Hamlet- 1.5 Key Terms Flashcards
what is the progression of this act?
Hamlets conversation with the ghost and his father- dramatic revelation- Hamlets reactions- his intentions.
How the ghost be interpreted?
The ghost is a typical feature of traditional revenge tragedies: the hero to revenge.
The language of the ghost will create a sense of torment and agony, there will be phrases that will suggest torment and agony such as “vile and loathsome crust”.
how would a contemporary audience interpret the ghost?
He will suffer terrible tragedy because he is in purgatory.
Roman Catholics- their sins would be burnt away.
Protestants- they would not believe in purgatory, they would instead believe that the ghost is an agent of the devil.
The ghost is seen to be a devilish spirit, his call for revenge is suspicious as this would not be accepted by either church or state.
His allowing of Hamlet to commit revenge may suggest that the failures of Denmark are bound to the generational problems of the kingdom.
what is a masculine or feminine ending?
Masculine- hard ending.
Feminine- Soft ending.
what is Hendiadys? what is the effect of this?
This is a technique that means “one through two”, two words to suggest a single meaning, such as “rank and gross”.
the two nouns will cancel each other out, this will emphasise that it can be difficult to pin down the truth.
This is useful for Hamlet as he is unable to decide the truth.
This will also slow down the rhythm.
what is syntactic parallelism?
this is the use of repetition or balanced clauses, “would harrow up thy soul and freeze thy young blood”.
what are examples of imagery to do with pairings?
“thy two eyes”
what is the significance of “that incestuous, that adulterate beast”?
Where Claudius and Gertrude having an affair?- this is never confirmed in the play.
This may display that Claudius is simply corrupt- feels like adulterate to the ghost. Did Gertrude help plan the death of her husband, yet he has fond feelings towards Gertrude?
what does the phrase body politic mean?
This is an ancient metaphor which suggests that a state, society or church is conceived as a biological body.
The metaphor suggests hierarchy- strong monarchial connection.
what are key terms that are used during the soliloquy of Hamlet?
duplicative- repeated
tautology- saying the same thing twice in different words
dichotomy- the division/contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
what is stichomythia?
This is dialogue in alternate lines.
how can Hamlet’s soliloquy be analysed?
Hamlet will become impassioned.
He will be horrified by the action of his mother and father, his speech will be duplicative and will contain much tautology.
He will use rhetorical questions.
There will be much dichotomy between head and heart.
