Shakespeare References in The Diary Of Anais Nin Volume Three: 1939-1944

The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Volume Three: 1939-1944, which was edited by Gunther Stuhlmann, contains a couple of references to Hamlet. The first comes in a letter from Henry Miller, in which Henry writes, “If I chose to make California the wilderness instead of New York, there is a reason in my madness” (p. 204). That is a reference to Polonius’ line, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.” Later in the book, Nin writes, “The middle one is the strongest, with her abstract labyrinth of black-and-red stripes; on her left walks an Ophelia in a trailing white dress of clouds and lace, dancing not walking” (p. 312).

The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Volume Three: 1939-1944 was published in 1969. The copy I read was one the library had discarded.