Hamlet, prince of Denmark
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CORE Work 2*: Hamlet: Prince of Denmark
*in-depth work (for oral examination)
Introduction
- Hamlet: Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
- Revenge Tragedy
- But when the play opens, Hamlet is already in a state of mourning
- Eponymous: Hamlet + Hamlet (character)
- The revenge is layered in the play
- Renaissance Beliefs
- Reason led to virtue
- Order led to reason
- Love was an ideal; lust was a rejection of God given reason
- Belief in ghosts
- The Nature of Evil
- Inherited defect, which does not involve human responsibility; the individual is the victim of fate
- Complexions based on the four humours
- Impulse
- Setting
- Hierarchy of creation
- Man’s ability to reason made him closer to angels, or symbols of “pure virtue”
- Reason had to overcome passion, grief and “bestiality” for man as a rejection of reason.
- Mankind remains tainted from original sin
- Divine Right of Kings
- The King is God’s minister on Earth
- Context
- Written in 1599
- Problems at that time
- Plague
- Elizabeth’s successor
- Irish rebellion; threat of the Spanish Armada
- Death of his only son, Hamlet
- Five-act structure
- Dilemma
- Soliloquy
- Themes
- Hamlet’s foils: Laertes, Fortinbras
- Appearance v. Reality
- Sanity v. Insanity
- Decay v. Corruption
- Revenge
- “antic disposition”
- King Fortinbras was killed by King Hamlet
- Prince Hamlet (a man of contemplation)
- Prince Fortinbras (a man of action)
- Cain & Abel
- Act 1 Scene 1 (Opening Scene)
- “Who’s there”: infused with fear and anxiety / identity
- Opening -> tension, foreshadowing
- Time: midnight
- Unusual appearance of people that are not guards
- Horatio is expected
- Frightening mood
- “I am sick at heart”
- Reference to the motif of illness
- Problematic situation
- Social malaise
- The heart = the core of the being; the feelings, the spirit of a person
- This malaise is widespread
- Ordinary account/exchange between two soldiers
- Preoccupation with a desire for peace and quiet
- Foreshadowing
- Honesty v. Corruption
- He defines Francesco’s characterization as honest
- Emphasis on honesty
- Therefore, who is dishonest?
- The anonymity of something that is clearly bothersome
- Eerie, unsettling atmosphere -> MOOD
- The play opens with soldiers (-> military, conflict)
- The play ends with Fortinbras
- Mortality
- Scholarly (Horatio and Hamlet)
- The Ghost is seen, is witnessed
- The audience sees these 3 characters witness the Ghost
- There is no doubt of the Ghost’s apparition
- The Ghost is the catalyst of this revenge-tragedy
- Through Horatio, the soldiers can validate what they have witnessed
- Horatio’s functions are manifold
- Political conflict + strife
- Identity
- The Ghost returns
- Ominous foreshadowing
- “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”
- Dishonesty, corruption
- Death persuasive in Denmark
- Why is Denmark preparing for war?
- Synecdoche: “Fortinbras of Norway”
- Heraldry -> code of chivalry
- Norway will seek to reclaim the land
- Desire to reclaim what once belonged to Norway
- LKH = legitimate ruler
- “hot and full” = Fortinbras
- Rhythm
- F is gathering fighters in exchange for food
- “landless resolutes”: not legitimate
- The theme of the past enters
- Summary of A1S1’s function:
- informative, expository, introductory purpose
- Historical elements
- Plot device: the Ghost triggers the revenge-tragedy
- “A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye”: the mind is disturbed and cannot think clearly
- References Julius Caesar (omens, supernatural used to foreshadow his assassination used in this play)
- He frames the Ghost’s presence in Denmark
- Semantic field of Roman references
- high, palmy, mightiest
- Unnatural events before Caesar’s death
- Compares Ghost’s presence with the events that took place before JC’s assassination
- parallel, juxtaposition
- “stars”, “fire”, “sun”, “eclipse”, “Neptune’s empire”, “dews of blood” => natural phenomena
- Trains of fire -> cf. meteor scene in the Scarlet Letter
- Chaos, catastrophe
- The Ghost cannot portend anything positive
- Horatio foreshadows
- The natural world informs (warns) the human world of danger
- Second entry of the Ghost:
- “It spreads his arms”
- “The cock crows” -> sound effect (indication of time: day)
- Warning for the G who has to depart
- The god of day = Apollo
- L166 -> A4S1L29
- Personification
- Russet -> scarlet
- dawn, breaking of day
- The unknown
- The opening mood of the play
- TONE.
