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HAMLET
POEM
UNLIMITED
HAROLD
BLOOM
RIVERHEAD BooKs
a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.
Nw
York
2003
Riverhead Books
a member of
Penguin Pumam Inc.
375 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
Copyright 2003 by Harold Bloom
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not
be reproduced in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bloom, Harold.
Hamiel: poem unlimited
p.
I Harold Bloom.
em.
ISBN -57322-233-X
1. Shakespeare, William, Ij64-1616. Hamlet.
I. Title.
2002031691
2003
822.3'3--dc2I
10
@l
RoBERT A.
BEcKER
AUT HOR'S
NOTE
CONTENTS
PREFACE I
ONE
INFERRING
HAMLET 3
TWO
HORATIO 13
THREE
FOUR
TWO SOLILOQUIES 29
FIVE
OPHELIA 37
SIX
45
SEVEN
EIGHT
G ERTRUDE
57
NINE
CLAUDIUS
61
TEN
THE IMPOSTUME
67
ELEVEN
THE G RAVE-DIGGER
73
TWELVE
WONDER-WOUNDED HEARERS
77
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
WE DEFY AUGURY
FIFTEEN
LET IT BE
89
85
81
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
FORTINBRAS 105
NINETEEN
TWENTY
ANNIHILATION:
'
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
137
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
HAMLET
POEM
UNLIMITED
PREFACE
H A R OLD
BLO O M
O NE
INFERRING
HAMLET
H AR O L D
BLO O M
HAMLET'S OBSESSIONS
The spirit does not speak of any love for his son, who
would appear to have been rather a neglected child.
When not bashing enemies, the late warrior-king kept
I NFE R R I NG
H A M LE T
(V.i. I 8 ;-89)
Hamlet is his own Falstaff (as Harold Goddard re
marked) because Yorick, "a fellow of infinite jest, of
most excellent fancy," raised him until the prince was
seven. The G rave-digger, the only personage in the
play witty enough to hold his own with Hamlet, tells us
that Yorick's skull has been in the earth twenty-three
years, and that it is thirty years since Hamlet 's birth. Yet
who would take the prince of the first four acts, a stu
dent at the University of Wittenberg (a German Protes
tant institution, famous for Martin Luther), as having
reached thirty? Like his college chums, the unfortunate
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet can be no older
than about twenty at the start, and the lapsed time rep
resented in the tragedy cannot be more than eight weeks,
5
H ARO L D
BL O O M
I N F ERR I N G
H A M LET
H ARO L D
BLO O M
I NFE R R I NG
H A M L ET
H A RO L D
BL O O M
I 0
I N FE R R I N G
H A M L E T
1 1
TWO
HORAT IO
H AROLD
BLO OM
14
H O R AT I O
I 5
H A R O L D
BLO O M
H O RA TI O
H AROLD
BLO O M
I 8
T H R E E
PLAYS
WIT HIN
WIT HIN
PLAYS
PLAYS
H AR O L D
BL O O M
20
P L AYS
W I TH I N
P L AYS
WITH IN
PLAYS
WHEN ROSENCRANTZ
2 1
H A RO L D
BL O O M
"What players are they? " and is told, "Even those you
were wont to take such delight in, the tragedians of the
city." Manifestly, this is Shakespeare 's own company,
and Shakespeare 's audience would have been in on the
joke, as we cannot be now, without scholarly aid. The
best I know is Shakespeare and the Poets ' War (2001), by
James P. Bednarz. Rosencrantz, doubtless to the delight
of Hamlet's audience, overstresses the discomfiting of
Shakespeare and his company by Ben Jonson's Children
of the Chapel, with whom Jonson worked in I6oo-16o1 .
Hamlet, surprised that Shakespeare 's players have taken
the road to Elsinore, demands explanation from Rosen
crantz:
HAMLET
P L A YS
WIT H I N
P L A YS
WI T H I N
P L A YS
Is 'tpossible?
GUILDENSTERN
about ofbrains.
HAMLET
RoSENCRANTZ
H ARO L D
BLO O M
P L A YS
W I T H IN
PL A YS
W I T H IN
P L A YS
H A R OLD
BLO O M
26
P L A YS
W I T H IN
PL A YS
WIT H I N
P L A YS
27
F OUR
T WO S OLILOQUIES
HAROLD
BLO O M
T WO
S O L I L O QU IES
31
H ARO L D
BL O O M
32
TWO
S O L I L O QU I ES
33
HARO L D
B L O O M
T W O
S O L I L OQU I E S
H ARO L D
BLO O M
36
FIVE
O P HELIA
HAROLD
BL O O M
38
OPH E L I A
39
ny
heck than I
H A R O L D
B LO O M
40
O PHEL I A
HAMLET
ployment.
