Inaction/action Flashcards
Coleridge 1819 ‘the intricacies of hamlet’s character…
‘The intricacies of hamlet’s character may be traced to Shakespeare’s deep & accurate science in mental philosophy’
- argues the play was a psychological study of an over-imaginative person with an unwillingness to act, play’s message to act rather than delay
- neoclassical analysis of the mind as a way to explain delay
- Shakespeare deliberately sabotages whole genre of tragedy with tragic hero who refuses to play stole role in which he has been miscast from the whole world
Sigmund Freud 1906 ‘the Oedipus complex provides…
‘The Oedipus complex provides the definitive interpretation of Hamlet’
- rejects Goethe’s idea ‘soul is unfit’ & that his intelligence prevents him
- instead argues he did take action (killing polonius) & argues hamlet’s seitation comes from unconscious mind repressing desire from mother
- deprived term from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (unknowingly killed father & married mother)
- links to Shakespeare himself, play written immediately after death of own father 1601
Goethe 19th ‘Shakespeare meant to represent the…
‘Shakespeare meant to represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit for the performance of it’
- cannot perform fated action of revenge, cannot balance his thoughts & actions bc he is highly intelligent
- cannot reconcile his morality with the horrible act
A.C. Bradley 1904 ‘the shame of his delay…
‘The shame of his delay, would further weaken him & enslave him to his melancholy’
- diagnosed him in his influential study Shakespearean Tragedy, as afflicted by form of depression ‘melancholy’ in Shakespeare’s era
- inaction as a result of ‘inward struggle’ & reluctance to fill role of traditional revenger
Schlegel 1850 ‘hamlet has no….
‘Hamlet has no firm belief either in himself or in anything else’
A.C. Bradley 1904 ‘Laertes and fortinbras are…
‘Laertes and fortinbras are designed to throw the character of the hero into relief’
- act as foils to hamlet’s delay
Coleridge 1819 ‘a sensitive man paralysed…
‘A sensitive man paralysed into inaction by the sheer capacity for thought’
