critics

Question 1

Jorgensen

There is no reason for his harshness with O and Gertrude - women

Answer 1

JORGENSEN: Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia approaches motiveless cruelty

Question 2

Jorgensen

Bear the pain, deal with the pain

Answer 2

JORGENSEN: It is a debate [about] whether to “bear” or to do

Question 3

Gibson

Contextual quote - shows the connection to Elizabethan England -> religion (all follow religion, power, control), anxiety around who would take over the throne (had no children) (eg. Hamlet vs Claudius), mental illness/madness wasn’t recognised

Answer 3

GIBSON: Mirrors the anxieties of Shakespeare’s England

Question 4

Olivier

Decision v indecision -> tragedy (genre - tragedy always ends in death)

Answer 4

OLIVIER: Tragedy about a man who cannot make up his mind

Question 5

Schegel

Chaotic and disordered - Denmark is rotten / prison

Answer 5

VON SCHEGEL: tragic view of the world as chaotic and disordered

Question 6

Johnson

he’s being used, he has no control/agency/power
You use an instrument to play music

Answer 6

JOHNSON: Hamlet is an “instrument rather than an agent”