1. An Introduction to Hamlet
World Literature 2
November 9
An Introduction to Hamlet

2. Today’s Agenda Today’s Objectives Unit Letters?
Introduction to Shakespeare & Hamlet
Library - Return/Check Out Books
Today’s Objectives
Students will understand the history of Shakespeare’s life and career as a writer.
Students will know the characters, themes, literary devices, and allusions required for Hamlet.

3. Shakespeare Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon- Avon
Married Anne Hathaway 26 in 1582.
First child, Susanna, was born in May
Soon after, they had twins.

4. Shakespeare
Disappeared in and emerged in London in 1592 as an actor/writer.
Part owner of the Globe Theater
Died April 23, 1616

5. The Globe Theater Built in 1599 Destroyed by fire in 1613
Rebuilt in 1614, closed for good in 1642
Rounded seating around stage
Penny for general admission
The replica that exists today on nearly the same spot was not built until 1997

6. Stage Life Actors were all men
Female parts typically played by young boys
The poor audience members that stood around the stage were called “groundlings.”
No women were admitted among the groundlings.
The groundlings often threw food at the actors when the acting was subpar.

7. Midsummer Night’s Dream
Types of plays - 37 total
Comedies
Tragedies
Histories
Romance
Marriage
Mistaken Identities
Tricksters
Happy Ending
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Twelfth Night
Based on English Kings
Political Propaganda
Praise for the Tudor Dynasty
Richard III
Henry IV Part I & II
Tragic Hero
Tragic Flaw
Reversal of Fortune
Ends with Death
Hamlet
Othello
Macbeth

8. Career as a Poet 2 Epic Poems: 154 Sonnets Rape of Lucrice
Venus and Adonis
154 Sonnets
Iambic pentameter
14 lines (3 quatrains and 1 couplet)
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

9. Hamlet: Prince of Denmark
Written between 1599 and 1602
Arguably the most popular of Shakespeare’s 37 plays during his lifetime
One of the most performed and filmed plays of all time

10. Tragic Heroes Tragic hero has: Heroic Qualities
Hubris - Excessive Pride
Hamartia - Tragic Flaw
Peripeteia - Reversal of Fortune
Anagnorisis - Realization
Catharsis - Purging Pity or Fear

11. Hamlet - Characters Prince Hamlet Ghost (of King Hamlet)
Claudius - new King
Gertrude - Queen, Hamlet’s mom
Polonius – advisor to Claudius
Laertes – son of Polonius
Ophelia – daughter of Polonius
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern – Hamlet’s childhood friends
Horatio - Hamlet’s one, true friend
Fortinbras – Prince of Norway

12. Hamlet – Themes and Devices
Literary Devices
Revenge
Morality: Right vs. Wrong
Death
Existentialism
Melancholy and Grief
Hypocrisy
Insanity and the Treatment of the Mentally Ill
Guilt
Soliloquy
Aside
Pun
Synecdoche
Metaphor
Symbol
Irony
Hyperbole
Allusion
Play within a Play

13. Hamlet - Allusions Julius Caesar:
Emperor of Roman Empire from 49BC to 44BC
Assassinated by senators, including his friend Brutus
“Et tu, Brute?”
Shakespearean Play (1599)

14. Hamlet - Allusions Pyrrhus:
Son of Achilles, who was killed by Paris (Prince of Troy) during the Trojan War
Takes revenge against Priam, King of Troy, for death of his father
Kills Priam’s son in front of him, before killing Priam

15. Hamlet - Allusions Jephthah:
Great warrior from the Bible who promised to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his home to greet him, if God would grant him victory in battle
He was victorious, and the first thing to come out of his house when he returned home was his young, virgin daughter, who he then sacrificed to God.