Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-08-02

The traditional Hamlet Of our stage
- lean, aNcetie young person. an
localized, ethereallzed. heroic creature
evolved for the delectatiOn Of the mat
inee girl lie IL a hOrrid sham. u
" creditable that such a man should
have lacked the determination, the
lputD0EefulncsA. 10 put his revenge into
lOpefation upon the discovery II Is
all very well 10 argue about his men
tai balance. "a VAS his sluggish liver
that stayed him and hampered him.
Hamlct'n father was lat and
lethafglc man By bis own account
Sleeping within my orchard.
Ny custom always Of the afternoon. %
he says in his ghostly interview.
What kind Of man u this who
makes habit 81 an afternoon nap
A person Of large bulk. inIolcnt. easy
going. big feeder Hamlet himself.
who wOrEhipped hls fathers memory,
says ~ CiaudiuH. the murderer
lie took my father grossly fun Of
bread
Moreover. the ghosts mind runs on
fatness. Notice this phrase that be
addresses to his SON
And duIier shouldst thou be than the
fat weed
That rots Itself In ease on Lethe
wharf
W0nldst thou not stir In ihle"
Poetic license alone will not explain
that strange phrase. Fat weed"
Shakespeare WIS man who used
words with deliberate intent. II was
the person Of his son that made that
phrase spring 10 the ghost-king 4
mind.
First Impressions.
Students 81 Shakespeare. even those
who do not pretend 70 deep learning.
know that II Is his custom always to
put into the mouth Of his chief char
acters "A the earliest possible moment
some phrase or description that shall
aptly sum them w for the audience.
Look at the Bastard's speech In act !
OF King john" at Glouccster's speech
Al the very opening Of Richard H."
al ROmco's first lOvesick prattlings,
and al lagos outpoufings Of his griev-
ance 10 RoderigO outside Brabanto's
house. In "Othelio," Ia name but few
! We may then look for some clue 10
4 Hamlcta character az soon as he is
alone on the stage. what are his first
words?
"Oh. that this too. too solid flesh
would melt
IT is keynote that may not bo
CLOSED over AZ "a beautiful thought.
! for the same idea burst ont some lines
further on. when he says Of the
world.
Things rank and gross in nature
Z Possess II merely
4 4.
there for any purpose save 10 guide
ny as to the nature OF this primer
They serve double purpose, not
merely do we learn that Hamlet was
u fat man, but also that he was an
unhappy fat man. Some there be,
I like Falstaff, that are iovial hearty
spirits with their fat, but Hamlet was
a man to whom his bulk WAS an nf-
I Fiction. lie WAS handicapped by IT.
iand knew that he was Some such
/ idea II dlsccfnibc IN every one Of
I the great solilnquios He scorns him
self for a sluggard
what II "a man
/ II his chief good and market Of his
time
BE but to sleep and feed.
1 Ills mind unhinged or not, Is Obj
sosaed by witness, and In the mad
turmoil of emotions after he has slain
/ polonius. his thoughts run.
+ We fat all creatures else To fat us,
and we fat ourselves for maggots."
II bursts out again In The ooh,
what rogue and peasant slave'' ha-
rangue.
Ere this
I should have fattcd III the regions
kites
With this slaves offnl"
And who but fat lcthargic man
would have said In the ITO be or not
1 to be- speech
"Wha would fardcls bear
/ 10 grunt and sweat under a weary
life"
4 Does not the phrase bring to mind
ut once the picture Of a fat man toll
! Ing at some loathed task
A iat Man Signs.
Yet most important OF all Is surely
! linmlct's comparison of himself and
1 lfortinbras In the How all occasions
do Inform against me" speech. lie
/ looks upon Fortinbras as IA delicate
and tender prince Why because
he il the direct opposite Of himself
! The whole speech through he Is con-
! tfaAing his state with that Of others,
aud this thought Is OF piece with all
/ HE rest
0phelia. we may be sure. would not
he likely to poke fun At her "honored
lord" It Is In all Inconsistencies
that she says when telling her father
how Hamlet declared his love-
lie raised a sigh 80 pitcous ana pro-
found
l1hat I; lld seem to smattcr all his
bulk"
Il would be absurd to describe the
siehs Of any Hamlet Of recent years as
bulk -shattcring The very use OF the
word bulk is pregnant with mean
Ing, and the whole phrase conjureE up
most Justly the image OF a big man
1 qnivering in All his flesh with emo
itiun. Claudius also describes ilamlets
lsghs as profound heaves" To two
persons OF entirely disaimilar ways OF
Thought the Same idea occurs In this
connection, aud the coincidence IL too
pointed to be other than intentional
An obvious point may be left out Of
rongldcration-~ih queens remark
He's tat aud seant OF breath" The
phrase ia disputed by the pcdants,
some reading hot for fat" IT IS
hui a small link In an already strong
chain Of evidence, and can be dis
pensed with
Who, moreover can imagine. with
such Hamlet as we are accustomed
--z--
! So.