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Hamlet: The Background to Shakespeare’s Tragedy . Setting.
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Setting The story takes place in Denmark. As the story begins, the whole country of Denmark is preparing for war. They believe the Prince of Norway is preparing to attack. Later on, that same prince will storm through Denmark to seize a plot of land in Poland, to the south.
Characters • Hamlet: • Prince of Denmark • son of Gertrude and nephew of Claudius • Ghost of his dead father accuses Claudius of murdering him and demands revenge. • He assumes an “antic disposition” (insanity) so uncle Claudius won’t suspect he’s plotting revenge. • struggles to be a man of action vs. a man of thought • Old King Hamlet: • the prince’s dead father. We see only his ghost on stage.
Characters continued • Claudius: • Brother to old Hamlet, becomes king by murdering him • Marries Gertrude, old Hamlet’s widow. • Gertrude: • Hamlet’s mother and the Queen of Denmark. • Married Claudius as soon as old Hamlet died, and now loves and obeys Claudius unquestioningly.
Characters continued • Polonius: King Claudius’s trusted councilor. His advice and schemes cause trouble for everyone. • Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, and is distressed by his treatment of her. • Laertes: Ophelia’s brother and Polonius’s son. Passionately defends his family’s honour. A foil to Hamlet.
Characters continued • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: old schoolfriends of Hamlet. Claudius summons them to spy on Hamlet. • Horatio: a true friend to Hamlet. Trustworthy, honest, scholarly, and provides sensible advice. Sometimes serves as a chorus-like figure, providing necessary information to the audience.
Characters continued • Fortinbras (Fort = French for “strong”): • Prince of Norway • wishes to claim the land his father lost to Old Hamlet. • Foil to Hamlet – they are both young men seeking to restore their father’s honour, and Fortinbras’s uncle has also succeeded to the throne, but whereas Hamlet does little to distinguish himself, Fortinbras is a man of action
Origins of Hamlet • Shakespeare’s Hamletlikely written sometime between 1599-1601. • Story over 700 years old. • Prince Amlethfirst mentioned in a chronicle of Denmark written in the 12thcentury • Another Hamlet play (probably by Thomas Kyd) appeared before Shakespeare’s. Considered vulgar and melodramatic • Shakespeare had likely seen the earlier Hamlet play
Possible inspiration for Hamlet • In 1596, Shakespeare’s eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, died of an unknown illness and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon. • Hamnet’s funeral would have been a simple Protestant one, in which the minister would “commit the body to the ground” – this service lacked the burning candles, toiling bells, cries, and extensive prayers of a Catholic funeral ceremony. Shakespeare is suspected to have been a closet Catholic during this Protestant period of English history, during which it was illegal to pray for the dead (Greenblatt 312)
Possible inspiration continued • The desire to an appropriate burial and passage to the afterlife is felt all throughout Hamlet • Old Hamlet is in purgatory because he was murdered and could not confess, prepare his soul for death • Hamlet refuses to kill Claudius after he has confessed, because Claudius would then pass onto heaven • When Laertes sees Ophelia buried in a simple fashion, he cries “what ceremony else?” as though something is missing
Sub-genre: tragedy • Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. • A tragedy presents the downfall of a person of high status, usually due to some flaw he possesses or mistake he makes • The degree to which Hamlet fits the definition of a tragic hero is a matter of great debate – consider the various definitions of tragedy and see what you think! • Tragedy comes from the Greek word for “goat song” – ancient Greek playwrights would write plays and enter them in a competition. The best play may have won a goat!