- “This bodes an eruption to our state”
- “I am sick at heart” (disease, illness)
- “bitter cold”
- Act 1 Scene 2
- Flourish: “Trumpet Call”
- The entrance of order, state
- King as symbol of harmony in the state
- Claudius seeks to establish legitimacy
- Claudius is the LKH’s brother (Cain & Abel)
- Family connection
- Mourning period
- Wisest sorrow => justified sorrow
- Claudius’ speech
- Oxymorons
- Opposites aligned
- C speaks in opposites
- conflict, artifice, ambiguity, duplicity, lacks clarity
- “eye”
- Perplexity, confusion
- Gertrude is a widow
- The scales are balanced
- “taken to wife”
- Semantic field of happiness / of grief and mourning
- C quickly addresses and dismisses
- Private -> public (affairs of state)
- Dramatic irony: C admits to the disruption of the state -> Fortinbras’ supposition was correct
- Regicide = the murder of a King
- Hypocrisy in addressing the court on this topic
- Rhetorical techniques that Claudius uses to move on from topic to topic
- C=a man in action; makes decisions v. H=a man in reflection
- Hamlet v. Laertes v. Fortinbras: How are these 3 young men linked? What motivates them?
- levies=money
- He defines the limits of their power
- Public -> private
- The patriarch, the avuncular
- P=advisor, counsellor, Lord Chamberlain
- Synecdoche
- P is very powerful, very close to the King
- “son” = Hamlet
- The most important for lat
- First time H speaks in the play
- H makes it clear that he is not C’s son
- pun, double entendre
- Foreshadows the action of the play
- sun/son (dramatic irony as the sun=King and although C has usurped the throne, Hamlet is the rightful king, and therefore the sun / Hamlet does not approve of C calling him as his own SON)
- Clouds v. Sun
- Sense of loyalty/faithfulness?
- The strong inclination to believe that there was an affair between Gertrude and Claudius before
- Contemptuous tone
- Ge is insensitive
- Imagery of sight: “eye”
- Public setting
- Juxtaposed to the closet scene (A3S4)
- “seems” x4 -> APPEARANCE
- Ironic comment of C’s speech (only appearances)
- Theme <-> Setting
- Appearance v. Reality
- Exterior v. Interior
- Public v. Private (-> secrets)
- Common v. Particular
- Seeming indifferent at the loss of her first husband
- Parent-child conundrum/conflict
- Appearance in clothing (cloak)
- Anaphora of negation
- H refuses to be told how long to mourn
- Antic disposition
- H sees the appearance embodied by Ge and C
- Message directed to C
- Undermines H
- Every aspect of Hamlet’s character is questioned and challenged by C
- C brings Hamlet and himself together
- Gertrude is manipulative
- 1st Soliloquy: “O that this too too solid flesh would melt”
- sullied/soiled
- Sin, corruption, lust, incest, suicide
- “O” => tone of lamentation, desperation
- CONFLICT WITHIN HAMLET
- He wants to commit suicide, but cannot
- Garden seeks to control nature
- “unweeded” -> corruption and sin (=> RC)
- Rank and gross: lascivious, incestuous relationship
- He compares the LKH to Hyperion
- Death -> source of life
