No coat of arms, sure, that’s one way to look at it – though it doesn’t seem the most obvious. The most obvious to me at least, would be his weapons. Adam had no weapons. Adam had no weapons because he did not need them. In Eden, there was no violence – at least not until the next generation made their way in. But there was no need of weapons before. In an idyllic peace – there are no arms, no weapons. And this almost makes me weep today, here in America, where yet another deadly mass shooting has ripped through our lives. And people hug their weapons close, they feel them so necessary, the world they imagine they need them for is so far from Eden.
Author: erainbowd
He was the first that ever bore arms.
You just know this is a set up for a pun – even if you don’t know – you still probably know. Arms are such a ridiculously punnable thing.
Why does English do this? We have our arms, the very useful parts of our bodies, with those handy hands and connected by our supportive shoulders. But – weapons are also arms. Why – I have no idea. But the right to bear arms is not about the freedom to go around in a tank top. And there is even another meaning and that is a coat of arms – which is not a jacket made of body parts, don’t worry. But, according to Genius, this is the meaning the First Clown is aiming at here – because gentlemen have Coats of Arms.
My goodness English is such a weird language. Bless us.
Was he a gentleman?
This makes me want to do some investigation into gentlemen. Because that word has so many connotations. It could just mean man. Like a gentle man. A man.
Or a man of a particular class. And this is what I’m curious about. When did this happen? And why? And how?
And there is of course, my favorite sense of this gentleman situation that is exploiting that confusion – which is a scene from Mystery Team – wherein these three boys try to get into a Gentlemen’s Club in order to pursue their case. And they interpret this Gentlemen’s Club as a club for upper crust Englishmen and show up in top hats and monocles to try and get in. It is, of course, a strip club and the bouncer humors the young Gentlemen trying to pass in front of him. One of the boys just says, “England!”
I enjoy this clip so much that I may never hear the word Gentleman again without also thinking “England!” and “a folded up tracing of a hammerhead shark.” (You’ll have to watch the clip to get that bit.)
They hold up Adam’s profession.
Adam had a profession, I guess. But not Eve?
According to this speech, Adam gardened, dug ditches and a grave. Eve likely did some of this as well. At least the gardening. And probably more. I don’t know what was going on with those two.
I mean, I guess the story was that life was all just sitting around enjoying stuff until they ate that apple. And then Eve had to have a baby and Adam had to…uh…dig ditches? And then Adam got a profession while Eve had to look after those kids – And what was once a sensible division of labor got turned into some weird codified way of being – some ingrained rules about professionalism and male-ness along with sacrifice/punishment and femaleness?
I’d like to talk about Eve’s profession next time.
There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers and gravediggers.
Yet another insightful bit of social commentary from the “clown.”
Class is a social construction.
There were no gentlemen in ancient times – not for a good long while.
In a small growing society, there is no need for a separation.
Everyone is a worker at the beginning.
Come, my spade.
This line just made me post my first ever annotation on the Genius website. I have often liked a post or even voted something down. But – I’ve never been moved to contribute before. In this case, I just couldn’t let it stand that this line could only mean “Come my fellow gravedigger.” I mean – sure – that’s a possibility but it’s also the least practical, the most of a stretch. In my experience with Shakespeare, the best solution is often the simplest, most elegant, most logical.
What’s more logical here? For the gravedigger to want his fellow gravedigger to come or to be handed his spade or even to speak to the spade itself before he uses it.
I’m not saying he’s definitely NOT talking to his fellow gravedigger but it is only one possibility of several.
And the more pity that Great folk should have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves, more than their even Christian.
I am embarrassed to say that I have mostly missed this social critique in my many encounters with this play and this scene. Maybe it’s often cut – but it’s darkly funny and terribly sharp. Like, it’s too bad that rich people have more leeway to kill themselves than the poor. I mean – the inequities go all the way up and all the way down to the grave.
I have taught this play to dozens of classes of young people who are not inexperienced with income inequality. They might have really appreciated the proposition that rich people get more rope to hang themselves than the poor if I had thought to direct them to this section. But no, I probably cut it to make it easier to say.
Why, there thou say’st.
Tracking the switches between thee/thou and you in this scene is a bit of a whirlwind. This scene only started a few lines ago and we’re already switched back and forth. We started at thee, switched to you and are now back at thou.
This very much supports my notion that this scene is a status battle.
If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o’ Christian burial.
This is actually a pretty astute social observation for a character that is often played as stupid. This is not stupid. This is very likely the real unvarnished truth. There are rules that do not apply to the gentry, to the upper crust, to the wealthy. Rules are stringently applied to the poor and loosely to the privileged.
Now – in this case, we don’t know that Ophelia is NOT due this Christian burial. By Gertrude’s account, she drowned by accident – so it’s perfectly acceptable to bury her legitimately. But – with even a whiff of doubt, a poor woman would have likely been shifted to the doubtful corner. A noblewoman, a gentlewoman, enjoys the benefit of the doubt and a poor woman, if there is any doubt, does not enjoy any benefit. There is no benefit of the doubt for a poor woman. Probably a priest is expensive.
Will you ha’ the truth on’t?
Yes, please. I will always have the truth on it. I’d like to have the systemic truth, the political truth, the personal truth. I am very much attached to authenticity.
That is not to say I need to have my truth unvarnished. I like some varnishing. I don’t need to be told if I don’t look my best – I don’t care, really – and someone’s opinion on this will only make me feel bad. I also am willing to sit on the truth for peace – like in some of my relationships where we just quietly accept that we are not telling one another everything.
But in most other instances, I’m keen on having the truth.
The Hamlet Project 