Sub-genre: revenge tragedy • Sub-genre of tragedy popular in the Elizabethan era • Plays in this sub-genre usually featured the following common elements. Can you find these elements in Hamlet? • A hero who learns (from the ghost of a murdered family member) of an act that requires vengeance • Revenge is delayed for quite some time • Scenes of feigned (or genuine madness) • A play within a play • A graveyard scene • Plenty of physical violence and death • Hero usually condemns himself by committing his vengeful actions (i.e. killed after carrying out revenge)
Structure of Shakespearean Tragedy A Shakespearean tragedy has 5 parts: • Exposition: explains the situation that exists at the beginning of the play, including the time and place, mood, the main characters, and their relationships to one another. 2. The Spark: this section introduces an incident, problem, or objective that will generate most of the action of the play. 3. Rising Action: the plot is complicated by additional problems or tensions. Tension and excitement is increased as the protagonist pursues his goal.
Structure continued 4. Climax: the highest point of intensity, and also the turning point where the hero’s fortunes start to decline, as his or her tragic fall begins. In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the climax is usually in Act 3. 5. Falling Action: the events that bring us from the climax to the hero’s death. 6. Catastrophe: the consequences of the hero’s earlier actions, which result in the death of the hero and perhaps other characters. This occurs in Act 5.
Structure continued So the structure of the play looks something like this:
Dramatic devices • Soliliquy: A speech given by a character, usually while alone on the stage. The purpose of a soliloquy is to let the audience know what the character is thinking and feeling • Aside: a brief remark made by a character and intended to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters (unless it is directed to a specific character). Think of it as a “stage whisper” • Foil: a character who provides a strong contrast to the main character.
Dramatic devices continued • Dramatic irony: a situation in which the audience knows things the characters don’t. Think of a horror movie – you know the monster is in the basement, but the main character walks down unaware! • Mask: an act, façade, or pretense that hides a character’s true nature • Nemesis: the Greek goddess of retribution. The “nemesis” in a tragedy is the punishment the characters suffer. It allows the audience to feel the play has ended well because characters have been punished justly.
Central topics in Hamlet • Consider the following topics and the sample of relevant quotations provided. What thematic statements does the play make regarding these topics? Remember, these are just topics – themes (messages and ideas the play expresses) must be stated in a complete sentence!
Central topics continued Disease and decay • “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” • “Tisan unweededgarden” Mortality (inevitability of death) • “Go tell your lady to paint her face an inch thick and she will still come to this” • “The rest is silence”
Central topics continued Afterlife (and a “proper” passage into it) • Old Hamlet’s frightening description of the purgatory he suffers in to cleanse his soul of sin • Hamlet’s thoughts regarding the “undiscovered country” • Hamlet’s unwillingness to kill Claudius once the evil king has confessed • Ophelia’s alleged suicide and the simple burial that attends it (“what ceremony else?”) Misogyny • “Woman, thy name is frailty” • “Men know what monsters you make of them… you jig and amble and paint your faces…”
Central topics continued Father-son relationships • “More than kin but less than kind” • “I am too much i’th’ son” • Old Hamlet compared to Claudius: “Hyperion to a satyr” Disillusionment with humanity: How can one live in an inherently corrupt world? • “Get thee to a nunnery” • “We are arrant knaves” Action vs. inaction • “Thus the native hue of resolution is sickled over with the pale cast of thought” • “How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge” • “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”
Other Elizabethan Ideas: The Great Chain of Being • Elizabethans believed in a “great chain of • being” in which every existing thing in the universe had its proper place • Problems can occur if the great chain of being is upset or disturbed. • Trying to upset the chain (for example, by killing a king and trying to take his place) could upset the natural order of the universe. • Of course, many people still did challenge their position in society.
Other Elizabethan Ideas: The Four Humours • A traditional theory of physiology in which the state of health--and by extension the state of mind, or character--depended upon a balance among the four elemental fluids: blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile. These were closely allied with the four elements (air, fire, water, and earth).
Final Thoughts • Is Hamlet acting crazy or truly disturbed? • To what degree is Hamlet a classical tragic hero? • How well can we ever know Hamlet? Greenblatt says Hamlet reveals Shakespeare’s mastery at “representing inwardness” – that is, suggesting the character’s state of mind without the character ever explicitly stating it. • Who will win Hamlet jeopardy?
