• Previous message: Hardy M. Cook: "Shakespeare Bullettin Fall 2002 Issue"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ]

The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2904  Thursday, 27 December 2001

From:           L. Swilley <lswilley@overland.net>
Date:           Monday, 24 Dec 2001 17:54:51 -0600
Subject:        The Abused R&G

>We have students asking (1) if Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are intended
>to be Jewish and (2) if Shakespeare uses them to exploit the
>anti-Semitism that seems to have been the norm in early modern England.
>My answer, as it often is, is "I don't know." Can anyone help?
===========================================================

If anti- rather than pro-Semitism is Shakespeare’s point here, he has
certainly made a mess of it. These guys - like Ophelia - have been
called in to help a man they have every reason to believe is at least a
nervous wreck, if not a basket-case. Hamlet, who has already announced
his intention to play mad (or expects to be so distracted as to appear
so), seems incapable of appreciating the plight of friends who want to
help but, particularly after meeting this jittery guy,  find themselves
on the side of Claudius and Gertrude in handling with perfectly
understandable circumspection one whom they have every reason to believe
nearly insane. Hamlet’s lack of appreciation for this very point, his
believing instead that R&G’s - and Ophelia’s - submitting to Claudius’
plea for help is their betrayal of him (Hamlet) is a serious dimension
of the Prince’s flaw. R&G are finally betrayed by one whom they imagined
they were helping, and whatever their blood, they are good and pitifully
put-upon characters.

On this important point, one cannot but wonder why the level-headed
Horatio, who has seen the whole show so far, has no scene in which he at
least attempts to make Hamlet aware of his unreasonable attitude towards
R&G and Ophelia for the reasons given above. If there is an error of
composition in the play - dare I suggest such? - it is this very
ommission. (Of course, we see Horatio’s dismay upon learning that R&G
have “gone to it,” but we have to wonder where this important character
was when Hamlet was denouncing Ophelia and blistering R&G.)

     L. Swilley

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, editor@ws.bowiestate.edu
The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu>

DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.

• Previous message: Hardy M. Cook: "Shakespeare Bullettin Fall 2002 Issue"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ]