Hamlet Art and Culture Quotes Page 1

When Gertrude asks Hamlet why he "seems" to be taking the death of his father so personally, he responds that no outward behavior on his part (wearing an "inky cloak," sighing, shedding tears, and so on) can "show" what he truly feels inside. If the "trappings" of grief are like a theatrical performance, as Hamlet suggests here, then performance is ultimately ineffective – an actor could never truly capture the kind of anguish Hamlet feels inside. Of course, this inevitably draws our attention to the fact that Hamlet's lines are being spoken by a stage actor, which makes the entire passage seem self-conscious. Just how powerful is performance? Is it possibly for an actor to reproduce a feeling like grief in a realistic way?

When Hamlet warns his friends that he's going to "put an antic disposition on," he means that he's going to play the role of a madman. This has important implications for the way we interpret Hamlet's sanity, which you can read about by going to "Madness." Here, we want to say that it's important to keep in mind that the term "antic" is steeped in theatrical tradition. It literally refers to a "clown" or a performer who plays the role of a "grotesque."

In the play, Hamlet's "antic disposition" gives him a lot of verbal freedom, much like that of the "licensed fool," a figure that can speak his mind without major consequences. Think, for example, of the way Hamlet talks to Polonius – he calls him a "fishmonger" (a guy who sells fish but also slang for "pimp") and rattles on about dead dogs "breeding" maggots" (2.2.2-5). Polonius thinks Hamlet's lost his mind, but clever Hamlet is putting on a very deliberate act. He's also having a lot of fun at Polonius's expense. (That said, just because Hamlet's play-acting, doesn't mean he's not deeply disturbed.)

To get a better sense of the "antic's" role, it can helpful to think, for example, of Feste the Fool in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Feste is licensed to say whatever he wishes. He's witty, insulting, and incredibly wise, despite appearing to be "foolish." Hamlet, as we see throughout the play, is very good at playing this part. By Act II, scene ii, the entire court is wondering about his erratic behavior.

Hamlet seems to perk up when he learns about a group of traveling players (actors) that have arrived in Elsinore. Here, Shakespeare makes a few topical references that give us a glimpse into some of the issues surrounding Elizabethan theater – like the "fashion" for children's acting companies, which posed a pretty significant threat to adult theater groups. Rosencrantz calls child actors "eyases" (young hawks), which suggests that the popularity of child actors was a menace to traditional companies. The traveling players that visit Elsinore seem to have been driven abroad by lack of steady work.