Critics

Question 1

CS. Lewis on Hamlet?

Answer 1

In Hamlet, Shakespeare has successfully created a “REALISTIC EVERYMAN” character, haunted by original sin and the “fear of death”

Question 2

Barker- performance critic (dramatically necessary)

Answer 2

Barker states that Shakespeare only USES TIME when it is DRAMATICALLY NECESSARY

Question 3

Performance critic Barker - elsinore

Answer 3

Shakespeare concentrates on the action af Elsinore to highlight HAMLET’s TRAGIC INABILITY (harmatia) to take action

Question 4

Barker on the passing of time in Hamlet

Answer 4

Barker states that By Act 3, Shakespeare doesnt mention the passing of time at all. This helps the audience to IDENTIFY with hamlet because he also loses track of time
- also, it helps to SUSTAIN the play’s ILLUSION that is happening in real time, making the play more realistic.

Question 5

A.C. Bradley

Hamlet’s struggle is partly because…

Answer 5

Hamlet’s struggle is partly because he is unable to cope with the situation he finds himself in
- Hamlet as a man who at “any other time” and in “any other circumstance” would have been “perfectly equal to his task”

Question 6

A.C. Bradley Hamlet does not act because of his disgust for..

Answer 6

His disgust for his mother’s lustfulness and his sensitive nature makes him feel disgusted at the world - this stops him from acting

Question 7

Romanticism critics say that..

Answer 7

Hamlet’s delay is a result of his over-developed intellect

Question 8

TS. Eliot on the play?

Answer 8

The play is the problem - Hamlet’s delay is a result of “artistic failure”