L HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK It is an amusing fact that materialists often quote the phrase, "the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns," as some sort of evidence that the author of Hamlet was a materialist! It ought to be clear even to the casual reader that, since this expression occurs in the soliloquy of Hamlet, it no more represents the belief of the author than Othello's murderous language proves that Shakespeare thought that wives unjustly suspected of wrongdoing should be sentenced to death by jealous husbands. Why should we presume Hamlet to represent the author's beliefs more than Richard or Iago or even Caliban? Moreover, it does not indicate materialistic philosophy on Hamlet's part. There is certainly nothing remarkable in the fact that he should have employed that phrase. It is not at all inconsistent with his recent conversation with one who did did return from that "undiscovered country," nor does it indicate any doubt in Hamlet's mind that there is conscious existence after bodily death. 10 19.74 THE GHOSTS IN SHAKESPEARE For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, It is not doubt of after-life that troubles him but doubt about what the conditions of that existence may be. In the very wording of the phrase in question he shows that he is no materialist. He asserts the existence of the "country," and employs the phrase merely to show that we have little real knowledge of it. But that the dread of something after death, And makes us rather bear those ills we have As the language runs "undiscovered country" is equivalent to unexplored country. If "discovery" is used in the limited sense of finding we would be deprived of the very subject of our discussion, for unless a country has been found we could not know of it at all. Some kind of a state of existence after physical death he takes for granted and his whole trouble is his uncertainty whether it is better or worse than this state of existence. Little was then known of such distant countries as India and China. In the same sense they were undiscovered-that is, unexplored. A very few travelers went and returned with accounts of their observations. Explorations into the state of superphysical consciousness were evidently unknown to Hamlet and hence the remark "the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns." It is a poetic reference to death-land in the terms of a life journey. The remarkable materialism of our times, that determinedly seeks to explain all phenomena in purely physical terms, nowhere does greater violence to reason than in the attempt to make it appear that the ghost of Hamlet's father is merely intended to be "objectification of the mental condition of Hamlet." It is argued that what he sees, or thinks he sees, is identical with his state of mind at the moment; that Hamlet suspects his uncle of the murder and that when the ghost says, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown," Hamlet exclaims, "O my prophetic soul! My uncle!" and then the ghost goes on to fuller confirmation, all of which is in harmony with Hamlet's preconceived opinions. Thus runs the argument. That Hamlet was not a materialist is apparent from his ready acceptance of the story of his three friends, that they had seen his father's ghost. He does not express the slightest doubt about the reality of their experience as Horatio had done when he first heard the story, before he had himself seen the ghost. On the contrary, Hamlet expresses no incredulity at all but only wonder, and after the departure of his friends he speculates upon the meaning of it all, and longs for the coming of the night, with its possibility of bringing the ghost again, The materialistic theory falls to the ground the moment the text is closely scrutinized(Hamlet is not the discoverer of the ghost. Bernardo and Marcellus have seen the ghost twice and have reported it to Horatio, who scoffs at the story as a fantasy. So Marcellus brings him along, when the sentinels are changed at midnight, with the hope that "he may approve our eyes and speak to it." Horatio continues to scoff and replies, "Tush, tush, 'twill not appear." But it does soon appear again and as the ghost moves away Bernardo exclaims: How now, Horatio! you tremble and look pale: To which Horatio solemnly replies: Before my God, I might not this believe That was the third night on which the ghost had appeared. Hamlet did not see it until the following night. Horatio, urged by his two companions, had spoken to the ghost the third night of its appearance but got no reply. The three soldiers fell to discussing the exciting incident and sought some possible explanation for the visit of the ghost. They exchanged views and agreed that the ghost's appearance was in connection with the threatening attitude of Norway and the preparation for war then going on in Denmark. None of them have a thought that the king was murdered. The fact that he was poisoned, and by his own brother, was the message the ghost conveyed to Hamlet, when he broke away from Horatio and Marcellus and followed the apparition. (With all these facts before us the attempt to explain away the ghost as an externalization of Hamlet's mental state is obviously absurd. Horatio cautiously leads up to the startling announcement of the ghost by saying that he had come to Denmark to see the King's funeral, and thus set Hamlet to talking about his father. The dialogue proceeds: Horatio: My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. |