responses to Hamlet

Question 1

Renaissance

Answer 1

Interested in how madness was depicted
Melancholy
Book: 1620 anatomy of the melancholy by richard burton - fascinated by the biological explanations of melancholy
Mad courtiers and ladies on stage, suggested to be inspired by Hamlet
Characters not perceived holistically, just seen as types of people
HAMLET one of the earliest and fully formed human characters in literature (first self-conscious character)

Question 2

Restoration

Answer 2

Shakespeare criticised for not obeying rules of tragedy
ARISTOTLE’S UNITIES (rules for tragedy) = unity of place, unity of time
JOHN EVELYN saw play and thought it was terrible as did not comply to Aristotle’s Unities
Focused on rhetoric and language - Polonius’s puns and Hamlet’s use of ‘low’ language (attacked by critics as did not use lofty rhetoric)
Critics said play was ‘vulgar’
Jeremy Collier criticised ‘Ophelia becomes immodest in her insanity’

Question 3

neoclassical

Answer 3

Admiration for ordered and structured plays, criticised LACK OF ORDER in play
GOTHIC REVIVAL depiction of ghost becomes more fascinating

Question 4

romantic

Answer 4

Hamlet is seen as sensitive and intellectual prince, tortured soul
The world is corrupt but Hamlet as a rational figure is perfect
William Richardson ‘conflict between a sensitive individual and a calloused, seamy world’