Mason & Dixon and Hamlet

Abstract

Although there is no explicit comparison in Mason & Dixon of the astronomer protagonist Charles Mason to the eponymous hero of Shakespeare's masterpiece, indisputable references to the play are to be found in the novel. Mason is endowed with qualities which mirror Hamlet's virtues and vices: he is a leader and a man of education and wit, though his metaphysical longings entice him towards madness and suicide. He is emburdened with a deep melancholy stemming from bereavement, loss of love, the hauntings of a ghost, indecision, even cowardice and frustrated ambition.