- Elizabethan Chain of Being
- Satyr (man-goat) = sexual lust (≠nobility of love)
- Hamlet’s revulsion, loathing, disgust for C and Ge
- grief, anguish, pain, suffering
- Time references: “heaven and earth” -> “within a month”
- Enter Ho+M+B
- There is going to be a recounting of the encounter with the G
- Hamlet questions his identity
- The profound effect of the LKH’s death
- Ho is measured and not provocative
- Once the existence is announced to Hamlet, the play may begin […]
- Ghost: plot mechanism
- Hamlet’s soul will be damned if he engages with a dishonest Ghost
- This information spurs him to action (he is impatient)
- Act 1 Scene 3
- A private room = a change of setting
- New characters to whom we are introduced
- Exposition of plot
- Ophelia listens, is obedient and submissive (-> but can also be critical)
- Blossoming relationship between H and O
- Reciprocal
- Direct
- Deflect her father’s prying into her private life
- Naïve
- defends, reassuring
- Sibling exchange
- Focalisation of H through L: Hamlet thought the eyes of Laertes
- Superficial interest/whim
- “violet” -> A4S5
- Health of the body; nature
- Body as a motif of the play to represent the malaise/illness that is Denmark
- Body-politic
- The body, the mind, the soul must mature together
- Body -> love
- There is impediment, no deceit
- Midline stops emphasize what is about to come next
- Laertes’ speech foreshadows ironically H+O’s scene
- “honour” = virginity/chastity
- Danger in accepting and returning Hamlet’s love
- Misdirection
- the danger does not lie in Hamlet but in Ge and C
- Polonius -> Laertes Rhetoric use of parallel structure
- Clothing as an indication of station, class, rank
- Moving, poignant
- Patriarchal attitude
- “w” -> C’s evil characteristics
- Gertrude: false appearance: “seeming virtuous”
- Through the G, the audience wonders if this relationship (between Ge and C) existed prior to the death of LKH as Hamlet=in media res -> ambiguity
- Filial devotion to her father
- Sibling difference: obedience is not expected of Laertes v. Ophelia automatically shows obedience
- The marriage => corruption
- Ge is corrupt
- Ge v. HP: focalisation, characterization
- Ge v. O: corrupt v. pure, virginal
- Appearance of legitimacy
- Act 1 Scene 4
- Setting shifts: gun platform
- Counterbalances the setting of the first scene: Continuation thereof
- The corruption extends to the entire court
- Setting in parallel
- The allégeance of Horatio, Marcellus to Hamlet
- Semantic field of nature
- Evolution is what H says
- Exterior perception the nature of men
- Nature (fate) v. Nurture
- Baked manners
- The habit that comes from the vicious mole of nature takes over the plosive manners
- It affects the individual’s manners
- Hamlet is trying to understand Claudius
- Strength in Hamlet’s will
- To give absolution of sins
- Last sins
- In abundance, profuse
- The marriage => corruption
- Act 1 Scene 5
- “revenge”
- Snake motif
- 2nd soliloquy: “O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?”
