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Letters |15 October 1997

A Physician's Hamlet

John F. Burnum, MD

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Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
2004
  • Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
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Dr. Gonnella and I agree that Hamlet's long agonizing delay in acting against Claudius for the suspected murder of Hamlet's father is justified. As a youthful university student, Hamlet resents having to take on the burden of revenge. The risks involved in confronting the divine authority of a king are awesome, and in killing Claudius out of hate and for self-serving ambition, Hamlet himself would be damned. Furthermore-and here I differ with Gonnella's claim that the regicide is “unambiguously clear”-Hamlet delays because he is unsure of Claudius's guilt. Only we, the audience, ever know that Claudius is guilty; the grapes of certitude are always suspended just beyond Hamlet's reach.
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Burnum JF. A Physician's Hamlet. Ann Intern Med. 1997;127:658. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-127-8_Part_1-199710150-00035

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1997;127(8_Part_1):658.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-127-8_Part_1-199710150-00035

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