Hamlet

1. Hamlet William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

2. Shakespearean Tragedy • Shakespearean tragedy dates itself to the Renaissance • Queen Elizabeth was the reigning monarch and brought stability to England • Time of exploration in search of spices, gold, cloth (and wealth) • Man saw things differently than Greek times • Revival of classical arts • Humanism – man seen as centre of universe • Copernicus raised questions about sun centred universe challenging Ptolemy’s theory and forcing Christians to reconsider belief system • Theory of Divine Right of Kings was also causing disorder and chaos

3. Continued • Shakespearean drama is a unique blend of the traditional style (Greek) and the modern style • Traditional – dramatizes the struggle between good and evil; absolute power of death; fall of the great man • Modern – uncertainty of the world and man’s place in the scheme of things; questions man’s morality • Shakespearean tragedies emphasize not so much Fortune and the punishment of evildoers, but the hero as an instrument of his own destiny • The hero falls b/c of some error in judgement or some obsession • The tragedy is a story about the “waste of that which is good” • Differences btwn. Shakespearean and Greek tragedy: no gods appear-although other supernatural forces exist the plays offer many scenes large cast of characters Christian insistence on free will A feeling of “What a pity it was this way, when it could have been different”

4. Introduction to Hamlet In 1603, Hamlet appeared in print in quarto form. However it was a “bad” quarto. Scholars believe that the actor who played Marcellus recreated what he could remember of the play and sold it to an unscrupulous printer. This “bad” First Quarto was about half the length of the more authoritative Second Quarto which appeared in print in the following year.

5. Scholars are divided as to when the play was actually written. Some place it as early as 1589 and others as late as 1601. A 12th Century Danish monk wrote the first history of Amleth

6. The Appeal of Hamlet If Shakespeare is greatest playwright then Hamlet may be greatest play ever written. Hamlet is much more than an enduring cultural monument – it is a living and popular work of drama. For over 400 years it has dominated stages all over the world and feature film versions of this masterpiece continue to be produced. Why do people never tire of Hamlet? Perhaps its appeal can be attributed to the story itself. The plotline seems to have all the elements of an engaging story.

7. Horatio seems to be speaking for the author when he promises late in the play, to tell Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause, And, in this upshot, purposes mistook Fallen on the inventors’ heads(5.2). However, more exciting plots have been devised and forgotten. We must look elsewhere to explain the appeal of the play. Perhaps what continues to draw people to the play is the character of Hamlet himself. In 1817, William Hazlitt recognized Hamlet’s timeless and universal appeal when he declared that “It is we who are Hamlet.”

8. Shakespeare’s verse and prose Elizabethans did not really speak the way Shakespeare’s characters do. Shakespeare wrote using a poetic form known as blank verse. This produces an elevated style which would have been very different from everyday speech during the Elizabethan period. Blank verse contains a rhythmic pattern known as iambic pentameter.

9. Iambic Pentameter This means that most lines contain 5 feet (pentameter) and each foot contains an unstressed and a stressed syllable (an iamb). The rhythm pattern sounds like this: da DA da DA da DA da DA da DA Hamlet’s first lines in the play would look like this in terms of stressed and unstressed syllables ~ / / ~ / ~ / ~ / A little more than kin, and less than kind

10. The play Hamlet is an approximately 4000 lines long and of these, a full quarter are written in prose. Prose contrasts strongly with the elevated style of blank verse. Persons of noble birth speak in verse and servants and members of the lower classes usually speak in prose. However, Hamlet speaks in prose when he addresses commoners. Letters and documents, scenes of comic relief, and scenes involving madness are also usually written in prose.

11. Hamlet in Popular Culture The Lion King was inspired by Hamlet. Gilligan's Island episode "The Producer," the castaways put on a musical production of Hamlet set to the music of Carmen. • The Simpsons offered a shortened version of Hamlet in the episode "Tales from the Public Domain". After this, Homer claims that Hamlet was made into the film Ghostbusters. • South Park :Terrance and Philip's professional relationship fails, resulting in one of them becoming a Shakespearean actor, subsequently performing Hamlet with other Canadian actors, with the ending of the play being shown in the episode. • SpongeBob SquarePants has an episode called "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants". • Wizards of Waverly Place: Alex and Justin start a plan B; they create a band and one of their lyrics includes, "though there is method to this madness".

12. Just the Facts • Author: William Shakespeare Born: April 23, 1564; Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England Died: April 23, 1616; Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England • Type of Work: Drama Type of Plot: Tragedy Time of Work: c. 1200 Locale: Elsinore, Denmark • Principal Characters: • Hamlet, the prince of Denmark  • The Ghost, Hamlet’s father, the former king of Denmark  • Claudius, the present king  • Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother  • Polonius, a courtier  • Ophelia, his daughter  • Laertes, his son  • Horatio, Hamlet’s friend