Alcala 1958

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lar gel y dev oted to the cla ssi ca llangu age s and to mat hematic s. Maj or and min or sub­ ject s, on the oth er hand , are mod ern concep tion s. Ye t, fantas ticas it may seem , to think of Ham let as a phi los oph yma jor requir esno gre at eff ort of the imagi na tion. Ph ilos oph yhad be en part of the un ive rsit y cur ricu lum sin ce the 13t h cen tur y. And it would be dif fic ult ind eed to sele ct a char­ act er from all liter atur emo re intr osp ecti ve, mo re attu ned to the lif e of the min d, than Ham let. A man of though t rath er than a man of act ion ,he has oft en bee n consid ere d as the sta tic hero of a sta tic pla y. In fac t, so mu ch has alr ead y been wri tten on thi s asp ect of hi s nat ure that few ins tan cesnee d be cite d her e. Ph ilo sop hic alself -an aly sisis the key not e of hi s fam ilia r soli loquie s, con cer nedas the y are prima rily with the pro blem of life as opposed to dea th. In the fir st, 8 profou nd lysho cke d by hi s mot her' s hasty rem arr iag e to hi s unc le, repe lled by the fra ilty of wom an, he virtu­ all y pra ys for dea th. In a less er kno wn so lilo qu y, 9 frus trate d by hi s own ina ctio n, he rou ses him self by wit nes sin gthe passag e of an arm y, abo ut to fig ht for a tri via l caus e, of wh ich the men in the ranks know no thi ng . In the bes t rem ember edof h is sol iloqu ies he arg ues for and ag ain st self -de structio n, conc lud ing ironic all y wit h a commenta ry on hi s own cha rac ter mo re poi nte d than any to be fou nd in all the vas t librar ies of Sha kes pea rea ncr iti cis m: Th us con sci encedo es ma ke cowa rd sof us all , An d thu s thena tiv ehue of res olu tio n Is sic kli ed o'e r with the pale cas t of thou gh t, And en ter pr ise sof gre at pith an d mo­ me nt ages e tics. - jects, on the other hand, tions. , tic , l l y i es ation. il o hy i rsity i l y. lt - e os ective, , l t. t i , red ti ti . t, y o ces n . il s hical alysis te f iliar soli oquies, ned rily l t . st, 8 ndly d 's rriage l , l ilt , - ys t . In a lesser known soliloquy,9 t d ti n, ses sing e , t i l e, i t ing. ed i ies es st ction, l ing i al y t ry ter ies e rean iticism: s s ience s rds f ~ s t e ti e f l tion lied f ght, t prises f t - ly to cal

W it h this reg ar d th eir cu rre nts tu rn aw ry , And lose the nam eof ac tio n. 10 Hamle t'stho ugh tson rel igi onan d the lif e beyond death are int eresting, if som ewh at con tradic tory. Wh en infor me d byHo rat iotha t the old er Hamle t's sp iri t is sta lki ng the ramparts at Els ino re, the yo un gPr inc e doe s not seem to do ub t; ye t late r he consid ers the pos si­ bility of a dem on in hi s fath er's garb and sti ll late r, in hi s cel ebr ate d solilo qu y, he ref ers to death as Th e un dis co ve r'dco un try from wh ose bour ne No tra ve lle rret ur ns. . . " Th ese app are ntl yconf lic tin g ideas sim ply und ers cor e Haml et's unc ert ain mi nd. Al­ tho ugh traces of Ca tho lici sm,Pro testant ism , At he ism an d De ism run thr oug h hi s dis­ ord ere d br ain , he is fun dam ent ally an ag no sti c. He dem andspro of. As he point s ou t in hi s so lilo qu yat the clo se of Ac t II , the re must be gro und s mo re rel eva nt to an ac cus ati on of murde r than the me re word of a sup po sed lysup ernatu ral vis ito r from anothe rwor ld. Hamle t'srealiza tionof how lim itedman's know led geis fin ds true st expres sio nin hi s oft- quo ted reto rt to Ho rat io, wh o stand s amazedat the str angecon duc t ofthe Pr inc e in continu inghi s col loquywith a ghost now bel ow the lev el of the grou nd : Ther e ar e mo re things in he av enan d ea rth , Hor at io , Th anar e dr ea mtof in ou r ph ilo sop hy . 12 The appe ara nc eof the Ghos t in the play ref lec ts the religi ou sand philos ophic albe­ lie fs of Shak esp ear e'sown tim e. 13 In thi s resp ect it is Ho rat io rath er than Hamle t who rep rese ntsthe atti tud eof the un ive rsi ty ry, e f ti n. l t's ts i io i at i tory. ed by tio l t's t t re, ung i e s t; ers i- 's , ted y, i cover'd try e l er ns .. 11 rently li ting l underscore Hamlet's uncertain mind. Al- though traces of Catholicism, Protestantism, Atheism and Deism run through his dis- ordered brai , entally stic. ds of. s s y a , s t ation osedly t ral r from another world. l t's tion it ' ledge s sion h ted tio, s ge t of i ce ing y l nd: e r en t , ratio, t f ilosophy. arance l ts ous o hical - f es eare's e. 13 tio t e resents e i rsity

io III, i, 83-88. " I l l , i 79-80. 121, v , 166-16 7. 10 I , 11 III,

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" Fo ra disc ussi on of these them es cf . W. W. Greg, "Hamlet 's Hallucination," Mo dern Lan­ guag e Re vie w, Vol. VI I; and J. Dover Wilso n, Wh at Hap pen s in Ham let, Camb ridge Univer ­ sity Pres s, 193 7. 13 s ion es . l 's - view, ; , t s let, i - r

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8 1, ii, 129-159 . 9 IV, iii, 32-66. 8 I, . 9 J ,

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