Hamlet-Critics Flashcards
Hudson (Hamlet and the audience)
-acting is what the play is about
-He is almost more of a part of the world of the audience so that he cannot fully enter that of the play and perform his role as a revenge hero
-We lose Hamlet twice
Schaeffer (Freudian/ Oedipal)
- by killing Claudius, Hamlet would be killing a part of himself
-Claudius= Hamlet’s id; Old Hamlet= Hamlet’s superego
-Hamlet’s id is getting stronger, making it impossible to kill Claudius especially since Old Hamlet is dead
-his superego gets control of his id and he can act
-kills Claudius twice; 1- death of Old Hamlet, 2- death of Hamlet’s id
-any interpretation that Hamlet is delaying out of fear is invalid
Sutcliffe (quests and questions in Hamlet)
-Hamlet is a knight-errant who essentially wanders away from the task set for him by his father
-Hamlet sees himself the opposite of Hercules but ironically he is the equal since he is willing to expose and cause discomfort
-Hamlet at a mythic level carries the weight of the world upon his shoulders
-his philosophical speech ironically exemplifies heroic qualities as he asks a key existential question and is determined to answer it
-by becoming the revenger Hamlet would be playing an inauthentic role
-Hamlet is closer in spirit to a warrior that his father ever imagined
Brown (Marxist, Hamlet’s divided self)
“Hamlet’s duplicity is starkly revealed in his soliloquies, which lay bare his true self, contrasting sharply with the deceptive madness he displays before the court. This duality underscores the divided nature of his identity.”
The Romantics and Hamlet
They saw Hamlet as a figure who embodies the quintessential Romantic hero, marked by introspection, sensitivity, and a profound sense of individualism
Grindlay (power of tears)
delves into the significance of crying as both a genuine expression of inner turmoil and a performative act that can be manipulated or misunderstood
