Hamlet-Othello and Bambi-Rambo comparisons

IN HAMLET'S PLACE, WWOD? (What would Othello do?) At some point [1], to help understand (or make fun of?) Hamlet’s apparent indecision, someone thought this question was important, or clever.

If Othello were the Prince of Denmark, he would elope with Ophelia, kill her, kill his uncle, kill Fortinbras, and commit suicide. Done.

A Kenneth Branagh film version might only take 3.8 hours, tops. 

Such comparisons may or may not be helpful, but they add levity to the classroom and ensure that all students might get at least one answer right on the quiz. 

What would avenge a father’s death more quickly: Superman or a nuclear bomb? 

Woah! 

Bambi and Rambo: Both names end in a vowel, announcing their similarity in spite of their contrast. 

Bring those dear MIA members of the herd home. With grenades and lots of ammo. Get ‘er done. Boom. 

Shakespeare would love these comparisons. How do we know? Because of the intentional fallacy, by that comic duo, Wimsatt and Beardsley [2], who said you’ll never understand what they intended to say about the intentional fallacy, because we can never grasp intention. 

We can only get lucky. Sometimes. (I’m paraphrasing.) 

So step into the casino of life: let’s try our luck at outlandish comparisons: 

Shall I compare thee, Malvolio to Puck? (!)
Mistress Overdone (brothel keeper), to Polonius (fishmonger)?
Miranda and Iago? (Hmmm…) 
Even more dramatically: Macbeth, to Pinocchio? 

Freud to Falstaff? 

Richard III to Moana? 

The Brooklyn Bridge to King Lear? (Woah!) 

The last of these is like the Zen koan, “The sound of one hand clapping”: It distracts the conscious mind (the tip of the iceberg) while the deeper, wider, larger parts of the mind ruminate, and enlightenment arrives like a butterfly, like “the morn in russet mantle clad” that “Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.” [1.1.181-2] 

Right? 

The sky’s the limit. (Or not.) 


#Shakespeare #Hamlet #drama #literature #theatre

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

[1] I asked Google today, who first compared Hamlet to Othello, the reply began with the admission: “it’s impossible to pinpoint.” 

[2] W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley put forth the idea of the “intentional fallacy” in 1946, to correct a tendency to carelessly assert what authors intended. See Wimsatt, W. K., and M. C. Beardsley. “The Intentional Fallacy.” The Sewanee Review 54, no. 3 (1946): 468–88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27537676.

It may have been an over-correction. Richard Strier (emeritus, University of Chicago) has noted that perhaps most discourse depends on discernment of (and assumptions about understanding) intention. 

IMAGES: 

Laurence Fishburne as Othello, 1995, dir. Oliver Parker. Image fair use via Britanica, https://cdn.britannica.com/81/1481-004-41612721/Iago-Laurence-Fishburne-Kenneth-Branagh-Othello-title-1995.jpg

Ethan Hawke in the 2000 film "Hamlet," dir. Michael Almereyda. Image fair use via https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTg3NmE4M2ItOTM5OS00N2FhLWJhNWMtOGU4MGVkNTIxNDY0XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

Bambi (1942), image fair use via Texas Public Radio, https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2005-03-04/bambi-disneys-first-circle-of-life

Rambo, First Blood, Part 2, 1985, image fair use via https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61n0PKQgxYL._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.