Notes on Shakespeare and Hamlet's "hobby horse" remark
Karin Thomson of the Shakespeare Institute Library recently shared a helpful blog post by Karin Brown about #Shakespeare, seasonal festivals (like the May pole and May festival, on May 1st), and references to the "hobby horse" that turn up in various plays. If you were confused when Hamlet says, "O, the hobby horse is forgot," this is helpful.
Or copy and past this link into your browser: https://silibrary1.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/shakespeare-may-day-and-the-hobby-horse/
It's also perhaps a bit strange or scandalous (or at least a cause of some cognitive dissonance) as it seems to imply that Hamlet refers to his dead father, King Hamlet, as the hobby horse.
Excerpt:
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[...] The Rev. Dyer describes the horse as:
… formed by a pasteboard horse’s head, and a light frame made of wicker-work to join the hinder parts. This was fastened round the body of a man, and covered with a foot-cloth which nearly reached the ground and concealed the legs of the performer, who displayed his antic equestrian skill, and performed various juggling tricks to the amusement of bystanders.
What the Rev fails to point out is the sexual significance of the hobbyhorse. The foot-cloth skirt was used for catching the village maidens in an aggressively mimed fertility dance – the more randy and athletic the better. Thus Bottom, although not disappointed at his experiences in fairy land really didn’t have the best part of the bargain!
The sexual association led to the term ‘hobby horse’ being used as a name for a loose woman. In The Winter’s Tale Leontes says to Camillo:
They say
My wife’s a hobby-horse, deserves a name
As rank as any flax-wench that puts to
Before her troth-plight.
In Othello, Bianca says to Cassio of Desdemona’s handkerchief: “This is some minx’s token and I must take out the work? There; give it your hobbyhorse.”
In Hamlet, the hobbyhorse forms part of the dense sexual imagery of the play. Claudius is described in terms of half-man/half-beast: Hamlet refers to him as a satyr, a debased woodland wanton; the Ghost refers to him as “that incestuous, adulterate beast” (placing man’s sin with the behaviour of animals). To the Ghost, Claudius has reduced himself to his bestial components, cut off from the human side of himself, making havoc of natural order. With Hamlet’s use of the popular phrase ‘For O, for O, the hobby horse is forgot’ in relation to the memory of his father, the hobbyhorse and satyr are positioned as opposites – one the defender of social continuity, and legitimacy – the other a destroyer of social order and structure. If the hobby horse is forgot the promise of renewal and continuity is broken. [...]
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I would not view the hobby horse and satyr as opposites, but it's worth some reflection.
She notes that Hamlet's hobby horse line is probably from a familiar song. Interesting stuff. If we had the full text of the song (and perhaps the melody as well), maybe there would be even more insights about the song-allusion?
See also the book,
Shakespeare’s Hobby-Horse and Early Modern Popular Culture, by Natália Pikli
https://www.routledge.com/Shakespeares-Hobby-Horse-and-Early-Modern-Popular-Culture/Pikli/p/book/9781003054238
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider subscribing.
Or copy and past this link into your browser: https://silibrary1.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/shakespeare-may-day-and-the-hobby-horse/
Excerpt:
~~~~~~
[...] The Rev. Dyer describes the horse as:
… formed by a pasteboard horse’s head, and a light frame made of wicker-work to join the hinder parts. This was fastened round the body of a man, and covered with a foot-cloth which nearly reached the ground and concealed the legs of the performer, who displayed his antic equestrian skill, and performed various juggling tricks to the amusement of bystanders.
What the Rev fails to point out is the sexual significance of the hobbyhorse. The foot-cloth skirt was used for catching the village maidens in an aggressively mimed fertility dance – the more randy and athletic the better. Thus Bottom, although not disappointed at his experiences in fairy land really didn’t have the best part of the bargain!
The sexual association led to the term ‘hobby horse’ being used as a name for a loose woman. In The Winter’s Tale Leontes says to Camillo:
They say
My wife’s a hobby-horse, deserves a name
As rank as any flax-wench that puts to
Before her troth-plight.
In Othello, Bianca says to Cassio of Desdemona’s handkerchief: “This is some minx’s token and I must take out the work? There; give it your hobbyhorse.”
In Hamlet, the hobbyhorse forms part of the dense sexual imagery of the play. Claudius is described in terms of half-man/half-beast: Hamlet refers to him as a satyr, a debased woodland wanton; the Ghost refers to him as “that incestuous, adulterate beast” (placing man’s sin with the behaviour of animals). To the Ghost, Claudius has reduced himself to his bestial components, cut off from the human side of himself, making havoc of natural order. With Hamlet’s use of the popular phrase ‘For O, for O, the hobby horse is forgot’ in relation to the memory of his father, the hobbyhorse and satyr are positioned as opposites – one the defender of social continuity, and legitimacy – the other a destroyer of social order and structure. If the hobby horse is forgot the promise of renewal and continuity is broken. [...]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would not view the hobby horse and satyr as opposites, but it's worth some reflection.
She notes that Hamlet's hobby horse line is probably from a familiar song. Interesting stuff. If we had the full text of the song (and perhaps the melody as well), maybe there would be even more insights about the song-allusion?
See also the book,
Shakespeare’s Hobby-Horse and Early Modern Popular Culture, by Natália Pikli
https://www.routledge.com/Shakespeares-Hobby-Horse-and-Early-Modern-Popular-Culture/Pikli/p/book/9781003054238
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider subscribing.
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