(Regained)
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The card at the right is the World card from the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck. This is the card that, when I first saw it, originally stimulated my curiosity about tarot cards in relation to Hamlet. In the typical classical symbolism, a world card would show Atlas carrying the sphere of the earth on his shoulders. Obviously, the illustration on this card is quite different. Refer to these lines from Hamlet, where Hamlet is talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Folio.) ~~~~~... Rosencrantz: ... But there is an ayrie of Children, little Yases, ... ... Ham. Do the Boyes carry it away? Rosin. I that they do my Lord. Hercules & his load too. ~~~~~ The boys (cherubs) on this V-S World card are "little eyases" - they have wings. They are indeed "carrying it away." The "it" turns out to be a castle by the sea, like Elsinore Castle. Elsinore Castle is Hamlet's world. The card can easily be interpreted as the "boys" carrying Hamlet's world the way Hercules carried the Earth in legend when he substituted for Atlas. The relevance of this card to the passage in Hamlet is irresistible. The Boys, the little eyases, are carrying away Hamlet's world, Elsinore Castle, like Hercules carried the Earth. There are two boys in the picture. Colors are quite uncertain, in comparison with the colors the author may have seen on cards when Hamlet was written. But perhaps it's worth observing that the boy on the right appears to have a red tint to his hair, and the boy on the left appears to have more golden hair. The names "Rosencrantz" and "Guildenstern" are related to the colors red and gold. The boy on the left could be taken to represent Guildenstern, and the one on the right, Rosencrantz. Again, this can only be uncertain, at best, about the colors. Even without considering any colors, the two boys can be taken to represent R & G since Hamlet is speaking to them at the time the allusion is made, and there are two "boys" shown on the card. |
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