Sources for Hamlet
Hamlet is based on a Norse legend composed by Saxo Grammaticus in Latin around 1200 AD. The sixteen books that comprise Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, or History of the Danes, tell of the rise and fall of the great rulers of Denmark, and the tale of Amleth, Saxo's Hamlet, is recounted in books three and four. In Saxo's version, King Rorik of the Danes places his trust in two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi. The brothers are appointed to rule over Jutland, and Orvendil weds the king's beautiful daughter, Geruth. They have a son, Amleth. But Fengi, lusting after Orvendil's new bride and longing to become the sole ruler of Jutland, kills his brother, marries Geruth, and declares himself king over the land. Amleth is desperately afraid, and feigns madness to keep from getting murdered. He plans revenge against his uncle and becomes the new and rightful king of Jutland. Saxo's story was first printed in Paris in 1514, and Francois de Belleforest translated it into French in 1570, as part of his collection of tragic legends, Histoires Tragiques. Saxo's text did not appear in English until 1608, so either Shakespeare was fluent in French or he used another English source based on the French translation. Generally, it is accepted that Shakespeare used the earlier play based on this Norse legend by Thomas Kyd, called the Ur-Hamlet. There is no surviving copy of the Ur-Hamlet and the only information known about the play is that it was performed on the London stage; that it was a tragedy; that there was a character in the play named Hamlet; and a ghost who cried "Hamlet, revenge!"
In this version of the story, Hamlet's madness is a conscious charade executed to survive the situation. I wonder if the original staging played on this angle. Perhaps in our era, theater artists treat the story with more gravity than was originally intended.
Interesting to think about. One wonders how mythology holds up against history. What the historic Jesus like? In ancient Greece the gods were often confused with hsitoric figures so it was difficult to know which it was or both. With Hamlet the revisioning of the story by Shakespeare melded history with psychology so the inner world is more revealed in the story than the outer. That is how the fairy tales evolved. So why might the madness take on more significance than intended?
ReplyDeleteJesus always came across as an amazing humanist who was sexually ambiguous and couldn't throw a punch to save his life. Literally. I'd cast a younger Alfred Molina to play Jesus.
ReplyDeleteTrue that Shakespeare emphasizes the inner world. More than history, it's probably Shakespeare's own inner world that we are studying when we read the plays.
I imagine now we have a more clinical and scientific perspective on madness than in earlier times. Back then, it would have been the spirit world in action. Not a subject to be studied but a storm to be weathered. Or a demon to be wrestled.
Not sure about that. Shakespeare's lasting value is probably how well he reflected the collective unconscious even if his own madness was amplified a bit in the process. We do pathologize madness quite a bit and squeeze the artistry out of it. Jungians generally do not like to pathologize madness but prefer to see it in mythological terms. They are adverse to pharmacological approaches. And what if Hamlet was treated? Would we have ever heard such wonderful waffling poetically expressed?
ReplyDeleteI guess I was trying to distinguish between the psychological and the historical, not between the individual and the collective. In art, the specific always must become universal and vice versa. It is only the vague that connects to no one. But I agree: Shakespeare's specificity greatly reflected the collective unconscious.
ReplyDeleteGot it. I got a call from Frank Troccio a fellow Cross alum who proceeded to tell me all about the guys we went to school with, Palumbo, Ambrose, Lombardo, Ranerri, Catrambone, D'Anza, DeLuca. I realized I went to school with the cast from Saprano's. It reminded me of Hamlet and his friends. I'm sure Frank wondered about how far astray I went. They all become dentists and lawyers and doctors. He asked me how I get separated from the herd and after I said I was stabbed, then became a nurse, then started working with dying patients, I could tell I was losing him like someone reaching into his pocket to produce a tip but initiating the pursuit from the level of the shoulders so by the time he got to his pocket the tip became meaningless.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way for the most part. While I do have a small number of close friends from high school, the number seems to get smaller every year. Time and distance increase the space between myself and those to whom I was very close.
ReplyDeleteI imagine you would find no shortage of Rosencrantzes and Guildensterns to employ against me should the need arise, dear uncle ;)