Introduction to Hamlet by William Shakespeare “O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.” (Act I, Scene 5)

Type of work Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a Shakespearean tragedy. A tragedy is a work in which the main character undergoes a struggle and suffers a downfall often through their own doing or weakness. Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous play. It is so popular because the issues it deals with are still relevant: Love, Betrayal, Lust and Revenge (it is a revenge play as much as it is a comedy/tragedy). Not to be confused with a Greek Tragedy in which the central character is a demi-god or god-like ruler who’s very life is connected to the well-being of the people and who’s fate is sealed from birth. In Shakespeare's plays, the main character of a tragedy is usually a person of noble heritage. A flaw in his personality, sometimes abetted by fate, brings about his downfall.

Characteristics of a Revenge Play Hero informed of an injustice (usually a ghost). Hero accepts the challenge to right a wrong and begins the plot. Hero confronts the villain. Revenge is achieved in a bloody and horrifying manner.

Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero/Play 1. The character has to be of high power/stature or a noble person (King, General, Nobleman). Must be basically a good person and must matter to us. We must see him as a worthwhile individual. Because of his position his actions must have far-reaching effects.

2. The character must always have some sort of tragic flaw. Tragic Flaw: a serious fault in a character which assists in the fall from high estate. He must possess a character or trait in his personality which, under normal circumstances would be positive but which, under the special circumstances of the play, proves to be a fatal flaw. Although a great man, he often shows promise of further greatness. May have a distorted perception of reality. Suffers outwardly (isolation, alienation, attacks) and inwardly (tortured conscience).

3. It has to be of the free will that the character begins to destroy himself. Frequently makes serious errors in judgment which lead him to committing the deed which ultimately leads to his downfall. Usually makes more errors in judgement following his misdeed.

4. The character always falls because of the decision resulting from the tragic flaw. Usually recognizes his mistakes but too late. He must die.

Facts about Hamlet (The Play) Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play with 4,042 lines The movie “The Lion King” is based off Hamlet. Hamlet is the world’s most filmed story after Cinderella. There are many, many sexual references in Hamlet. There have been over 50 productions of Hamlet for film and TV The original Hamlet was supposed to be quite fat.

More Facts about Hamlet Over 200 women have played the role of Hamlet. Most recently in 2006 when a theatre company in Washington produced an all-female version of Hamlet. Hamlet is the most widely performed play in the world. It is estimated that it is being performed somewhere every single minute of every day. Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play and uncut would take between 4 and 5 hours to perform. Hamlet (the character) has 1530 lines, the most of any character in Shakespeare.

More Facts about Hamlet One of the earliest re-mounts of Hamlet was on board a ship called The Dragon, anchored of the coast of Sierra Leone in 1607. It is believed that Shakespeare appeared in the play as the Ghost at the Globe. In the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of Hamlet in 2009, David Tennant used a real skull as a prop in the gravedigger scene. The skull had belonged to the composer André Tchaikowsky who bequeathed it to the RSC when he died in 1982 ‘for use in theatrical performance’. David Tennant was the first actor to use the skull on stage in a performance.

More Facts about Hamlet The first actor to play Hamlet was Richard Burbage, the lead actor in Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men. The castle in which the play is set really exists. It is called Kronborg castle and was built in the Danish port of Helsingør in 1420s by the Danish king, Eric of Pomerania. At the end of every play performed at the Globe, four dancers, two dressed as women, would perform an upbeat, bawdy song and dance routine called a jig – even if the play was a tragedy like Hamlet.

More Facts about Hamlet Where now we say ‘I’m going to see a play’ in Elizabethan times, people talked about ‘going to hear a play’. Shakespeare advertises his own work in the play. When Polonius interrupts the players and proclaims that he enacted Julius Caesar and was ‘accounted a good actor’ in Act 3 scene 2, he is reminding the audience that he will soon be starring in Shakespeare’s production of Julius Caesar.

About the play Written: 1599-1601 Publication Dates: Three different texts of Hamlet were published in Shakespeare’s time: 1. The Revenge of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was entered in the Stationer’s Register in 1603 and is now known as the First Quarto. Considered to have been a pirated edition, assembled from the memories of actors, and is full of inaccuracies. 2. A second Quarto appeared in 1604. Believed to have been printed from Shakespeare’s own manuscript, it was inscribed: “newly imprinted and enlarged to almost as much againe as it was, according to the true and perfect Coppie.” This version is the source of most modern editions. 3. A revised, cut, version of the Second Quarto appeared in the First Folio of 1623. This version is believed to have been revised from a prompt book or actor’s copy of the script, since the lines that have been cut are literary rather than dramatic.

Probable Main Sources for Hamlet A key source for Shakespeare was the third book of Gesta Danorum (The Deeds of the Danes), a Latin work by Saxo Grammaticus (1150?-1220?). It recounts the stories of 60 kings of Danish lands in Books 1 to 9 of the 16-volume work. Book 3 tells the tale of Amleth (the model for Hamlet) as he avenges the murder of his father, Horwendil, at the hands of Feng.

Probable Sources cont. In Grammaticus' tale, Amleth lives on and becomes King of Jutland. It is possible that Saxo Grammaticus based his tale on an Icelandic saga called Amli. The Amleth tale was retold in Histoires Tragiques, by Francois de Belleforest. Shakespeare may also have drawn upon a lost play by Thomas Kyd (1558-1594). Referred to as Ur-Hamlet (the prefix ur means original) and a surviving Kyd play, The Spanish Tragedy (also spelled The Spanish Tragedie). The presentation of the character Hieronimo could have inspired Shakespeare's probing analysis of Hamlet.

Probable Sources cont. Regarding Ur-Hamlet, Shakespeare critic and scholar Peter Alexander editor of a popular edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, first published in 1951 maintains that Ur-Hamlet was actually written by Shakespeare between 1587 and 1589 as a draft of the final version. Possible additional sources for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: 10th Century Celtic tale about a warrior named Amhlaide and an 11th Century Persian tale from The Book of Kings (Shah-nameh), by Abu Ol-qasem Mansur.

The Setting of the play: Denmark

Important Terms Aside: An aside is a device that playwrights and filmmakers use in order to reveal inner thoughts and judgments of characters directly to the audience. Asides are necessary, since the viewer has no immediate access to those thoughts and feelings other than hearing them spoken on stage. An aside reveals secrets that the character cannot share with others; it can also be a way for one of the characters to pass judgment on a main plot event. 

Terms Continued Soliloquy: an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play. What’s the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue? In a soliloquy, the speaker isn't addressing anyone as the person is usually alone. A monologue may be addressed to other characters or the audience. It also is that a soliloquy is more or less something that is thought.