critics Flashcards
There is no reason for his harshness with O and Gertrude - women
JORGENSEN: Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia approaches motiveless cruelty
Bear the pain, deal with the pain
JORGENSEN: It is a debate [about] whether to “bear” or to do
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
GIBSON: Mirrors the anxieties of Shakespeare’s England
Decision v indecision -> tragedy (genre - tragedy always ends in death)
OLIVIER: Tragedy about a man who cannot make up his mind
Chaotic and disordered - Denmark is rotten / prison
SCHEGEL: tragic view of the world as chaotic and disordered
he’s being used, he has no control/agency/power
You use an instrument to play music
antic disposition
JOHNSON: Hamlet is an “instrument rather than an agent”
17th century attitude towards women
saying women are dumb and weak :(
DRAKE 17th cent: “…a mind so tender and a sex so weak…”
Shakespeares father died before he wrote Hamlet - saying that the play is about his feelings towards his father
Remember: Freud came up with oedipus complex analysis for hamlet (eg he wants to kill his uncle so he can sleep with his mother ew)
FREUD: WRITTEN AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH “childhood feelings towards him were revived.”
Suggests that Hamlet isn’t a hero
HAZLITT: “Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be’”
17th century perspective about how the mad should be treated
COLLIER 17th cent: the mad “ought to be kept in dark rooms and without company.”
the play is really about death
KNIGHT: “Death broods over this play.”
Analysis of Gertrude as sexualised. hints to oedipus complex but suggesting that gertrude wanted to sleep with her son ew
JONES: GERTUDE: ‘…markedly sensual nature…’ ‘’…her passionate fondness for her son…’
revenge as a theme - that it is not justice, it’s going too far
BELSEY: “Revenge is not justice. … Revenge is always in excess of justice.”
Contrasting Claudius and Hamlet
PARKER: Claudius is “a man of action (in contrast to) Hamlet, a man of words.”
A critique of Hamlet’s character - anti hamlet
KNIGHT: ‘…inhuman…’, ‘…taking delight in cruelty…’, …a poison…’, ‘…an element of evil in the state of Denmark.’ ‘danger to the state.’ “
