A New Hamlet

By Osamu Dazai and Owen Cooney

The Tragedy of Hamlet is the consummate tale of an introspective melancholic struggling to come to terms with the world he lives in; it is no surprise, then, that artists like Goethe and Coleridge have identified with this tortured character over the centuries. As one of Japan’s most famous and troubled writers, Osamu Dazai, too, offered his own interpretation of Hamlet in his book Shin-Hamlet, or “A New Hamlet.” This book was published in 1941 during Dazai’s middle period and it marks a significant development in the career of the writer as he worked toward lengthier works that culminated in his classics Shayo (“The Setting Sun,” 1947) and Ningen Shikkaku (“No Longer Human,” 1948). It is a significant work that has never been published in English before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483587776

Osamu Dazai

Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) is one of the most highly respected author's of modern Japan and is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in post-war Japanese literature. He was widely known by contemporaries for his eclectic lifestyle, inventive use of language, and his multiple suicide attempts, which led to his final, successful attempt in 1948. His two major novels, No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, continue to be widely read and leave a vibrant legacy for one of Japan's greatest writers.

Book preview

AUTHOR BIO

Osamu Dazai is one of Japan’s most well-known writers. He is the author of two significant postwar novels—No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) and The Setting Sun (Shayo). Dazai had a very turbulent and short life, wherein he tried to commit suicide multiple times and finally succeeded (in 1948, he and his mistress drowned themselves in a canal near his home in Tokyo). Dazai’s stories are full of insight and pathos, and although they often have sad endings, they are also lined with bittersweet humor.

TRANSLATOR BIO

Owen Cooney was born in Tokyo in 1978. He graduated with an M.A. in East Asia Regional Studies from Columbia University in 2012. He has been a translator of Japanese for more than twenty years. He has published a number of Dazai’s stories, including Crickets (literary magazine Cha), Lantern, (International Publications Media Group) and Chiyojo (Smith College’s magazine of translated literature, Metamorphoses). He is based in Seattle.

Note on the text:

Dazai did not intend this story to be performed as a play. As he writes in his introduction, it is meant to be a lesedrama, or closet play which is read as if it were a novel. By using this format, he hoped to create a new kind of novel that used aspects of parody and irony. As a note of interest, Dazai did not reference the original English text, but instead used Japanese translations of Hamlet. (In particular, he referenced the translations of Shakespeare by Shoyo Tsuboichi, the well-known literary critic.)

*This work is in the public domain.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

eISBN-978-1-4835877-7-6

Contents

A New Hamlet

Special thanks to my father Michael for editing the text and my brother Kenneth for designing the book cover. In addition, thanks to my wife Marie for suggesting I read this book in the Japanese in the first place.

November 20, 2016

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Location: Elsinore, capital of Denmark

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE: Elsinore Castle, Great Hall

KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, HAMLET, Chief Councilor POLONIUS, his son LAERTES, and various other ATTENDANTS.

KING

I want to thank you all for your help during these trying times—surely, you must be exhausted. Due to the sudden nature of the King’s death, I’ve been forced to take the throne and hold the ceremony of marriage with Gertrude before our tears have even dried. This has been just as difficult for myself as it has been for all of you, but know that it was done for Denmark. These are decisions I made with plenty of discussion with everyone. I truly believe that my brother—our former king who now lies beneath the ground—will forgive our actions out of consideration for the people’s sense of unwavering patriotism. Denmark has lately been at odds with Norway, and war could break out at any moment. How could we leave the throne empty of a king, even for a day? As Prince Hamlet is too young, I acquiesced to the unanimous urging of all of you that I take power.

But truly I do not have the qualities of the late king, nor his moral command. As you can see, I am a simple man, just an unworthy younger brother, and some may even doubt that I sprung from the same womb as he. I thought that perhaps I wouldn’t be able to take on such important responsibilities and worried that foreign kingdoms would now take Denmark lightly. But the virtuous and honorable Gertrude has decided to stand by me for life and give me her strength—for the kingdom’s sake. Now the foundations of this castle are sturdy and the peace of Denmark is secure. Thank you to everyone for your help. It has already been two months since the King died, and it all seems a strange dream to me. But because of the wise words of those around me, there have been no disasters and we have accomplished what we set out to do. Since I’m such an inexperienced king, I would appreciate it if you would all continue to show your loyalty to me in the future and comfort my poor soul. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Laertes, you wanted to ask me something, did you not? What is it?

LAERTES

Yes, I would like your blessing to go and study in France one more time. May I?

KING

Certainly, I don’t mind. You have worked quite hard for us these past two months. It seems things have quieted down now, so go ahead and enjoy your studies there.

LAERTES

Thank you, my lord.

KING

I’m sure you discussed the matter with your father as well? Polonius, you’ve heard about this?

POLONIUS

Yes, my lord, he has been bothering me about it incessantly, so last night I finally gave in and told him to ask the King. Ha! I suppose it’s difficult for the young to forget the taste of France!

KING

It’s understandable. Laertes, know that for children, the father’s consent is more important than the king’s approval. Harmony within the family equates to loyalty to the king. If your father approves, then I approve. Go and enjoy yourself to the greatest extent—at least to the extent that you don’t do damage to yourself. I’m jealous of how the young compete in even their amusements! It seems, Hamlet, that you are quite unhappy these days. Would you like to go to France as well?

