1. Hamlet

2. Shakespeare’s plays Poetry Aside Soliloquy Tragedy
Exceptional people whose misfortune is therefore even more dramatic
Feeling of inevitability
Complex protagonists who compel us by the power of their power and complexity
Act in spite of risks
Not as simple as ordinary tragic protagonist’s hubris
Revenge tragedy—pretty obvious, Seneca (Roman 3 BC-AD 65)
Act III, scene III
Freytag’s pyramid

4. Motifs Madness—is Hamlet crazy? Disease and decay, rot
Weeds and flowers
Ears
Incest
Bed-dead-grave-womb-birth

5. Symbols
Yorick’s skull
Ophelia’s flowers
The play within the play

6. Be on the lookout for: Metafiction Deception Honor
The supernatural/the ghost (are there important differences between ghost scenes?)
Action and inaction
Appearance vs. reality
Misogyny
Graves and the circle of life

7. Reading assignment 2 and 3—Read Act I before Aug 27