The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 14.1077  Wednesday, 4 June 2003

From:           Jeffrey Myers <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 >
Date:           Tuesday, 3 Jun 2003 13:53:42 -0400
Subject: 14.1062 Re: Hirsh and "To Be"
Comment:        RE: SHK 14.1062 Re: Hirsh and "To Be"

>At the risk of being dumped into the bin marked "realist," I
>would like to point out that if Hamlet is pretending to be
>mad (and he says he intends to do this, and persuades the
>court that he is, and does a lot of goofy stuff), he has to
>be pretending every public moment. If he's moving through the
>castle towards some kind of meeting with the king, he cannot
>assume that he's not being spied upon.

Might I further point out that Claudius's "we have closely sent for
Hamlet hither" does not necessarily mean that Hamlet believes he is on
his way to a meeting with Claudius.  "Closely sent" might mean that
Claudius has hidden the fact that he himself has sent for Hamlet, who
might have been summoned to the scene on a completely different pretext,
as I think likely.

Jeff Myers

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, 
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

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.