HAMLET

Me? Are you kidding? I’m going to Hell.

KING

What are you so angry about? Ah, but I know what it is. You were telling me you wanted to study at the university in Wittenberg again. But you must not go—I plead with you not to go. You are the one who must soon inherit the throne of Denmark. This is a troubled time for the kingdom so I took the throne temporarily, but once the danger has passed and the people’s hearts have settled, I will pass the throne on to you and rest. Therefore, you must stand by my side and try to learn the ways of governance little by little. No, in truth, I need you to help me! Please give up on going to university. As your father, this is my wish for you. If you leave, I’m sure the Queen will be lonesome as well. I can’t help but notice too, Hamlet, that you have been quite sickly of late.

HAMLET

Laertes…

LAERTES

Yes?

HAMLET

You certainly are fortunate to have such a nice father.

QUEEN

Hamlet, how can you talk like that? To me, it just looks like you’re sulking. Don’t put on this sarcastic, affected manner. If you’re dissatisfied about something then why don’t you just speak up clearly like a man? I abhor it when you talk like that.

HAMLET

Do you want me to be clear?

KING

I understand what’s going on here. Hamlet, I’d like to take this opportunity to talk, just the two of us. Queen Gertrude, you mustn’t be so angry with him. Even the young have some justification for their complaints, in their own way. I’m sure that even I have many things about my person that I must reflect upon. Hamlet, are those tears?

QUEEN

Bah! The boy has always been good at pretending to cry, ever since he was a child! Don’t hold back too much—go ahead and lay into him with everything you have!

KING

My Queen, don’t speak like that. Hamlet is not your child alone. He is the prince of Denmark!

QUEEN

That’s why I’m so hard on him. He is already twenty-three. How long are we going to baby him? As his true mother, I’m ashamed to have him as my own child. Look at him! Today was the King’s first ceremonial audience, and yet this child alone deigns to wear dreadful clothes of mourning. I suppose he feels that he’s in a tragic position, but he doesn’t even think of how much his actions pain us! Leave it to me to figure out what this boy is thinking. I always know what he’s plotting. These clothes of mourning are merely a harassment directed towards us! I suppose he wants to insinuate that we’ve already forgotten about the late king’s death. Nobody has forgotten! Everyone here, in their heart of hearts, is deeply grieving the King’s death, but they can’t allow themselves to wallow in that grief. We must think of Denmark. We must think of the people of Denmark. We’re not even free to grieve as we like. We don’t hold command over ourselves. Hamlet doesn’t understand these things.

KING

Your words are too harsh. You mustn’t drive him into a corner like that. It’ll only hurt him to no end. As his birth mother, dear Queen, I suppose you feel secure in your relationship, and trusting your loving bond, are free to say such things to him. But to young people, open affection is more important than unrevealed love. I remember my own youth well. One feels that, all because of some words someone said, one’s entire fate was decided. My Queen, I sense that perhaps you are not yourself today. I believe it’s entirely permissible for Hamlet to wear clothes of mourning. A boy’s sentimentality is a pure thing. It’d be sinful to try and force his emotions to fit our worldview. We must be delicate with him. It may be that we, especially, must learn from this boy’s sense of purity. We believe that we understand life, but there may be times when we have unknowingly lost something very important. In any case, I think that I would like to have a nice long talk with Hamlet alone. Please, everyone, leave us for a while.

QUEEN

Very well, if you’d like to do so. I may have said too much. But I think you feel some kind of reservation toward him for no reason, and you are being far too kind to him. If you continue like this, the boy will never be respectable. If the late king came to visit us now, he would probably be furious about Hamlet’s behavior today, and he would have struck him.

HAMLET

Go ahead and hit me.

QUEEN

There you go again! Try and be more obedient!

KING

Hamlet…

The others exit, leaving the King and Hamlet alone.

KING

Hamlet, come sit here. If you don’t want to, you may remain where you are. Then I, too, will stand and speak. Hamlet, you’ve really grown! Why look, you’re about the same height as me! I’m sure you’ll continue to grow, in many ways, to become a man. But perhaps you should put on a little bit more weight. You’re quite thin. And your face looks somewhat pale recently. Take care of yourself! Think of the great responsibility that awaits you in the future. Let’s now take some time today to talk today, just you and I. In truth, I’d been waiting for an opportunity to be alone with you. I’ll tell you what I think frankly, and in return I’d like you to tell me whatever you want to say. Don’t hold back. It’s been known to happen that, no matter how much two people love each other, they’ll never know of that love unless they express it with words. I think I understand the opinion of the philosopher who said that men are creatures of words. So let us converse deeply with each other today. I’ve been quite busy these past two months, and I have not had the chance to talk to you. I’ve not had a minute to rest. Please forgive me for that. I think that you, too, were taking great pains to avoid seeing me—is it not true? When I would come to your room, you would just turn around and leave. Do you know how sad that made me, every single time it happened? Hamlet! Raise your chin. And answer this question clearly and seriously. I have something to ask you. Do you hate me? I’m now your father. Do you despise such a father as myself? Do you detest me? Answer me! In a word is fine. Tell me what you think.

HAMLET

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