Penny
wrote:
Just
to confuse Charles further, I recommend reading James Hirsh, ‘Shakespeare and
the History of Soliloquies’ (AUP 2003), in which it is argued that
‘soliloquies’, talking as though in a thought-bubble to oneself, was not an
available concept at the time; and that Hamlet is speaking to be heard by the
King and Polonius in hiding. He wants them to think he is contemplating suicide.
Not all these interpretations are compatible, it’s true – but it’s worth trying
to believe a few of them before breakfast; and maybe not deciding on the
preferred one before elevenses. (Good heavens! My word processor has never heard
of elevenses.)
Best
wishes, Penny.
Dear
Penny,
Many
thanks for pointing me at J.E.Hirsh, of whom I had never heard. It is flattering
to discover that my prehistoric ideas are being caught up with, as well as
refreshing to see that old British customs are still alive and flourishing in
The
idea that Hamlet’s apparently suicidal thoughts are deliberately deceptive fits
pleasingly with what I’ve already said, and is attractive. However, we seem to
be straying rather far from this particular forum, and I think I’d better quit
this thread. I have to say, though, that being puzzled is not the same as being
confused. I try quite hard to think clearly and express myself ditto.
Susan Elizabeth
Sweeney wrote:
Since I have published
three essays on the subject of VN's Americanness, I might as well respond to
Charles's remarks. VN certainly identified himself as an American writer
(requesting, for example, that all of his books be catalogued as "American
Literature," SL 454) and often said so when interviewed in Montreux. He
was familiar with, if not necessarily fond of, many canonical and contemporary
American writers (including Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Melville, James, Eliot,
Pound, Frost, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner), and influenced many
others. He set some of his major novels in the
Having said that, we must also
remember that VN, who disliked pigeonholing authors according to national
identity, once remarked that "the writer's art is his real passport" (SO
63). Indeed, he seems to have become an "American writer," in part, by
deliberately redefining that term.
Thanks
also to SES for being prepared to contribute seriously to
the topic of VN’s sense of national identity. I fully understand that this sense has
become rather tainted since the end of WW2, but I cannot dismiss it entirely.
National identities continue to be heavily stressed and promoted, not least by
Americans. I can certainly agree that VN was technically an American, in the
sense that Einstein and von Braun were also technically Americans. A culturally
stateless person would be naturally grateful and feel a sense of obligation to a
state which welcomed him, along with all the other huddled masses. I would never
even hint that VN was not familiar with the authors listed by SES. Many of them,
and many other American authors (Bierce comes to mind), spent time in
SES remarks that VN influenced many
American authors, but my question about the reverse influence of American authors on VN is
not addressed. Most American authors have been influenced by
Stan Kelly-Bootle
wrote:
Homer's audiences KNEW
the characters & endings and BELIEVED the stories; the Gods and Goddesses,
mortals and semis were REAL not mythic.
Some portion of Homer’s audiences
knew the stories and their endings. But every story, like every old joke, was once new to everybody at some stage
in their lives. As for the Greeks implicitly believing that the Gods, Goddesses,
mortals and semi-mortals were real: I very seriously doubt that. It is, imho, a
bad mistake to take it for granted that early or ancient man was more stupid
than modern man. The reverse is more likely, and in fact there is every reason
for thinking that early man, and
especially the Greeks, were more intelligent, and had keener minds than the
human specimens of today. Cro-Magnon man actually had a bigger brain than modern
man. However, the Greeks had a much deeper sense of how little they were in
control of their destinies --- perhaps that serves to indicate their higher
intelligence. Their personification of the Gods, the Fates and the Furies was
therefore more vivid. Petersen’s excellent film,
I wonder what SKB means by saying
that VN’s novels are uniquely anti-didactic? No matter how closely a writer
holds the mirror up to nature, even the most faithful reproduction is bound to
be selective in its details. And all literature entertains: even if the only
person who enjoys the entertainment is the writer him- or herself. Art instructs
insidiously.
Charles