著者

中村 未樹

出版者

大阪外国語大学

雑誌

大阪外国語大学論集 (ISSN:09166637)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.29, pp.139-149, 2003-09-30

---

In this paper I aim to analyse Hamlet(1601) referring to the two contexts-a modern information society and the Elizabethan "intelligence" society. These societies, despite a difference of time, have a couple of problems in common: security and privacy. The former concerns with government, which endeavors to monitor all communications and establish "an open society" in order to forestall the acts of hackers and terrorists. The latter has to do with people who are forced to live under the surveillance of government. Hamlet, as a spy story, deals with the two problems by dramatizing an information war between Claudius and Hamlet. Claudius, owing to his murder of the former king and adultery with Gertrude, finds it necessary to survey and control information so as to maintain the security of his state. Checking information and public speech are routine for him. Regarding a transformed Hamlet as a suspicious figure, Claudius establishes a secret service, Elsinore Intelligence Network (EIN), and moves his spies to decipher as well as monitor Hamlet. On the other hand, Hamlet grasps a new king's secret in his clandestine communication with the Ghost. Afterwards, what matters for him is a protection of this information and his intention from enemy spies until the time of revenge. To protect information and maintain privacy, Hamlet uses riddles strategically in his conversation with the members of EIN. I would like to say here that his words are codes, or, to borrow Francis Bacon's phrase, "Cyphars of Words." With the use of codes Hamlet breaks the communication with EIN and hampers their acts of deciphering. Hamlet is a cypherpunk who protects privacy with cryptography. The information war between Claudius and Hamlet comes to its highlight in Act 3, Scene 2, where Hamlet attempts to communicate with the king by way of the play within the play. He sends information-the secret of the murder and his desire to kill the king-to Claudius, who receives it with an unsettled behaviour. At this point their communication succeeds. All the characters in the play are faced with some peculiar situation: the authentication crisis. The world of espionage makes it difficult for people to ascertain the identity of an information sender. There is always a possibility, and a fear, of "simulation," or impersonation. This is a characteristic symptom of both a modern information society and the Elizabethan intelligence society. With the death of Claudius and Hamlet in the final scene, the secret of the murder of Hamlet Sr. remains unrevealed. Hamlet asks Horatio to disclose the secret as a spokesman. However, it is probable that a new king will alter Horatio's information in order to justify and legitimate himself. A renowned military man as he is, Fortinbrass also will join the intelligence society as its member. In the end, the information control will be repeated in the Fortinbrass regime, too.