Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper, Jana
Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net
[ Transcriber's Notes:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully
as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation.
Some corrections of spelling have been made. They are listed at the
end of the text.
Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.
]
The Shakespeare Society of New York,
INCORPORATED APRIL 20, 1885.
To promote the knowledge and study of the Works
of Wm. Shakespeare, and the Shakespearean
and Elizabethan Drama.
IN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
JUNE 15, 1885.
_Resolved_, That in order that the papers printed under authority of
this Society may be of the highest character, and of value from all
standpoints, the Society does not stand pledged as responsible for the
opinions expressed or conclusions arrived at in the said papers, but
considers itself only responsible in so far as it certifies by its
Imprimatur that it considers them as original contributions to
Shakespearean study, and as showing upon their face care, labor and
research.
Papers of N. Y. Shakespeare Society, No. 5.
Time in the Play of Hamlet,
BY
EDWARD P. VINING.
Read before the Society December 3d, 1885.
Press of the New York Shakespeare Society.
1886.
Time in the Play of Hamlet.
If it were not for the fact that we find conflicting opinions as to the
force and meaning of some one or more words or phrases in almost every
scene of Shakespeare's dramas, and that--as to "Hamlet" in
particular--nearly every critic differs in many vital points from all
others of his army of co-laborers, it might be a matter of some surprise
to see the great divergence of opinion as to the length of time covered
by the action of this tragedy.
On the one side it has been seriously contended that its entire action
transpired within a period of not more than ten days; while on the other
it has been thought to extend over at least ten years. Nay, more, there
have been those who, in eloquent phrase, have urged the view that
Shakespeare's method of dealing with the dramatic element of time is to
artfully convey two opposite ideas of its flight--swiftness and
slowness--so that by one series of allusions we receive the impression
that the action of the drama is driving on in hot haste, and that all
the events are compressed within a period of but a few days; while by
another series we are insensibly beguiled into the belief that they
extend over months or years. "So," say they, "whenever time comes in as
an element, we are subject to Shakespeare's glamour and gramarye--to his
legerdemain. We are held in a confusion and delusion about the time."
This theory is so pretty and striking--it harmonizes so nicely with our
natural love of mysticism and transcendental lore, and with the vague
views of those who fancy that they are diving into the depths of
Shakespeare when they do but skim the surface--that it is a pity that
the facts are all against it.
Now, the truth is that our immortal poet has laid out the action of the
different scenes with minute consideration both of the time occupied by
each and of the interval elapsing between them, when any occurs, and he
has so carefully indicated the lapse of time that he who runs may read,
if he will but look as he runs. There is no conflict, no glamour;
neither confusion nor delusion.
Henry A. Clapp has recently shown this so clearly that it may seem a
work of supererogation to again discuss the matter. He, however,
considered the general subject of the passage of time in all of
Shakespeare's plays, and, therefore, could devote but little space to
the one drama of "Hamlet"; hence, it seems possible that to his masterly
presentation of the subject something may be added which will be of
interest to Shakespearean students.
ACT I., Scene i., of the tragedy of "Hamlet" opens at midnight and
continues until dawn, and at its close, Marcellus, speaking of Hamlet,
says:
I this morning know
Where we shall find him most conveniently.
In Scene ii. Horatio says of the ghost:
My lord, I think I saw him yesternight,
and Hamlet declares:
I'll watch to-night.
Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve
I'll visit you.
This watch and its events are given in Scenes iv. and v., while the
third scene fills out the day, before the night comes on.
Between the first and second acts, one--and the principal one--of the
two intervals in the play occurs; a lapse of time, as will hereafter be
shown, of a little more than two months.
In ACT II., Scene i., Polonius says:
I will go seek the king.
and in Scene ii. he enters the Audience Chamber and announces that he
has found
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.
In the same scene the players arrive, and Hamlet says of the play of
"The Murder of Gonzago:"
We'll ha't to-morrow night.
This act, therefore, covers but one day, while the first scene of the
next act occurs on the following day, as is proven by the words of
Rosencranz in reference to the actors:
They have already order
This night to play before him.
In Scene ii. this mimic drama is given, and Scenes iii. and iv. occur
the same night, Hamlet's interview with his mother taking place, in
accordance with the message brought to him, immediately after the
breaking up of the play:
She desires to speak with you in her closet ere you go to bed.
Act iv. commences with a continuation of the events of the same night,
as is shown by Gertrude's words:
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!
while the king declares:
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence.
Morning has not dawned at the close of Scene iii., for among the last
words of the king is the declaration:
I'll have him hence to-night.
Between Scenes iii. and v. the second interval of the play occurs; a
period, probably, of not less than two weeks, nor more than about a
month.
In the last words of Scene v. the king says to Laertes:
I pray you go with me,
and the conversation between them is concluded in Scene vii. In the same
scene the letter from Hamlet is read, in which he writes:
To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes.
Ophelia's burial, in Act v., Scene i., takes place on the following day,
for the king says to Laertes:
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech:
and there is no reason for thinking the action of the final scene to be
delayed beyond the close of the same day, for in it Hamlet concludes his
explanations to Horatio, and is welcomed "back to Denmark" by Osric, who
must, therefore, then meet him for the first time since his return.
Moreover, the words of the king in his last speech, in Scene i.,
We'll put the matter to the present push,
indicate clearly that it was not his intention to allow any delay to
occur.
It, therefore, appears that ACT I. represents the events of two nights
and the intervening day, and that some interval of time then elapses.