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Hamlet

Hamlet. some background…. Time Period. Written in 1599 Six years before Macbeth Queen Elizabeth elderly – succession in question Play set in 1000-1100 – around the time Beowulf was written and the same time period of Macbeth. International Affairs. Campaigns in Ireland

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Hamlet

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  1. Hamlet some background…

  2. Time Period • Written in 1599 • Six years before Macbeth • Queen Elizabeth elderly – succession in question • Play set in 1000-1100 – around the time Beowulf was written and the same time period of Macbeth

  3. International Affairs • Campaigns in Ireland • Queen Elizabeth’s Navy had repelled an Spanish Armada invasion • Hamlet set in Denmark who had invaded in the time period off the play

  4. Background of play… • Other less successful versions • Historical basis in Saxo-Grammaticus history for a similar story • Similar to the story of Edward the Confessor (character in Macbeth)

  5. Succession • Most of Shakespeare’s historical plays deal with this issue • Before hierarchical succession • Chosen by nobility • Right person/bloodline • Quality leader • Done properly reflecting divine will

  6. Events before the drama… • Elder Hamlet - strong leader • Defeated Elder Fortinbras of Norway • Popular king • Hamlet’s son, Hamlet, is away at college • Elder Hamlet dies, apparently, from a snake bite • Within a month Elder Hamlet’s brother, Claudius, is named king and marries Elder Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude. • When young Hamlet returns – he’s PO’ed.

  7. Ghosts… • Shakespearian audiences believed in ghosts • However, these were not ghosts of specific people • However…. they could take the shape of different people like in Macbeth

  8. Chivalry vs. Law • Avenge your father’s murderer • Thou shalt not murder • No monarch is above the law…?...

  9. Jungian Connections • Characters assume many personas to get what they want • Desires sublimated for other goals and appearances • Shadow personalities develop into complexes • ‘To be or not to be’ - who I am and what I’m supposed to do…

  10. Other interpretations… • Medical - melancholy • Fatal flaw - inaction, hesitation, irresolution • Freudian – Hamlet wants to bed his mamma • Feminist – the man’s keeping us down…

  11. Why so important? • Very long • Never see the same play twice • Long monologues • Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, Osric, The Players • Many layers, personas, motivations

  12. The language…"To be, or not to be" • Frailty, thy name is woman! • Neither a borrower nor a lender be; • This above all: to thine own self be true, • Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. • Murder most foul, ... • ...brevity is the soul of wit, • Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. • There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. • O, woe is me, • The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

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