<i> A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland.</i>

Czeslaw Milosz, Polish poet, historian and Nobel laureate, spoke Tuesday at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. From his address: Poland: Then and Now “Hamlet in Poland is often staged as the drama of a man surrounded by secret police, and the audiences understand these conditions very well. It is in part the pattern of European romanticism greatly influenced by Lord Byron, the figure of a fighter for the freedom of nations. This was how the heroes of communism were once viewed against the great monarchies. Hamlet is the young intellectual presented with the problem of a corrupt society based upon an illegitimate authority, illegitimate because it was foreign.

“If you look at what happened in the struggle of dissidents in Russia and Poland, recently you see Hamlet again. The new dilemma is the difference between Hamlet and Fortinbras, who comes to restore order after the hero’s death. The question now is whether we should be for Hamlet, who was motivated by high morals . . . of the Christian religion, or for Fortinbras, who is pragmatic.

“The society of Poland was an allegiance of intellectuals and workers in Solidarity. But they were less than successful in bringing about an end to communism. Now the intellectuals are questioned by those who say: ‘Ah, you left-wing intellectuals, you always want to repair society according to your plan, as in communism, to better society.’ The result with Lech Walesa, who sensed this anti-intellectualism, was that he played the card of the workers against the good-intentioned intellectuals who are pushed aside. He is like Fortinbras, interested in practical matters of survival.”

Looking Ahead * Wednesday: Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, will speak at 8 p.m., at Hancock Auditorium at USC. Call (213) 740-2215.

* Thursday: Denis McLean, New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States, will address Town Hall at 6 p.m. at the City Club. Call (213) 628-8141.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, c/o Times researcher Michael Meyers, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053