Hamlet ~ Critics and performances Flashcards
Hamlet
Smith
“Hamlet bears the name of a dead man, his very identity is being caught up in the past”
Hamlet
Johnson
“Hamlet is an instrument rather an agent”
Hamlet
Goethe
“All duties seem holy for Hamlet”
Hamlet
W. Knight
“Hamlet is an element of evil in the state of Denmark”
Hamlet + Gertrude
Smith
“Hamlet seems obsessed with Gertrude as a sex object”
Gertrude
Smith
“Gertrude is caught m miserably at the centre of a desperate struggle between two mighty opposites”
Ophelia
Showalter
“ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality, and language”
Claudius
Altick
“The cunning and lecherousness of Claudius’s evil has corrupted the whole kingdom of Denmark”
Horatio
Hudson
“he is at all times superbly self contained”
Polnius + Ophelia
Smith
“trained his daughter to be obedient and chaste”
Polonius
Smith
“seems to love his children, he seems to hate the welfare of the kingdom in mind, his actions however are totally corrupt”
Laertes
Hoye
“susceptible to emotional rather than rational justification”
Laertes
Gardner
“unthinking Laertes”
Tree
Comedy
“The key comic element of the play is madness”
Belsey
Revenge
“Revenge is always in excess of justice”
Bucher
Revenge
“Revengers create their own civil justice”
Synder
Comedy
“comedy can be seen as the grounds for which tragedy develops”
Hamlet = David Tennant
2009- Gregory Doran
Claudius chooses to drink from cup (usually hamlet forces him)
Gertrude = more maternal
Hamlet = Papa Suedo
2016- Simon Godain
Ophelias madness
Laertes lines delivered more menacing than angry, not as sustained in anger as interpreted.
Hamlet = Cush Jumbo
2021- Greg Hersor
comedic tone
word play
