TY - JOUR
AU - TAYLOR, JAMES O.
AB - THE INFLUENCE OF RAPIER FENCING ON HAMLET There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow (V.ii.219) The readiness is all (V.ii.222). VINCENTI O SAVJOLO'S INSTRUCTION to Elizabethan fencing practi- tioners gives meaning to these famous lines and helps us understand the mystery of the transformed Hamlet in the final act. Furthermore, the import of his counsel lets us see the seemingly wicked and gratuitous execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his childhood friends, as linked in theme and image to the fiercely efficient killing machine that is loosed in Act V's lethal fencing match: there, Hamlet, his trust and friendship deceived for the last time, slays the perfidious Laertes, and makes double sure that Claudius, the arch-fiend, is eradicated, first by running him through with a poisoned rapier and then by forcing him to drink the contents of the poisoned cup that had carried off Gertrude. These events are best understood if seen in the context of fencing, the imagery of which informs and illuminates the play. Saviolo, in his Practices, offered two significant and widely accepted bits of advice to those who would live by the sword: first, it is "childish" to think that friends can 
TI - THE INFLUENCE OF RAPIER FENCING ON HAMLET
JF - Forum for Modern Language Studies
DO - 10.1093/fmls/XXIX.3.203
DA - 1993-07-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/the-influence-of-rapier-fencing-on-hamlet-SJrtZLu8PW
SP - 203
EP - 215
VL - XXIX
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -