Hamlet: contexts

Question 1

Jacobean Succession

Answer 1

there were debates around whether the throne should be elected or inherited. James VI was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots who had been executed by Elizabeth I.
- James was desired by some, but feared by others
- the succession was widely discussed despite there being a ban on doing so
- ultimately James took the english throne as James I of England, or James VI of Scotland

Question 2

critical material for the Jacobean Succession by Professor Paulina Kewes and Professor Andrew Mcrae

Answer 2

‘In Medieval Denmark, we witness two monarchs killed in quick succession, and the foreign claimant gaining the throne essentially by conquest. On the other hand, in England we see the foreign James peacefully accepted by his new subjects, and proceeding to unite the crowns of England and Scotland’

Question 3

the renaissance: andrew dickson

Answer 3

• redisocvery of Greek and Roman culture in the late 1300s and 1400s, it was transitional, and grew across europe beginning with the decline in influence of Roman catholic christian doctrine in the late 1300s in Italy with the printing press later being published in 1440 and the rise of grammar schools in England
• soon came the reformation
• Polymaths such as Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon and writers such as Shakespeare were at work during this time

Question 4

the renaissance by Andrew Dickson critical material quote hamlet’s morality. ‘…as war raged and protestant and catholic nations…’

Answer 4

‘the political conseuqnces for Europe were violent, as war raged and protestant and catholic nations and citizens vied for control’

Question 5

the reformation - Brian cummings

Answer 5

tore apart europe for 150 years
- martin luther nailed his 92 theses to the door of wittenberg university church
- published a german translation of the bible in 1534
- Hamlet’s father belongs to the pre-reformation catholic church, and is stuck in purgatory to repent for his mistakes
- ‘Hamlet’s father belongs to the world of pre-reformation catholic europe’

Question 6

globalisation

Answer 6

hamlet is a modern renaissance elizabethan character who is placed in the medieval world
- as an elizabethan character, he is part of the renaissance era movement, which at its core debated the nature of man
- old hamlet represents the medieval, chivalric world, whereas hamlet represents renaissance and globalisation

Question 7

humoral theory

Answer 7

• ancient account of human nature by Hippocrates
• ‘melancholy is the result of the heavy humour, black bile’ - Hebron, ‘in praise of melancholy’

Question 8

machiavellianism

Answer 8

• Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an italian diplomat, politican, historian, philosopher, humanist, writer, playwright and poet of the renaissance period
• ‘Machiavellian’ connotes political deciet, deviousness, and realpolitik.
• Machievelli described immoral behaviour, such as dishonesty and the killing of innocents, as being normal and effective in politics
• ‘Machiavellian’ is used as a pejorative to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort machiavelli advised.

Question 9

francis walsingham

Answer 9

• Elizabeth I’s chief spymaster
• part of Elizabeth’s spy network called ‘watchers’
• Francis Walsingham uncovered many unsuccessful plots against Elizabrth

Question 10

humanism

Answer 10

late 14th/15th century intellectual movement that emphasised the value of individual humnan potential, reason, and self awareness. Hamlet has many humanistic qualities:
- intellectual curiosity
- emphasis on individual agency
- moral and ethical reflection
- appreciation of human complexity
- emotional depth
- scepticism
- exploration of human morality
- struggle with identity

Question 11

relativism

Answer 11

• clash between traditional values and progressive attitudes
• the play challenges the notion of truth in its tehems of deception, uncertainty and ambiguity of truth
• this blur suggests that what one character percieves as true may be subject to interpretation or manipulation by others
• hamlet explores the meaning of life, the inevitability of death, and the xistential anguish of human conditions.
• hamlet’s questioning resonate with the relativistic notion that life’s meaning may be subjective nad onctingent upon individual perspective or circumstance.