- Knowledge
- Writing
- Burden
- “I have sworn’t” -> promise
- “villain”
- Absolution before death
- Summary of Act 1
- Expository function
- Introduction of the characters
- Setting
- Exterior v. Interior
- The state of Denmark itself
- The appearance of the Ghost and Hamlet => revenge-tragedy
- tension, fear, conflict, mood
- Curiosity is piqued (theatrical interest)
- G is essential to the exposition of plot
- Dramatic irony:
- The audience and the characters are partied to information simultaneously
- Horatio
- Claudius’ speech
- Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship:
- Interaction between the main plot (Hamlet’s family, Hamlet’s revenge) and the subplot (P+L+O+Rey)
- Theme
- Foreshadowing
- Motifs: the body, the body-politic; sickness, illness, mortality
- Change and evolution in Hamlet (->Tone)
- Symbols: the snake, bestial imagery, the Ghost, imagery of corruption, decay, death
- Sound effects: the canons, the Ghost, trumpets, cock
- Evocation of myths (biblical and classical)
- Reason v. Action / Reason v. Corruption
- Juxtaposition
- Foil characters
- Antagonists v. Protagonists
- Political health of nation
- The individual that reflects the state as a whole
- Appearance v. Reality
- melancholy, mourning, suffering (-> Knowledge)
- Antic disposition = major product of Act 1 that leads us to Act 2 and to the further development of the plot
- The past v. The present
- Movement in setting
- Act 2 Scene 1
- Passage of time
- New setting
- The idea of movement is implicit (within the play; +within Hamlet who has evolved)
- Polonius: manipulative, interfering, provocative
- Reynaldo=instrument in P’s hands
- Creating climate of suspicion around Laertes
- Laertes’ discourse
- He sets up traps for Laertes: Reynaldo has to tempt Laertes
- No dialogue, no speech
- Hamlet is mute
- O’s obedience: she gives an account of this meeting
- Madness stems from Ophelia’s rejection
- Only Ge, C, P: intimate trio
- Gathering of intelligence
- Receiving reports from various sources
- Claudius is very calculated, careful and aware
- Fortinbras has taken advantage of his uncle’s situation and has exploited it
- order, obedience and respect maintained in Norway
- Fortinbras is contained
- A potential war is averted
- invasion, war awaits Poland
- External v. Internal threat
- Documents in the play:
- Contract from Norway
- Letter from Hamlet
- Hamlet writes in his notebook
- Ophelia through being mentioned in this metaphor of decay has been soiled
- Polonius is the reason Hamlet is unable to see Ophelia
- Polonius is the fool/the one who is trying to find ou the truth
- Power relations
- Prose exchange -> Hamlet has the power
- Polonius thinks aloud in the “aside”
- P believes the antic disposition
- R & G enter
- Antic disposition (->Prose)
- He plays with identity
- AD enables to shift from one identity to the other
- Hamlet is also an interrogation
- No shortage of H’s ability to manipulate language
- Different POV
- The audience watches
- R & G are: outsiders, mediators -> in danger
- Stooges
- Revelation: where is the truth hid?
- Hamlet and Claudius will not reveal
- Hamlet speaks in metaphors
- IS HAMLET MAD?
- Exchange between Rosencrantz + Guildenstern + Hamlet (given for commentary purposes):
- Hamlet is the prisoner
- Claudius, and the court by extension => jailor
- P in collusion with Claudius
- P: misguidance of loyalty and faithfulness
- His ability to think freely is not restrained
- By introducing “ambition” he tries to get to the cause of Hamlet’s “madness”
- Ambition -> Claudius is driven by his ambition
- It is a man’s mind that creates the situation of prison/confinement or freedom
- mind=independent instrument
- The mind of Man is the source of freedom, countless inspiration and creation
- But also source of pain, suffering
- Ambition at the source of dreaming
- Allusion to the scheming mind
- Subtext -> a discussion of Claudius
- Ambition is not necessarily concrete, substantial
- A dream itself is unsubstantial , fleeting, not reality, intangible transitory
- The dialogue works on two levels:
- R & G
- Hamlet
- Act 2 Scene 2
- Aristotle: quintessence of dust
- Celestial elements were made of quintessence (≠terrestrial - Fire, Water, Air, Earth)
- As Prince, Hamlet = the body-politic, but also the individual
- Our desire to learn is infinite, like our universe
- Man is peerless
- Literal/metaphorical meanings
- Hamlet’s intentions
- Recipients of the monologue (R&G + audience) -> dramatic irony as audience is partied to Hamlet’s intentions while R&G are not
- Different interpretations are possible from both R&G and the audience’s perspectives
- “stuff”: R’s response to Hamlet’s rhetorical genius
- =bewilderment on R’s part
- Hamlet’s characterization
- Hamlet might be deranged (according to R&G)
- Man’s relationship to the universe
- Foreshadows the play to come
- Enactment of a dramatic scene before H, R, G, and P
- [a]
- Players’ passage
- Framework (or the main plot of the play, and indirectly the subplot)
- Pyrrhus (no pity, bloodthirsty)
- Hecuba is struck with grief at the loss of her husband as well as Troy
- Hecuba <-> Gertrude
- Implication: Did Ge witness Claudius’ killing of the LKH?
