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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2919  Monday, 31 December 2001

[1]     From:   L. Swilley <lswilley@overland.net>
        Date:   Saturday, 29 Dec 2001 18:08:30 -0600
        Subj:   Re: SHK 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G

[2]     From:   Anna Kamaralli <anna@belvoir.com.au>
        Date:   Monday, 31 Dec 2001 12:34:37 +1100
        Subj:   Re: SHK 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           L. Swilley <lswilley@overland.net>
Date:           Saturday, 29 Dec 2001 18:08:30 -0600
Subject: 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G
Comment:        Re: SHK 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G

Brian Willis wrote,

“Who said that Ophelia and R+G have a say in the matter? They MUST obey
their respective father and king, upon compulsion. After all, R+G were
“sent for”.  They did not come to check on Hamlet. Claudius ordered them
to arrive. Ophelia must obey Polonius. The whole point of I.  iii. is to
demonstrate how Ophelia is completely powerless against her father. It
is because Hamlet can see the manipulation of Claudius in these
relationships that they fail.”

Then, shouldn’t Hamlet be considerate of these three who have no choice
but to obey superiors?  Hamlet acts as though these three have betrayed
him; but if they really have no choice in the matter, but are compelled
to do what they do, oughtn’t he to understand that?  But with or without
the compulsion, they see him acting in such a mad way that their
cooperation with Claudius/Polonius must have been seen by them as a kind
act of friendship, not a betrayal, no matter what the motive.

     L. Swilley

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Anna Kamaralli <anna@belvoir.com.au>
Date:           Monday, 31 Dec 2001 12:34:37 +1100
Subject: 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G
Comment:        Re: SHK 12.2910 Re: The Abused R&G

No excuses for Ophelia, please Brian.  Was Desdemona powerless against
her father?  Celia against hers? Cordelia against Lear?  Imogen against
Cymbeline?  The plays are full of daughters standing up to fathers when
a higher honour calls for it. Among Shakespeare’s women, Ophelia is
almost uniquely spineless.

R&G, similarly, had to show up, but didn’t have to execute Claudius’s
subsequent directions with such enthusiasm.  By the rules of duty to the
monarch, Horatio should have kept Claudius informed about the ghost and
Hamlet’s actions even without an express command, but he chose to offer
his duty instead to Hamlet.  R&G could have done the same, had they been
honest with Hamlet in their scene with him, without Claudius even
knowing.

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