Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Shall I strike at it with my partisan?

-Marcellus

Hamlet                   Act I Scene 1, Line 140

 

For starters, a partisan is one of those spear type things like what the guards at the Tower of London carry. So in this context it’s a weapon, not a person who’s leaning in a particular political direction.

That said, well, act one, scene one of Hamlet. Not a whole lot of too much going on here. It’s the ramparts of the castle at night, and the guys up there are doing a little bit of intro stuff for the play, and talking about the ghost they’ve been seeing. The ghost shows up and Marcellus throws out today’s line. Considering that the ghost is dead, I’m not sure what striking him with a partisan is going to do. Marcellus probably didn’t think that one all the way through. On the other hand, a few lines down here’s Marcellus again,

         We do it wrong, being so majestical,

        To offer it the show of violence;

        For it is, as the air, invulnerable,  

        And our vain blows malicious mockery

So I guess I didn’t initially give our buddy Marcellus enough credit, did I? And I guess that just shows that you shouldn’t rush to judge people. Or better said, I shouldn’t rush to judge people; leastways, not Marcellus.