Hamlet: III.i: Ophelia: 152

[craigshoemake...@gmail.com]

Topic: Hamlet: III.i: Ophelia: 152

Hi,

Concerning only the second quarto and the first folio, and concerning Opehlia's one line:

Ophelia: The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword

within the context of the opening lines of her speech:

Ophelia:
O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's eye, tongue, sword,
Th'expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th'observ'd of all observers, quit, qite down!

Does Ophelia's one line: The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword

imply that Hamlet was a courtier, soldier, and a scholar, having these aspects in him to one degree or another?

For instance, would it imply that some of his time was expended "soldiering"? Either drilling and practicing, or perhaps even having been on a battle field once? Or, just as well, imply that if war came upon Denmark, Hamlet was already schooled and trained to function as a soldier in the battle?

Note that the Duke in Measure for Measure (iii.ii.135) refers to himself as: a scholar, a statesman, and a soldier. However, we never see this Duke soldiering, practicing soldiering, and so forth. Presumably, he might mean that if he had to soldier, he is already trained to do so?

Thanks,
Craig

[Don]

A couple concepts that were involved in the general understanding:
1) that Hamlet is a Renaissance Man; and
2) Hamlet is compared to a Hero in the classical tragedy, in terms of
character, philosophy, larger than life stature.

[Willedever]

All males of the "sir" class and higher, including the royal family, have an obligation to take up arms and defend the nation, should the need arise. Hamlet is a prospective soldier in that sense, the sense of an obligation to serve. It is a real obligation, not just theoretical.

Hamlet has not yet trained as a soldier. At the time of the play he was at the U of Wittenberg for 3 years, since age 13.

http://www.hamletonline.com/hamletwiki/index.php/Main_Page

[John W Kennedy]

Both of them are high-born and not crippled. They’re soldiers of necessity.

--
John W Kennedy
"When a man contemplates forcing his own convictions down another man's
throat, he is contemplating both an unchristian act and an act of
treason to the United States."
-- Joy Davidman, "Smoke on the Mountain"

[marco]

.

[craigshoemake...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I noticed that some one placed a period (.) as a response and boosted this thread to the top of the heap.

This is fine. The reason I asked this question about Hamlet's soldiering activities, back on February 9, 2016, although I did not state my reason specifically, is that I wanted more information about Hamlet and any soldiering associated with him. For instance, would a trained soldier not have his wits about him, the necessary composure, not to wildly stab through a curtain like a sissy and kill Polonius?

This issue, about Hamlet killing Polonius and other issues, are addressed in the following different thread, and the following URL, will place you in the post which begins, "This news group appears to be relatively quiet. March 5, 2016." wherein I request further inputs or responses to my ideas:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!activity/humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare/XXKhIG7DCAAJ/humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare/AwsqG7m4Xsc/cbNnPFOnCAAJ

Thanks,
Craig