Radiolab Episode 14: "The Four Groans" Summary

Podcast: Radiolab (WNYC Studios)
Episode Air Date: August 13, 2009
Main Guests: Ron Rosenbaum (author, The Shakespeare Wars), Mark Rylance (actor)

Episode Overview

This deeply evocative episode of Radiolab explores the enigmatic end of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, focusing specifically on Hamlet’s final words: "The rest is silence," and the mysterious "four groans" ("O, O, O, O") that appear immediately afterward in the First Folio. The hosts, accompanied by renowned actor Mark Rylance and author Ron Rosenbaum, unravel the possible meanings and theatrical implications behind this textual oddity.

Radiolab, true to its form, fuses literary investigation with philosophical pondering on death, the limits of language, and the power of performance, channeling Hamlet’s final moments into a meditation on the boundary between life and the ineffable beyond.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Setting the Scene: Hamlet’s Death (01:09 – 02:41)

• The episode begins with Ron Rosenbaum recounting the chaotic final act of Hamlet: “At the very end, there’s a pile of bodies... People are dying all over the place.” (Ron Rosenbaum, 01:40–02:05)
• Hamlet’s final exchange with Horatio and the iconic last words: "Oh, I die, Horatio... The rest is silence." (02:17–02:29)
• Hosts ponder the apparent finality: “When you die, that’s what happens next. It’s just... Nothing. It’s just silence.” (Host, 02:48–02:56)

The Mystery of the Four O’s (02:56 – 04:21)

• Rosenbaum reveals that in the 1623 First Folio, after “The rest is silence,” Hamlet’s silence is immediately broken by four written groans: "O, O, O, O."
• The hosts question, “They just tack like big dangling donuts onto one of the most lyrical deaths in the English language. So what are they doing there?” (Host, 03:34)
• Most actors ignore these groans, but Mark Rylance chooses to honor them in his performances.

Mark Rylance’s Interpretation (04:21 – 06:57)

• Rylance theorizes that these groans were potentially not Shakespeare’s, but perhaps inserted by an actor or editor. He explains:
  • “I guess I’d done it 300 times, shutting up. So I was into the change...” (Mark Rylance, 04:45–04:52)
  • Rylance discusses Hamlet as a character preoccupied with death, reason, and facing the unknown: “He’s a student at Wittenberg University...[who] encounters a ghost...it’s one of you...not a New Age wanderer...who has this experience.” (Mark Rylance, 05:14–05:41)
  • Hamlet, the rational skeptic, is forced to face supernatural mystery.

What Do the Groans Mean? (06:02 – 07:52)

• The hosts suggest that the four O’s could mark Hamlet’s passage from life to the unknown, perhaps signifying visions, sighs, or encounters with something beyond:
  • “Hamlet’s next step is either into silence where there is nothing...or is there a something waiting...? And does he see that something in a vision? Maybe four visions.” (Host, 06:11–06:32)
• Rylance performs the groans, varying in delivery: sometimes as “dying arias,” other times as silent gazes, or at different tempos.
• He describes these performances: “I felt I was encountering another reality than was immediately apparent to those around me...the ability to say what he saw...died before his ability to witness.” (Mark Rylance, 07:01–07:34)

The Power (and Mystery) of Performance (07:52 – 08:29)

• Rylance reflects on the performance’s impact: “The best deaths would just be when the audience and I were together...We were all kind of together, wanting, I suppose, Hamlet to say. Say something. What can you say? What’s happening to him? Something is happening, but we don’t know what it is. There. He’s gone. He’s gone.” (Mark Rylance, 08:06–08:29)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On theatrical ambiguity:
  • “His ability to put words to what he’s witnessing dies before his ability…to witness.” — Mark Rylance (07:01–07:34)
• The essence of the four O’s:
  • “They could represent a kind of dying aria…A long sigh…I see it coming…Oh, my God, it’s here…It’s about to happen…Oh, that’s it.” — Host & Mark Rylance (06:35–06:54, collaborative performance)
• On the shared experience of witnessing death:
  • “The best deaths would just be when the audience and I were together and we were all…wanting, I suppose, Hamlet to say something. What can you say? What’s happening to him? Something is happening, but we don’t know what it is. There. He’s gone.” — Mark Rylance (08:06–08:29)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:09–02:41: The setup—Hamlet’s death and the meaning of “The rest is silence.”
• 02:56–03:34: Introduction of the First Folio’s “four groans.”
• 04:21–06:02: Mark Rylance on why he includes the O’s and the philosophical/theatrical stakes.
• 06:11–07:52: Interpretations of the four O’s; performing the passage.
• 08:06–08:29: The power and uncertainty at the moment of “ultimate silence.”

Episode Tone and Language

The episode maintains an inquisitive, reverent tone with moments of playfulness. The hosts blend awe at Shakespeare’s genius with active questioning and open-ended contemplation. Rylance’s contributions are introspective and poetic, inviting listeners to share in the mystery rather than solve it.

Takeaways

“The Four Groans” delves not just into Shakespearean trivia but into the heart of why we stage, read, and ponder Hamlet—to repeatedly approach the unknowable, groaningly, together. The episode leaves us with no answers, only the resonance of that final, wordless mystery.