Previous posts on this blog (6/22/14, 6/29/14) discussed the appearance of a modified version of Hamlet's soliloquy in Chapter XXI of Huckleberry Finn. Also discussed in additional posts were burlesques of Hamlet, both in American vaudeville (7/13/14) and in Mark Twain's own work (7/6/14). Fr. Berret mentions several versions of Hamlet burlesques, including Twain's abortive attempt, within the current article. (Now I have even more future library finds!)
Fr. Berret shows that the parallel between Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn is much more significant than the mere appearance of the soliloquy. The early chapters of Huckleberry Finn are similar to the beginning of Hamlet. Both main characters are "restless and [feel] confined by civilization." Both are mournful, dejected, lonesome. Huck makes references to ghosts, especially "a ghost who is trying to reveal something." Hamlet has the same sentiments about ghosts after the spectral appearance of his father. Fr. Berret draws a parallel between the ghost of Hamlet's father and Pap Finn, whose appearances seem ghostly. Just as Hamlet has two fathers, one natural and one foster, so Huck has Pap and Jim.
Both Hamlet and Huck are caught in moral dilemmas. For Hamlet, it is acting upon the death of his father. For Huck, it is whether to return Jim to slavery. "Probably the gravest difficulty each one faces is the conflict between obedience to felt duty and reverence for the dominant culture of his society." Both characters react similarly, deferring final action and becoming distracted in dramatic pursuits.
These dramatic pursuits fill the middle sections of Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn. In the former is the play-within-a-play, wherein Hamlet tries to catch the conscience of the King. In the latter is the play performed by the king and the duke. The "To be or not to be" soliloquy appears at this point in both works, while "would-be actors...are rehearsing their show." As the plays unfold, we discover how "Huck resembles Hamlet in his enthusiasm for drama."
The final episodes of Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn--the duel and the Phelps farm episode, respectively-- show further similarity. In each, an earlier character returns to precipitate action. In the former it is Laertes; in the latter it is Tom Sawyer. Both returning characters lead the main character into action, and the protagonist's chief task is accomplished, although not as he had planned. Both Hamlet and Huck find that providence has played a role in leading them to that point.
As Fr. Berret summarizes, the similarities between Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn add an extra dimension to each work.
"Awareness of these parallels enriches the experience of reading the novel. It creates comedy by contrasting the two works, and tragedy by comparing them. It adds to the novel's identity by relating it to Shakespeare's tragedies and their American burlesques."
American Literary Realism, 1870-1910, Vol. 18, No. 1/2 (Spring--Autumn, 1985), pp. 196-207
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