The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0819 Saturday, 8 December 2007
[1] From: Scott Newstok <
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Date: Tuesday, 4 Dec 2007 22:57:34 -0600
Subj: Re: SHK 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
[2] From: Donald Bloom <
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Date: Wednesday, 5 Dec 2007 11:15:28 -0600
Subj: RE: SHK 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
[3] From: Joseph Egert <
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Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 18:07:53 -0800 (PST)
Subj: Re: SHK 18.0787 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Scott Newstok <
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Date: Tuesday, 4 Dec 2007 22:57:34 -0600
Subject: 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
Comment: Re: SHK 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
Raymond Williams makes a fine series of gradations about different
modes of single-speaker addresses and audiences in: "Monologue in
Macbeth," _Teaching the Text_, ed. Susanne Kappeler and Norman Bryson
(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983): 180-202.
Yet these gradations, as fruitfully schematic as they are, end up
feeling somewhat preliminary to the critical analysis he promises but
never quite delivers.
[2]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Donald Bloom <
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Date: Wednesday, 5 Dec 2007 11:15:28 -0600
Subject: 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
Comment: RE: SHK 18.0812 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
I think we also need to consider "Hamlet" 3, 1. The king, queen,
Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on-stage. R & G are
questioned by the king and queen and then dismissed. Gertrude is
likewise asked to depart and does so. Polonius places his daughter in
some strategic position, and then he and the king hide themselves
(presumably behind the arras, per 2, 2).
So, when Hamlet walks on stage to mull over death and self-destruction,
who is listening to him besides the audience?
Traditionally, he later knows or suspects the presence of the hidden
listeners, leading him to ask Ophelia where her father is. When does he
come to this realization? Clearly, this is a director's choice,
determined by what he or she wants the audience to get out of the scene
besides the familiar words. But what scholarly or dramaturgical evidence
should guide this director?
You may, for example, want Hamlet to move as far downstage as possible,
making it clear that he does not see Ophelia, sitting upstage and to the
other side from where he enters. He would then deliver the lines solely
to himself and the audience, and would only notice Ophelia's presence
just before he says, "Soft you now, the fair Ophelia," and crosses to
greet her.
I believe this is the standard version, but it is also a trifle
unlikely: he would have to pretend that she is invisible or else never
look at that part of the stage. It can be done, of course, but it
stretches things a bit.
A very different effect would be given if you assumed that Hamlet saw
all of them and made no effort to keep what he was saying from their
ears. If he was onto their game, he would then be "acting," one of his
favorite occupations, playing a part and playing with their minds.
Notably, unlike most soliloquies, he would also be playing with the
audience's minds, since it would be guessing just what was truly a
soliloquy and what a part of Hamlet's whole game with the royal court.
Just a thought,
don
[3]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Joseph Egert <
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Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 18:07:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: 18.0787 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
Comment: Re: SHK 18.0787 Soliloquies - Truth or Lie...or Overheard?
On the steward's "recounting" Helena's "soliloquy", Arnie Perlstein asks:
"1. Does Helena intend to be overheard by the steward, who perhaps has
been watching Helena closely for some reason?
"2. If Helena does intend to be overheard, does she speak what she
actually feels, or does she present a false front of humble, hopeless,
but true love, as opposed, say, to a more cynical attempt to marry up?
"3. If the steward is reporting the same soliloquy quoted above, he
presents the Countess with a "translation" that seems to stray widely at
some points from what Helena actually said, as in the children's game of
Telephone. Or is the steward giving a reliable report, given that he has
observed Helena's nonverbals?"
Arnie, check out James Hirsh's SHAKESPEARE AND THE HISTORY OF
SOLILOQUIES(2003). In it he argues for feigning, going so far as
accusing Helena of using or bribing the steward to enlist the Countess'
support. Hirsh is known for finding feigned soliloquies at the drop of
an eaves. See Marcia Eppich-Harris' review of Hirsh on Hamlet's "To Be"
soliloquy(?) at SHK 14.0804.
I find most intriguing when a soliloquy might involve so-called
self-deception or rationalization. Can one truly seek to deceive oneself
at a conscious level?
Puzzled,
Joe Egert
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