(no subject)
Harvard Lampoon, 1995:
Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are two of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Moreover, they are similar in a number of ways. However, in a number of ways, they are different. And yet on some level, they are similar in a number of ways. Let us examine this further.
Both of these plays feature an abundance of characters. A quick glance at Hamlet's Dramatis Personae shows fully fourteen different characters--and a closer look reveals three more. Romeo and Juliet goes even farther, weighing in at no less than twenty-three different characters. Significantly, both plays feature a number of characters who say things and a handful who do nothing.
Another striking similarity is the preponderance of implausible names: "Polonius", "Benvolio", and "Reynaldo" are all quite absurd, and I for one have never met anyone named "Gertrude". It seems clear that Shakespeare intended these fanciful names to evoke certain fragments of meaning. For example, Hamlet's name recalls the phrase "If you're not going to eat that ham, let your sister have some," while "Fortinbras" clearly implies "Hello, I am an eccentric old woman; I am looking for tin bras."
There is another similarity which it would be retarded not to discuss--the element of language. In both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, the characters are constantly speaking to each other, or listening to someone speak, or talking to themselves, or what have you. Here we see Shakespeare's charcateristic penchant for words; more specifically, his habit of using words to signify things. One can clearly see how Shakespeare's growing up as a human boy in England may have influenced this aspect of his artistry.
Another obvious parallel between the two plays is the recurring motif of gravity. Both the Verona of Romeo and Juliet and the Denmark of Hamlet are worlds in which objects are pulled towards earth by a force proportional to their mass. Thus, in Hamlet act II scene iii, as Hamlet and Laertes engage in a kind of verbal "jousting match", both charcaters remain firmly attached to the floor. Moreover, when Polonius drops his keys at line 187, it is implied that the keys then fall to, and make contact with, the floor (ground).
This seems clearly analogous to the moment in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet attempts (unsuccessfully) to pass her hand through a wall, and the Friar Laurence appears in her chambers, remarking that his feet "seem well stuck to the ground, as if't twere the very quality of nature." This in turn foreshadows the moment in Act V scene iii when Friar Laurence remarks, "I dropped my keys on the gronud." Thus in Hamlet, as in Romeo and Juliet, no stable objects rise spontaneously into the air, nor do any dropped objects remain eerily suspended in mid-air.
Another major motif running through both plays is the concept of time. In Hamlet, Shakespeare depicts a tragic world in which time passes continually, such that, in Act IV scene iii, Polonius remarks that "it..." is later than it was before. Similarly, in the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, we learn from Romeo that it is "...night," while Juliet observes that it is "4:36 A.M." With this recurring theme of the passage of time, Shakespeare weaves a thread of continuity throughout (and in) the play.
In conclusion, in both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, Shakespeare ironically suggests a tragic universe in which the real and imagined coexist, and yet it is relatively easy to draw a boundary between them, such that, on some level, Shakespeare has written the greatest book of all time.
Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are two of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Moreover, they are similar in a number of ways. However, in a number of ways, they are different. And yet on some level, they are similar in a number of ways. Let us examine this further.
Both of these plays feature an abundance of characters. A quick glance at Hamlet's Dramatis Personae shows fully fourteen different characters--and a closer look reveals three more. Romeo and Juliet goes even farther, weighing in at no less than twenty-three different characters. Significantly, both plays feature a number of characters who say things and a handful who do nothing.
Another striking similarity is the preponderance of implausible names: "Polonius", "Benvolio", and "Reynaldo" are all quite absurd, and I for one have never met anyone named "Gertrude". It seems clear that Shakespeare intended these fanciful names to evoke certain fragments of meaning. For example, Hamlet's name recalls the phrase "If you're not going to eat that ham, let your sister have some," while "Fortinbras" clearly implies "Hello, I am an eccentric old woman; I am looking for tin bras."
There is another similarity which it would be retarded not to discuss--the element of language. In both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, the characters are constantly speaking to each other, or listening to someone speak, or talking to themselves, or what have you. Here we see Shakespeare's charcateristic penchant for words; more specifically, his habit of using words to signify things. One can clearly see how Shakespeare's growing up as a human boy in England may have influenced this aspect of his artistry.
Another obvious parallel between the two plays is the recurring motif of gravity. Both the Verona of Romeo and Juliet and the Denmark of Hamlet are worlds in which objects are pulled towards earth by a force proportional to their mass. Thus, in Hamlet act II scene iii, as Hamlet and Laertes engage in a kind of verbal "jousting match", both charcaters remain firmly attached to the floor. Moreover, when Polonius drops his keys at line 187, it is implied that the keys then fall to, and make contact with, the floor (ground).
This seems clearly analogous to the moment in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet attempts (unsuccessfully) to pass her hand through a wall, and the Friar Laurence appears in her chambers, remarking that his feet "seem well stuck to the ground, as if't twere the very quality of nature." This in turn foreshadows the moment in Act V scene iii when Friar Laurence remarks, "I dropped my keys on the gronud." Thus in Hamlet, as in Romeo and Juliet, no stable objects rise spontaneously into the air, nor do any dropped objects remain eerily suspended in mid-air.
Another major motif running through both plays is the concept of time. In Hamlet, Shakespeare depicts a tragic world in which time passes continually, such that, in Act IV scene iii, Polonius remarks that "it..." is later than it was before. Similarly, in the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, we learn from Romeo that it is "...night," while Juliet observes that it is "4:36 A.M." With this recurring theme of the passage of time, Shakespeare weaves a thread of continuity throughout (and in) the play.
In conclusion, in both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, Shakespeare ironically suggests a tragic universe in which the real and imagined coexist, and yet it is relatively easy to draw a boundary between them, such that, on some level, Shakespeare has written the greatest book of all time.