Prince Hamlet and Professor Koch

PRINCE HAMLET AND PROFESSOR KOCH WILLIAM F. FRY* My acquaintance with the story of Denmark's Prince Hamlet [1] was recently revitalized when I appeared in "court" as an expert witness for the prosecution in a trial addressing the issue of the Prince's guilt in the murder of Polonius, the Prime Minister of Denmark. As is well known, something had been perceived as rotten in the state of Denmark, sometime during the early middle ages, following the untimely death of Prince Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. The accession to the throne by the elder Hamlet's brother Claudius was widely viewed as having proceeded too hastily after the king's death. It was even whispered that the older brother had been murdered by the ambitious, unprincipled Claudius. The assassination of Polonius, with whose death Prince Hamlet had been charged in this modern-day legal procedure, was an unfortunate complication introduced into the drama after those fratricide rumors had become known to Prince Hamlet, following his hasty return to Denmark from university in Germany. Inflamed by the rumors that his father had been murdered , rather than having died a natural death, the Prince confronted his mother, now Uncle Claudius's bride. A heated dialogue between mother and son ensued. Polonius had hidden himself behind a curtain—partly to protect the Queen if needed, partly to spy on Hamlet to report to the new king what bees might be buzzing in the princely bonnet. When the dialogue between mother and son became intense, Polonius became agitated, thus revealing his presence. Hamlet precipitously stabbed the yet-unidentified intruder, killing Polonius. That was the murder for which Prince Hamlet was being prosecuted in our modern trial. This "trial" had been developed as modern theater, a legal drama. These events are usually structured so as to follow as closely as possible the normal model of appropriate courtroom procedure, with judge, attorneys, baliffs, legal assistants, defendants and plaintiffs (if surviving ), witnesses both expert and eye, all duly sworn. My role in this event *Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, CA. Correspondence : 156 Grove Ave., Nevada City, CA 95959.© 1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0031-5982/97/4002-0998$01.00 Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 40, 3 ¦ Spring 1997 | 419 was to provide informed testimony that the Prince was mentally capable and disposed to performing a conscious and deliberate act of violence against the Prime Minister. The trial of Hamlet in which I participated was conducted in a local theater hall before a large subscription audience. In addition to the fun-and-games afforded to members of the legal professions , a financial benefit was provided from ticket sales for support of a local theatrical group. I had been invited to join in the fun by a lawyer friend who had been one of the original concoctors of this event, and who was to play the part of the prosecuting attorney. As a long-time enthusiast and admirer of Shakespeare's subtle, complex drama of the Noble Dane. I looked forward to a stimulating, somewhat challenging experience. But as someone who had attended numerous Hamlet performances, live and on film, and who thought that he was well versed in the play, I did not expect the experience of participating to yield anything surprising or illuminating, something which I hadn't previously recognized in the play. A delightful discovery lay ahead. As all will remember, Prince Hamlet was exposed to accusatory statements by an apparition which appeared to him in the form of his deceased father and became obsessed with the question of his uncle's guilt. He resolved that he would attempt to demonstrate Claudius's guilt, both to give certainty to his suspicions and to expose the fratricide. After some consideration he chose a method of demonstrating guilt that hinged upon his (and others') observation ofClaudius's reaction while viewing a dramatic presentation ("a play within the play") . The drama chosen by Harplet for presentation by a troupe of traveling actors was a story of a fratricide replicating in crucial detail the treacherous and murderous action which Claudius had been accused of by the kingly apparition: Hamlet: Dost thou...