The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.0151  Wednesday, 23 January 2002

From:           Paul E. Doniger <
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Date:           Tuesday, 22 Jan 2002 22:49:54 -0500
Subject: 13.0143 Hamlet (Once More)
Comment:        Fw: SHK 13.0143 Hamlet (Once More)

Ed Taft writes,

> But the problem with these explanations is that if they are really meant
> as "proof" of the Ghost's goodness, then Hamlet should immediately
> effect revenge and the play should be over.

But revenge is a complex moral issue, both socially and religiously, in
Elizabethan England (and beyond), and incompatible with 'goodness' as
Hamlet is all too aware; of course, we have already discussed not long
ago the issue of The Ghost undermining his own call for vengeance.

Ed also writes,

> I see these points as "ways out" for members of the audience who cannot
> bear -- or choose not to consider -- that the provenance of the Ghost
> continues to be a puzzle -- and unsolvable one, in my view -- to the
> very end of the play.

I couldn't agree more!

Paul E. Doniger

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