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Article: Shakespeare's Hamlet 1.2.35-38.
- Article from:
- The Explicator
- Article date:
- September 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the winter 2004 issue of The Explicator, Marvin D. Hinten takes issue with Eric Sterling's intriguing proposition that Hamlet meant to kill Polonius and not (as generally assumed) Claudius. (1) Sterling rests his case on a number of factors, one of which is timing. As Hinten explains.
According to Sterling, Hamlet would think it impossible for Claudius
to finish praying in time to hide behind the arras before the prince
meets with Gertrude. It is impossible. Sterling determines, because
"a mere twenty-four lines" occur between the praying and the
slaying. (2)
Hinten dismisses this particular argument on the grounds that, as he puts ...