Experimenting on myself

Abstract: The effects of intentional overexposure to Shakespearean tragedy were examined. Over the course of several days the subject watched and/or listened to various recordings of Hamlet and, at times not so occupied, made note of his thoughts and feelings. Depression was the most frequently observed mood and could not be attributed to other causes, suggesting that care should be taken to limit exposure to Shakespearean tragedy, particularly for sensitive groups such as school-age youth.

Introduction: Hamlet remains one of the most popular works of English literature taught in schools (Herz and Hinton, 1996). Given the serious nature of the work, however, with its themes of suicide, incest, and murder, concerns over whether overexposure might be harmful to school-age youth are not unfounded. In this study a male (Asian graduate student, age 30) was exposed to numerous recordings of Hamlet on successive nights (i.e. a Hamlet "marathon") and asked to document changes in mental state. In addition to a number of benign effects (e.g. inclusion of archaic language and speech patterns), an overall negative change in mood amounting to depression was noted.

Methods: Four recordings of Hamlet were borrowed from the Ann Arbor District Library: DVDs of the Derek Jacobi version (1980), the Mel Gibson version (1990), and the Ethan Hawke version (2000) and CDs of the Kenneth Branagh version (1993). DVDs were watched by the subject on successive evenings between September 10th and 13th of 2006 (designated Days 1 and 4, respectively), and the CD was played continuously in the subject's car.

Results and Discussion: The subject noted that by Day 2 of the experiment his mood had become "foul" and by Day 3 his wit had become "diseased". On Day 4 he noted on a scrap of paper, "I have of late lost all my mirth." During this time the subject continued to perform his normal activities, the bulk of which comprised eating, sleeping, going to work, going to the gym, and going to the bathroom. No other changes in routine were observed. By the end of the experiment, the subject was using non-idiomatic vocabulary and phrasing; e.g. when asked by another graduate student how long he had been at the university, he answered, "I hesitate to say. To think on't only encourages woe." The experiment was terminated early; additional recordings of Hamlet had been requested at the library and were awaiting pick-up.

The mechanism by which overexposure to Shakespearean tragedy leads to depression remains to be discovered. Intermediate steps cannot be ruled out. For instance, it is possible that usage of non-idiomatic vocabulary and phrasing alienates others, particularly strangers, and that alienation is the proximal cause of negative feelings. However, the most parsimonious explanation is that the content of tragedy itself evokes empathy in its observer and that this empathy in excess can be detrimental. These results suggest that discretion should be used in the teaching of Shakespearean tragedy, particularly to sensitive groups such as school-age youth. Further studies should address specific dosage and the lack of controls in the current study design (e.g. does overexposure to Shakespearean comedy have the same effects?).