New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1882-01-25
TWAIN's LATEST ODD1TY.
He INDUCES in a Now Version Of Hamie

sheets of Mark Twain's new play, which
will be brought out in New York some
time during the coming winter. 1t is
not exactly new play, but rather re-
vision of Hamlet According to Twain's
idea Hamlet as it came from the pen of
was incomplete. Twain
assumes that man of Hamlet's melan-
choly and eccentric temperament must
of necessity had a younger brother in
the family of a more sprightly and sum
ny disposition. Twain sustains his
theory in the following ingenious argu-
ments:
We find in the history of England and parts
adjacent, page 1: II: A, volume 2, the follow
ing letter from the king Of Denmark to Tom
sayers, an old friend Of his:
observation-disclosures hair-stuffel boxing gloves
and foils came by the Marx Lane Express
Mark Lane who ran the EXPIRE s company was
a distant uncle of the authOr-M. IT, in good
order, c. Q. D. Hamlet, my eldest son, being
very little stock In the gloves, as blow Oh the
nose only serves to increase his melancholy.
Thus have given We gloves to Billy, my sec
pins and a jovial lad withal, who takes kindly
to ye manly sport of boxing. Yesterday he
thumped his teacher most soundly OH We bugle,
for which rewarded him by giving him sill
most rim with good brown ale. If you make
your match with Graf b let me know, ana send
couple Of tickets for seats pretty close to the
che9uer Of Denmark and the 'u sub.t ns un
thrown IN Is Yours 6 3f%l{{
From this historical scrap Mr.. Gle
mems proceeds to reconstruct the play,
holding with no little show of reason
that Shakespeare had no license, pOeti-
cal or otherwise, to give Hamlet prom
inence not accorded to his younger
brother. Twain continues:
9th letters from the King to Savers, now in
British Museum, go to show that Shakespeare
had grudge against Billy, the younger broth
er, because when Shakespeare visited the palace
o. Glaudms: bfldy put an 9d candlesnufier In
which so incensed the bard that he never for
gave the young rascal. Persons who have had
candle-snuffers placed In their boots can readi-
y a. appreciate the motives which governed the
Like widowed ear
Blasting his wholesome brother"
The events at Elsnore happened as have
written them. Shakespeare tr0nspOsed and dis
tQrted the facte and cannot conscientiousy
allow these gross historical mistakes to pass
uncOrrected.
THE PLAY.
In his revised version Twain takes
liberties with the original text, which
strongly remind one of Boucicault adap-
ting French drama for the American
stage.
In the first act where Bernardo and
Francisco indulge in a colloquy on the
platform along with Marcellus and
Horatio, William comes in and sets up
the refreshments for the guards out Of
a little black bottle, but refuses the two
latter to have second pull at the flask
after they begin to talk of the appari-
ton, on the grounds that he does not
care to encourage so pronounced case
of delirialn, trennens.
The guards then leave William to
himself and after they have disappeared
he burst into an immoderate fit of
laughter. He then slips away, and in a
side scene is represented dressing him.
self up in his fathers armor and COW
ering himself with some mosquito net
ting, making up ghost. AS soon as
his arrangements are complete he stalks
in and frightens the wits out of Bernar-
do and Horatio, making several tours
out in the side scenes, where he goes to
hide his merriment at the success of his
trick.
When Horatio is telling Hamlet of the
William listens with his
mouth wide open, apparently transfxed
with fear, but after they are gone he
turns to Hamlet with:
Hamlet, do you swallow all this? Don't you
know all these fellows are as crazy as bed bugs?
Do you s'pOse the old man would walk around
this 9 his castle with his armor on? What in the
deuce does ghost want OF armOr! Besides, q
ghost amt capable of packin' armor round.
Why, IN the last few years before dad died, he
wasn't hardly; able to waddle about in that one
when he came in from that last dress parade he
said he'd be switched if he'd ever put the old
brass toys on again? Pshaw, old boy, have
some sense.
THE GHOST WALKING SCENE.
In the fourth scene William gets him
self up in fine shape and rehearses the
ghost walking scene until he is entirely
satisfied with himself, while he INDUCES
in the following soliloquy.
Perhaps this won't catch him. Oh, no! He'll
think It the true business and no mistake. II
! can get him about half crazy can corral the
girl. Blamed If he'd have far to go.
In this scene Twain has followed the
original text pretty closely. The follow
ing extracts will give general idea of
his treatment of it:
Ham My fate cries out
As hardy as the Nemean iions nerve S o'
[Ghost beckons
p, lBreaking from them
by heaven. LII make ghost OF him that let's
I say, away! Go on, Mi FIJI follow thee.
Wtlliam-Oh, he's coming, I've got him
cranked already.
The narrowing tale which William, as
the Ghost. unfolds, runs in this practical
fashion:
am thy fathers spirit. Doomed to an ever
unfold that would If, Your hat tc the ceiling.
II there ever was slick Ol0 fraud, your uncle
ie that man. The newspaper reports about my
death were all wrong, although as near right as
got away with me. The man who is now in my
political shoes dumped an ounce of prussic ac-
ID IN my ear ano that did the business. I can
poison, consider prussic acid as unequaied.
trade.
The ghost then proceeds at considera-
bic length to tell Hamlet what to do and
how to get even with his uncle, inter-
spersing his story with some side-split-
ting 't'"asides'' which are in Twain's best
vein. Through the entire play the
pranks of William are indescribably lu-
dicrous, as he appears in the double role
Of ghost and advisor to Hamlet in the
flesh. When not masquerading with
his materializing seances, he is going
about with his brother trying to dis
suade him from doing anything rash
and telling him what an internal fool he
is for taking any stock in the supernat-
ural, occasionally withdrawing to a
quiet place to hold his sides and laugh,
when his hilarity threatens to escape
from his control. His prime idea is to
get even on his uncle and step-father,
for whom he has the most profound con-
tempt, but when events thicken as the
direct result of his pranks he studies to un-
II 3 IL