"
_Hamlet_ was one of the most popular plays of Pepys's day, mainly
owing to Betterton's extraordinary faculty. The history of the
impersonation presents numerous points of the deepest interest. The
actor was originally coached in the part by D'Avenant. The latter is
said to have derived hints for the rendering from an old actor, Joseph
Taylor, who had played the role in Shakespeare's own day, and had been
instructed in it by the dramatist himself. This tradition gives
additional value to Pepys's musical setting in recitative of the "To
be or not to be" soliloquy. If we accept the reasonable theory that
that piece of music preserves something of the cadences of Betterton's
enunciation, it is no extravagance to suggest that a note here or
there enshrines the modulation of the voice of Shakespeare himself.
For there is the likelihood that the dramatist was Betterton's
instructor at no more than two removes. Only the lips of D'Avenant,
Shakespeare's godson, and of Taylor, Shakespeare's acting colleague,
intervened between the dramatist and the Hamlet of Pepys's diary.
Those alone, who have heard the musical setting of "To be or not to
be" adequately rendered, are in a position to reject this hypothesis
altogether.
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