Hamlet: 'What Happens in Hamlet' John Dover Wilson criticism.

Question 1

‘The throne was the centre of Elizabethan political life.’

Answer 1

For an audience of the 17th Century viewing the play, the fact that Claudius succeeded King Hamlet is shocking. However to a present day one, it’s far from shocking. John Dover Wilson expresses that as Hamlet brings up the fact Claudius usurped him so late in the play, means that Shakespeare did not think it necessary to make it plainer, he knew the audience would assume the situation from the outset.

Question 2

‘A little more than kin and less than kind.’ (1.2)

Answer 2

Alliteration fixes the words in the memory. ‘Less than kind’ a sinister point that is not easily apparent. For an elizabethan audience, the surface meaning is clear enough. It refers to Hamlets disappointment that he did not succeed his father.

Question 3

The conventional idea of usurping

Answer 3

If Shakespeare has intended to make use of this conventional idea, he would of made it clear earlier in the play. He could assume that the audience would interpret usurption without any emphasis on hid part. Such realisation only meant interpreting the Danish constitution in English terms. (Could this then mean that Shakespeare didnt intend usurping to be interpreted?). When in act 5 scene 2 Hamlet uses the word ‘election’, It becomes safe to say that Shakespeare did mean for it to be read in English terms, as the throne Of Elizabeth and James was an elective one.