During our 2012 vacation in England, we visited Shakespeare's House (it was built in 1470). While there we signed up
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| Tom at Shakespeare's House in June 2012 |
In this written assignment, we were
tasked with illustrating with an example a creative work that has been
influenced by a work by Shakespeare. I
have chosen as my example an episode entitled “Mortal Coil” from the American
TV series, Star Trek Voyager. In this
episode, the character Neelix dies and is resurrected after 19 hours. His death experience causes him to question
the purpose of life, and his own reason for existing. This very same contemplation and reflection
on the meaning of life occurs in Act V, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
What I
particularly appreciate about the science fiction genre is its ability to
explore socially sensitive topics in a very meaningful way; topics which are too
controversial, and often the cause of much public debate can be explored in
this totally innocuous format. From our
course we learned that Shakespeare, in a very similar manner, would use plays
to do the very same thing.
Hamlet was
written around the year 1600. Queen
Elizabeth I is near the end of her reign.
There is fear of the unknown. Who
will assume the throne? It is a time of
transition; a time when there will be a transfer of power.
Shakespeare
also uses Hamlet to question the church’s teachings. The character Ophelia
commits suicide and yet will receive a Christian burial, an act which is
questioned by the gravediggers. Hamlet observes
one of the gravediggers singing as he works, and notes that the job of digging
graves is such a miserable way to make a living, how can anyone be singing
while they performed such work? “Has
this fellow no feeling of his business? He sings at grave-making.” says
Hamlet.
Other Hamlet
missives include Hamlet’s contemplation on the value of life when in the end, a
person’s corpse can be treated in such a manner – commenting on the
gravediggers tossing up skulls and other bones as they’re digging deeper into
the ground. At one point, Hamlet
morbidly asks the gravedigger to tell him how long it takes for a corpse to
rot. In the end, Hamlet’s conclusion is
that man comes from dust, and returns to dust, at least dust has a purpose – to
fill holes in the wall and block out the wind’s draft.
In the Star
Trek episode, Neelix reaches a very similar conclusion and even goes so far as
to attempt suicide himself just to be rid of this earthly shell, this “mortal
coil” that entwines him and prevents him from escaping an otherwise worthless
existence.
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Click here for the story of our 2012 Visit to Shakespeare's House : ENGLAND TRIP: Day 6: Part 6: Shakespeare's House and his Daughter's House/Ghosts
