Hamlet Flashcards
Written by, when?
Shakespeare, c. 1600 AD
Shakespeare date of birth and death
b. 1564 Stratford, England. d. 1616 AD
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet comes back from where?
Wittenburg, Germany. Place of the protestant reformation; Shakespeare looks back on Catholic society from a Protestant society
how old is Hamlet
30 years old
3 Revenge plots
Fortinbras for his father’s death, Hamlet for his father’s death, and Laertes for his father’s death
Hamlet is NOT insane
true
Catholic, if Hamlet commits suicide or murders
his soul will go to Hell
Hamlet sees Gertrude and Claudius
incestuous because the Bible says so, but not the law
Ghost comes from
Purgatory; supposed to be a good Christian, but asking his son to kill is not good
Ghost calls Gertrude a whore but tells Hamlet not to do anything to her
Ghost wants Hamlet to trust him, while turning him against Claudius
Hamlet wants what from Claudius?
a verbal admission of guilt, but he downgrades it to “blanch” before the play
Hamlet treats Ophelia
like dirt
Why does Claudius stop the play?
c. 1800 AD
modern obsession with Hamlet starts by the Romantics wondering why Hamlet hesitates
what did the Romantics think about Hamlet?
thought he was too sensitive, like them, to kill, that is why Hamlet hesitates
Hamlet does not
hesitate, he investigates
Genre
Revenge Play
Tropes of the Revenge Play
- sexual crime
- real or pretend madness
- revenger is always a dramatist, almost always a play within the play
- revenger always hesitates and always to investigate
- revenge is taken against the new order in the name of the old order
- Suicide is front and center, freezes the moment
- women are front and center, accept the new order with more ease
Shakespeare does not endorse revenge
True, revenge has always violated civil and religious law
In 5.2, Hamlet
talks about providence; if he leaves it all up to God, revenge most likely isn’t possible now
Hamlet can:
- get immediate revenge - like Laertes
- do nothing - like Ophelia
- investigate
