John Yamamoto-Wilson on "Quietus" and Suicide in Hamlet
One of my favorite things about the following video by John R. Yamamoto-Wilson is that he challenges prevailing scholarly and performance assumptions about what Hamlet means in his “To be or not to be” speech, and in particular, that he expands popular understanding of what Hamlet means by “quietus.” (3.1.64-96; 3.1.83.). [1]
John points out very clearly that Hamlet already considered suicide in Act 1, scene 2:
O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ’gainst self-slaughter!
1.2.133-136
Later, in Act 1, scene 5, Hamlet had already promised the ghost that he will avenge his murder, so there is little dramatic purpose in Act 3 to considering suicide yet again.
Importantly, John points out that the word “quietus” has a more primary meaning as found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) than the one Shakespeare scholars and directors often assume.
They wrongly assume that the phrase, “his quietus make,” can only mean “to make quiet his own life via suicide.”
But John notes that there is an older and perhaps more primary meaning of "Quietus":
to settle accounts. Or we might say, to settle a score. To avenge a wrong.
So “he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin” doesn’t have to mean suicide at all, but might mean settling an account, or settling a score, with a sharp dagger.
The more I read Shakespeare scholarship (and literature scholarship in general), the more I’m convinced that one of the greatest services a scholar can perform is to show us where earlier scholars, or where an entrenched theater tradition, has gotten things wrong.
The point is not that we should move from one entrenched position (quietus = suicide) to a new entrenched position (quietus = settling a score), but that there is at the very least a rich ambiguity that a long tradition has ignored in favor of a single, flat meaning.
It also interests me greatly that the word “quietus” is thematically linked to Hamlet’s last words: “The rest is silence.” There is a similarly entrenched scholarly tradition that believes “rest” can only mean “what comes after this earthly existence,” when in fact “the rest” is also a symbol in musical notation, and therefore a pun, that too few notice and consider.
More on that next week.
You can view the video via John’s LinkedIn page here:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6985533073803137024?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Or you can view it at Youtube here:
https://youtu.be/erp1nJx3jHA
You can also view John’s LinkedIn profile here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnryamamotowilson/
And you can view his list of most recent posts here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnryamamotowilson/recent-activity/shares/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES
1. All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
To find the subscribe button, see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
John points out very clearly that Hamlet already considered suicide in Act 1, scene 2:
O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ’gainst self-slaughter!
1.2.133-136
Later, in Act 1, scene 5, Hamlet had already promised the ghost that he will avenge his murder, so there is little dramatic purpose in Act 3 to considering suicide yet again.
Importantly, John points out that the word “quietus” has a more primary meaning as found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) than the one Shakespeare scholars and directors often assume.
They wrongly assume that the phrase, “his quietus make,” can only mean “to make quiet his own life via suicide.”
But John notes that there is an older and perhaps more primary meaning of "Quietus":
to settle accounts. Or we might say, to settle a score. To avenge a wrong.
So “he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin” doesn’t have to mean suicide at all, but might mean settling an account, or settling a score, with a sharp dagger.
The more I read Shakespeare scholarship (and literature scholarship in general), the more I’m convinced that one of the greatest services a scholar can perform is to show us where earlier scholars, or where an entrenched theater tradition, has gotten things wrong.
The point is not that we should move from one entrenched position (quietus = suicide) to a new entrenched position (quietus = settling a score), but that there is at the very least a rich ambiguity that a long tradition has ignored in favor of a single, flat meaning.
It also interests me greatly that the word “quietus” is thematically linked to Hamlet’s last words: “The rest is silence.” There is a similarly entrenched scholarly tradition that believes “rest” can only mean “what comes after this earthly existence,” when in fact “the rest” is also a symbol in musical notation, and therefore a pun, that too few notice and consider.
More on that next week.
You can view the video via John’s LinkedIn page here:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6985533073803137024?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Or you can view it at Youtube here:
https://youtu.be/erp1nJx3jHA
You can also view John’s LinkedIn profile here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnryamamotowilson/
And you can view his list of most recent posts here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnryamamotowilson/recent-activity/shares/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES
1. All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
To find the subscribe button, see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
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