The silent transit of the Ghost,
desiring to speak, yet tongue-tied, is certainly one of Shakespeare's
unrivalled masterpieces of dramatic craftsmanship. One could pretty
safely wager that if the _Ur-Hamlet_, on which Shakespeare worked, were
to come to light to-morrow, this particular trait would not be found in
it. But, oddly enough, into the middle of this admirable opening
tableau, Shakespeare inserts a formal exposition, introduced in the most
conventional way. Marcellus, for some unexplained reason, is ignorant of
what is evidently common knowledge as to the affairs of the realm, and
asks to be informed; whereupon Horatio, in a speech of some twenty-five
lines, sets forth the past relations between Norway and Denmark, and
prepares us for the appearance of Fortinbras in the fourth act. In
modern stage versions all this falls away, and nobody who has not
studied the printed text is conscious of its absence. The commentators,
indeed, have proved that Fortinbras is an immensely valuable element in
the moral scheme of the play; but from the point of view of pure drama,
there is not the slightest necessity for this Norwegian-Danish
embroilment or its consequences.
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