context hamlet Flashcards
Elizabethan monarchy (4)
- mary queen of Scots executed
- 5 years after Hamlet, plot to blow up the monarchy
- there would be no heir to Elizabeths throne
- she is succeeded by foreign prince
what was denmark like at the time hamlet
a largely Protestant nation at the time of the play’s composition.
why does the ghost pose a religious problem for Hamlet
Protestantism didn’t believe in purgatory. Hamlet is hesitant to accept the ghost’s claims that he is tormented until his life’s crimes are “purged” away.
what tragedy did Shakespeare suffer?
his father and his son died
what is the relevance of Wittenburg?
The German city of Wittenberg was the
birthplace of the Reformation – the
Protestant movement for the reform of the
Catholic church.
henry VIII and catherine of aragon hamlet
she married Henry after marrying his brother
what was the monarchy like in Denmark?
it was not successive, however to a British audience the succession of Claudius would have been unusual and suspicious.
what was the dual meaning of the therm nunnery?
could be religious training for nuns or a brothel
what was the opinions on women who had had sex?
that hysteria would be bought on due to their knowledge of sex, like Ophelia
how is humanism included in Hamlet?
humanism believes in the endless possibilities of man and mind
‘what a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties’
how was honor interpreted in elizabethan england?
- Male honour depended on physical courage, bravery and a propensity for violence
- Female honour depended on chastity, fidelity and motherhood
what is interesting about the conversation between polonius and Hamlet on polonius acting in universtiy
it can be classed as metadramatic or intertextual, as they talk about Polonius playing Julius Caesar, which was performed a few years earlier, liekly by the same actors - this reference would have been comical
Killing the king is a …
Blasphemous act, going against religio he already feels he is locing
Also fratercide and regicide
Why is revenge such a probpem for hamlet
Revenge is imposed from outside by the ghost, not chosen by him
Short dramatic opening scene gives… hamlet
Sense of disruption
Shakespeare explots the value of time …
To build up illusive nature of ghosts
Shakespeares doublings (kin+kind, cousin+son)…
To emphasise a point and is a premonition of evl doubling
Dialogue to create setting (nipping) is a …
Anticipation of a ghost, and unnatural coldnes of supernatural
Ophelia (mind and unmind)
Weak rhyme suggests ophelia is not very witty with deception - (god hath given you one face and you make yourself another)
Hamlets love is hard to believe…
Ophelia is not once mentioned by Hamlet in the final scenes.
The mousetraps doubling
Tests the ghosts for truth and Claudius for guilt
Dumb show points to it as a device for the wider plot
Claudius’s intense guilt comes from…
Fratercide. First great biblical crime was Cane killing Abel
Claudius cannot fully ask for religious redemption because…
He is unprepared to give up what he has gained
Hamlet goes beyond a typical revenger because….
We feel pity for him across the play for all he has lost
By act 5, hamlet has seized time…
As well as a plan of action
The seven soliloquies take Hamlet from his fathers death to
His own which highlights his potential to be a King
In Hamlets moral growth, hamlet moves into
Will. It is not a play about inaction, its a play of movement
Hamlet is king for three minutes, and in this time pardons
Past, present and future
Pardons Laertes
Designates Horatio as the survivor
Names Fortinbras as King
Hamlet as King - when you achieve perfection of your role
All that is left to do is die.
Roy Lisker: hamlet poses riddles
For which we are invited to solve
Roy Lisker: hamlet is nothing more than an…
Immature brat tied to his mothers apron strings
Bernard Shaw: hamlet as a prehistoric
Dane is morally bound to kill his uncle
Bernard Shaw: lunacy may be inspiration
In disguise
Gertrude has …. Of the total play lines
4%, but is on stage for 10 scenes (hamlet is 14)
Granville Barker: gertrude is ‘but a
Passive part in the action of the play
When Getrude appears to give up her role as sexual object
Hamlet reclaims his ability to act
Hamlet and Ophelias relatiosnhip relies on the audience to…
Piece together brief exchanges and infer the relationship has flourished in private
Lee Edwards: we can imagine hamlets
story without Ophelia, but Ophelia literally has no story without Hamlet
Kiernan Ryan on H + Os reciprocal madness
‘The only sane response in a society that no longer makes sense’
Ickes theatre production on O + G
‘The production should frame Ophelia and Gertudes silence and lift those two roles’
Rulers and religious leaders feared the doctrine of predestination would
Lead people to excuse traitorous acts with the excuse ’god made me do it’
Freud remarks that ’the play is built up on hamlets hesitations
In fulfilling the task of revenge assigned to him, but offers no reasons for his hesitations’
Hamlet is the enigmatic world within
Which human beings had to orient themselves, leaving us and the characters to grasp hamlet
