The Man Shakespeare by Frank Harris
page 29 of 447 (06%)
page 29 of 447 (06%)
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"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success: that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all; here, But here upon this bank and shoal of time We'd jump the life to come. . . . ." Is not this the same soul which also in a soliloquy questions fate?--"Whether 'tis better in the mind...." Macbeth, too, has Hamlet's peculiar and exquisite intellectual fairness--a quality, be it remarked in passing, seldom found in a ruthless murderer. He sees even the King's good points: ...... "this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking off." Is it not like Hamlet to be able to condemn himself in this way beforehand? Macbeth ends this soliloquy with words which come from the inmost of Hamlet's heart: "I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on the other." |
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