I think so.

Lots of Love,
--Christian

P.S. Don't forget to read the post from earlier tonight! Just scroll down a little more. It contains my latest insight paper.