On Green

 “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death the memory be green.” (1.2.1)

            Upon first reading this phrase I was struck by the possible alternate readings of the word “green” and how those different interpretations respond to the greater themes of the play.  The plain meaning of its use in this phrase is to imply that the memory of the old king’s death is recent and fresh.  Here simply is a reference to the greenness of grass and newly grown buds. 

            However, the correlation of the word “green” with the death of the old king brings forth more possibilities of interpretation.  For example, though at this point in the play we do not yet know of the treacheries committed by the current king, this use of “green” could refer to the jealousy that the audience will come to realize was a key motivation for the murder.  The brother was jealous of the king’s power and wife and thus poisoned him.  Thus the memory of him is not only fresh, but the memory of him for the speaker of the line, the current king, is fraught with memories of jealousy.  The use of the word “green” could also foreshadow the anger that Hamlet feels towards his uncle and the revenge that he seeks.  Gangrenous wounds and other wounds that will not heal are often described as green.  And as professor Mazzio discussed in class in reference to the nature of revenge in Titus Andronicus, the seeking of revenge is the kind of wound that does not heal.  It is open and sore.  Thus here already are three possible readings of the word “green”. 

            There are also interpretations of the word “green” that are more tied to the play itself and not necessarily directly correlated to the death of Hamlet’s father or this line.  The word “green,” in that it is tied to the idea of freshness and youth, touches one of the key themes of the play.  Hamlet with all his angst and anger is a poster boy for the word “youth.”  Ophelia too is too frail, too young.  Thus perhaps the use of the word “green” in this case is meant to remind us of the greater theme of youth in the play. There is also the idea of green as being premature, and unformed.  Hamlet’s anger at his mother is that she married his uncle so soon after his father’s death.  He views her actions as premature and thus insensitive.  The idea of being “green” can also refer to the idea of not only being young, but being naive and gullible.  Are their characters who fit this criteria?  Perhaps the queen can be characterized as gullible in that she fell for the uncle’s act.  She was naive enough to believe him.

            All the above interpretations are in the oxford English dictionary in addition to one that I had always associated with the color yellow.  The OED brings up the correlation between jaundice and the word “green”.  It also discusses the color “green” in reference to rotted meat and the “green sickness.”  Perhaps then we can say that the use of  “green” refers to the rotting of the state.  The diseased Denmark.

            Of all these interpretations, the only one which does not appear to have been in usage when Shakespeare was writing was the idea of jealousy.  I could not actually find a reference to this meaning in the etymology section of the OED.  Is this really that new of an interpretation or did I just look over the section?