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Shakespeare, czyli Wielkie łowy

100%

Komorowski J.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

2014

vol. 63

issue 3(251)

7-28

The symbolism of animals derived from medieval culture plays an important role in Shakespeare’s work, and it sometimes holds a place of great prominence. The same may be said of the motif of hunting for animals that can be as exotic and beyond reach as the elephant, or even completely fantastic. In Hamlet, the situation of the Prince of Denmark is described in terms of, symbolically charged, hunting, especially for a unicorn. The Greek Physiologus, as well as later bestiaries originating from it, informed that the best way to catch the wild and fierce unicorn was to send a virgin to the woods, and it was advisable that she be naked. Upon seeing her, the animal would soften, come close and trustingly lay its head in her lap. Shakespeare used this widespread visual-arts motif in the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia before the performance of The Murder of Gonzago, wherein it functions only visually, without the animal ever being mentioned by name. When Hamlet, after a short, provocative exchange (‘Lady, shall I lie in your lap?’), rests his head in the girl’s lap, it is an onstage transposition of the iconographic, symbolical, motif. It refers to the previous ‘hunt for Hamlet’ effected by Claudius and Polonius, with Ophelia proffered as bait. But Hamlet is not only a unicorn; he is also the symbolic hart from the famous line ‘Why, let the stricken deer go weep,/ The hart ungalled play’. He escapes the hunters unscathed, ready to strike back. It is not accidental that Hamlet calls the provocative, tale-tell show “The Mouse-trap”, and as he stabs the unseen Polonius to death, erroneously thinking him to be the king hiding behind the tapestry, he shouts ‘How now! a rat?’ – because the diabolical symbolism of the mouse and the revulsion caused by rats also play a significant role in understanding the Shakespearean tragedy.

Alice’s Journey Across the Globe into Mysterious Realms: The Significance of the Exotic Animals in Wonderland

45%

Brown C.

Libri & Liberi

2015

vol. Vol 4

issue 4.2

269-290

Contrary to the common view that Wonderland was sheltered from major world events, Carroll projects global trends onto his intrepid child explorer, allowing her to experience the expanding and shrinking effects of global dynamics. Emigration to the Antipodes stretches her body and the reader’s imagination beyond terrestrial limits into mysterious realms. Unbelievable animals became a reality in the context of world exploration, challenging the Victorians to extend their mental as well as their geographical horizons. The threat to the biblical divine order of animals unknown to Noah was augmented by the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859. Carroll, as a devout Christian, revived traditional views of animals as allegories of virtues and vices and as mediators between the world of spirits and the material world. Alice and Wonderland animals play roles as divine beings in a coded confrontation between contemporary scientific paradigms and magical belief-systems.

Nasuprot uvriježenomu mišljenju o tome da je Čudozemsku izolirao od važnih svjetskih događaja, Carroll je smjerove globalnoga razvoja projicirao upravo u svoju odvažnu istraživačicu, dopuštajući joj da na vlastitu tijelu iskušava posljedice proširivanja i sužavanja horizonta globalnih zbivanja. Odlazak k Antipodima izdužuje njezino tijelo, a čitateljeva se moć uobrazilje širi preko svake zemaljske granice, sve do tajnovitih predjela. Otkrivanjem su svijeta, naime, životinje koje do tada nisu bile ni zamislive postale stvarnošću. To je ljudima iz viktorijanskoga doba nametnulo potrebu za proširenjem ne samo njihovih prostornih, već i duhovnih predodžbi. Biblijski božji poredak u još većoj mjeri ugrozile su Noi nepoznate životinje, a na njihovo postojanje upućivalo je Darwinovo djelo O podrijetlu vrsta (1859). Kao uvjereni kršćanin Carroll je obnovio tradicionalno mišljenje o životinjama kao alegorijskim prikazima vrlina i poroka, ali i ono po kojemu su životinje posrednici između svijeta duhova i materijalnoga svijeta. Carroll Alici i životinjama iz Čudozemske stoga dodjeljuje ulogu božanskih bića u kodiranome suprotstavljanju suvremene znanstvene paradigme i magičnih sustava vjerovanja.

Im Gegensatz zu der üblichen Ansicht, dass das Wunderland von wichtigen Weltereignissen abgeschirmt bleibt, projizierte Carroll globale Entwicklungen auf seine kühne Explorandin, sodass sie die erweiternden und schrumpfenden Horizonte des globalen Geschehens am eigenen Leib verspüren kann. Die Auswanderung nach Australien dehnt ihren Körper und gleichzeitig die Vorstellungskraft des Lesers über die irdischen Grenzen hinaus in geheimnisvolle Gefilde hinein. Im Zuge der Entdeckung der Welt wurden Tiere, die bisher nur imaginär existierten, Realität. Dadurch ergab sich für die Viktorianer die Herausforderung, nicht nur ihre geografischen, sondern auch ihre geistigen Vorstellungen zu erweitern. Die Gefährdung der biblischen Ordnung Gottes aufgrund der für Noah unbekannten Tiere wurde noch durch die Veröffentlichung von Darwins Über den Ursprung der Arten 1859 vergrößert. Als überzeugter Christ belebte Carroll die althergebrachten Ansichten von Tieren als Allegorien für Tugenden und Laster sowie als Vermittler zwischen der Sphäre der Geister und der materiellen Welt neu. Alice und die Wunderland-Tiere spielen Rollen als göttliche Wesen im Rahmen einer kodierten Konfrontation zwischen zeitgenössischen wissenschaftlichen Paradigmen und magischen Glaubenssystemen.

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Shakespeare, czyli Wielkie łowy

Alice’s Journey Across the Globe into Mysterious Realms: The Significance of the Exotic Animals in Wonderland