Hamlet Flashcards
What’s the old, convincing, but ultimately false story for the manuscript history of R&J? Explain.
In 1597 Romeo & Paris put their notes together; Shakespeare corrects for 1599. Neither quarto was licensed–printers wanted to avoid fees. Romeo & Paris weren’t doing anything illegal–so rather than sue (i.e. have patrons complain) just make your own, better copy. Both ed’s are published by the same publisher.
When is the rivalry with the children’s theaters playing out?
1604, 1605.
How old is Hamlet in the various editions?
In Q2 and F, he’s 30; in Q1 he’s 19 or 20
Discuss the change in Hamlet’s age–i.e. the implications of which direction it’s going
If Q1 is a revision, as was popularly believed since its 1823 discovery, then the age is reduced from 30 to 19-20 as a corrective measure. If you think Q1 is first, it’s quite a leap up to 30–why do that? He’s in school. But Shakespeare likes confusing additions…
Which is the first edition of Hamlet?
Each text is prior to the other in some way. We simply don’t know which copy is used to do what. In every case we’re dealing with books, not scripts–books are highly mediated. To turn a play into a book, you have to make changes. You have to describe things for the reader that the audience could simply see on stage.
Why introduce the ghost into Hamlet? The play works perfectly without it.
Without the ghost it’s a purely political play. The ghost makes it revenge tragedy.
Why is Horatio just meeting Hamlet if the king died a month ago?
These are questions that need to be explained in a novel, but not a play.
When Hamlet visits Gertrude in her bedchamber, there are only two crucial questions he should ask: was she implicit in the murder and was she sleeping with Claudius beforehand. What does Hamlet do with these questions and why is this significant?
He asks neither; instead, just tries to convince her to stop sleeping with him now–even though now she’s legally married to him. It’s as if numerous plots are being advanced and accommodated for. Shakespeare likes inconsistencies but they can also indicate that different versions of the play are trying to take the play in many different directions.
Why does Hamlet say no traveler returns from death if he’s seen his father’s ghost?
I don’t know.
What is the end result of every contingency discussed in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy?
Inaction. Four ways of arriving at inaction: to be and suffer it; to be and fight it and die eternally; to be and fight it and die only to awake; not to be.
Describe incest and King Henry VIII
Henry VII’s son Arthur marries Katharine of Aragon. When Arthur dies, she marries Henry VII’s other son, Henry VIII. This is technically incestuous but Pope can grant dispensation.
Relate incest in the (actual) life of Henry VIII to incest in Hamlet
The argument against Gertrude’s relationship being incestuous is H8’s argument; in Hamlet the charge of incest is made by a ghost. (Note: it can only be an “honest ghost,” as Hamlet calls it, according to Catholic doctrine. Protestant doctrine only allows it to be a demon) If Q1 comes first, then all of this ambiguity has been introduced.
How do we get back to what Shakespeare “really wrote”?
We can’t. Get back to what? His rough draft? The original stage draft? The original printing, corrected for mistakes? To go back to a pure Shakespeare is to correct Shakespeare’s errors.
It is sometimes argued that Q2 of Hamlet reflects Sh’s rough draft for the actors. This may or may not be the case. What does the folio edition reflect?
It could be a performing text–the “O vengeance!” and “O, o, o, o, o” bits seem like they are Burbage’s favorite actor-additions/improvisations. But it’s still too long to act. It cuts ~230 lines from Q2, but adds 75 lines (many of which are dispensable). Perhaps the best explanation is that it’s a kind of archival text.
Discuss clowns and clowning in Hamlet (aside from the gravedigger)
When Hamlet is calling the ghost a mole and moving around the stage, it can be part of his antic disposition, but it’s also clownish comedy for the audience. If Shakespeare was playing the ghost, then Shakespeare the writer is making fun of Shakespeare the Ghost. Hamlet, like the fool elsewhere in Shakespeare, is dangerous precisely because he can get in and out of the text. He’s not trapped in his role. (Cf. Stoppard)
