Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Considering the title is loosely based on Hamlet and I might be able to squeeze in one more book before starting Infinite Jest, has anyone entertained the idea of reading Hamlet before IJ? Or should I just start IJ a bit early?

I've not read Hamlet, but I'm nevertheless enjoying IJ.

Jason wrote: "Considering the title is loosely based on Hamlet"

Directly stolen from Hamlet, no? I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy . . .

But yes, I vote you read it. I want to read Shakey's sonnets next year, if I can locate an edition without twice as many end/footnotes.

I think it's just the title, Brian, that comes from Hamlet. Although I wasn't sure if there were any other connections. I might read Hamlet next just for the hell of it. I'll regret it later when I start Proust before having finished DFW.

I haven't read Hamlet in years, but seems like I remember some indication somewhere that there were a couple of sly references to it or other Shakespeare stuff. Sometimes I wish I was the kind of guy who could spot a Bible, Shakespeare, Milton reference, etc., without even thinking about it. Other times, I'm glad I'm not. Whatever the case, everybody should read Hamlet at least once.

Bird Brian wrote: "Loved this book; loved Hamlet, but I have difficulty seeing the connection.

Not to say there isn't one."

The connections are not super apparent in an it's- a-total-ripoff-of-shakespeare way, but there are elements ... Don't go further if you dont want spoilers... Digging up Himself's head, the dead father, mother in a possible relationship with the uncle, and some other minor things. I read a review that says it's no coincidence that the first line of Hamlet is "who's there?", and the first two words in IJ are "I am..." Just sayin. Also note the production company JOI creates... Poor Yorick Entertainment...

Yeah, Hamlet was pretty awesome.

From note 316:
...Mario's uncle would keep up an Opheliac mad monologue of chatter...

There are many ref. to Hamlet,some low key,others loud n clear.Here are three very obvious ones:
P.142- Hal's 7th grade essay mentioning " the hero of non-action."
P.704-Hal reflects on Himself's movie called The Night Wears a Sombrero which has a cathartic final bloodbath & an ambivalent-but-finally-avenging-son story.

P.774-In  Hal's conversation rather confession to Mario,where he describes his sad state of mind,we come across these lines:
"...I think I no longer believe in monsters as faces in the floor or feral infants or vampires or whatever. I think at seventeen now I believe the only real monsters might be the type of liar where there's simply no way to tell. The ones who give nothing away."
They recall the famous line " One may smile,and smile ,and be a villain".Act 1,Scene 5.
And one subtle ref:
Then there is a ref. in endnote337 to the graveyard scene Act 5,Scene1 & as J.O.I.'s wraith is with Gately,the word LAERTES  is inserted into Gately’s thoughts who happens to be Ophelia's brother.(P.832).

And here is a short academic take from A dissertation byTheuwis, Toon. "The Quest for Infinite Jest: An Inquiry into the Encyclopedic and Postmodernist Nature of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest." --

"James Incandenza, Hal's father, was the founder of the Enfield Tennis Academy and married Avril Mondragon from Quebec. Around the time when James Incandenza commits suicide, Charles Tavis, Avril's half-brother, moves into the headmaster's house, presumably having an affair with her. Avril is living with her half-brother much as Hamlet's mother was living with her husband's brother. There is, however, no evidence that Charles Tavis would have killed James Incandenza. It was a suicide. Hal, a bright but introverted student has a hard time getting over all this. So there is a similar situation at the core of the story: the mother-father-uncle-son relationship. Also, the themes of Hamlet are made recognisable by incorporating similar components. Many other references, of which I will mention only a few, lead one to suspect that Wallace had Hamlet in mind when writing Infinite Jest.

James Incandenza, besides being headmaster of Enfield Tennis Academy, and the founder of "annular fusion" (a certain closed system reaction that creates perpetual energy) is also an avant-garde filmmaker. His output comprises:

industrial, documentary, conceptual, advertorial, technical, parodic, dramatic noncommercial, nondramatic (anticonfluential) noncommercial, nondramatic commercial, and dramatic commercial works. (985)

A similar parody on genres we find in Hamlet's conversation with Polonius as the actors arrive at the Danish court :

Polonius: The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastorical-commical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable or poem unlimited (2.2,379-382).

The ghost of the late James Incandenza appears to Don Gately, former narcotics addict and now live-in staffer of Ennet House Recovery Centre, a halfway house for recovering addicts. The ghost tells Don about his life much as Hamlet's father's ghost did.

Hamlet's "antic disposition" in a way resembles Hal's communicative problems, his solipsism and eventual muteness. And by letting a bird fall out of the air on page 44 for apparently no particular reason, Wallace literally lets of the world of the ONAN collide with the world of the Danish Hamlet where there is "a special Providence in the fall of a sparrow" (5.2,157-158).

The war that Norwegian Fortinbras in Hamlet is fighting is a war over an insignificantly small piece of land that causes Hamlet to plunge into one of his soliloquies; one that is often omitted on stage performances and movie adaptations. A similar war over a futile piece of land is fought between the ONAN and the Anti-ONAN Separatists of Quebec whose opposition to the reconfiguration, the handing over of toxic New England to Canada, is of central importance in the novel.

