Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

[An earlier post said that the next set would explore four different interpretations of Gertrude; this post explores the second of those interpretations in greater detail, a Gertrude who is surprised at finding herself poisoned, blinded by her own sentimentality.] Productions that portray Gertrude as unsuspicious and surprised to find in 5.2 that the cup from which she drank had been poisoned are not convincing to me: They ignore too many textual details. But many find it compelling.[1] We might well ask: Why do some people prefer an unsuspicious Gertrude who is surprised at the poison? - Do they prefer to view her as an unwitting victim of Claudius? - As being punished for alleged adultery and an "incestuous" marriage? - As lacking intelligence or wisdom enough to be suspicious? - As lacking agency, so they don't want her to be A) secretly acting as her son's wine-tester, testing for poison, B) setting a mousetrap deliberately for Claudius by choosing to drink, a...

There are as many interpretations of Gertrude as there are readers, spectators, and actors. My next four posts will explore just four readings of Gertrude, especially regarding motivations for drinking from what she may or may not know is the poison cup intended for her son. Whether Ophelia and Hamlet influence Gertrude or not can only be determined by scrutinizing what really happens with Gertrude. A brief summary of just four of many possibilities (I prefer # 4): 1. Gertrude as Protestant allegory for a corrupt Catholic Church. Gertrude drinks because she is a slave to her animal passions as mother, as incestuous adulterer, and as slave to drink. For an example of this reading, see Linda Kay Hoff, Hamlet's Choice: A Reformation Allegory. 2. A surprised Gertrude as queen of wishful thinking [1]: Gertrude sees “The Mousetrap” (with its mention of poison) and hears Hamlet accuse Claudius of murder, but thinks Hamlet is mad; she doesn’t tell Claudius of Hamlet’s accusations to protec...

To her father in 2.1, Ophelia describes Hamlet’s frightening visit to her closet. In Ophelia’s description of Hamlet’s exit, Jonathan Bate finds an allusion to Orpheus' glance back at Eurydice as he leaves the underworld (left image), a Greek myth recently adapted for the Broadway musical, Hadestown. Ophelia describes Hamlet: [...] with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosèd out of hell To speak of horrors—he comes before me. [...] He took me by the wrist and held me hard. Then goes he to the length of all his arm, And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face As he would draw it. Long stayed he so. At last, a little shaking of mine arm, And thrice his head thus waving up and down, He raised a sigh so piteous and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk And end his being. That done, he lets me go, And, with his head over his shoulder turned, He seemed to find his way without his eyes, For out o’ doors he went without their he...

Of the many aspects of Branagh's Hamlet that critics noted, one involved images of Hamlet and Ophelia, naked in bed (plucking the heart from the mystery of the question of whether they had been lovers, or whether—as Ophelia tells her father—Hamlet had merely expressed his love in "honorable fashion").  Another involves the entry of an attacking Fortinbras at the end of the play, with an army. An older tradition assumes Ophelia is a virtuous, virginal and obedient daughter who alludes to scripture in conversation with her brother, but as women were considered the "weaker vessel" (a-hem), she goes insane and perhaps (contrary to Gertrude's account?) commits suicide. Others have noted the presence of abortifacient herbs among the flowers she names in her mad scene, and claim that she is pregnant with Hamlet's child, but that this could not be stated explicitly due to the censors. Another old tradition likes to believe that the diplomatic overtures  ...

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR HAMLET? Madman? Privileged drop-out? The Man-who-would-have-been-king? Examination of just three film actors in the role of Shakespeare's Hamlet since the 1990s (Branagh, Hawke, Tennant) reveals distinctly different approaches to casting and portraying the prince.  Kenneth Branagh: It is easy to imagine Branagh as a prince who could have made a good king, and that Claudius "Popp'd in between the election and [his] hopes." It's also easy to see how he may have been "loved of the distracted multitude" (4.3). Ethan Hawke: Hawke plays an angst-filled hipster, a privileged drop-out caught in a cul-de-sac of life ("Denmark's a prison"). It seems he has little interest in being king and may prefer Occupy Wall Street (kudos for that). It's easy to see why the board of directors prefers Claudius. Perhaps loved mostly by hipster students among the distracted multitude? David Tennant: Tennant's Hamlet is ...