The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Since Shakespeare's day Hamlet has been the leading tragedy of the English-speaking stage. To enact its tide role has been the ambition, in every period, of every actor of note. More than any other play its interest centres, despite the richness of portraiture in its large gallery of characters, in its hero. When we first meet Hamlet the Dane he is nauseated at the speed with which his mother has remarried after the death of the elder Hamlet, his father; that second marriage is the more poisonous to him in that her new husband, his uncle Claudius, is a man he has always hated. The horror is aggravated by the fact that the marriage of any woman to her deceased husband's brother was held, in this part of the world, from time immemorial, to be incestuous. Before the Prince has time even to ponder this new state of affairs, the Ghost, in perfect likeness to the dead king, appears in order to tell Hamlet that Claudius, after an adulterous relationship with the Queen so that he might win her and the crown for himself, secredy murdered Hamlet's father. The Ghost enjoins two things upon the Prince: not in any way to harm his mother and to avenge the murder. Thus Hamlet is impelled into a situation that calls for superhuman endurance. First of all there is the problem as to whether the Ghost was indeed the spirit of Hamlet's father or actually a "goblin damn'd" of evil intent, bringing with it "blasts from hell" (as Elizabethans firmly believed might be the case with a ghost). That is, was Claudius guilty or innocent of the murder? Then, if Claudius is guilty, how is Hamlet to prove him so to a Denmark that believes the late King died a natural death? And was Queen Gertrude also an accomplice in the murder, if there was one? These are the terrible questions Hamlet must resolve before he dare undertake vengeance, and with them he is concerned until, past the middle of the action, he hits upon the device of presenting a play before Claudius and the Queen. The impossible and agonising dilemma with which his hero is confronted has been translated into the most dramadc terms conceivable because of the personal traits \vith wliich Shakespeare has endowed him. Hamlet is a man of profoimd intellect, exquisite sensibilities, brilliance of wit, but also of volcanic nature. For such a man to restrain himself, as Hamlet must, until the moment is ripe for vengeance, is a task calling for more than human self-control. He wins our love and deepest sympathy because of the extent to which he succeeds in this obligation in the very teeth of his violent temperament. But alas! on an unguarded impulse he kills the courder Polonius and thereby cancels his ascendancy over Claudius just when his cause is going well. For those who listen to the Living Shakespeare records, certain features should be pointed out. Within the time limit set for these recordings it becomes necessary to omit much, and it will be wise therefore to read the entire text of the play which is provided herewith. Nevertheless, I am particularly interested in the fact that the omissions do nothing to alter the essential meaning of Hamlet's behaviour in the play. When one listens, it is obvious that nowhere is Hamlet feigning insanity—as I am sure Shakespeare never intended he should appear to be doing. Indeed, many advantages accrue from listening to this play. Sir Michael Redgrave's beautiful voice does justice, as actors' voices too often do not, to Shakespeare as the \vorld's greatest poet; he is wonderfully eloquent in the scene with Ophelia; and his advice to the Players is happily natural and direct. Miss Rawlings' Gertrude establishes at once the loving but uncomprehending mother. And I should like to pay particular tribute to Mr. Humphry's Laertes, an important role often slighted in the casting, for its fine impatience and suggestion of an athletic personality. Then, too, there is a peculiar effectiveness (in what could hardly be so well managed on the stage) to the echoing and re-echoing, during the scene with the Ghost, of the important words "revenge", "murder", "foul", "strange", and "swear". This record is, I believe, a valuable contribution in its emphasis on the auditory values of the great scenes of our leading tragedy. Bernard Grebanier