『ハムレット』の亡霊―鎧とナイトガウンの演劇的役割―

Along with the connection to the Catholic Purgatory, the ghost's wearing of the armour and the nightgown has inspired much critical discussion. In all the existing texts (Q1, Q2, and F), the ghost appears in armour on the battlement of Elsinore Castle, and he is uniquely dressed in nightgown as he sneaks into Gertrude's closet in Q1. Th ese costumes were evidently uncommon for ghosts to wear on the Elizabethan stage, and various critics have tried to uncover their theatrical or symbolic meanings. As this paper argues, it is plausible that the armour and the nightgown enabled the doubling of the ghost and Claudius. While the original casting and doubling pattern for Hamlet have often been discussed, the latest argument by ompson & Taylor (2006) is most persuasive. They suggest that the doubling is not only possible, but also highly e ective, as it explains Hamlet's occasional confusion of his father and uncle as well as complicates the audience's response to his revenge. Yet, however attractive, there is an issue of changing costumes. The numbers of lines allocated for such shifts between 1.1 and 1.2 (the ghost to Claudius) and 3.3 and 4.1 (Claudius to the ghost to Claudius) are notably few. In the former, the actor has only 34 lines to change costumes in all the three texts, much shorter than the smallest number of lines allocated for other possible doublings (57 lines). In the latter, the actor has 57 lines to change from Claudius to the ghost, but only 21 lines to get back to Claudius. The armour and the nightgown can solve these problems. In 1.1 and 1.2, it is not impossible that another actor played the ghost. According to Horatio and the two sentinels, the ghost was "Armed [...] from head to foot" and did not speak a word. Although Horatio claims to have seen the face, his response to Hamlet's third question ("Then saw you not his face") is somewhat ambiguous. While Horatio and the sentinels answer the first two questions instantly, as indicated by shared lines, Horatio has two unspoken feet before answering Hamlet's third question. It is also notable that the two sentinels fall to silence after this question. Did they (and the audience) really see the ghost's face? Was his brief appearance long enough for them to register it? If not, is it necessary at all for the actor of Claudius to appear as the ghost covered completely by steel? Similarly, the nightgown in Q1 enables the doubling by precluding the necessity of costume change between 3.3 and 4.1. The actor of Claudius can simply put o the crown and wear the nightgown to reappear as the ghost, which in turn makes it easier for him to return to Claudius. In Q2 and F, however, Hamlet's description of the ghost as "gracious" and "dread" suggests that it appears in armour instead of the homely nightgown. Indeed, the texts provide lines long enough to complete such change.