1 / 10

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Jump in time: 1300 Dante’s start of the Inferno Hamlet composed around 1600 or 1601 From Medieval to High Renaissance in one leap. Hamlet as Renaissance Man.

reeves
Download Presentation

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark • Jump in time: 1300 Dante’s start of the Inferno • Hamlet composed around 1600 or 1601 • From Medieval to High Renaissance in one leap

  2. Hamlet as Renaissance Man • Medieval supernaturalism: faith; afterlife; uniform view (more or less); suppressed the ego and individual • Renaissance humanism: movement toward secularism; appreciation of worldly pleasures; individual experience rather than shadowy afterlife; reliance upon faith and God weakened • Renaissance man suspended between faith and reason (scientific attitude came later)

  3. Elizabethan Agereigned 1558-1603 • Renaissance English Literature 1485-1603 • Became queen when she was 25; nation bankrupt; not believed legitimate heir of throne by most • Educated as well as any prince; pragmatic--never passionate about religion • Quest for prosperity-stability guiding force of her reign

  4. Struggles between Church of England and Catholics • Despite her desire to prevaricate or play both sides, tensions mounted • She was considered Protestant leader • To be activist Catholic was to be a traitor to England

  5. Themes in Hamlet • Revenge: Can personal revenge ever be justified? What effects does seeking revenge have on the avenger? • Friendship-betrayal: Who is loyal in this “rotten state” of Denmark?

  6. Hero Journey • More psychological, though it has some spiritual components • Play of questions & mystery—more questions than answers • Struggle to take action of revenge • He has inherited his situation

  7. Sanity vs Insanity • Hamlet feigns madness as a ploy • Seems on the edge of insanity • Ophelia struggles to keep her sanity

  8. Appearance vs Reality • Nature of reality-truth (Myth of the Cave) • Phony or feigned appearances (deception) • Appear or seems • Four interpretive possibilities of the Ghost, for example

  9. Family RelationsFriendship-Love-Loyalty • Father-son (King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet; Polonius and Laertes; Old Fortinbras and Fortinbras • Mother-son (Gertrude-Hamlet; Ophelia as motherless) • Brother-sister (Ophelia-Laertes) • Brother-brother (King Hamlet and Claudius; Cain and Abel connection) • Polonius-Laertes-Ophelia subplot

  10. Prominent Imagery Patterns • Disease-poison-infection • Animal imagery • Music-painting imagery • Garden imagery • Drama (show-act-play) • Allusions to Greek and Roman myths

More Related