Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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. K V ,. - 7 ' :Y gf 5.5 Y .rv -:T . -- the sole intention of presenting them on the stage. Thus it would be natural to suppose that his intended climax would be dramatically strong and have great influence on the minds of the spectators. On seeing Hamlet played one must surely feel the climax to be the play within the play. Here we find a small pre-planned drama serving as a mirror to the King, casting the reflection of his crime into the depths of his soul and thus accomplishing the result for which it was planned by Hamlet. It is the match which lights the lamp of the King's conscience and in turn enlightens Hamlet as to the reliability of the Ghost. But what is this play that marks the climax, why was it given, and how did it happen to be shaped with such a polish that it could cause such stirring reflections and results? Let us review the Hamlet play. Here we have Hamlet seemingly a normal man in all respects, but suffering keenly because of the untimely death of his father. Then suddenly the spirit of his father appears to Hamlet and tells Hamlet that his uncle, the King, allowing ambition to better his natural feelings, has murdered his own brother, Ham1et's father, and has taken that brother's crown and queen. The apparent fact staggers him, and already plunged into deepest grief and desiring to lay the cause at some one's door, he grasps the Ghost's words with eagerness. He burns for immediate re- venge. He cares not for his life or earthly pleasures. They are trifles if only he may satiate his burning thirst for the blood of his father's murderer. However, here a keener sense of reason comes to him. He pauses and weighs the matter. He realizes that he has been fired by the mere Words of a spirit. Perhaps he has been deceived! Others have been deceived by ghosts and have been led to their destruction. Shall he place his life andiearthly station at stake at a mere incentive from the spiritual world? No, he must have better proof and it can come from only one living witness, the person of the king himself. ' And now the question arises how to safely approach the king and obtain this desired confession. He feigns madness so that he may watch the king unnoticed. But at this the king's suspicion is immedi- ately aroused. He regards Hamlet with a guilty fear. He debates with himself even the wisdom of allowing Hamlet his liberty. He places spies around him to report his speech and actionsg and at last that fear rises to such a pitch that he decides to rid himself of Hamlet by sending him to England. Hamlet observes with satisfaction this evident mistrust on the part of the king. He guesses its meaning, but still this is not proof. -Impa- tiently he taxes his brain for a plan. And now the players arrive unknowingly just in time to aid him. us w r 5 l 1. 4 il 1 4 l 4 1 4 I i

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4. - -Y -' Q ..'-E 'Af. 1.f : 1:5 57, :fx 'fr-E ' ' Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, But with a little act upon the blood, Burn like the mines of sulphur. When Shakespeare says that Dangerous conceits were in themselves diseases of the mind and takes into account of influence of the mind over our physical being, he uses his knowledge unerringly and far in advance of his time. We might go at great length naming the numerous channels that his mind had travelled. His knowledge of law is far too extensive to pass over. The trial scene in the Merchant of Venice is a typical representation. In Shakespeare the lofty ideas of abstract justice ap- pear together with his ideas of legal procedure. It is hatred that takes Shylock to court to demand the pound of flesh. He who dared pre- sume that the law would aid Wrong was himself crushed by the very defense of his own case. Portia acknowledged the validity of Shylock's bond, but taking it literally saved her husband's truest friend. Shakespeare's plays amaze the traveller by the accurate description of foreign cities, scholars by the knowledge of the classics, soldiers by the military knowledge, doctors by the knowledge of medicine and law- yers by the law. Carlyle's judgment in respect to Burns I think applies even more strongly to Shakespeare. He would have ':ached the sum- mit in any Field of endeavor. It was his untiring industry as a scholar more than inborn poetic temperament that made Shakespeare stand alone on the pinnacle of literature. -,Hllie Berglund. The Climax of Hamlei', ' AMLET, probably the best known of Shakespeare's plays, g f' ' is Without a doubt the greatest of them all. The play is I filled with topics which provoke discussion and subjects of such great interest that they are as largely debated as historical problems. Some of these topics, for instance the question of Hamlet's sanity, have given rise to many famous dissertations, but these subjects still remain unsettled. It is this kind of topic, I would bring before you to-day-the old question: Where is the climax in Hamlet ? Here the judgment of the student must be left to himself for no one can definitely say this or that is the climax and positively defend his claim. From a literary point of view I cannot defend my choice entirely, but from the dramatic side there can be little argument against it. Shakespeare did not write his plays with literary fame in view, but with ns

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r s fi - i new A eff 2 121 - -- i fiee- .er A plan immediately germinates in the fertile mind of Hamlet. He will have the players enact something like the murder of his father and thus cause the King, if guilty, to betray himself by a stricken conscience. This plan has been used before with success he knows. The play's the thing wherein he'll catch the conscience of the king. He immediately sets to work. He knows of an play, the Murder of Gonzago , well suited for his purpose, the condition of this crime being much like that of his father's murder. He adds certain words and actions and makes it the duplicate of his uncle's crime. The players are next innocently drawn into the plot. Hamlet's greatest fear is that the acting will be overdrawn. He instructs and shows them each move and action of his play. After a time he perfects the players and everything augurs success. His trap is now ready to spring. The court, the King and the Queen assemble to see the play in the great assembly hall. Hamlet seats himself in front of Ophelia opposite the throne from which point he may observe the King closely. He is very merry. He talks gliblyto Ophelia and to the surrounding com- pany. Then silence reigns over the audience. The play has opened. The first part has appeared and now the scene of the crime comes on. All eyes but Hamlet's are intently fixed on the stage. His are riveted on the real king. The murderer approaches with a catlike tread and pours deadly poison into the ears of the unconscious play king, his brother. The sight is fascinating to all but the real king. He turns his contorted face from the scene of his re-enacted crime, and buries his face in his hands, overcome with remorse. Then Hamlet, fearing the King will miss that part which it was most intended he should hear, rises excitedly and relates the rest of the play to the King. And the King overwhelmed and maddened by the words rises and calling for lights reels from the hall. And this is the climax of Hamlet. -Q Paul Webb. 120