Hamlet context

Question 1

What were Shakespeare first tragedies like?

Answer 1

violent and sensationalised cruelty like those of Seneca

Question 2

Why is Hamlet considered unique?

Answer 2

it is Shakespeare’s most elaborate exploration of a single mind

Question 3

When was the Witchcraft Act?

Answer 3

1542 - Witchcraft was punishable by death

Question 4

Who wrote daemonologie?

Answer 4

King James 1st wrote it which warned of the dangers of black magic

Question 5

What is the revenge tragedy?

Answer 5

a sub-genre of tragedy which became popular around the Renaissance era.

Question 6

What play does Hamlet borrow heavily from/

Answer 6

Hamlet borrows heavily from Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ which was performed approx 10 yrs prior to Hamlet.

Question 7

What similarities are there between Hamlet and ‘The Spanish Tragedy’?

Answer 7

Both plays feature ghosts, madness and a character called Horatio.

Question 8

When was Hamlet first performed and how does this relate to Elizabeth 1st?

Answer 8

First performed in 1601 when Elizabeth was 67 when people were concerned she was going to pass away and she had no kids to inherit the throne.

Question 9

Why did Shakespeare set Hamlet in Denmark?

Answer 9

Shakespeare could explore controversial issues without worrying about The Bishops Ban of 1599 which banned plays which were deemed to be blasphemous or dangerous.

Question 10

Queen Elizabeth and the patriarchal society

Answer 10

she conducted her relationships as a Petrarchan lover (woman is untouchable) and she had to act as a man.

Question 11

What did Queen Elizabeth say in regard to her masculinity?

Answer 11

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have a heart of a king and a king of England, too’

Question 12

When was Queen Elizabeth’s quote said?

Answer 12

said in a speech to the troops facing the Spanish Armada, 1588.

Question 13

When was Queen Elizabeth excommunicated?

Answer 13

In 1570 by Pope Pius V and labelled a heretic for making England a Protestant nation. this made her an enemy of the Catholic state.

Question 14

Who was Queen Elizabeth’s spy network established by?

Answer 14

Sir Francis Walsingham, one of Elizabeth’s most loyal ministers.

Question 15

What did the efficiency of the spy network lead to?

Answer 15

this unearthed a series of plots to overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary Queen Of Scots.

Question 16

Who was Gertrude influenced by?

Answer 16

Mary Queen of Scots who was the cousin of Elizabeth I.

Question 17

What similarities do Mary and Gertrude have?

Answer 17

They both failed to observe a proper period of mourning following the death of their husbands. They also went on to marry the men who were thought to have murdered their husbands.