(Regained)
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Here is the Visconti-Sforza Wheel of Fortune card. It depicts Lady Fortune in the center of her Wheel, while men ride the Wheel around, up or down, as their luck is better or worse. It shows an old man with a long, white beard at the bottom of the Wheel. That could represent Polonius, who has the bad luck to be killed by Hamlet. The character at the top of the Wheel, wearing the nice robe, could represent Claudius. He has the ears of a jackass. When R & G first talk to Hamlet, it's mentioned that they are "about the waist" of Fortune. The two fellows who are at the sides of the Wheel, in this card picture, are at about the waist level of Lady Fortune, near the midpoint of the Wheel. The one on the left has golden blond hair, while the one on the right has hair with a red tint. The two fellows who are "about the waist" of Fortune would represent R & G. The colors that the author might have seen on such a card are uncertain. But even without considering the colors, the two characters at the sides of the Wheel can represent R & G, simply because there are two of them. This card offers a good depiction of R & G at the midpoint of Fortune - "about the waist" - and also with Polonius at the bottom and Claudius at the top. This card offers a lesson for interpretation of tarot cards in relation to Hamlet. In the dialogue between Hamlet and R & G, the Folio mistakenly has the word "cap," and refers to R & G being the button on Fortune's cap. However, the Second Quarto is correct that the word should be "lap." I have commented on this in the Notes for the playtext. If a person were to start with this card, it might look as though the character at the top of the Wheel is where a button on Fortune's cap would be. Then, looking from the card to the playtext, one could mistakenly think the Folio is right. The lesson is, one must always get the meaning of the play first, and only then look at cards to see whether a card might be related to the play. Trying to do it the other way, starting with a card and trying to impose meaning from the card to the play, will lead to mistakes. |
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