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Jest in Literature - The New Improved Version! ;-)
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Gunjan Saraf
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Jul 22, 2002 09:32 PDT
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JEST in LITERATURE
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22nd July 2002 # 017
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IN THIS DIGEST :
The Nunnery in the Hamlet
~ The Doc
Poetry Launcher
~ The Doc
Writing Prompt -
~ The Doc
Inspiration Corner -
~ The Doc with Gunjan chipping in
Winding Up Cartoons
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---------------- MESSAGE -----------------
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====> The Nunnery in Hamlet
Let's take a little excursion into the argument of Hamlet's
meaning when he tells Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery."
In case you are unaware that an argument exists over his
intention, be advised that ample evidence exists that one
of the meanings of "nunnery" in the 1600's, along with the
common one that it was a place where nuns resided, is
that it means "brothel" or "whorehouse." The Oxford
English Dictionary supports both meanings, so it is not an
argument whether it can mean one or the other, the
argument is over which meaning Hamlet ascribed to it when
he told Ophelia to go to one. (Not to mention that nuns
didn't stay in a nunnery, but in a convent, but we'll let that
one go for now.)
You'll find the place where Hamlet advises Ophelia to go
to a nunnery several times in Act III, scene 1. If you have
no doubts that Hamlet meant to direct Ophelia to a place
where she would be safe from men and remain chaste and
innocent from the world of earthy things, then let's see if
we can plant at least a little curiosity. Shakespeare is a
master at double entendre, and it is possible that he is
playing this game in this part of the play.
The anger that rises in Hamlet when he comes to understand
that Ophelia is playing with him at her father's demand seems
real enough. His sense of betrayal is palpable, but he is playing
a game also, so it may not be a completely justified anger that
he expresses.
There are no stage directions to clarify this part of the play,
and they certainly would have helped. We have no clue when
Hamlet actually comes to know that he is being spied upon by
Ophelia's father, Polonius, and Claudius the King. It is
commonly staged that Hamlet discovers this as his dialogue
with Ophelia is occurring. Because of this, it is also thought that
he might use the word nunnery to mean a place where virgins
reside when he first tells her to get to one, but that his anger
directs him to the duplicitous meaning of a whorehouse as
his speech continues.
There is no way to know without any stage directions, so this
part is mere guesswork. But, if one considers a couple other
features of the play, the reason for wonder becomes more clear.
After his diatribe against Ophelia, he is confronted by Polonius
who asks Hamlet if he knows who he is. Hamlet says, yes, he
knows, he is a "fishmonger." Polonius denies this, and Hamlet
says that he wishes he were so honest a man as a fishmonger
then. No big deal, but what the heck are they talking about?
Why this reference to fishmongers? Were they known as
honest men, and Polonius suffers by comparison? No!
Calling him a fishmonger is a calculated thing by Hamlet,
who has come to dislike Polonius for many reasons but none
so great as he is a fool. He calls him a fishmonger because
the definition of that word is "procurer" or, in today's
language, "pimp."
Certainly, calling her father a pimp gives some credence to
Hamlet's possible intention of calling Ophelia a "whore."
But, why would he call this chaste young woman a whore
if she is yet to sex unknown? Well, what makes you think
she is a virgin in the first place? What if there is some pretty
bold evidence that she is not?
In a state of nervous anticipation, just before the
play-within-a-play, Hamlet sort of lets the cat out of the bag
on this one.
In case you missed it in the hubbub of the scene, here is how it goes:
HAMLET: Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
OPHELIA: No, my lord!
HAMLET: I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPHELIA (relieved): Aye, my lord.
HAMLET: Do you think I meant Country matters?
OPHELIA: I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET: That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs.
[ ... skipping ... ]
OPHELIA: You are keen, my lord, you are keen.
HAMLET: It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.
Yes, he means exactly what it looks like. He is referring to sex
when he says "lie in your lap." That is why she reacts as she does.
Does this mean that maybe they have had sex prior to this? You
might think so if you understand the end of this little dialogue.
