《哈姆雷特》、性別空間與劇場空間

Hamlet, Gender Space, and Theatrical Space

本文探討莎士比亞劇作《哈姆雷特》所呈現的空間概念，分析劇作中的男性角色對於空間的爭奪及掌控作為，以及監看在其間的意義；以此進一步研判兩位女性角色（葛楚德和奧菲莉亞）所屬的空間──尤其是她們的衣帽間，以及奧菲莉亞溺水的荒郊野外，在相對於男性角色爭奪及掌控的空間脈絡下，如何創造令觀眾印象深刻的意涵。此外，筆者亦將文本中的空間分析放置於文藝復興時期的劇場及政治文化情境中，特別是劇場中只准男性登台演出的規範，台下卻是無任何性別限制，男女共處一堂的現象，以及當時雖然倡導「男主外女主內」的觀念，坐在英國王位上的卻是一位女性──伊莉莎白女皇。這個位置依據傳統是屬於男性的，而其所掌的職務通常也專屬男性。本文藉此文化情境探討當時劇中所營造的空間特性，是否可詮釋為對文藝復興時期觀眾所熟悉的性別化空間傳統的反諷。

This paper studies the representation of space in Shakespeare's Hamlet. By analyzing scenes related to men's control of space, and by discussing the meaning of their watch and spying as a point of departure, it brings into focal attention the significance of women's space, especially Gertrude and Ophelia's closets, and the wilderness where Ophelia drowns in a brook. The paper also reconsiders the representation of space in the play within Renaissance theatrical and political cultural contexts. These include two aspects: all-male cast on the stage scrutinized by an audience which consisted of both male and female, and the profusion of gendered space concepts prescribing spaces outside of home to men and within to women contradicted by the political reality of a female, Queen Elizabeth, on the English throne--a space that had traditionally been allotted to men, with duties that were generally conceptualized as exclusively men's. The paper explores the ironic effect of the gendered space Shakespeare put on stage to Renaissance audience who were inured to traditional gendered space concepts.