Hamlet<\/em> yet again, I was reminded of the late Eugene England\u2019s reading of the play, which has always intrigued me:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are rightly offended when we learn that King Claudius has succeeded to the throne of Denmark and to his brother\u2019s wife by murdering his predecessor, Prince Hamlet\u2019s father. \u00a0And we want to see justice done. \u00a0So, when the ghost of the late king appears and orders the prince to seek vengeance, we want to see Hamlet succeed in wreaking vengeance upon the murderer.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Gene England suggested that the ghost may have been satanic. \u00a0(Was it even, really, the spirit of the late king?) \u00a0Consider the destruction that is caused by Hamlet\u2019s following its instruction: \u00a0Yes, King Claudius dies. \u00a0He\u2019s been very wicked, though, having killed Hamlet\u2019s father and sought to kill Hamlet himself, so we\u2019re more than okay with that. \u00a0And Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die. \u00a0But they were false friends, so maybe that\u2019s not so bad. \u00a0And the Queen dies. \u00a0But she shouldn\u2019t have married Claudius at all, let alone so hastily. \u00a0So, well, maybe her death is okay, too. \u00a0And Polonius dies. \u00a0But he was something of a gasbag, so whatever. \u00a0And Laertes dies. \u00a0However, although he was a good young man, he let his temper cloud his judgment and he was trying to kill Hamlet. \u00a0So, while his death is sad, it\u2019s understandable. \u00a0But Ophelia? \u00a0What had she<\/em> done to deserve death? \u00a0The body count has grown pretty high, hasn\u2019t it? \u00a0And, in the end, it includes Hamlet, too. \u00a0When Prince Fortinbras of Norway arrives at the palace, he finds the entire royal family of Denmark dead and, accordingly, claims the country for himself.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In other words, the ghost\u2019s orders have brought ruin down upon Prince Hamlet and the entire ruling class of Denmark and delivered the country into the hands of a foreign power. \u00a0That certainly sounds devilish to me<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Is Hamlet<\/em> a warning against the spirit of revenge? \u00a0I think that it can be plausibly read that way.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from St. George, Utah<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 One amusing thing about the character of Hamlet is that, before the story told in the play begins, he\u2019s been studying at the University of Wittenberg. \u00a0Doctor Faustus (aka simply \u201cFaust\u201d) is also said to have studied there. \u00a0Plainly, Wittenberg was a popular university among fictional characters. \u00a0 I\u2019ll be leading a tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Die](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/08\/800px-Wartburg.outside.02.jpg\")
<\/a>