Hamlet by William Shakespeare

A Brief Introduction to Hamlet Hamlet is a play that has fascinated audiences and readers since it was first written in around 1601-1604 The play centers around Hamlet’s decision whether or not to avenge the murder of his father, the King of Denmark. This weight of this decision drives all the other action and relationships in the play. Hamlet is part of an old tradition of revenge plays, and is based on an old oral legend about Amleth, a prince whose father was killed by his uncle, who then married his mother. Amleth pretends to be mad, while plotting how to avenge his father’s death, and eventually is able to kill his uncle.

Who and What is Hamlet? Critics have read this character as A tragic figure whose flaw is an unwillingness to act A representative of the human psyche (most famously Freud and Jung) A modern individual fighting against the “old ways” of seeing and being in the world Shakespeare took the basic plotline and created 5 stories in one! Family Drama – An uncle has married the wife of his brother. Love Story – Young love is forced apart by circumstance Madness – A young prince may or may not have gone mad. Revenge Play – death, murder, suicide, ghosts! Political Thriller– Who should have the throne?

Hamlet as Political Survivor Elsinore = Island Political Alliances Plotting Scheming Backstabbing Real vs. Acting Illicit Hookups Getting voted off Permanently

Hamlet: The First “Modern Man?” Hamlet is also a play concerned with the question “Who Am I?” First line of the play➔ “Who’s there?” Is our role in life defined by fate? Family? Our own choices? Are we completely alone in the world, or are we irrevocably tied to others? Hamlet’s struggle with these “existential” questions has led critics such as Harold Bloom and Freud to suggest that Hamlet is a representation of a fully modern man Able to look at the stupidity, falsity, difficulty and sham of everyday life, without relying on easy answers

Key Thematic Questions in Hamlet Revenge vs. Justice What is the difference between revenge and justice? Is one more moral than the other? Does the act of revenge irrevocably change an individual? Action vs. Inaction Is action always virtuous? Is it possible to take action in a world where nothing is ever certain (i.e. morally black and white) Fate vs. Autonomy Do we have control over the shape of our own lives? Are our roles in life always preordained? Appearance vs. Reality Is deceit a fundamental part of the way society functions? Is life a series of “parts” that we “act” in order to get by? Is there a “truth” under all the appearances in our lives?

Key Thematic Questions in Hamlet Madness Is insanity just a sane way of reacting to the madness of the world around us? Loyalty and Betrayal What constitutes loyalty? To whom do we owe loyalty? Family? Lovers? State? Ourselves? What happens when loyalties conflict? Old Worlds vs. New Worlds How does one function when caught between two world views? What are the emotional/psychological/physical costs of this struggle?

Topics in Hamlet Death/dead bodies Murder Suicide Disease Graves Adultery Incest Sex Madness Spying/mystery/intrigue Deception/betrayal

Structural Devices in Hamlet

Dramatic Devices in Hamlet Crisis: The moment or event in the plot where the conflict is the most directly addressed; the main character wins or loses; the secret is revealed; the ending of the story becomes inevitable Usually found in Act III Climax (Catastrophe): High point of tension and conflict; marks a major turning point for one or more of the characters Usually found in Act V Literary Devices Review the devices on the handout and become familiar with them – it will be expected that you know and can refer to them while discussing the play.

Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.

Motif of Misogyny Shattered by his mother's repugnant decision to marry Claudius so soon after her husband's death, Hamlet becomes extremely cynical, even neurotic, about women in general, showing a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption.

“Frailty, thy name is woman” This motif of misogyny, or hatred of women, occurs only sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important inhibiting factor in Hamlet's relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude. He urges Ophelia to go to a nunnery rather than experience the corruptions of sexuality and exclaims of Gertrude, "Frailty, thy name is woman"

Motif of Ears and Hearing One facet of Hamlet's exploration of the difficulty of attaining true knowledge is slipperiness of language. Words are used to communicate ideas, but they can also be used to distort the truth, manipulate other people, and serve as tools in corrupt quests for power. Claudius, the shrewd politician, is the most obvious example of a man who manipulates words to enhance his own power.

Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Yorick’s Skull Hamlet is not a particularly symbolic play, at least in the sense that physical objects are rarely used to represent thematic ideas. One important exception is Yorick's skull, which Hamlet discovers in the graveyard in the first scene of Act V.

Different Aspects of Death As Hamlet speaks to and about the skull of the king's former jester, it becomes a symbol of several different aspects of death, including its inevitability and its disintegration of the body. Hamlet urges the skull to "get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come"—no one can avoid death. He also traces the skull's mouth and says, "Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft," indicating his fascination with the physical consequences of death.

Decay of the Human Body This latter idea is an important motif throughout the play, as Hamlet frequently makes comments referring to every human body's eventual decay, noting that Polonius will be eaten by worms, that even kings are eaten by worms, and that dust from the decayed body of Alexander the Great might be used to stop a hole in a beer barrel.

Hamlet as Pop Culture