Hamlet

=Hamlet=

The work of William Shakespeare had a profound impact on William Faulkner in his attempt to create a story that is a "casebook on mankind." [1] In // Absalom, Absalom! // the characters of Sutpen's Design grapple with the notions of revenge, legitimate heir, identity, and existence, similar to the themes of Shakespeare's // Hamlet. //

The subplot of Charles E. St. V. Bon in //Absalom, Absalom!// can be seen as a distorted version of the plot of //Hamlet.// Charles E. St. V. Bon is the son of Charles Bon, the first male born, and the original heir of Thomas Sutpen. Upon Thomas Sutpen's discovery that his first wife is not of pure white ancestry as he had expected, he leaves her and Charles Bon is no longer the heir to Sutpen. Henry Sutpen, the second born, pure white son becomes the new, legitimate heir and ends up murdering Charles Bon, his brother, and the original heir. In this case, Henry is reminiscent of Claudius who murders his brother, King Hamlet, in order to ensure that he is heir to the throne.

Charles ESV Bon also resembles Hamlet in his identity crisis. This is most evident in the scene with Judge Hamblett (an obvious pun and nod to //Hamlet//) in the courtroom where Charles ESV Bon has been charged of violently attacking a "group of negroes." (AA, 164) At first, Judge Hamblett assumes that Charles ESV Bon is full white, and goes on a rant about the necessity to preserve the "pride and integrity and the forbearance of white." (AA, 165) Amidst this speech, when he learns from General Compson that he is not full white, Judge Hamblett cries, "//What are you? Who and where did you come from?"// Hamblett's words strongly evoke the first line of //Hamlet, "//Who's there?/Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself."

Where Charles ESV Bon is treated as no different than any others in his social position in New Orleans, he finds that he is treated as a complete inferior other in Yoknapatawpha County. Where he did not notice the apparent inferiority in his skin complexion before, he is made hyper-aware of this in his new home at Sutpen's One Hundred.

Furthermore, the presence of ghosts in both stories are strikingly similar. The ghosts fill the rooms of the present to try to illuminate an event of the past -- the motives and goals of the ghosts are transferred onto the living characters who must, at a young age grapple with his existence as an illegitimized heir of a family throne.

[1] Hamblin, Robert W. “’A Casebook on Mankind’: Faulkner’s Use of Shakespeare.” Teaching Faulkner: Southeast Missouri State University. Accessed December 2013. (http://www6.semo.edu/cfs/tfn_online/with_shakes.htm)