Hamlet Context Flashcards
Seneca
An ancient playwright who developed the genre of tragedy
The Spanish Tragedy- Thomas Kyd
Features a ghost who asked for his death to be avanged and also a character named Horatio
Shakespeare’s past works
Hamlet is more focused on the exploration and complexity of the mind rather than just violence and sensationalism
Fear of supernatural
Witchcraft Act- 1542
Daemonologie- King James I
Fears about succession
There was fear about who would take the throne after Elizabeth I as she had no clear successors, she had ruled for over 40 years a peaceful reign after the turmoil caused by her father Henry VIII, breaking away from the Catholic Church.
Mary Queen of Scots
Gertrude- both didn’t observe proper mourning for their husbands and married the man that was thought to have killed them
Elizabeth I and femininity
Speech in Spanish Armarda 1588- “I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I Have the heart of a king, and of a king of England too.”
Petrarchan lover- desirable but untouched
Virgin Queen
Hamnet
1596- Shakespeare’s son died, play could have been influenced by this
Surveillance
In 1570, once Elizabeth has been excommunicated and labelled a heretic, she was made an enemy of the Catholic state, so she established a spy network to combat hidden threats- led by Sir Francis Walsingham
The Four Humours
Certain personality straights stemmed from body fluids.
gall- aggression
Renaissance and Humanism
‘man as the measure of all things’
rebirth of questioning and curiosity
contrast to Medieval era
The Great Chain of Being
Elizabethans believed that God created a social order for everyone, so betraying this would be blasphemy. Claudius commiting regicide would also be blasphemy.
Revenge and Blood Feuds
They would be settled through a duel or other violent retribution. This was done to maintain the family’s honour and reputation.
Machiavelli and the Prince
Claudius as scheming and Machiavellian is perhaps influenced by Nicollo Machiavelli a writer who suggested that in order to achieve goals, one may have to act ignobly
“everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”
