Hamlet Themes 4 thursday

Question 1

Revenge - Hamlet

Answer 1

–> Revenge on Claudius for Old Hamlet.
–> “Spur my dull revenge”
–> Hamlet struggles to take action and struggles philosophically with moral problems with revenge. Decision vs Indecision
–> “Procrastinating Prince” (Kiernan Ryan, 2016)

Question 2

Revenge - Laetes

Answer 2

–> Intent for revenge on Hamlet for Polonius & Ophelia
–> Doesn’t have any moral issues with revenge
–> Claudius manipulates him
–> Revenge leads to his downfall

Question 3

Revenge - Fortinbras

Answer 3

–> Revenge on Denmark for King Fortinbras
–> Wants to reclaim land, achieve political goal & restore family name
–> Decisive, bold and determined

Question 4

Madness - Hamlet

Answer 4

–> Decides to act mad to collect information and prevent suspicion
–> Ambigious of feigned or unfeigned madness - Blackmore
–> Consequences:
- Isolation and separation from Ophelia & Gertrude
- Hesitation and Indecision
- Ending - killing Polonius leads to everyone’s downfall
–> Political corruption of society - Hamlet’s madness is a reflection of society, Ryan

Question 5

Madness - Ophelia

Answer 5

–> Caused by murder of Polonius & Hamlets rejection of her love
–> Deteriorating mental state
- Effect of trauma and emotional turmoil

Question 6

Appearance vs Reality - Claudius

Answer 6

–> Appears to be a kind & compassionate king but is actually a manipulative corrupt and ruthless murderer
–> Only cares about maintaining power
–> Righteous exterior is cultivated to hide corruption

Question 7

Appearance vs Reality - Hamlet

Answer 7

–> Madness covers up true intentions - Killing Claudius
–> Appears to be in love with Ophelia but later says he never had feelings for her
–> Self-doubt & indecisiveness makes it difficult to determine his true character

Question 8

Appearance vs Reality - Gertrude

Answer 8

–> Appears to be a loyal wife and loving mother, however:
- Married husband’s brother/murderer
- Not aware or concerned about Hamlet’s mental state

Question 9

Death & Decay

Answer 9

–> Yorick’s skull - a reminder of the inevitability of death
- Turner’s 2015 production starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Icke’s 2018 production starring Andrew Scott - both are fascinated by the skull and death as a whole
–> Gravediggers are numb to the idea of death as they sing whilst burying Ophelia’s body
–> Ophelia’s death and the ambiguity surrounding it

Question 10

Death - Elsinore

Answer 10

–> Death restores order in Elsinore
- Nobody left to be avenged

Question 11

Death - Hamlet

Answer 11

–> He contemplates the nature of death and in the “to be or not to be” monologue he reflects on the idea of suicide as an escape from the suffering of life
–> Becomes obsessed with death, his vulnerability to it and its inevitability
- This shapes his decisions throughout the play

Question 12

Family Relationships

Answer 12

–> Father-Son = Hamlet mourns his father’s death and avenges him, a strong bond between father and son
–> Mother-Son = Hamlet is disturbed by Gertrude’s hasty marriage, criticises her betrayal and loyalty
- Oedipus complex
–> Hamlet & Ophelia = Ophelia is torn between love for Hamlet and loyalty for Polonius
- his rejection breaks her heart and possibly triggers her madness
–> Hamlet & Claudius = Hamlet resents him as he betrayed his father and is ambitious for power
- Hamlet becomes obsessed with revenge - possible feigned madness