Dhamachokadi - A Chaotic Mind

Thursday, November 09, 2006

2B or not 2B?? 36B maybe...

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!
O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!

- Hamlet

Hamlet said it for his reasons; I can identify with these words today for those of my own. Not remotely in a similar context; meaning a lot different, but could well be expressed in these words.

The first of the famous soliloquies that define the play; Shakespeare's tour de force - the most sublime tragedy. This is where we first get a glimpse of the philosophical persona of the very spineless prince Hamlet. What a misfit in the setting of the play. A warring State; a lascivious[sic] Queen; undertakers philosophizing and discussing politics; a fratricidal, lecherous[sic] King, more actor than emperor; apparitions doing the nightly beat; a smitten suicidal maiden; a play within the play; a vengeful brother; couple of dimwitted spies; an instinctive murder; a flaky, loquacious counsel; a pubescent, emotive actor; a vengeful brother; and a crazy prince/weeping philosopher/righteous son/vacillating thinker/ingrate lover/self-proclaimed actor/disrespectful son/irresolute avenger... Something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark!!

As the "wise" old man said.. Brevity is the soul of wit. Thus I speak no more. I must add, it is one of the best pieces of literature I have laid my eyes on.

PS: Pardon me for the frivolous subject. I just gave in to one of those impulses when a horrible PJ is screaming in your head, dying to be let out.

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posted by Tikna at 9:34 am

3 Comments:

  • dude... was this in a RC.. or have you gone mad??
    ;)

    By Blogger Pritesh Jain, at 12:51 pm  

  • hmm..Hamlet must have struck u like 'un coup de foudre'

    just reading what Hamlet was beset with makes his situation seem all the more 'utterly hopeless'

    By Blogger satyajit, at 1:37 pm  

  • @pj : I choose the latter!! Well, just exercising my right to free expression. Besides, I had got this soliloquy in my head for the past few days. In the very context that i mentioned there. It also afforded me a chance to talk a bit about Hamlet. I am sure i'll do more of that later as well.

    @Satya : en effet!! (thanks google translate)
    It was very much a thunderbolt when we had to read it as a part of the course :p The appreciation came in much later. And yes Hamlet had to deal with the choicest of conditions. He did the best he could to make an utter mess out of it. The eventual retribution was a big fat stroke of luck.

    By Blogger Tikna, at 3:03 pm  

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