I mean – this is the real question, isn’t it? It’s kind of a joke question, like, a sort of facetious response to the way Osric has made the request for the wager. But what if Hamlet said no?
Like – is this a request or a demand? Is this wager something he can choose not to do? In a way, it isn’t. It’s pitched to him as an invitation but is more like a demand – which is all the more galling coming from Osric who should, in no way be in a position to make demands on Hamlet.
Hamlet
Why is this “imponed,” as you call it?
If only Hamlet asked more probing questions. If only he pulled on these tiny threads a little harder and saw them through to the dark intentions at the center of this thing. He might make it out of this play alive instead of falling into a trap, instead of getting killed. He gets nihilistic not long after this moment.
That’s the French bet Against the Danish.
This sounds very much like a reference to something that we no longer know what the points of reference are. Like – probably there was some joke about the French versus the Danish. Because that’s a thing. Yes.
Those swords are French. But Laertes is Danish. And Claudius may be Danish – but Barbary horses aren’t. Maybe these particular Barbary horses were born in Denmark but their Danishness is not their most important point. It feels like there must have been some bet or joke or something between those two countries round about when Shakespeare was writing this.
Six Barbary horses Against six French swords, their assigns and three liberal-conceited carriages.
What sort of arena could such a fight be in? Horse versus sword? And would either be manned or would it just be six swords laying around on the ground with all their gear and six horses prancing around – probably just ignoring swords. I mean – without a person to interfere with these things, pretty much nothing would happen. The trouble would begin when the swords got people behind them, and probably likewise the horses.
But, on:
I am on a little bit of an adventure. It’s kind of a tour. I started at my friend’s place in a small city in California. Today she drove me to Los Angeles. It is odd to make such a transition. To go from my home in New York to essentially a suburban life – my friend’s suburban life – and then to a city that I really don’t know at all.
I feel like I need an adjustment period.
*
It’s now been a couple of years since I went on that adventure. From this tiny apartment where I’ve been sheltering since Covid struck us, it is nice to revisit this moment in the middle of an adventure.
I would it might Be hangers till then.
I’m a little obsessed with how little there is to this joke with the carriages and hangers and canons. Like, I get that the funny part seems to be imagining a guy walking down the street with canons hanging off his lips. That is the funny part. But it would be a whole lot funnier if the hangers were an aspect of the joke. If it could somehow also be making a hangman joke (a hanger being another word for an executioner – another way to say hangman) or if it were a dirty joke. To have the centerpiece of the joke be canons at the hip…I don’t know. It feels a little simple for Shakespeare. He is not wont to go so far for a one image joke.
The phrase would be more German to the matter, if we Could carry cannon by our sides.
German comes from germaine – which is related to being of a family – of the same parents or grandparents. But the people of Germany – that German – comes from a totally different root somehow? German being Latin. Germaine being French. Which of course comes from The Latin. So perhaps german has some German roots, too. But the funny bit of language is that a German could be german.
What call you the carriages?
Carriage is a funny word to have lasted all these years. It seems to have begun as a sort of cart – like – anything as wheels. And then anything that carries something else, as in this case, with the sword belts carrying swords and now we use it similarly for train cars, for baby carriers, for the fancy horse driven conveyances that people take through Central Park.
But it sounds as though carriage here is a not common usage.
It might be Osric prettying up “sword holders.”
That’s two of his weapons: but well.
Classic joke. Just. Classic.
I feel like I want to do a study where I ask comedians to analyze and breakdown the jokes in Hamlet. (And possibly some other plays as well.) Like – what would we call this? Does this type of joke have a name? I’ve written a couple of jokes into my novel for young people and they’re not quite this style but they have a style similar to each other and I wonder if those jokes have a category.
Is there a book of lazzi for the modern age? A book of verbal zingers – a collection and/or taxonomy of language based jokes?
What’s his weapon?
I want to know if this is a genuine question. Is Hamlet asking because he really wants to know or is he just switching tactics for setting Osric up?
It’s funny to think of people as having a weapon. Like – in Dungeons and Dragons, it’s perfectly logical for everyone to have a weapon. But for human beings to specialize in different weapons? It’s a little funny. And also not at all funny.
I mean – what’s my weapon? I’ve taken some stage combat – what was my favorite way to hurt someone?
Oh, my feet, for sure. I love a good kick. Followed only by a punch.
But also I like a weapon that’s not usually a weapon – a pen, for example – both to write something devastating but also to poke in an eye.
The Hamlet Project 