Hal, in the opening scene of Infinite Jest, cannot make himself understood to the other people in the room and ends up on the floor because he has a seizure. During his seizure Hal tries to say: "I’d tell you all you want to know and more, if the sounds I made could be what you hear" (9). Hamlet, when at the end he is slain by Laertes, also begins an explanation �"Oh, I could tell you" (5.2,272) - but is cut short by death. Keeping in mind that the opening scene in Infinite Jest is chronologically the last event in the novel, it is obvious that both Hamlet and Infinite Jest end in comparable scenes. Hamlet’s tragic isolation is transposed to Hal, one could argue, through Wallace’s intertextual strategy.

Many other compatible leitmotifs like sleep, death, maggots, Oedipus complex, isolation, confusion, mixture of tragedy and humour/wit, abound in both texts. The name "Hal" however can also be an allusion to Shakespeare's character Prince Hal in the first and the second part of Henry IV where, similar to Infinite Jest, one of the central themes is a problematic father-son relationship. Wallace did not name this character Hamlet, which would have made things less complicated. Infinite Jest is not just a rewriting of the Hamlet story. The many possible intricate allusions attached to just this one name "Hal" contribute to the novel's complexity."

Does anything think it's almost essential to read Hamlet before IJ?

Nope. It is not essential. But it is super fun if you already know Hamlet and then you pick up all the references in Infinite Jest. And there are a lot of references.

Plus, it's Hamlet, which is the greatest Shakespeare play of all time, so you should read it regardless.

Yes, I definitely should! I love the Classics anyway, so it's almost like Wallace is going us an excuse to read Shakespeare, eh?:) Plus it's on my "to-read" shelf!

You can use this thread to discuss it as you go along, if you want. I'd love to talk Hamlet!

I would love to discuss it with you, Jason! Thank you!!:)

I know it's been awhile, much too long actually, but I'll be starting Hamlet in the not too distant future and I was wondering if your offer still stands..?

What was my offer? Talking about it? That is my favorite Shakespeare play. I would definitely talk about it!

Jason, I just now saw your comment. I'm three stories into Girl With Curious Hair now and I'm loving DFW. I plan on starting Hamlet in a couple days. I'll be sure to post here, I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Mala wrote: "And here is a short academic take from A dissertation byTheuwis, Toon. "The Quest for Infinite Jest: An Inquiry into the Encyclopedic and Postmodernist Nature of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jes..."

Wonderful insight, very interesting, Mala! Thank you for sharing, everyone.:)

So I've finally begun and am now at the start of Act 2, Scene 1. I am really liking it a lot! The language is stunning, they spoke so eloquently back then.. I'm also very much identifying with Hamlet. That Ophelia and her brother are really something, aren't they?:)

The story line, thus far, is quite complex, too. Can't wait to delve further!

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.. in a great way. I read through Act 2, now at the beginning of Act 3, and things are really starting to pick up. I almost feel like I missed something important, either that or I didn't understand it all. I'll most definitely be revisiting it.


I do have a question, though. When Ophelia (view spoiler)[comes to her father, looking very pale, she accuses Hamlet of being mad(ly in love with her..) She also confides that he forcefully grabbed her wrist, then pulled the length of his arm..? Next, he apparently kissed her passionately for a long time, and she said he was exhausted, as if he were spent. I think there's something in there about his entire being shuddering violently. Now to me, she always seems to be insinuating rape. Am I totally off base??

Act 2 is somewhat of a departure, too. We see no supernatural elements, and talk of Hamlet's father's murder and the heavens urging him to take vengeance on his uncle, doesn't take place again until the end of said Act. Instead, Shakespeare paints an interesting take on politics, as it pertains to the King & Queen. There's some devious and clever scheming in the works, for sure!:)

The most puzzling aspect here is the 2nd scene, revolving around Hamlet, his friends, and The Players. The "play within a play" is interesting, but quite long-winded and confusing. In the end, though, it serves a purpose and I LOVE Hamlet's plan. This also serves to delve deeper into Hamlet's character and his emotional turmoil. (hide spoiler)]

I don't think Hamlet rapes Ophelia. I think that discussion between Ophelia and Polonius is meant to portray Hamlet as despondent or whatever. Polonius takes this to understand that he is "love sick" but we know that there are more complex reasons for his madness.

I don't know what you mean about politics. Refresh my memory?

I love the play within the play! It is so well executed.

I don't think so, either. Even if what she said was true, which I doubt, I'm still not sure what she meant. Agreed, it clearly shows Hamlet's love, grief, his anger and resentment. There's so much taking place here!


Oh, sorry. I just meant the inner-workings of Claudius and Gertrude, Polonius and Reynaldo. Does that make sense?


Agreed, the "play within the play" is a little long, but very entertaining, well done, and it serves its purpose.

Up to [Act 3. Scene 4. The queen's private chamber.]

Things are really getting good!! Act 4, Scene 4. A plain in Denmark.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew, him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.."

Liking it, Dustin?

Oh, yes, I finished it earlier this week and fell deeply in love with the story and beautiful poetic lines! 5 stars! The copy I'm reading also contains an overview of Shakespeare's life, essays on the the play itself, and recommended reading. I'm learning a lot so far, and I've barely started.


I'm 74 pages into Infinite Jest, BTW!:) Couldn't be happier!

My review of Hamlet can be found here.