Hamlet Critical Views Flashcards

1
Q

Oedipus Complex - Joes

A

‘Hamlet’s interview with his mother… expresses itself in that most physical disgust which is so characteristic of intensely ‘repressed’ sexual feeling’

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2
Q

Inaction - Bradley

A

‘Hamlet is unable to carry out the sacred duty, imposed by divine authority, of punishing an evil man by death’

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3
Q

Duty - Van Goethe

A

‘all duties seem holy for Hamlet’

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4
Q

Indecision - Swinburne

A

‘the single characteristic of Hamlet’s innermost nature is by no means irresolution or hesitation but rather the strong conflux of contending forces’

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5
Q

Instrument - Johnson

A

‘Hamlet is… rather an instrument than an agent’

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6
Q

Villainy - Knight

A

‘he is in fact the poison in the veins of the community’

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7
Q

Overthinking - Bradley

A

‘tragedy of thought’

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8
Q

Intellect - Bradley

A

‘is connected with intellectual nature rather than with any yielding passion’

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9
Q

Misogyny - Showalter

A

‘Ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality and language… she represents the strong emotions that the Elizabethans thought womanish’

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10
Q

Revenge - Goldman

A

‘the Ghost has brought purgatory into the real world as Hamlet can’t rest until he’s taken revenge’

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11
Q

Religious context - Campbell and Quinn

A

‘Hamlet is no Pagan avenger of Icelandic saga, but a Christian Elizabethan who adopted the current confused beliefs of his age about ghosts’

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12
Q

Female madness - Showalter

A

‘representational bonds between female insanity and female sexuality’

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13
Q

Polonius’ character - Smith

A

‘Polonius seems to love his children; he seems to have the welfare of the kingdom in mind. His means of action, however, are totally corrupt’

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14
Q

Polonius corruption - Smith

A

‘trained his daughter to be obedient and chaste and is able to use her as a piece of bait for spying’

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15
Q

Gertrude - Graf

A

‘is in fact protecting her son from the man who murdered her husband’

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16
Q

Gertrude’s sexuality - Mabillard

A

‘it is her sexuality that turns Hamlet so violently against her’

17
Q

Incest - Jones

A

‘Hamlet has a deeper loathing for Claudius’ incest with the Queen then the murder of his own father’

18
Q

Disease and corruption - Muir

A

‘a sense of infection surrounds both Claudius’ crime and guilt in Gertrude’s sin’

19
Q

Claudius is responsible - Altick

A

‘the cunning and lecherousness of Claudius’ evil has corrupted the whole kingdom of Denmark’

20
Q

Honour - Watson (the S of H, the D for V, is then DI in the S of the RG))

A

‘the sense of honour, the desire for virtue, is then deeply implanted in the soul of the Renaissance gentleman’

21
Q

Purgatory - American Heritage Dictionary

A

‘a state in which the souls of those who have died in grace must expiate their sins’

22
Q

Religious obligation - Matheson

A

‘for him it carries the residual force of a religious obligation’

23
Q

Fate and Hamlet - Bradley (B in the E of a DO, but at the same TF himself to be C in a W of F over which he has no C)

A

‘believes in the existence of a divine order, but at the same time feels himself to be caught in a web of fate over which he has no control’

24
Q

On Laertes as a foil for Hamlet - Todd

A

‘he is an impulsive man of action’

25
Q

Hamlet’s lack of action - Hazlitt

A

‘his ruling passion is to think not to act’

26
Q

Morality and inaction - Bluer (HI his R, K it would be W to C C-B M and lower himself to the M L of C’

A

‘Hamlet intellectualises his revenge, knowing to would be wrong to commit cold-blooded murder and lower himself to the moral level of Claudius’

27
Q

Differences in revenge - Macrae (HR is PR. F is M, S-A R. L is a C and P R’

A

‘Hamlet’s revenge is pure revenge. Fortinbras’ is militaristic, strong-arm revenge. Laertes’ is a corrupt and poisoned revenge’

28
Q

Claudius’ leadership - Schofield

A

‘He has the persuasiveness and physical courage of a ruler, but is morally empty’