They have presented Hamlet
as dressed in black velvet."
"Yes, yes," we interjected, "in black velvet, yes!"
"Very good. The thing is absurd," continued the Great Actor,
as he reached down two or three heavy volumes from the
shelf beside him. "Have you ever studied the Elizabethan era?"
"The which?" we asked modestly.
"The Elizabethan era?"
We were silent.
"Or the pre-Shakespearean tragedy?"
We hung our head.
"If you had, you would know that a Hamlet in black velvet
is perfectly ridiculous. In Shakespeare's day--as I could
prove in a moment if you had the intelligence to understand
it--there was no such thing as black velvet. It didn't
exist."
"And how then," we asked, intrigued, puzzled and yet
delighted, "do _you_ present Hamlet?"
"In _brown_ velvet," said the Great Actor.
"Great Heavens," we exclaimed, "this is a revolution."
"It is. But that is only one part of my conception. The
main thing will be my presentation of what I may call
the psychology of Hamlet."
"The psychology!" we said.
"Yes," resumed the Great Actor, "the psychology. To make
Hamlet understood, I want to show him as a man bowed down
by a great burden. He is overwhelmed with Weltschmerz.
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