They are not near my conscience, their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow.
'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass andfell incensedpoints
Ofmighty opposites.
41
HAROLD
B LO O M
42
O PHEL I A
43
H A R O L D
B L O O M
44
SIX
S HAKES PEARE
T O T HE
PLAYERS
H A R O L D
BLO O M
46
S H A KES PEA R E
T O
THE
P L A YE R S
speak;
But what we do determine, oft we break.
Purpose is but the slave to memory,
Ofviolent birth but poor validity,
Which now, the fruit unnpe, sticks on the tree,
But fall unshaken when they mellow be.
Most necessary 'tis that we forget
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt.
What to ourselves inpassion we propose,
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose.
The violence ofeither gn"eforjoy
Their own enactures with themselves destroy.
Wherejoy most revels griefdoth most lament;
Griefjoys, joy grieves, on slender accident.
This world is notfor aye, nor 'tis not strange
That even our loves should with our fortunes change,
For 'tis a question left us yet to prove,
47
HAROLD
B LO O M
48
SHA K E S P E A R E
TO
THE
P LA Y E R S
49
SEVEN
THE
MOUSETRAP:
H A R OLD
B LO O M
TH E
HORATIO
HAM LET
M O US E TR A P :
C O N T R A R Y
W I L L
Halfa share.
A whole one, I.
[III.ii.269-72)
H AROLD
BLO O M
TH E
M O US E TRA P :
C O N T R A R Y
WI L L
H A R O LD
B LO O M
56
EIG H T
G ERT R U D E
H A R O LD
II L O O W
G E RT R U D E
H A R O L D
B LO O M
60
N INE
CLAU D I US
pability:
H A R OL D
B L OO M
C LA U D I U S
month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into
the lohhy.
KING
HAMLET
dants.]
KING
For England?
Ay, Hamlet.
HAMLET
Good.
KING
H A R O L D
BLO O M
64
C L AU D I U S
65
T EN
T HE IM P OS T UME
H AROLD
BL O O M
T H E
I M P O S T U M E
H ARO L D
BLO O M
T H E
I M P O S T U M E
7 1
E L EVEN
T HE G RA V E - D I G G ER
H A R O L D
BLO O M
THE
G R A V E - D I G G E R
Go to.
GRAVE-DIGGER
thousand tenants.
GRAVE-DIGGER
wright, or a carpenter?
GRAVE-DIGGER
OTHER
GRAVE-DIGGER
OTHER
GRAVE-DIGGER
for )lOur dull ass will not mend his pace with heating.
And when )IOU are asked this question next, sa)l
'A
H A R OLD
B LO O M
76
T W E LVE
WON D ER - WOUN D E D
HEARERS
0,
treble woe
Fall ten times treble on that cursed head
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
Depriv'd thee of.-Hold offthe earth awhile,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms.
[Leaps in the grave.]
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
H A R OL D
B L OO M
soul!
Thou pray'st not well.
Iprithee take thyfingersfrom my throat,
For though I am not splenative and rash,
Yet have I in me something dangerous,
Which let thy wiseness fear. Hold ojfthy hand.
(V.i.2 39-56]
HAMLET
W ON D E R - W OU N D E D
H E A R E R S
H A R O LD
B L O O M
80
T H I R T EEN
IN MY
H EAR T
T H ERE WAS
A KIN D
OF FI G H T IN G
HAMLET
other.
You do rememher all the circumstances?
HORATIO Rememher it, my lord!
HAMLET
HAROLD BLOOM
82
I N
M Y
H E A RT
THE R E
WAS
K I N D
O F
F I G H T I N G
83
F O U RT E EN
WE
H AROLD
BLO O M
86
W E
D E F Y
A U G U R Y
87
H A R OL D
B L OO M
88
F I FT E E N
LE T I T
BE
H A R OLD
BLO O M
L ET
I T
B E
9 1
S I X T EEN
A POT HEOS IS
AN D
T RAG E D Y
H A R OLD
BLO O M
A P OT H E O S I S
A N D
T R A G E D Y
H A R O L D
B L O O M
96
A P OT H E O S I S
A N D
T R A G E D Y
97
S E V EN T E E N
HAMLET AN D
T HE
HIG H
PLA CES
H A R OLD
B LO O M
1 00
H A M L E T
A N D
T H E
H I G H
P LA C E S
I 0 I
H A R OLD
B L O O M
H A M L E T
A N D
T H E
H I G H
P LA C E S
it. It is the place where even the most acute of all self
consciousnesses, Hamlet's, will lose the shadow of self
while continuing to expand as a consciousness. What
we have called Western Romanticism is the last embel
lishment of Hamlet 's great shadow, cast off to become a
thousand other selves.
