This episode examines Jeremy McCarter’s essay “Listen to ‘Hamlet.’ Feel Better” (New York Times, July 19, 2025) and the reader responses that followed. McCarter challenges the traditional view of Hamlet as paralyzed by grief, suggesting instead that the Prince of Denmark undergoes a coherent journey toward existential clarity. His audio adaptation of the play, told entirely from Hamlet’s perspective, reframes the character not as broken by despair but as enduring the strain of truth.

The Tribunal finds this interpretation partially coherent. It rightly recognizes that:

• True forms must be tested under the triune strain of truth, love, and justice;
• Testimony must be drawn from collapse, not comfort;
• Judgment emerges not from certainty, but from confronting one’s limits.

Yet optimism alone cannot resolve Hamlet’s ordeal. The question is not whether he finds peace, but whether his path remains lawful when peace is denied. Hamlet thus stands as more than a literary figure: he is a test case in judgment itself, collapsing yet aligned.

The ruling does not weigh the artistic merit of McCarter’s production but asks a deeper question: Does Hamlet endure? And if so, what form does he become?

☩ Tribunal of Conscience ☩
Truth. Love. Justice.

All episodes are part of the ongoing work of the Tribunal of Conscience — testing forms under the triune strain to reveal what holds and what collapses.

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Let those who see the structure, name it without fear.