Hamlet, or even Shakespeare in general, is not everyone's favourite school subject but that's probably because you're overwhelmed with translating the language and missing the plot and incredible depth of Character that Shakespeare write. My goal is to change your pre-conceived ideas about Shakespeare

 

First of all, let me give you a few facts about Hamlet.

- It's the longest of all of Shakespeare's plays

- It's considered Shakespeare's magnum opus - in other words - the greatest work he accomplished

- Hamlet is the most referenced Shakespeare play in pop culture even the Disney filmed THE LION KING is a re-telling of Hamlet!! and the character of Ophelia has been the most depicted by artists throughout time

- The Castle described in Hamlet, Elsinore, is actually a real castle in Denmark that you can go visit - which I have.

- Shakespeare had a son who unfortunately died at a youngeage whose name was Hamnet and Hamlet may be a tribute to his son

- Hamlet is considered to be the greatest example of English Revenge Tragedy ever written

 

In a  Shakespearean Tragedy there must be

❖           A flawed (tragic) Hero

❖           The Hero must be of high social status

❖           There must be Hamartia

❖           a flaw that is revealed through a series of disasters that eventually leads to his own downfall. If we look at other Shakespearean heroes we can find their tragic flaws: Macbeth's was ambition, Othello's was jealousy, Romeo and Juliet's was arguably lust or impatience and Hamlet's Tragic flaw is one that most can identify with - procrastination!

❖           A restoration of order after the Hero’s fall (usually his death)

❖           Hero’s reversal of fortune is in sharp contrast with his previous state

❖           Hero’s death must produce catharsis, or a cleansing of the audience’s negative feelings

What is a Tragic drama: it is fundamentally serious, involving the downfall of a

heroic figure. The themes are lofty: passion (Romeo and Juliet), revenge

(Hamlet), ambition (Macbeth) and jealousy (Othello).

 

There are several Unique Elements of Tragedy:

 

Chorus: Borrowed from Greek tragedy in which dancers/singers appear at intervals within the play to comment on the action – express objective

judgement on the proceedings.

 

Common Elements that Appear in Shakespearean Tragedy

 

1. Contrast

- one idea/character or object is thrown into opposition with another for sake of emphasis or clarity

- use of contrast heightens distinctions of character and increases interest by placing opposites side by side (e.g. comic scene just before a tragic scene)

- character foils (those who provide contrast, usually to the protagonist) are used extensively by Shakespeare

 

2. Fate

- intervention of some force over which humans have not control - may complicate the plot but does not bring about the downfall of the hero (he ultimately chooses it for himself by his actions)

- pathos/sympathy may be felt by the audience for those hurt by fate

 

3. The Supernatural

- Shakespeare knew the appeal of ghosts, witches, premonitions, prophesies and other supernatural events for his audience

- thus he included them

 

4. Pathetic Fallacy

- since the hero’s actions affect the entire Chain of Being, all of Nature appears to react through unnatural happenings in animal behaviour or weather

 

5. Nemesis (compared to Poetic Justice)

- Nemesis is the Greek goddess of vengeance, the personification of righteous indignation; she pursues those who have displeased the gods

- by Shakespeare’s time, the term became associated with any agent of fate or bringer of just retribution

 

6. Catharsis

- a term to describe the intended impact of tragedy on the audience; the reason we are drawn, again and again, to watch tragedy despite its essential sadness

- by experiencing the events which arouse pity and terror, we achieve a purging (catharsis) of these emotions

- detached pity and involved terror that leaves the spectator with “calm of mind, all passion spent”

 

7. Suspense

- uncertainty in an incident, situation, or behaviour

- keeps the audience anxious concerning the outcome of the protagonist’s conflict

- two types: that which provokes intellectual curiosity and that which provokes emotional curiosity

- Shakespeare uses conflict, precarious situations, apparently unsolvable problems, foreshadowing and delay to develop suspense

 

8. Soliloquy

- speech made by character when he/she is alone on the stage (only audience is privy to the speech)

Purposes include:

- revealing mood of speaker and reasons for it

- revealing character

- revealing character’s opinion of someone else in the play

- revealing motives of speaker

- creating suspense

- preparing audience for subsequent developments

- explaining matters that would ordinarily require another scene

- reviewing past events and indicating speaker’s attitudes

- reinforcing theme

 

9. Aside

- comments intended only for the audience (or occasionally for one other character on stage)

- made in the presence of other characters on stage, but the audience is aware that these other characters cannot hear the asides

- must be short, or would interfere with the course of the play

Purposes include:

- to indicate character to person speaking

- to draw attention to significance of what has been said or done

- to explain plot development

- to create humour by introducing a witty comment

- to create suspense by foreshadowing

- to remind audience of the presence of speaker, while he/she remains

in the background

 

10. Dramatic Irony

- this situation occurs when the audience is aware of the conditions that are unknown to the character on stage or when some of the characters

are ignorant of what really is on the speaker’s mind 

11. Humour

- humour may take many forms

- Shakespeare was fascinated by word play; therefore, puns are common in his plays

- may create humour through presenting the completely unexpected

 

12. The Spectacular

- audiences enjoy scene which presents unusual sights

- furious action, elaborate costumes, or stage props create the

spectacular, thus Shakespeare frequently employs fight scenes, crowd

scenes, banquets, dancing parties and royal court

 

Now, Here is an overview of Hamlet

Protagonist • Hamlet, son of the dead king. He is a university student who comes home after his father dies.

Setting:  Denmark; the late medieval period

Major Conflict • Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle Claudius, who has become King and married Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet struggles with his doubts about whether killing Claudius is the appropriate thing to do.

Tone • Dark, melancholy, passionate, desperate, violent

Themes • The impossibility of certainty; the complexity of action; the mystery of death

At the very beginning of Hamlet we learn that Hamlet's father, "Old Hamlet" has died and his Uncle is now King and has married his mother- Throughout the play Hamlet is disgusted by this and that's because the Elizabetheans believed that once you joined a family you became blood related so Hamlet's mother and his uncle were committing incest by marrying.

 

The ghost of Old Hamlet appears and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by his Uncle and commands him to revenge his death, but leave his mother alone and let God judge her.

Hamlet's Dad says to him

'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,

A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark

Is by a forged process of my death

Rankly abus'd. But know, thou noble youth, 775

The serpent that did sting thy father's life

Now wears his crown.

Notice the Biblical imagery here - His brother, Hamlet's Uncle, Claudius is like a serpent who snug up and poured poison in his ear and now all of Denmark is sinned. This is an allusion to the garden of eden where satan disguised himself as a serpent and ultimately brought sin about the whole world by adam and eve eating the forbidden fruit.

This is an important element for the Elizabetheans because they believed in the GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

❖           Elizabethans believed there was an inherent order to the universe

❖           Any disruption in that order would result in Chaos

❖           Order:

❖           GOD and Heaven, King, Society (men, then women), Animals, Vegetables, minerals

They believed that the King was appointed by God, so if you take out the King - you just messed with someone who's not going to be happy. It messes up the entire chain of being and weird things start happening. In Macbeth, horses even start eating each other!

This sets up the entire play as everything goes crazy - including Hamlet - until things are resolved at the end of the play.

Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus that he will "put an antic disposition on"