I 03
EIG H T E E N
FORT IN B RAS
with his army, in Act IV, Scene iv. Hamlet enters there
only after Fortinbras has exited, and the Norwegian
prince parades into Elsinore a few lines after the P rince
of Denmark's death. By this interesting ellipsis, Shake
speare emphasizes that Hamlet and Fortinbras never
meet. Why are they kept apart?
Shakespearean omissions fascinate me: Lear and Ed
mund never exchange a word; Antony and Cleopatra,
except for a moment, are not seen alone together; it is
H A R OLD
B L O O M
F ORT I N B R A S
1 07
N I N ET E E N
HA D
0 ,
B UT T IM E -
COUL D
T E LL YOU
H A R O L D
BLO O M
I I 0
H A D
B U T
T I M E - 0 ,
C O U L D
T E L L
Y O U
I l l
H A R O LD
PoLONIUS
HAMLET
B L O O M
here that old men have gray beards, that theirfaces are
wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber andplum-tree
gum, and that they have a plentiful lack ofwit, together
with most weak hams-all which, sir, though I most
powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not hon
esty to have it thus set down. For yourself, sir, shall
grow old as I am-iflike a crabyou couldgo backward.
PoLONIUS
[Aside] Though this be madness, yet there
is method in 't.- Willyou walk out ofthe air, my lord?
HAMLET Into my grave?
PoLONIUS Indeed, that's out of the air.-[Aside]
How pregnant sometimes his replies are--a happiness
that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity
could not so prosperously be delivered of I will leave
him and suddenly contrive the means of meeting be
tween him and my daughter.-My lord, I will take my
leave ofyou.
You cannot, sir, take from me anything that
I will not more willingly part withal-except my life,
except my life, except my life.
HAMLET
I I 2
H A D
B U T
T I M E - 0 ,
C O U L D
T E L L
Y O U
1 1 3
H A R O L D
B LO O M
H A D
B U T
T I M E- 0 ,
C O U L D
T E L L
Y O U
not
to
1 1 5
T WE N T Y
WAKE
H A R O L D
B L O O M
118
A N N I H I LAT I O N :
H A M L E T
'
WA K E
I 1 9
H A R O L D
B L O O M
1 2 0
A N N I H I LAT I O N :
H A M L ET
'
W A K E
1 21
T W EN T Y - O N E
T HE F US I ON OF
AN D
HI G H
PO P ULAR AR T
H A R OL D
BLO O M
124
T H E
F U S I O N
O F
H I G H
A N D
P O P U LA R
A RT
1 25
H A R O L D
B L O O M
T H E
F U S I O N
O F
H I G H
A N D
P O P U LA R
A RT
I 27
T W EN T Y - T W O
HA M L ET
AS
T HE LIMIT
O F S TA G E
D RAMA
H A R O L D
B LO O M
HA M L E T
A S
T H E
L I M I T
O F
S TA G E
D R A M A
H A R O L D
B L O O M
HA M L E T
A S
T H E
L I M I T
O F
S TA G E
D R A M A
H A R O LD
B LO O M
1 34
H A M L E T
A S
T H E
LI M I T
O f
ST A G E
D R A M A
I 35
H A R O L D
B L O O M
I 36
T W EN TY - T H R E E
T HE EN D
OF OUR T I ME
H A R O L D
B LO O M
T H E
E N D
OF
OU R
T I M E
H A R O L D
B LO O M
0 uR
1 40
T H E
September
1 1.
E N D
O F
O U R
T I M E
H A R O L D
B L O O M
1 42
TW EN TY - F O U R
T HE
HERO OF
H A R O L D
B LO O M
T H E
H E R O
O F
C O N S C I O U S N E S S
H A R O L D
B LO O M
HAMLET
[l.ii. 84-88]
I
T H E
H E R O
O F
C O N S C I O U S N E S S
lences with us, but the prince alters and deepens them.
When he dies, our modified ambivalences, now set upon
him, ring the hero in an aura that is a kind of taboo.
Hamlet has bruised the limits for all of us in carrying out
his embassy of death. If we remain in a harsh world
where, with Horatio, we will draw our breath in pain, it
is because we are not yet ready to accept Hamlet 's judg
ment that the obliteration of consciousness is an ab
solute felicity. He departs before us, unforgettable as
disturbance and as icon.
1 47
T W EN T Y - F IVE
HA M L E T
AN D
NO EN D
H A R O L D
B LO O M
H A M L E T
A N D
N O
E N D
HARO L D
BLO O M
! 52
HA M L E T
A N D
N O
E N D
1 53
H A R O L D
B LO O M
I 54