Hamlet Critics

Question 1

Jamieson (Satisfaction)

Answer 1

Claudius dies too late for Hamlet to derive any satisfaction from it

Question 2

Claudius dies too late for Hamlet to derive any satisfaction from it

Answer 2

Jamieson

Question 3

Jamieson (afterthought)

Answer 3

‘revenge as an afterthought and in many ways anticlimatic’

Question 4

‘revenge as an afterthought and in many ways anticlimatic’

Answer 4

Jamieson

Question 5

Hazlitt (prince)

Answer 5

Hamlet is the ‘prince of philosophical speculators’

Question 6

Hamlet is the ‘prince of philosophical speculators’

Answer 6

Hazlitt

Question 7

Belsey

Answer 7

Revenge is extremist

Question 8

Revenge is extremist

Answer 8

Belsey

Question 9

Bell

Answer 9

Hamlet the play fulfils the conventional revenge tragedy - eruption of violence at the end

Question 10

Hamlet the play fulfils the conventional revenge tragedy - eruption of violence at the end

Answer 10

Bell

Question 11

Hazlitt (emotions)

Answer 11

Hamlet embodies a whole range of human emotions

Question 12

Hamlet embodies a whole range of human emotions

Answer 12

Hazlitt

Question 13

Hazlitt (will)

Answer 13

hamlet has no strength of will but has refinement of feeling

Question 14

hamlet has no strength of will but has refinement of feeling

Answer 14

Hazlitt

Question 15

Kastan (profound)

Answer 15

Shakespearean tragedy’s are profound as there are no clear cut answers to the reasons behind human suffering

Question 16

Shakespearean tragedy’s are profound as there are no clear cut answers to the reasons behind human suffering

Answer 16

Kastan

Question 17

Kastan (absense)

Answer 17

it is Shakespeare’s absense of answers that makes his writing so compelling, the uncertainty is the point

Question 18

Bluer

Answer 18

Hamlet delays a violent act because it’s fundamentally not in his nature

Question 19

Hamlet delays a violent act because it’s fundamentally not in his nature

Answer 19

Bluer

Question 20

Cantor

Answer 20

Hamlet’s religious beliefs intervene to ensure the damnation of his soul

Question 21

Hamlet’s religious beliefs intervene to ensure the damnation of his soul

Answer 21

Cantor

Question 22

Bacon

Answer 22

Revenge is a kind of wild justice

Question 23

Revenge is a kind of wild justice

Answer 23

Bacon

Question 24

Molony

Answer 24

The players held up a mirror to him, and in his newfound reflection he tries out some anger to see how it fits… but its empty noise

Question 25

The players held up a mirror to him, and in his newfound reflection he tries out some anger to see how it fits… but its empty noise

Answer 25

Molony

Question 26

Coleridge

Answer 26

Hamlet loses the power of action in the energy of resolve

Question 27

Hamlet loses the power of action in the energy of resolve

Answer 27

Coleridge

Question 28

Adelman

Answer 28

‘he is only interested in saving his mother due to fears about her sexuality’
‘more motivated by his mother than his father’

Question 29

Ryan

Answer 29

the main cause of the whole tragic chain of events is Hamlet’s compulsion to postpone

Question 30

‘he is only interested in saving his mother due to fears about her sexuality’
‘more motivated by his mother than his father’

Answer 30

Adelman

Question 31

the main cause of the whole tragic chain of events is Hamlet’s compulsion to postpone

Answer 31

Ryan

Question 32

Bate

Answer 32

Hamlet, like a senecan tragic hero, cannot be easily defined as hero or villain

Question 33

Hamlet, like a senecan tragic hero, cannot be easily defined as hero or villain

Answer 33

Bate

Question 34

Bradley (women)

Answer 34

because of gertrudes incestuous wedlock, hamlet is ‘poisoned’ against women
and therefore Ophelia as she is a woman

Question 35

What is the feminist criticism?

Answer 35

gender roles have little to do with how people are but rather how society views them

Question 36

Bloom

Answer 36

‘we are horatio, hamlet’s perpetual audience’ - dramatic irony, the audience forms a relationship with Hamlet through his stream of conscience

Question 37

‘we are horatio, hamlet’s perpetual audience’ - dramatic irony, the audience forms a relationship with Hamlet through his stream of conscience

Answer 37

Bloom

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Smith

Question 39

Smith

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Kerregan

Answer 40

He is surrounded by people that remind him of the dead king

remembrance haunts him, even to the point of madness

the ghost condemns hamlet to an endless fruitless yearning for a lost figure

hamlet never promises to revenge, only remember

Question 41

He is surrounded by people that remind him of the dead king

remembrance haunts him, even to the point of madness

the ghost condemns hamlet to an endless fruitless yearning for a lost figure

hamlet never promises to revenge, only remember

Answer 41

Kerregan