Did the Klingons, and Nick Meyer misinterpret Hamlet?

[SteveJRogers]

I was doing an article about an industry that is headed towards an uncertain future. And remembering that Star Trek VI took it's name, The Undiscovered Country as being "the future."

However, looking at the original quote for the article

But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?

I suppose one could take that as being literally the future in a "okay, what happens next" sort of way. And while I'm not a Shakespearean scholar by any means, but I see that line and I think that it could just as well be what happens after one dies, is there something beyond this life, more so than tomorrow which it seems General Gorkon attributes it to.

But like I said, I could be wrong in how I see that passage.

 

[Captrek]

Shakespeare was referring specifically to the afterlife, but if you look past that one detail, the quote perfectly summarizes the themes of the film. The film deals with characters who choose to stick with the devil they know because they fear an unknown future from which they can’t return. Just remove the one word, “death”:

Who would bear the whips and scorns of time...
But that the dread of something after...
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?

Is that not exactly what TUC is about?

The film uses the phrase in a way that does not refer to the exact same thing that Shakespeare was referring to with the phrase. Similarly, Shakespeare used the word country in a way that does not refer to the exact same thing that people generally meant by the word and that is not in the dictionary. In both cases, it’s a metaphor.

 

[CaptainStoner]

But is it a colorful metaphor?

 

[Christopher]

It's not a misinterpretation, but a deliberate reinterpretation. Keep in mind that The Undiscovered Country was originally going to be the subtitle for The Wrath of Khan, so yeah, Nicholas Meyer sure as hell knew that the phrase referred to death. But in making the sixth film, he chose to apply it more broadly to any unknown frontier that people feared facing.

More to the point, I think the intent was specifically to contrast with the Shakespearean quote. After all, Star Trek is a series in which undiscovered realms are seen as something to be embraced and eagerly pursued, not feared. The antagonists in the film -- and Kirk, for a while -- saw the prospect of peace as representing the death of their way of life, so that's where the Shakespearean usage comes in. But the film's message was that we shouldn't fear the unknown, but should seek it out with optimism and in the spirit of peace -- thereby reaffirming the core message of Star Trek. So the film was consciously co-opting the "undiscovered country" metaphor in a way that equated it with "strange new worlds," that brought it into line with Star Trek's optimism rather than Hamlet's despair and dread.

Within the story, Gorkon was probably doing much the same thing when he chose to apply the quote "the undiscovered country" to the future. The Klingons are a culture that's, well, pathologically obsessed with death, so the Hamlet quote is one that's probably quite familiar to them. So by redefining that phrase with a more optimistic meaning, Gorkon was trying to send a message to the Klingon people that they could look forward to life, not just death, whether death from the aftermath of the Praxis disaster or from endless war with the Federation.

 

[MacLeod]

Well we've had this come up before, and yes it does refer to death in Shakespeare, but in broader term it can apply to TUC. The death in this case not being a person's death but rather the death of an ideaology, i.e that of the cold war state of affairs between the UFP and Klingon Empire.. And the unkpown future that awaited them if they made peace with the Klingons.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The producers and studio wouldn't let Meyer title Star Trek II "The Undiscovered Country;" Meyer stated for print at the time that he was disappointed and considered the release title tacky.

He just wanted to use the title, so he used it for 6 and shoehorned in a line justifying it.

 

[Timo]

The line seems to take our heroes by surprise, too. They spend some time looking confused, until Gorkon clarifies that he meant the future. I wonder if Warner was even told to put a bit of a mischief into his delivery...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Captrek]

The producers and studio wouldn't let Meyer title Star Trek II "The Undiscovered Country;" Meyer stated for print at the time that he was disappointed and considered the release title tacky.

He just wanted to use the title, so he used it for 6 and shoehorned in a line justifying it.

I think it fits #6 much better than #2.

Also, #2 in an early draft ended with Kirk saying, “Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” Like the title, it ended up being used in #6 and (IMO) fits there better than it would have fit #2.

 

[Christopher]

Also, #2 in an early draft ended with Kirk saying, “Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” Like the title, it ended up being used in #6 and (IMO) fits there better than it would have fit #2.

Funny, I've always thought it would've been a much better fit for TWOK. There, it fit the theme of recapturing youth that was central to the ending of TWOK (since it's a Peter Pan quote). But it doesn't have any real thematic relevance to TUC; what has Peter Pan got to do with the end of the Cold War? Its use in TUC just felt to me like Meyer resurrecting a formerly killed darling (which is a doubly appropriate apellation in this case) for no reason beyond disappointment that he couldn't use it the first time.

 

[JarodRussell]

Well I guess that's why they all look pretty much puzzled when Gorkon toasts to "The Undiscovered Country", and he then has to add "the future".

 

[Captrek]

Also, #2 in an early draft ended with Kirk saying, “Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” Like the title, it ended up being used in #6 and (IMO) fits there better than it would have fit #2.

Funny, I've always thought it would've been a much better fit for TWOK. There, it fit the theme of recapturing youth that was central to the ending of TWOK (since it's a Peter Pan quote).

The Peter Pan quote suggests more than just youth. It also suggests carefree playfulness, which is not fitting for the moment. I think the Dickens quote (about as far from Peter Pan as you can get!) and “I feel young” said with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye, work much better. You can’t say “Second star to the right” with a tear in your eye.

But it doesn't have any real thematic relevance to TUC; what has Peter Pan got to do with the end of the Cold War?

I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Cold War themes central to the film, but it does fit that particular moment.

Once again, they have saved the universe, and are understandably feeling carefree and playful. When Starfleet tells them to come inside and put their toys away, Spock stifles a “Go to Hell” and they zoom away, not going anywhere in particular, just going, and reveling in the disobedience.

 

[Christopher]

I dunno... in either film, it just feels like a self-conscious attempt to approximate the same feel as "Out there... Thataway" as a closing line. And you just can't top the original.

 

[Timo]

...OTOH, I for one felt this line glued to the end of ST:TMP was roughly as much out of place as the wisecracking at the end of the original "The Changeling". (Subconscious or conscious influences on the TMP writers...?)

Moreover, the entire concept of a maverick starship commander taking his ship on a joyride is dubious to begin with. Admittedly, in ST:TMP Kirk had no contrary orders, but that in itself stretches credibility - not even a short debriefing of the officer who has deterred a biblical-scale threat by means unknown to Starfleet Command? Kirk is also stretching his luck there. Sure, he probably will enjoy some leeway thanks to being Savior, but he's still risking everything he has gained, risking never sitting in a starship command chair again.

In ST6, the concept is much more plausible, as Kirk has absolutely nothing to lose, has every reason to feel wronged by his superiors, and can actually score major points by so publicly avoiding the public eye...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[TheDolphin]

Who knows how an alien race might interpret great works by Earth authors. Especially a race that claims that Shakespeare was an alien...

V.