Nature Of Surveillance In Michael Neill's Hamlet: A Modern Perspective

Edward Snowden said, “Under observation, we act less free, which means we effectively are less free.” Amongst its many other themes, Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores the nature of surveillance in Elsinore, one that may tell more about the titular character than is apparently clear. In Michael Neill’s essay Hamlet: A Modern Perspective, he claims, “Turning away from the framework of ethical debate, Shakespeare used Saxo’s story of Hamlet’s pretended madness and delayed revenge to explore the brutal facts about survival in an authoritarian state” (Neill 311). Neill’s thesis is well supported by his explanation of how this theme relates to Shakespeare’s England, how each character is pulled into this web of surveillance, and what this ongoing theme
Neill comments that though Hamlet does a fair amount of observing himself, “his behavior is purely reactive” and that is where some great truths about the nature of surveillance in Hamlet come to light. It is shown through Hamlet’s ongoing battle with his uncle that Hamlet possesses the capability to match his uncle’s watchful eye; his revenge plot hinges itself on Hamlet’s observations of his uncle during the play-within-the-play. However, Neill notes, after that play Hamlet “seems oddly paralyzed by his success… ‘neutral to his will and matter’” (Neill 315). Yes, Hamlet is constantly watching those around him to figure out who he can trust, but what reveals the true nature of surveillance is how he acts in those moments that he feels the eyes of everyone around him weighing down on him. Hamlet’s actions are all tempered by his knowledge that he is being watched: by his uncle, by Polonius, even by Ophelia. Hamlet does not act as he truly wishes because of this. He feels as if he is in a prison, and his actions are so changed by this feeling that it alters the whole course of the