The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0362 Thursday, 7 June 2007
From: Arnie Perlstein <
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Date: Saturday, 12 May 2007 12:07:25 -0400
Subject: Question about history of idea of Ophelia as Pregnant by
This morning I inadvertently joined the distinguished (or dubious,
depending on your point of view) club of all those who have ever
wondered whether Shakespeare intended to create a plausible implication
that Ophelia was pregnant by Hamlet when she killed herself. For what
it's worth, after reading up on the subject, I believe Shakespeare did
indeed intend to do that, but I don't mean to open up a very old can of
worms again with this message. This idea seems to have been thoroughly
discussed in this list several times, and I have nothing new to add on
the subject.
My specific question is, does anyone know when that theory was first
proposed? I would suspect probably before 1700, given that it is
apparently a thought that has been repeatedly and independently
rediscovered many times (as I just did), which is one of the reasons why
I think it was intentional. But I'd be curious to know more about any
actual published pre-20th century versions of the theory.
It also occurs to me that this message would also be an opportune moment
for me to announce that I will be giving a presentation at Oxford on
June 7 entitled "So you think you know all the right answers to all the
right questions about Jane Austen's Emma?" in which I will, in part, be
making the case for a number of never previously claimed allusions to
Shakespeare plays (including but not limited to Hamlet) in Jane Austen's
Emma, beyond those discovered previously by Jocelyn Harris and others.
The details on my talk can be found at my brandnew blog
http://sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com/
and at the website for the Romantic Realignments Seminar at Oxford:
http://www.romanticrealignments.blogspot.com/
Cheers,
Arnie Perlstein
Weston, Florida
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