I bought a skull as my sole prop for Halloween dress-up. I earnestly hope that someone will recognize that I will be portraying Hamlet. Since spontaneous actions always require bookish contemplation for complete satisfaction, I am gearing up for the event by rereading the entire play.
Somewhere in the middle, I couldn't help but burst into laughter at Hamlet's advice to Ophelia: "To the nunnery!" After all, who desires to end up as a breeder of sinners? I took great delight in the fact that fake news is as ancient as the generally rotten state of states. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern brought joy to my day on several occasions. I adored the play within the play and what it reveals about Shakespeare's concept regarding the power of literature to move and impact people on the deepest level.
I rather coldly skim over the overquoted "to be or not to be" and come to a sudden halt at "Faith! Her privates we."
Her privates we? Does it mean the middle parts of fortune? I have Manning's book at home, and I have long intended to read it. I had no inkling that the title was a quote from Hamlet and that it referred to female genitals.
Alas, I am not even at the point in the play where my skull makes an appearance, "alas Yorick!" But I have already embarked on a new book based on my rereading of Hamlet.
That is what occurs to readers - stories influence them, they respond, and that response gives rise to new actions, followed by new stories, in an eternal cycle - a precious circle. That's Hamlet. Hamlet is human in a corrupt state. Who knows whether he is insane or not? I suppose it depends on whom you ask.
I still feel a certain kindness towards him. Ophelia's fate lies in the future, as does the cathartic show effect of bringing the bodies onto the stage.
When I go to bed later, after finishing the last acts, Maestro Shakespeare may once again fall out of my favor.
But that is another story...