Formalist (Hamlet) Deen McKinley David Wilkie Devon Colquitt

 Analysing the elements of form (style, imagery, character, plot, tone, etc.) within a text. The literary work is approached as independent systems with inter-dependent parts. Critical Approaches to Literature Handout

 Diction / Tone  Irony  Paradox  Metaphor  Symbol  Plot  Characterization  Setting  Point of View What do formalists focus on?

 Concern on work itself rather than with literary history  Meaning of literary work discovered through detailed analysis of formal elements  Do not go outside the work to consider issues  No political / ideological / biographical / psychological view  Greatest literature is “universal”  Literary work is independent Formalist Criticism View

 Tension refers to the way elements of a text’s language reflect conflict and opposition.  Ambiguity refers to the ways texts remain open to more than a single, unified, definitive interpretation.  Structuralism (complexity in how a work is arranged) / Deconstruction (relationship between form and meaning in a work) Tension & Ambiguity

 Realize that all the elements necessary for understanding the work are contained within the work itself  Determine how much elements work together with the work’s content to shape its effects upon readers  A way of viewing different pieces of art  Find the difference between denotation (what a word really means) and connotation (what a word suggests or implies) Purpose

 Inciting moment, Exposition, Rising Action, Complication, Climax, Reversal, Falling Action, Catastrophe, Moment of Suspense, Conclusion  Ghost King Hamlet, murder of King Hamlet  Ghost explains to Hamlet about his murder  Everyone dies but justice is served, Fortinbras to Denmark  To seek revenge for King Hamlet’s death  Play follows a strict structure, event after event Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 Each incident or decision of the play is a set up for what’s about to happen next  Each part of Hamlet changes the decision making process of a character which changes the state of mind of a character (Death of King Hamlet creates madness to Hamlet, madness to Hamlet creates death in Polonius, death to Polonius creates madness in Ophelia, etc.) Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 No narrator (most soliloquies by Hamlet)  Hamlet introduced by ghost of father and revealed by his own thoughts said aloud  Actions / Decision making process / Stories from other characters Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 Major  Hamlet (King Hamlet’s son)  Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle, Gertrude’s husband, king)  Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother, Claudius’ wife, queen)  Horatio (Scholar, friend of royalty)  Minor  Francisco (Guard)  Marcellus (Guard)  Gravediggers (Clowns) Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 Written in 1601, Denmark  Kingdom, classification of people, treason, jealousy, tragedy, revenge  University represents intelligence  Kingdom represents power and wealth Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 Descriptive, ancient, old, English, lots of imagery, similes and metaphors  “Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.” Hamlet to Polonious  To create an image and describe a situation or object in greater detail  Hamlet is displaying his hatred for Polonius and is calling him a “pimp” because he does “not recognize” him Formalist Perspective and Hamlet

 esources/GlossaryDramaLitTerms.htm esources/GlossaryDramaLitTerms.htm   ormalism ormalism Online Resources