Shakespeare in the Bush

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Recommended: Hamlet: its universal appeal

In this short story by Laura Bohanan, the author struggles with the concept of universal truth. She visited West Africa to study a Tiv and brought the story of hamlet to read to them. It was hard to find a time to tell the story because by afternoon they began drinking. Finding it impossible to tell them the story while they were sober, she decides to drink with them and tell the story anyways. Their concept of the story was much different from hers; she found it hard to tell the story without an interruption of what they thought the meaning really was.

Laura believed that there was only one interpretation of the story; she soon realized that that wasn't the case. This Tiv applied their components of culture to the story and found their own meaning. Since these people believe in witchcraft and not ghosts, they felt they had to explain to Laura that the ghosts in the story were actually omens sent by a witch. Moral arguments were hard to explain because their customs were somewhat similar to the character's customs in Hamlet.

Laura found it difficult to explain the meaning of the story because of the Tiv's customs. They felt that many things were wrong in the story. For example, after Horatio saw the dead king's ghost he felt it was a matter for the king's son, Hamlet. The elder thought that omens were matters for elders and chiefs, and that no good would come of going behind a chief's back. When Laura told them that Hamlet was sad because the wife of the king married the king's brother a month after his death, they thought she had done well. This part of the story was a very important element so Laura explained that it was custom for a widow to mourn for two years until she went to her next husband. The woman of the Tiv thought that was too long because they needed men to help with their farms. She explained that there was no need for a husband to do that type of work because Hamlet could do it himself. She soon gave up on trying convincing them other wise.

In another part of the story Laura was trying to explain, she was surprised by how the Tivs perceived people who were crazy.

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