Category
Oral - Textual or Investigative
Description
In “On the Kinship of Shakespeare and Plato,” Daryl Kaytor argues for a macro-level alignment between Plato’s and Shakespeare’s seemingly opposite poetic philosophies, claiming that Shakespeare held a “Platonic motivation” (102). This paper imagines Shakespeare’s “Platonic motivation” in its most improbable context: the function of mimetic drama. Although Plato famously condemns poetry as being “two generations away from the throne of truth” (Republic 597E), his own use of dialectic dialogues implicitly condones the use of images to foster individual enlightenment. This nuance invites an examination of truth-pursuing mimetic images within the Platonic framework, a tension prominent in Hamlet. Continuing Kaytor’s work with a micro approach, this paper zeroes in on the Mousetrap in Act 3 of Hamlet and examines its implicit interaction with the Platonic framework of images, memory, and mimesis. In dissecting the play-within-a-play using the Platonic discussion of recognition in Phaedrus, a stepping-stones relationship emerges between drama—what is false—and the transcendent—what is True. Using Claudius as its chief example, who Hamlet exclaims is “‘frighted with false fire’” (III.II.244), this paper characterizes the recognitive experience of the audience member as an ascent through realms of memory, which mimesis triggers. In mapping the theatre-watching experience as an internal Platonic ascent, one can uncover Shakespeare’s argument in Hamlet: that dramatic images—“false fire”—help us remember transcendent truths. One might even view Hamlet as akin to the Platonic dialogue in that it works as a potential literary vehicle for transformative wisdom. Despite Plato’s stereotyped defamation of dramatists, the provocative nature of mimesis in Hamlet finds a compelling articulation within the Platonic framework. In light of these findings, this paper argues that Hamlet and the value of mimetic drama Shakespeare exposes within it do not oppose Plato’s critique of poetry, but rather fulfill its call to action.
"Frighted with False Fire": The Hamlet Mousetrap as a Platonic Ascent
Oral - Textual or Investigative
In “On the Kinship of Shakespeare and Plato,” Daryl Kaytor argues for a macro-level alignment between Plato’s and Shakespeare’s seemingly opposite poetic philosophies, claiming that Shakespeare held a “Platonic motivation” (102). This paper imagines Shakespeare’s “Platonic motivation” in its most improbable context: the function of mimetic drama. Although Plato famously condemns poetry as being “two generations away from the throne of truth” (Republic 597E), his own use of dialectic dialogues implicitly condones the use of images to foster individual enlightenment. This nuance invites an examination of truth-pursuing mimetic images within the Platonic framework, a tension prominent in Hamlet. Continuing Kaytor’s work with a micro approach, this paper zeroes in on the Mousetrap in Act 3 of Hamlet and examines its implicit interaction with the Platonic framework of images, memory, and mimesis. In dissecting the play-within-a-play using the Platonic discussion of recognition in Phaedrus, a stepping-stones relationship emerges between drama—what is false—and the transcendent—what is True. Using Claudius as its chief example, who Hamlet exclaims is “‘frighted with false fire’” (III.II.244), this paper characterizes the recognitive experience of the audience member as an ascent through realms of memory, which mimesis triggers. In mapping the theatre-watching experience as an internal Platonic ascent, one can uncover Shakespeare’s argument in Hamlet: that dramatic images—“false fire”—help us remember transcendent truths. One might even view Hamlet as akin to the Platonic dialogue in that it works as a potential literary vehicle for transformative wisdom. Despite Plato’s stereotyped defamation of dramatists, the provocative nature of mimesis in Hamlet finds a compelling articulation within the Platonic framework. In light of these findings, this paper argues that Hamlet and the value of mimetic drama Shakespeare exposes within it do not oppose Plato’s critique of poetry, but rather fulfill its call to action.
Comments
Graduate - 3rd Place Award Winner