William Shakespeare’s Hamlet The Renaissance updates tragedy

Standard Issues in Hamlet zIs Hamlet mad or is he feigning madness? zDoes Gertrude know that Claudius killed Old Hamlet? zHave Hamlet and Ophelia had sex? zWhen (if ever) does Hamlet decide to believe the ghost? zShould Hamlet be compared to a Classical Aristotelian tragedy or a Renaissance revenge tragedy?

Traditions of tragic drama inherited by Shakespeare zEuropean drama before Hamlet yclassical Greek and Latin tragedies, comedies, and farces. These lost in the Dark Ages. ymedieval religious drama: lives of saints; re- enactments of Bible stories yRenaissance imitations of classical Latin drama, especially imitations of Seneca’s Latin revenge tragedies. zHamlet first great drama after Euripides.

Shakespeare plays around with received dramatic conventions zOpening scene yRather than opening with highest ranked character or tragic hero, Shakespeare opens with soldiers and delays Hamlet’s entrance. xWe first hear of Fortinbras and meet Laertes (Hamlet’s two rivals) xWe meet Horatio (Hamlet’s friend) and Claudius (his enemy) zNot privileging plot over all other elements yTragedy typically depends on plot; Shakes- peare instead focuses on character and ideas.

Hamlet as first Renaissance drama; Hamlet as first Renaissance man. zPre-Renaissance or pre-modern man yunitary, unified self yman’s social position entirely determined by birth or other outside forces (gods) zRenaissance man ypsychologically complex and multi-layered; internally divided against self yself-made man--idea that man chooses his own experiences, determines his own values

How does Hamlet show its Renaissance character? zThe internal complexity of modern man is reflected in the play’s doublings yBoth Rosencrantz and Guildenstern yA play within a play (and then the play within the play is itself doubled into a dumb show and a play) y2 mad persons: Ophelia and Hamlet zand triplings y3 murdered dads: Fortinbras, Hamlet, Polonius y3 avenging sons: Fortinbras, Hamlet, Laertes