Stage Door News
Stage Door News
After a landmark 2-1 decision by a panel of esteemed judges, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, could face another trial for the murder of Polonius.
In his first trial, the prince had been found not criminally responsible for the death of Polonius, his girlfriend's father, due to his mental state. However, the crown won an appeal of the original ruling on Saturday morning. Two of three judges found Hamlet is capable of understanding his actions.
Hamlet has admitted killing Polonius but whether he was legally responsible has been highly controversial for centuries.
Due to the intense interest in the case, the appeal was held at the Stratford Festival Theatre Saturday morning so members of the public could watch the proceedings.
Crown counsel Marie Henein brought in an expert witness, Dr. David Goldbloom, to speak to Hamlet's mental stability. Goldbloom interviewed Hamlet for about an hour and wrote a report before the appeal.
“I met with Hamlet at Revel Caffe. You might say I had coffee with a Danish,” he quipped.
He recalled at that meeting that Hamlet had a tendency to “ramble” and “gaze off into the distance,” but none of that proves he’s mad.
Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan made notes while listening to the testimony. Wearing a dark sweater and dark pants, Hamlet sat quietly during the proceedings, often with his head bowed, and showed little reaction to the verdict.
Greenspan's arguments focused on Hamlet's behaviour leading up to the incident and Hamlet's visions of his father's ghost. He noted the second time the ghost appeared to Hamlet it was in his mother's bedroom--the very bedroom she now shares with Hamlet's uncle. His mother, Gertrude, didn’t see the ghost of her deceased husband, he noted.
“I suggest if the ghost could really talk and tell people what to do, he might want to have a word with his ex-wife,” he said.
Greenspan also argued Hamlet's chat with the skull of his former jester points to more instability.
Despite a sometimes rigorous cross-examination, Goldbloom stuck to his finding that Hamlet was sane.
Heinen painted Hamlet as a cold-blooded killer by listing his many missteps including “callously” disposing of Polonius' body, trying to kill Claudius and deliberately sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths. Each act was deliberate and calculated, she argued.
She didn't pull any punches calling him a misogynist, self-absorbed, whiny, and a navel gazer.
She too addressed the issue of the ghost.
“Forty-two percent of people believe in ghosts. Polls also indicate 42% believe in Donald Trump. Hamlet is more sane than 1/3 of the American population,” she said.
Greenspan argued “it's a short voyage from stress to madness.” He suggested the kind of stress Hamlet was under was enough to push him over the edge.
Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Eleanore Cronk was alone in siding with Hamlet and Greenspan. Cronk was “disinclined” to give weight to expert witness Goldbloom's opinion.
“This is a man who dresses as Groucho Marx,” she said referring to aspects of Goldbloom's personal life discussed during the appeal.
Cronk suggested the overwhelming grief Hamlet felt over his father's death, the return of his love letters to Ophelia and the betrayal and humiliation he felt at the hands of his mother were enough to impair his reason.
Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michael Moldaver and Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin disagreed, but for very different reasons.
For Moldover the question to consider was whether Hamlet was “sad, mad or just bad,” when he killed Polonius.
“If push came to shove I would find he was not mad but bad with an explanation,” he said.
McLachlin said judges decide cases on the facts and the law. In this case, neither of those were helpful so she considered historical and personal context.
In a historical context visions are not necessarily a sign of madness, she suggested. Former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King held seances and consulted his long-dead mother during the Second World War.
“We know he was not mad, ergo Hamlet could not have been mad,” she said.
In a personal context, Hamlet is both an actor and a politician. Politicians hallucinate all the time, she said, “like when they say they'll balance the budget.”
Though the appeal has been allowed, the legal system sometimes moves at a glacial pace. This case is no exception. It's taken 400 years to get this decision. Who knows when Hamlet will next appear in court. Likely it won't be anytime soon.
By Laura Cudworth for www.stratfordbeaconherald.com.
Photo: Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michael Moldaver and Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin make their rulings regarding Hamlet's appeal at the Stratford Festival. ©2015 Laura Cudworth.
2015-09-14
Stratford: Hamlet ruled not insane at Stratford Festival Forum