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248 NOTES ON M. FECHTER' S HAMLET AND OT...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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» - By Ms. F. P. Fellows.
Why not , "in fitting tribute to that _genius , set aside the " stageedition " of Hamlet , and give us a well of Shakspere undefiled ?
By adhering to this emasculated copy , we lose that powerful scene where the Prince discovers the miserable king attempting to pray ; .
and though burning for vengeance , will not slay him while at prayer , lest his soul , purged by these orisons , escape retribution too
readily . The interview with Fortinbras , in Act IV ., is also struck out , by which we are deprived of one of Hamlet ' s finest soliloquies
—where he strongly contrasts his own languor under heavy responsibility with the young Norwegian's energy on a matter of
comparatively trifling moment . Again , in the last scene of all , why omit Horatio ' s beautiful farewell-lamentation , sounding like a
requiem over the body of his friend" "N " ow cracks ghts of a angels noble heart sing thee . Good to th -ni g rest ht , " sweet ? prince ,
In the " Tragicall Historie of Hamlet , Prince of Denmarke , " published in 1603—which is deeply interesting as presenting
Shakspere ' s first rough-hewn conception of the play—there is a very striking , yet simple emendation which future editors miht do
well to adopt , thereby saving themselves and their readers g much perplexity . During the play-scene , the uneasy king takes
advantage of a pause in the treacherous performance , to ask nervously " What do you call the play ? " Hamletwith bitter sarcasm
, , replies— " The Mouse-trap , marry how ? Tragically" This wordy so evidently thrown out by the Prince with the meaning that
Wherein " The I'll play catch ' s the the thing conscience , of the King , "
is constantly ( following a printer ' s error in the quarto of 1604 ) misprinted _topically , and much wasted ingenuity has been
expended in foot-notes to show that this odd word means "figuratively—mischievously , " & c . & c , according to the fancy of the ;
annotator . _ISTo greater proof of M . Fechter's versatility can be giventhan
that he should attempt and succeed in . two characters differing , so widely as those of Hamlet the Dane , and Othello the Moor .
Each of these personages is antipodal to the other . Othello is a soldier—Hamlet a scholar . Othello is eminently a man of action
, with hand ever ready on his sword—Hamlet a man of meditation , slow to act , even when urged by the strongest motive .
Othello is simple and " rude in speech "—Hamlet shrewd , and courtly in phrase . Othello is a man of war- —Hamlet a man of *
peace . Othello , with the strategy of a general , instantly devises plans of attack—Hamlet , with the inaction of a sedentary life
, only forms vague intentions . Othello is too credulous—Hamlet too speculative . Othello is Southern and passionate—Hamlet '
Northern and reserved . Both thirst for vengeance tinder a great
248 Notes On M. Fechter' S Hamlet And Ot...
248 NOTES ON M . _FECHTER ' S HAMLET AND OTHELLO .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 248, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/32/
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