Part 56: Ophelia to Hamlet: "You are as good as a chorus"

While Ophelia and Hamlet are watching “The Mousetrap,” Hamlet is very talkative with running commentary for the court and especially for Claudius, whose conscience he hopes to catch as the players reenact something like the circumstances of King Hamlet’s poisoning.[1] 

Ophelia says to Hamlet, “You are as good as a chorus, my lord.” (3.2.269)

The chorus served in Greek plays in many ways, including to comment on the actions on and off stage, and to serve as the voice of fear or of conscience.[2]

One way to read Ophelia’s statement is that she is simply describing what Hamlet is doing in the immediate context of the scene.

But critics and scholars have always loved to explore how a line in a narrow context may apply to larger contexts.

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: What if Shakespeare uses Ophelia’s line to signal to audiences and readers that, in fact, one could read the whole play as if the very talkative Hamlet is a kind of chorus throughout, who sheds light on other characters, who at some moments are much more important than he is, especially in his absense?

It is often observed that Hamlet is not a man of action for most of the play, but a man of words, until he kills Polonius by accident, intending to kill his uncle. Soon after this, Hamlet is not even on stage but on his sea voyage when Ophelia goes mad, and Laertes returns, and Ophelia drowns. When he’s gone, Ophelia does most of her talking and singing, like a replacement chorus (or “chorus regent”) in Hamlet’s absence.

To be or not? This is not only Hamlet’s question, but Ophelia’s and Gertrude’s as well. As Hamlet notes in the graveyard, the great Alexander and Caesar are dead and turned to dust, but the dust of their corpses might be useful to make mud to plug a hole to keep a cold wind away.[3] Perhaps better to be so useful, rather than so great, while we still live? Perhaps Ophelia and Gertrude serve to be most useful in that way, and the words of Hamlet as chorus shed light on their choices?


NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[1] Hamlet 3.2.157-311.

[2] The Drama Teacher (dot-com) has a great web page that explores the uses of the Greek chorus:
The Role of the Chorus in Greek Theatre: 39 Critical Facts
By Justin Cash (Updated September 25, 2023),
https://thedramateacher.com/the-role-of-the-chorus-in-greek-theatre/

[3] 5.1.204-223.


IMAGES:

MAIN: The Play Scene in ‘Hamlet’ (1842), Daniel Maclise  (1806–1870), National Gallery (UK), Tate Museum. Public domain via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daniel_Maclise_(1806-1870)_-_The_Play_Scene_in_%27Hamlet%27_-_N00422_-_National_Gallery.jpg

TOP LEFT & RIGHT CORNERS:
Theater Masks-dot-com (Greek Masks): Fair use. (Please consider supporting this business.)
https://theater-masks.com/masks/greek-theatre-masks/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX OF OPHELIA POSTS:
My 2023 series on Ophelia, and earlier Ophelia posts:

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/10/index-of-ophelia-posts-2023-series-and.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried

IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.