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Yes, I believe that Shakespeare was not only intuitive of that, but that he wrote himself into the play. I agree with you that the plot of the play is secondary to the psychological state being portrayed. Deep meloncholia is a state in which one questions such things as the value of being itself. He's on the edge because his contemplation of the ideal has brought him face to face with the real, and the conflict between the two father images, the one impossibly ideal and the other too possibly real, has shattered his belief in everything, including himself. As T.S. Eliot said, "Mankind cannot stand too much reality." Shakespeare, as sensitive as he was, must have been very familiar with this conflict and lived on this "creative edge" much of the time. Because he was at times in touch with the angels, the earthly realities were that much more painful, and that's the crisis that characterizes a hypersensitive person's life. So I feel that this play is considered so mysterious and hard to comprehend because it is a relentless exploration of the heart and soul of the poet himself.Posted by Mel on April 14, 1997 at 01:09:10
In Reply to "hamlet" posted by kim on April 13, 1997 at 16:00:22
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