- Reflection of what H is thinking
- H will emphasize Hecuba’s reaction to the death of Priam
- REVENGE-CYCLE: cycle of revenge constantly in motion
- Both families decimated
- Ultimately an outsider, it is Fortinbras who claims the throne in the end
- Hecuba:
- icon, symbol of tragic loss
- Hamlet wishes that Gertrude could have embodied Hecuba
- Priam was a great king (=>LKH)
- Reminder: a play is not being enacted, the player only describes the murder of Priam
- The players are a device (Shakespeare)
- H uses the players for the fruition of his own plotting and scheming
- 3rd soliloquy: “O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”
- Juxtaposition (=> inner conflict):
- “rogue”: not part of society; free, lost vagabond -> He has lost his rights of succession, he feels out of place, he doesn’t belong (-> “aunt-mother”); he places himself on the outskirts; antic disposition
- “peasant slave”: ≠Prince -> at the bottom of the Elizabethan Chain of Being /hierarchy; references feudalism; “slave” -> lack of freedom; cf. bondservant (The Scarlet Letter)
- Hamlet schemes: scheming is a behaviour that is outside of society’s norms -> rogue
- Dilemma
- His displacement within Denmark
- Technique: hyperbole, characterization
- Link to the bondservant: member of Governor Bellingham’s household + mansion / member of the Danish royal family + Elsinore castle; through servitude, the bondservant has to pay off what he owes -> the theocracy still embodies many of the rules and regulations of the Old World (-> HYPOCRISY -> AD)
- To the audience, it appears to be true, even though its is all conceit, fiction
- Conceit: we watch Hamlet (who is played himself by an actor) comment on acting
- We, ourselves, as the audience, are carried away by Hamlet’s speech
- Conceit = play on the play (simultaneous)
- “I”: he doesn’t only speak to others, but also to himself
- Conceit of Hecuba, of Hamlet, of Pyrrhus
- Unlike Pyrrhus, Hamlet does not act
- He is dreamy, sleepy -> He has not only not acted physically, he hasn’t even acted mentally (planned the murder of C)
- In mind and body, H is passive
- Claudius deprives LKH of his life, but also of his role as King
- He reproaches himself for not having made Claudius’ life miserable, not made him suffer
- Burden that Hamlet bears
- Hamlet does not mention even once Claudius’ name but the audience assumes and knows directly that it is Claudius that Hamlet is speaking about
- In committing the sin of murder, it is also a sin against God, against Nature (the taking of a life)
- Hamlet suffers from this burden
- isolate, separated, alone
- Irony: as it is through an illusory world that he will be able to find out the reality (->appearance v. reality)
- Act 2 Scene 2
- R&G reporting to C (spies reporting to the spymaster)
- R&G don’t tell Claudius that Hamlet found out their purpose in Denmark
- The head of state, the King announces openly that he is going to spy on Hamlet (the Prince)
- Culture of spying and corruption is revealed
- At the highest level of the state
- C:
- Devious behaviour
- Is “crafty”
- C & H both know how to eliminate doubt and uncertainty
- Hamlet: hurt by the Ophelia’s withdrawal of affection?
- Ge allies herself with Claudius, she does not object his spying: “I shall obey you.”
- cf. A1S3 (Ophelia + Polonius)
- 2 female characters are both obedient
- Ge does not realize the gravitas of the situation
- Motif -> the Black Man -> evil-doings/evil-workings
- Claudius’ 1st aside foreshadows A3S3L35
- Placing a mask over the original features
- Ophelia is given instructions to which she has to comply (+no sign of revolt, of objection)
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