"I could be bounded in a nutshell . . ."
Hey everybody. I found the above little comic on google. Thought it was funny. Click on the image to read it without killing your eyes.
This post is simply a journal of thoughts designed to act as a companion to what we've been doing these past five weeks. The following is from me, based on my reading of the text, my research beyond the text, and my teaching of the text. It is meant to encapsulate what I think of the play as a whole.
Although this is an "in a nutshell" post, it is long. You should print it and read it carefully before responding by Tuesday night.
Hamlet is not simply a prince trying to decide upon revenge. He is an archetypical artist, growing in his intellect right before our eyes. This is what makes him so frustrating to some. He wants to act, but is never sure that he has it in him. Truthfully, he really only finds himself in Act V, upon returning to Denmark.
What sucks for Hamlet is that he is painfully aware of this THE ENTIRE TIME!!! He knows what he needs to do. He simply cannot do it in the cut and dried way of his father. Not because he is afraid, but because he is a new kind of man. One whose education has usurped his blind faith in God, in duty, in the grand divine order of things. Hamlet has found a new belief that one can find Paradise in oneself, one's thoughts, one's potential. He realizes "what a piece of work" man is, and cannot reconcile his own, humanist impulse with what he MUST do.
Furthermore, he realize that although man is capable of greatness, perhaps a God-given greatness, man fails more time than he succeeds. How can man be great when the world is so corrupt? Thus, while Hamlet struggles with his faith in God, he cannot quite place his faith in man.
At times, his humanism reigns over his faith. He concludes that man, "in apprehension how like a God," fights off death because of the "undiscovered country." Why, Hamlet seems to ask, would man dive into an unknown he cannot control when there is so much on earth that is left to be done? One who is guided by faith in God would not ask this question. One would simply hand oneself over to God's grace.
On the other hand, it is Hamlet's faith in God that seems to keep Hamlet from killing Claudius when he should. All of a sudden, the unknown becomes the known. All of a sudden, there is a Heaven for Claudius. All of a sudden, Hamlet worries about Heaven and Hell. It is here, where the Hamlet who will not kill himself because "God fix'd his canon against self-slaughter" comes back. It is worth noting, however, that Hamlet feels that he, a human, has a hand in controlling this outcome.
What all of this means is that Hamlet seeks to find the answer in his art. He feels that he can create a world where he knows all the outcomes. Hamlet can turn his life into a play and as such he can write the ending. Hamlet's vision is one where he can take the world into his hands, "hold a mirror up to nature," and write his life so that each character fulfills his or her role. If the human is as great as Hamlet believes, the play is surely "the thing." If God exists and is to be obeyed, Hamlet's actions will be justified.
Unfortunately, nothing is easy, and Hamlet must constantly wrestle with his ideas. In a sense, Hamlet the artist must constantly rewrite and polish. The fact that he must do so brings out the man of faith and duty in him. The man of faith and duty scorns the artist for his delay. You can see how this causes nothing but a vicious catch-22. A circle of self-loathing that inhibits every single impulse toward success that Hamlet has. It is only when Hamlet "forgets" himself that he is able to do his job.
Hamlet's murder of Polonius is a vicious act for which Hamlet shows no remorse. However it provides insight into what Hamlet must do in order to fulfill his promise to the Ghost. Hamlet simply lets go. It is violent and destructive, but later, Hamlet only succeeds by giving himself over to another play.
Although he knows that he could indeed die in the swordfight, Hamlet chooses not to fight against the trap. There is no impulse to control, for "if it be not now, than 'tis to come." Nor, however, is there an impulse to force the issue and kill blindly. Act five is almost romantic in the notion that Hamlet has given up any worry. He has no more pain, no more bitterness. He will let the answers come to him, and when he finally does this, the answers surely come. "The readiness is all." Hamlet is ready, and finally acts.
Ok guys. I warned you. Print up this post. Read it. Make notes. Post your well-thought comment by Tuesday night.
posted by Ian Anthony Godburn at 7:23 PM
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