Hamlet as Venusian or Saturnian?

I've recently acquired a couple of different audiobook classes about Shakespeare's Tragedies at some book sales. I've read the play Hamlet a few times and honestly never understood what all the broohaha was about. It just seemed to be a long play about nutty people. And, of course, that's my own nuttiness kicking in along with my ADD. But I like the idea of the Tragedy based on Revenge in Families theme.

First I listened to Harold Bloom's lectures on Hamlet which I purchased from Barnes & Noble. So exciting, for a while at least. Bloom goes on and on saying that Hamlet's intelligence is superior to everyone on earth and never really explains why. Probably I was just spacing out during the parts where he explained, maybe it's my own lack of said Quality that just doesn't get it. But then, Bloom goes into all the psychobabble about Hamlet's life and says that Hamlet's only emotional support was from his Tutor Yorik who died when Hamlet was 7 years old. This creates the emphasis on unresolvable grief that is in the play and shows the loneliness of Hamlet's childhood. Blooms explains that there is much confusion among scholars about Hamlet's age during the play. Bloom says that Hamlet is 30 years old when the play takes place.This is stated in the Graveyard Scene in Act. 5. Things are sounding pretty Saturnian at this point as this is the time of the Saturn Return. I'm seeing Saturnian themes all over the place in the story, of course: Death of Father, Remarriage of Mother, Calculated Revenge, Thwarted Desire, Longest Play, Play named after Shakespeare's Son.

In the story, Hamlet is approached by his Father's Ghost and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Hamlet's Uncle who has recently rushed to marry his Mother. He's also taken over as King of Denmark. "There's something rotten in Denmark." Hamlet is completely confused by the apparition of his Father and needs proof that his Uncle is his Father's murderer. He stages a play reenacting his Father's Murder to see how his Uncle will react. When his Uncle leaves the room Hamlet has his proof. Even still, his actions are not direct. This causes one goof after another and in the end everyone in the play is dead. That's how tragedy goes. And some families.

So that was fun. I figured I would blog the Saturn thing. Hamlet's character showed what happens when the Saturn Return can't be handled. I also tend to associate the sign of Capricorn with extreme intelligence, although I still don't get why Hamlet is so bright. The structures in a person's life can fall apart and force a person to face his own immaturity. That's a Saturn transit. But, Saturnians don't doddle when it comes to making decisions. They take it for granted that they know who killed whom and they place the judgment immediately without making up tests and putting on plays. Saturn will present tough decisions which must be executed with a level of coldness and matter of factness.

The 2d set of Brilliant College Lectures that I found at a Library Sale (from the Teaching Company) explains that Hamlet's personality is the ultimate Protestant Character. This makes a whole lot of sense to me. I spent an entire year once writing a never ending essay that pondered why it is that Protestants don't feel guilt. It seems that Hamlet was doing the same thing. Or at least his Mom and Uncle should have been feeling the guilt. The Teaching Company Lectures are awesome, highly recommended. I can't remember the Teacher's name, the set fell under the seat of my car and parts tend to get drowned out by road noise so I've taken a little break. Besides, I have to read Othello before moving on. I don't believe Hamlet's age is discussed in these lectures as much.

So I've been Googling around and found this great article:

http://princehamlet.com/chapter_1.html.

which says that Hamlet would have been much younger between Age 16-20. The article also says that there will always going to be confusion about this. Hamlet is always referred to as a student in the play and 30 year olds weren't considered of Student Age during Shakespeare's time.

If Hamlet were 16 in the play, his actions would make total sense astrologically. This is a Venus Return year of sorts. It's one of the 8 year-cycles where Venus and the Sun return to their natal spots, or very close to. I tend to think that the Ages of 8 years and 16 years really do mark significant times in children's lives in things Venusian. Social skills, cooties separate the girls from the boys at 8 and bring them back together again at around age 16. Friends are very important at these ages. I have no idea if real astrologers agree with me about these Venus Cycles. (Bruce Scofield has written a really great book about planetary cycles and children's development which I've read half of which is called The Circuitry of the Self.)

At any rate, Hamlet's story makes much better sense when seen from a Sun-Venus point of view. Hamlet must have been born with a conjunction of those two planets. The Returns of these planets together with each other seems to be extra potent as expressed in their lives. At least I've found that to be true in a couple of examples.

For one, indecision is a major Venus theme through the Libra need to maintain balance, to seek justice, to weigh both sides of a situation. Putting on of the play in order to test the Uncle's guilt is a very sophisticated Venusian action. "To Be or Not To Be" is certainly a Venusian statement (or could also be Neptunian as discussed below). Hamlet as a Youth and Student suggests an Inner Planet Character trying to deal on an Outer Planet Scale and not quite succeeding. This seems to me to be the essence of this whole play. The Taurus rulership of Venus which rules Setting of Values is also very prominent and can actually be seen as the root of Hamlet's indecision. The putting on of the play, a leisurely activity, is Venusian. Ophelia, Hamlet's Fiance (Venus=Women in one's life), commits Suicide is very Sun-Venus. Just can't cope.

Saturn is certainly a very strong presence here as one would expect in a story about dealing with one's parents. But this play is about Hamlet the Child of the parents. It shows how difficult it is to deal with and bring justice to the behaviors of family members who have done the wrong thing. How can a Sun-Venus person possibly understand the calculating ruthlessness of a Saturnian person? It can't. Or at least in Astrology it is given from Age 16 (time of the Sun-Venus return energy) to Age 28-29 (time of the Saturn Return) to figure out how.

Harold Bloom says that this play above all others is Shakespeare's most autobiographical. According to the Astrotheme chart for Shakespeare he was very Venusian both Taurus Sun and Libra Moon dispose to Venus. Shakespeare's North Node, however, was in Capricorn which shows the reaching for the Saturnian influence.

The Astrotheme chart also shows a Cancer rising which I'm guessing is the result of someone's rectification talents which I question. It does create another strong Saturnian influence in the chart as Saturn here is placed in the 1st House and is conjunct Jupiter showing Shakespeare's great awareness of how society as a whole works. As Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen every 20 years there could be yet another argument that Hamlet's age was 20 years old. The Neptune semi-square happens around Age 21 or so which could also be an influence as shown in the vision of the Ghost, the theatrics, seeking the Uncles' guilt or innocence through a manipulation game rather than through direct communication. I happen to think that Artists and Writers will express themselves in this way through their creations and characters.

Well, just some ponderings.