Hamlet

William Shakespeare

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History• Written 1599-1601

– Inside a series of comedies in the last decade of the transition years between 1500 and 1600s.

• Midsummer Night’s Dream - 1595• Merchant of Venice - 1596• Much Ado About Nothing - 1598• As You Like It - 1599• Twelfth Night - 1601

– Also came on the tail of his first major forays into tragedy with historical/political themes.

• Julius Caesar - 1599• Henry IV Parts I and II - 1596/1597• Henry V - 1599

• First performed in 1603

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Sources?

• Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus wrote the story of Amleth, Prince of Denmark, in the late 1100s.

• Ur-Hamlet in England, a decade before Shakespeare's Hamlet.– Ur is German for primordial– Vague references made to it in playbills and other

documents from the time.– No known written copies or evidence.

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Shakespeare famous for his hit song “I’m bringing Saxo back.”

Setting• Denmark

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Characters• Hamlet

– Prince of Denmark– Student at University of Wittenburg

• A well respected school at the time, also the alma mater of Dr. Faustus.

– Indecisive– Prone to violence– Brooding

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Claudius• The new King of

Denmark.• After his brother

(Hamlet’s father) died, Claudius married his then-sister-in-law.

• Scheming, murderous, wiling to do whatever it takes for power.

Polonius• Slow-witted, long-

winded.• The head of the royal

court.• Father to Ophelia and

Laertes.

Laertes (LAY-air-TEES)

• Also a student• Over-protective

brother of Ophelia• Meant to be compared

to Hamlet

Up Next?

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Ooo… It’s the ladies…

Ophelia• Sweet, innocent

and beautiful.• Long-time love

interest of Hamlet.• Used by her father,

brother and Claudius.

Gertrude•Mother of Hamlet, Queen of Denmark•Not the best mother, for a few reasons.

Not, I repeat, NOT a strumpet.

Kind of a strumpet, at least to Hamlet

Supporting Cast• Fortinbras (FOR-tin-BRAZ)

– King of Norway– Close to Hamlet’s age.– Son of Fortinbras, who was killed by Hamlet Sr

• Hamlet killed Fortinbras, so now Fortinbras wants to kill Hamlet.• Wants to avenge his father’s death

• Horatio– Hamlet’s best friend and friend from University.

• Hamlet Sr. aka “The Ghost.”– Urges Hamlet along a path of revenge.

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The comic relief

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern– Friends of Hamlet that end up working

against him.

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–Stock characters•Mercutio and Benvolio•C3PO and R2D2•Timon and Pumbaa•Jay and Silent Bob•The Weasley twins

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Themes

• Familial duty

• Action vs. Inaction

• Sanity

• The body as a metaphor for a nation.

Familial Duty

• Hamlet has a duty to his father’s memory.• Gertrude has conflicting duties

– To her son– To her dead husband– To her new husband

• Ophelia has a duty to her father and brother• Polonius has duty to his family and his king.• Laertes has a duty to his father and sister.

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Action vs. Inaction

• Early in the play Hamlet is set on a course of revenge.

• Although he has several opportunities, he constantly waits for more and more evidence.

• He ponders revenge, suicide, love, life, death.• Hamlet admires people like Laertes and

Fortinbras who are able to act on their feelings and desires.

• While not to the same degree as Othello, several people lose their minds in the course of the play.– Or do they?

• Hamlet acts on the urges of a ghost.– Or does he?

• Just as indecisiveness is a battle between planning and doing, we see a battle between sanity and insanity in both Hamlet and Ophelia.– Again, the story lies in the middle ground.

Sanity

The body as a metaphor for the nation

• As Hamlet and others get sicker (in the head) and actions become more depraved and dangerous, we see Denmark falling apart.

• And Fortinbras and the Norwegian Army wait in the wings…

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Lasting Legacy• To be, or not to be…

• Alas Poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio…

• Brooding heroes with inner demons– Young men with kingdoms seeking to

avenge their fathers’ deaths.

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