Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-17

.HUNTINGTON'S,
Opposite the Maxwell House.
febl7 eOd2W 4thp
energy. His will was strong by nature,
but paralyzed by disease. In one inter
view with Ophelia he manifests that the
strong, deep currents Of his mind have been
turned to eddies and WhirlpOOls His
strongest Thoughts have turned with doubts
that torture the diseased mind. He can
talk but not act, and can support the
strongest actions by the weakest reasons.
Hamlet differs from Lear, in that the sue
cessive steps Of madness are not so strong
ly marked. An acute general mania like
that Of Lear, in his character, would have
been out Of place. Simply to have been a
mOnOmaniac would not have been enough.
He is mad enough to excite attention, but
vet with sufficient power Of intellect to
plan If not to execute. The poet made
him man Of refined aud cultivated intel
lect, in whose character the manifestat .Ons
Of disease are not always easy to dis
tinguish.
Alter the death Of his father his mind is
affected with depression manifested in his
response 10 the King
"a little more than kin and less than kind"
In the next scene the depression has en-
tered deeper into his soul, and there are in
dIcatiOns Of the torture. In the scenes
with his mother the disease is about in
creasing, while a moment after bewailing
the outward things, he harbOrs thoughts Of
self-destruction in the famous solilOquy
commencing:
"Oh, that this too, too solid, flesh would melt"
1t is a stroke Of genius that Shakespeare
attributed TO Hamlet in this and other so
lilOquies thoughts common to all afflicted
with melancholy. In Hamlet's fist inter-
view with Ophelia there was not a word
spoken. Only looks and actions, and
only she who witnessed them could decide
whether they were the stimulation Of in
sanity or the involuntary indications Of
real madness. These she describes in such
a manner as to leave no doubt Of the i'm
preston in her mind:
with his doublet all Embraced;
No hst upon his head; his stockings fOuled,
Ungartered and down gyVed 70 his ankle;
Pale his shirt, his knees knocking each other"
His piteous reading Of her face and all
his actions were the strongest proof of his
insanity. We can as little believe this to
have been a sham as we could the wailing
Of new born infant, or the hectic blush Of
consumption. Such actions might deceive
man, but not the vigilant eye Of wcman's
love. Such scenes with madmeA have
transpired a thousand times in real life,
when they have thrust themselves into the
presence of their mistresses, as Hamlet did,
and Ophelia's perception of the truth is ex-
pressed in the lines,
son, what a mind is here o'erthrOwn.
-
Now, see that noble and most sovereign reason,
Like sweet bells tangled cut Of tune and harsh'
1t had been said that the conduct of
Hamlet towards POlOnius and the King,
and his language 10 them sayors more Of
m lice than OF madness, but nothing is
more Characteristic Of the insane than an
noying anything or person they dislike,
and in doing so they display a malice, in
genuity AID readiness seldom Tivalled by
the sane. Had Hamlet been sane, his ae-
tiOns would not have been consistent with
his character. In his interview with
Rosencraniz and GIildenstern, who had
been his former friends, he shows his true
character with an occasional burst Of insani-
", such as that,
90 God, 1 could be bounded in a nutshell and
count myself a King % infinite space, we're il
not that have bad dreams"
Il is well known that insanity is always
accompanied by absence of sleep.
If Hamlet had been Stimulating and
anxious 10 spread the belief Of his mad
ness, he would not have neglected this op-
pOrtunity. But in his outburst, ''this
most excellent canopy, the air, look you,
this brave exchanging armament, this ma
jestical roof fritted with golden fire, why,
it appears no other thing to me than foul
and pestilent congregation Of vapOrs," We
have a vivid picture OF his mental cOndi-
ton in the deepening shadow Of an eclipse.
Like every other person he was far
from considering himself insane. That he
is able to continue the plan Of the players
only shows that he was vet in the initial
stage If madness, before the intellectual
faculties had shared in that arrangement
which had already attacked the moral
senses.
Hamlet's treatment Of Ophelia can only
be explained on the ground Of madness,
and that change which insanity brings over
the affections Of the heart, by which the
golden chains Of love and kindness are
broken.
In the scene following the famous sOlilO-
guy, "ro be or no. TO be, =" when Ophelia re-
turns to him his gifts, We see how the current
of his life is changed. The courtesy of the
gentleman and the tenderness Of the lover
are gone, and in their place is the very gall
Of bitterness. How very natural this is on
the superstition Of insanity, and how I'M
natural it is il he was acting part. To do
violence to his affections in such matter
would have been beyond his power. So
also in the scene with his mother, the vivid |
emotion displayed would be beyond the |
power of the most skiliful actor. Like |
most insane people, be repels the idea that |
he is mad, and proposes as test to repeat |
what he had said; but this is no evil |
dence Of his sanity. In chronic dementia |
one cannot remember what was said, but /
in some cases the power 20 repeat is not /
lost. His conduct towards Ophelia was
madness in its pUrest sense.
The final events Of the play finish the |
story Of Hamlet, and the shattered wreck /
Of a once noble intellect ceases to exist.
DR.. Calender concluded the lecture with /
a brief but most touching and eloquent de-
scription Of the madness Of Ophelia, in
which he pictured her moving sadly about 4
The court, singing snatches Of her sweet /
songs. with no method in her madness,
and fading swiftly like a flower, spared by
he loss Of reason the realization Of the sOr-