“A Better System of Prisons?”

“A Better System of Prisons?”

On Decentralization and Participation in America

Adieu Prince I have tasks a sewer project
And a decree on prostitutes and beggars
I must also elaborate a better system of prisons
Since as you justly said Denmark is a prison . . .

Zbigniew Herbert, “Elegy of Fortinbras”

Imagine, if you will, Hamlet alive at the end of Shakespeare’s play. Fortinbras, just returned from battle, stands with him on the stage. The audience must choose which man will rule Denmark. How shall we go about making such a choice? We know something about each of them. In contrast to Hamlet’s terrible inner conflicts, we sense Fortinbras’s blunt decisiveness. He appears capable of assuming power while Hamlet has seemed barely able to maintain control over himself. But then, Hamlet has faced a different series of problems: matters of the inner life, of murder, guilt, love, and ...