Formalist (Hamlet)
Deen McKinley
David Wilkie
Devon Colquitt
Critical Approaches to Literature
Handout
 Analysing the elements of form (style, imagery,
character, plot, tone, etc.) within a text. The literary
work is approached as independent systems with
inter-dependent parts.
What do formalists focus on?
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Diction / Tone
Irony
Paradox
Metaphor
Symbol
Plot
Characterization
Setting
Point of View
Formalist Criticism View
 Concern on work itself rather than with literary
history
 Meaning of literary work discovered through detailed
analysis of formal elements
 Do not go outside the work to consider issues
 No political / ideological / biographical / psychological
view
 Greatest literature is “universal”
 Literary work is independent
Tension & Ambiguity
 Tension refers to the way elements of a text’s
language reflect conflict and opposition.
 Ambiguity refers to the ways texts remain open to
more than a single, unified, definitive interpretation.
 Structuralism (complexity in how a work is arranged) /
Deconstruction (relationship between form and
meaning in a work)
Purpose
 Realize that all the elements necessary for
understanding the work are contained within the
work itself
 Determine how much elements work together with
the work’s content to shape its effects upon readers
 A way of viewing different pieces of art
 Find the difference between denotation (what a word
really means) and connotation (what a word suggests
or implies)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
 Inciting moment, Exposition, Rising Action,
Complication, Climax, Reversal, Falling Action,
Catastrophe, Moment of Suspense, Conclusion
 Ghost King Hamlet, murder of King Hamlet
 Ghost explains to Hamlet about his murder
 Everyone dies but justice is served, Fortinbras to
Denmark
 To seek revenge for King Hamlet’s death
 Play follows a strict structure, event after event
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
 Each incident or decision of the play is a set up for
what’s about to happen next
 Each part of Hamlet changes the decision making
process of a character which changes the state of
mind of a character (Death of King Hamlet creates
madness to Hamlet, madness to Hamlet creates death
in Polonius, death to Polonius creates madness in
Ophelia, etc.)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
 No narrator (most soliloquies by Hamlet)
 Hamlet introduced by ghost of father and revealed by
his own thoughts said aloud
 Actions / Decision making process / Stories from other
characters
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
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Major
Hamlet (King Hamlet’s son)
Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle, Gertrude’s husband, king)
Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother, Claudius’ wife, queen)
Horatio (Scholar, friend of royalty)
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Minor
Francisco (Guard)
Marcellus (Guard)
Gravediggers (Clowns)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
 Written in 1601, Denmark
 Kingdom, classification of people, treason, jealousy,
tragedy, revenge
 University represents intelligence
 Kingdom represents power and wealth
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
 Descriptive, ancient, old, English, lots of imagery,
similes and metaphors
 “Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.” Hamlet to
Polonious
 To create an image and describe a situation or object
in greater detail
 Hamlet is displaying his hatred for Polonius and is
calling him a “pimp” because he does “not
recognize” him
Online Resources
 http://www.grossmont.edu/karl.sherlock/English160/R
esources/GlossaryDramaLitTerms.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(literature)
 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/213786/F
ormalism