Critics Flashcards
What is Kastan’s argument?
Shakespearean tragedies are treatments of age-old questions about the causes of human suffering
Human weakness / divine retribution / arbitrary fate?
Lack of clear answer central to tragedy
Give two quotes from Kastan
“The uncertainty is the point”
“Tragedy, for Shakespeare, is the genre of uncompensated suffering”
What is Nuttall’s argument?
We find some form of enjoyment in tragedy - tension between pleasure and pain
Aristotle called it the “proper pleasure” of tragedy
May be subconscious pleasure
What does Bradley say about tragic heroes?
Shakespearean tragedy centres on “person of high degree” who undergoes reversal of fortune
Fate affects nation, no one immune to suffering
Evokes sympathy and fear - helplessness of humans against fate / God
Give two quotes from Bradley about tragic heroes
“A tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death”
“Man is blind and helpless, the plaything of an inscrutable power”
What does Mack argue?
Shakespearean tragic heroes frequently associated with madness
Often form of punishment but also brings insight - permission to discuss otherwise taboo issues
Symbolic of “predicament of artist”
Give two quotes from Mack
“Both punishment and insight”
“Madness is to some degree a punishment or doom”
What does Mack argue about madness’ links to Shakespeare as an artist
Madness of hero symbolic of “predicament of the artist” ie Shakespeare who conveys truth through art
Both madness + art allow freedom of speech but their insights may be dismissed as fiction / nonsense
What does Kerrigan argue?
Memory + remembrance key features of play
Old H represents lost chivalric age, Ophelia recalls a Hamlet we’ve never seen - sense of past very important to world of play
Those who don’t remember past seen as selfish - C insists on “remembrance of ourselves”
How does Kerrigan argue that memory could be linked to Hamlet’s madness?
Freud wrote that “hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences”
“Remembrance haunts him, even to the point of madness”
H attempts to replace “dead love-object” with living one ie Ophelia - by rejecting him she throws his love back onto the father he has lost
Ghost prevents H from moving on - “remember me” command “condemns H to endless, fruitless yearning”
Give two quotes from Kerrigan
“Hamlet never promises to revenge, only to remember”
“Such memories divert and slow the play, giving it an eddying onward inclusiveness”
What does McCarthy argue?
Compares Hamlet to Cinderella - family drama with four symbolic characters (protagonist, peer (eventual mate), mother and father)
To mature, protag must symbolically kill same sex parent, dodge opposite sex parent and marry peer
H must kill C, dodge G and his obsession w her sexuality, marry O - satisfying ending not given
When O dies we realise play cannot escape tragic momentum
What does McCarthy argue about Hamlet’s parallel characters?
Laertes explicitly compared to H, seeks revenge for death of father
Fortinbras - son of dead king, ruled by uncle (but able to lead army)
Horatio, R + G can all be seen as “splits” of Hamlet - R and G even die in his place
How does McCarthy argue that aspects of Laertes’ character teach us about Hamlet’s virtues?
L arrogant about duelling abilities, whereas H has been in “continual practice”
L deceived + manipulated by C
L acts “gainst my conscience”, proving that H’s “conscience doth make cowards of us all” actually marks good sense and restraint
Give two quotes from McCarthy
“In Hamlet there is no episode equivalent to Cinderella’s lost slipper; his mistake, once made, cannot be retrieved”
“In many ways Laertes seems to be the revenger that Hamlet longs to be”
