The Treatment of Death in Shakespearean Tragedies
Or, “What happens when Ling gets wired on caffeine”
Also known as “Never read Shakespeare when you can’t sleep”
Characters in Shakespeare’s plays have never died easy, not unless you count in Ophelia, Cordelia and Lady Macbeth, who all died nicely offstage and without much fuss. (Come to think of it – all three were rather central characters, but all three were also women – gender discrimination on Shakespeare’s part?) Otherwise, Shakespeare’s figments of imagination mostly tend to have an irritating tendency to talk too much, especially after they have been killed. Consider the classic “Oh, I am slain” after the person is question has been slain – like "DUH"... a very lame thing to say, to say the least. What are the rest of them onstage supposed to do in reply? Rush around cooing with sympathy and maternal affection, “Oh you are slain, oh pity pity”? Why can’t they just turn pale, roll their eyes back and die?
First prize definitely has to go to Edmund in King Lear, who took three – I kid you not – THREE whole pages to die, with a whole philosophy on the nature of life and death and the Wheel of Fortune thrown in: making one wonder if Edgar should sue the manufacturer of his sword, since it was obviously not of very good quality. And then there was Banquo in Macbeth, who in his death throes still managed a speech spoken in iambic pentameter; rather a literary feat considered the circumstances. This is second only to Emilia in Othello, who, after being killed by her husband, gave a short speech and sang a song. A SONG. I suppose she couldn’t have died by having her throat cut, or the song might have turned out a little gurgly. People should really learn to die more quickly and effectively, like Juliet, “Oh happy dagger!” *stab* *die*. Instead, they prefer to take after Mercutio, with his “Zounds” “I am sped”, and several enlightening remarks involving wells, churchdoors, and a few miscellaneous animals.
Hamlet contained some of the best deaths in Shakespeare, notable not for their speeches or even their methods (poison, shriek, stabstab, die) but for the fact that all four major characters died in the space of one and a half pages. (I measured it with my fingers, I was so amused.) I am of the personal opinion that Shakespeare got tired of writing, so he thought, “Let’s wrap this thing up for once and for all,” hence the speedy deliverance. Which ended up giving a comic effect, really, especially if you read the play rather than see it performed. Maybe that’s what they mean by a comic interlude, just that the notion of time has screwed itself up and the interlude comes simultaneously with the tragedy, if you get my drift. Whatever it is, I think I preferred Tom Stoppard’s take on Hamlet with his version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Now you see me, now you-”
(CURTAIN)
Or, “What happens when Ling gets wired on caffeine”
Also known as “Never read Shakespeare when you can’t sleep”
Characters in Shakespeare’s plays have never died easy, not unless you count in Ophelia, Cordelia and Lady Macbeth, who all died nicely offstage and without much fuss. (Come to think of it – all three were rather central characters, but all three were also women – gender discrimination on Shakespeare’s part?) Otherwise, Shakespeare’s figments of imagination mostly tend to have an irritating tendency to talk too much, especially after they have been killed. Consider the classic “Oh, I am slain” after the person is question has been slain – like "DUH"... a very lame thing to say, to say the least. What are the rest of them onstage supposed to do in reply? Rush around cooing with sympathy and maternal affection, “Oh you are slain, oh pity pity”? Why can’t they just turn pale, roll their eyes back and die?
First prize definitely has to go to Edmund in King Lear, who took three – I kid you not – THREE whole pages to die, with a whole philosophy on the nature of life and death and the Wheel of Fortune thrown in: making one wonder if Edgar should sue the manufacturer of his sword, since it was obviously not of very good quality. And then there was Banquo in Macbeth, who in his death throes still managed a speech spoken in iambic pentameter; rather a literary feat considered the circumstances. This is second only to Emilia in Othello, who, after being killed by her husband, gave a short speech and sang a song. A SONG. I suppose she couldn’t have died by having her throat cut, or the song might have turned out a little gurgly. People should really learn to die more quickly and effectively, like Juliet, “Oh happy dagger!” *stab* *die*. Instead, they prefer to take after Mercutio, with his “Zounds” “I am sped”, and several enlightening remarks involving wells, churchdoors, and a few miscellaneous animals.
Hamlet contained some of the best deaths in Shakespeare, notable not for their speeches or even their methods (poison, shriek, stabstab, die) but for the fact that all four major characters died in the space of one and a half pages. (I measured it with my fingers, I was so amused.) I am of the personal opinion that Shakespeare got tired of writing, so he thought, “Let’s wrap this thing up for once and for all,” hence the speedy deliverance. Which ended up giving a comic effect, really, especially if you read the play rather than see it performed. Maybe that’s what they mean by a comic interlude, just that the notion of time has screwed itself up and the interlude comes simultaneously with the tragedy, if you get my drift. Whatever it is, I think I preferred Tom Stoppard’s take on Hamlet with his version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Now you see me, now you-”
(CURTAIN)
posted by Ling at
9:45 AM
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