When she says, "keen," she is referring to the sexual tension
she senses built up in Hamlet. She recognizes it, and she
comments on it. And that is why his response is that it would
cost her a "groaning" to ease that tension that she sees.
Boy, if you don't know these things, you have to wonder
what they're talking about, don't you? Either that, or you
have to make up some meaning that sort of keeps you from
wondering too much.
Those naughty, naughty people. Here we are, just about to
wade into the torment of revenge and eternal damnation, and
these kids are talking slyly about doing the hootchi-kootchi.
Kids nowadays. What are you going to do?
Comments or Questions :
mailto:li-@workinghumor.com?Subject=Hamlet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
===> Poetry Launcher
_________________________________
The single word prompt for poetic consideration: DENIAL.
_________________________________
Poetic Submissions:
mailto:li-@workinghumor.com?Subject=Denial
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
==> Writing Prompt
This weeks writing prompt:
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Our freedom to discipline ourselves
is a freedom we can lose if we don't use it.
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Well, this is a rather different way of looking at self-discipline.
It would seem that we usually see self-discipline as restraint,
denial, and something we might rather wish we didn't have to
do. In fact, I might guess that we see it as a burden, a weight
around our neck, a thing that would relate to freedom in the
sense that it keeps us from it. If we could be rid of
self-discipline, then we would be free.
This quote puts a different light on this process, though,
doesn't it? So, perhaps we (the universal "we;" the royal "we."
In other words, if the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it. I'm not
trying to impose the thoughts on anyone, just voicing them.)
should wonder if a definition or two needs reconsideration.
Maybe the idea of "freedom" is one that goes deeper than,
say, "carefree." Kahlil Gibran says, in The Prophet, that those
things we wish to be free from are the same things that we
impose upon ourselves. He says that to become free of those
things we think fetter us, we must discard pieces of ourselves
that we have chosen to be part of us. He says that freedom is
not days without sorrow and nights without grief, but it is the
ability to rise above those things that makes us free.
Gibran also says that when we rise above these things that chain
us, we rise into a new light and cast aside the shadows that bound
us. But that new light creates new shadows and therefore our new
freedom chains us to an even greater freedom.
Perhaps the idea of freedom deserves some reconsideration. What
are the things that we personally believe restrict us from a feeling of
being truly free? Would we be free if we were unbound by these
things? Is our freedom something that is restricted from inside or
imposed on us from outside?
Does the initial quotation imply that if we do not impose discipline
on ourselves freely, it will be done for us? Perhaps it means that
we have found freedom when we do discipline ourselves? Or
does it mean something subtly other than these things entirely?
Comments or Questions :
mailto:li-@workinghumor.com?Subject=Writing_Prompt
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==========**********O**********==========
==> Inspiration Corner
Inspiration to kick start your thinking:
...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and
science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity
and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own
ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to
escape from the personal life into the world of objective
perception and thought.
~ Albert Einstein
(I had to toss this one in because of its apparent conflict
with the quotation in the writing prompt section, and because
this conflicting view is from a man of great vision.)
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You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting
the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.
~ Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)
(I didn't plan it this way. The quotes I keep turning up just happen
to be related to the same topic, and I believe in letting things that
seemingly happen at random have their way with me.)
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You can have whatever you want if you lower your expectations.
~ Philip Foster, scientist
(Well, it certainly beats failing at reaching the impossible.)
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Work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
(Now, what the hell does that mean?)
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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the
death your right to say it."
~ Voltaire (1694-1778)
(Hope that matches with the rest of the corner!)
Comments or Questions :
mailto:li-@workinghumor.com?Subject=Inspiration
==========**********O**********==========
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==========**********O**********==========
===> Winding up Cartoons
Changeover
http://jokeworm.com/AToons/Ad283.shtml
Tell the Truth
http://jokeworm.com/AToons/Ad284.shtml
Can't Spell
http://jokeworm.com/AToons/Ad291.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Gunjan
gun-@workinghumor.com
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