Month: August 2008

Picking up on something Main Man said in the “Did Gertrude Know?” thread, let me ask a followup question:

What do you think Hamlet’s relationship was with his father?

I bring this up because in one response MM asks, “why is Hamlet at Wittenberg if he is so close to his father (particularly at 30)? Could it be that Hamlet’s paternity could be in doubt?”  and then later he states, “He does want Hamlet to avenge “his death,” but I do not think they have a good relationship.”   I happen to agree.  I’ve always thought Hamlet’s father to be something of a scary man, a very imposing, warlike king.  Impressive to his subjects, certainly – but a loving, affectionate dad?  Maybe not so much.  So I think much of Hamlet’s hesitation comes out of a fear to acknowledge his true feelings about his dad.  He wants to be all Fortinbras, mobilizing armies in his quest for revenge, but he ends up more Laertes, saying the words and claiming that he’ll do whatever must be done, but then never going through with it.  (It’s always been my position that what causes Hamlet to finally act is vengeance over the death of his mother.)

A question from the audience!

What is the cause of the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet?

Is this an open and debatable question, or is it one that has a specific answer that popular opinion gets wrong?  The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is not in the romantic notion “Oh no, it’s so sad they couldn’t be together!”  It’s in the stupidity of the adults who don’t see the error of their ways until Fate kills their children for them and says “Now do you get it???” Or is it?  Discuss.  Or perhaps I’ve misinterpreted the question about the “cause” of the tragedy? Bonus question – what do you think happens after the conclusion of the play?  Do you think that Capulet and Montague really do learn their lesson, and the feud is over?  Or are they merely going through the paces (for some reason the images of Heat Miser and Snow Miser from Year Without A Santa Claus just came to mind…), and will be at each other’s throats again 5 minutes after the Prince dismisses them?  Oh dear god somebody gouge out my brain for thinking of this, but I blame Disney…..could you imagine Romeo & Juliet : The Sequel? !

http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/factory-hamlet/ I think I’d like to see this! The Factory’s Hamlet is one of the more celebrated fixtures of London’s theatrical underground. Every Sunday, a company of actors pitch up at a different location, each with a selection of learned roles at their fingers ends. Parts are allotted randomly, and each performance develops in response to the given space, with the aid of props brought along by the audience.

I find it odd that we’ve never discussed this one (I had to search my archives to make sure).  In the context of Hamlet, do you think that Gertrude knew what Claudius did or not?  Was she in on it?  When did the relationship with Claudius start – before or after the death of her husband? 

I’ve always taken the position that she “knows”, but she’s in a state of shock and denial about it. If she ever stopped to think about it, she’d have to admit what she knew to be true, so she gets around that by never thinking about it.  She shows no guilt, like Claudius does (“My offense is rank….”), so it’s unlikely that she is consciously aware of just how bad her actions are.  That’s why in the bedroom scene, her line “As kill a king?” is not so much an “Oh no, Hamlet knows!” moment, but rather the first time that she actually has to consider the reality of what she’s been a part of.

But then…if that’s true, and she realizes that Claudius is a murderer, she sure doesn’t seem too upset by it in the later scenes.  So, maybe I haven’t thought this through. Anybody else?  As I write this, I wonder if perhaps she does know right along and really does have no guilt about it because it was Claudius she loved, so she’s happy to have her husband out of the way.