hamlet critics Flashcards
wilson on hamlet
“Hamlet recognises himself as an instrument of justice”
Leverenz on hamlet and women
“Hamlets disgust at the feminine passivity in himself is translated as a violent revulsion towards women, and his brutal behaviour towards ophelia”
Elaine Showalter on Ophelia
“the romantic Ophelia is a girl who feels too much, who drowns in feeling”
Myron Taylor on Ophelias death
“her aimless death neither suicide nor accident, symbolises her aimless life”
Richard Vardy on Polonius
“polonius is instrumental to the seizure and control of power, and is at the heart of this corrupt and oppressive state”
Kilman on polonius
“he eagerly plays the spy”
Lowell on Hamlet
“Hamlets disposition reflects both his mothers and his fathers personality, his intentions are countered by weak performance”
Bush on Hamlets revenge
“Hamlets revenge is barbaric and holy at the same time”
Kelby on Gertrude
“her character is so opaque and difficult to judge that Hamlet and the audience are forced to reach their own conclusions”
Rohmann on Ophelia
“Ophelia is the mirror image of Hamlet - the angry child of a murdered father bent on revenge, but ultimately powerless”
A. Mallibard on Claudius
“when we first meet Claudius, he seems to us like an intelligent and capable ruler”
Belsey on revenge
“revenge exists on a margin between justice and crime”
Kerrigan on Hamlet and remembrance
“remembrance haunts him, even to the point of madness”
Benedict Cumberbatch’s 2015 performance
- rubble is on stage throughout the play, as if it is rotting or decaying
- soliloquy very emotional, tears, sense of being lost in thought
Kate Winslets Ophelia 1996
her madness is childlike and still feminine
Smith on Gertrude
“Gertrude’s main interest is to please men”
Maxwell on gertrude
“Gertrude is weak until the end of the play when her only demonstration of independence is her death”
Penny Downies Gertrude 2009
she wears a wig to hide age and smokes and drinks to show her inability to cope
Mariah Gales Ophelia 2009
cracked mirror, her madness is frightening and erratic, gives her some sort of power
Mallibard on Horatio
“Horatio feels deeply, he loves Hamlet with all his heart”
RSC performance 2016 - final scene
- Hamlet and Laertes share emotional moment of forgiveness
- Horatio holds Hamlet as he does
- Hamlet passing on his power and Horatio demonstrating his true care for Hamelt
Morgan on R+G
“they were willing tools of Claudius”
Altick on Polonius
“it’s his readiness to spy on others that brings about his downfall”
Goethe on Hamlets soul
“poetic and morally sensitive soul”
