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Claudius the Moor?

In ACT lll Scene lV Hamlet implores Gertrude:

Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor?

On first reading I ascribed to ‘moor’ a strictly
geophysical meaning, unattractive & boggy, con-
trasting it to ‘mountain’, majestical & lofty,
each reflecting in Hamlet's mind characteristics
of his uncle and father respectively, but subse-
quently I have wondered if Shakespeare had in mind
a double-entendre - intending that Claudius be
played having a dark countenance - i.e. that of a
Moor - and his brother Hamlet a ‘fair’.
Has anyone any evidence of this interpretation
ever having been extended to these two charac-
ters in a production?

Posted by Prince Hal on March 23, 1997 at 23:56:21

 Replies

• Just an insult. LunarCaustic 00:43:11 3/24/97 (6)
  • Claudius The Moor, Not!. Prince Hal 14:50:18 3/25/97 (1)
    • One recent production with a "Moorish" Claudius, yes. Bruce Spielbauer 05:43:16 3/29/97 (0)
  • Dual nature of Hamlet's jokes Alvin Sidwick 10:48:37 3/24/97 (3)
    • a-wha? LunarCaustic 11:05:44 3/24/97 (2)
      • Explanation Alvin Sidwick 11:59:39 3/24/97 (1)
        • Ahhh... I gotcha. LunarCaustic 06:09:37 3/25/97 (0)

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