Ms. Shin
English 4 CP
Before we begin….
• One of Shakespeare’s best dramas
• However Hamlet is specifically
categorized as a “Tragedy”
• Shakespeare’s Hamlet corresponds to a
legendary figure in Denmark’s history
called Amleth
• Prince Amleth is driven by passionate
revenge whereas Hamlet is stricken with
feelings of guilt, doubt, and reluctance.
Tragedy
• type of drama that
presents a heroic
or noble character
with conflicts that
are difficult or
impossible to
resolve
According to Aristotle:
“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an
action that is serious, complete, and of a
certain magnitude…”
Tragedy is “imitation of an action” or
otherwise known as mimesis
Tragedy shows rather than tells and
therefore is the higher and more
philosophical than history.
Tragedy therefore arouses not only pity
but also fear, because the audience can
envision themselves within this causeand-effect chain
Themes
Themes:
Fundamental
often universal
ideas explored
in works of
literature
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Revenge
Sexual, moral and
physical corruption
Madness and
melancholy
Fate
Complexity of
Action
Impossibility of
Certainty
Appearance and
Reality
Motifs
Motifs are
recurring
structures,
contrasts, images
and literary devices
that can help to
develop and inform
the text’s major
themes.
• Incest and Incestuous
Desires
• Misogyny
• Ears and Hearing
• Disease
• Actors/Play
The Major Players…
Late King Hamlet (Hamlet’s Dad or after death known as “The Ghost”)
Gertrude (Hamlet’s Mom)
Claudius (Late King Hamlet’s Brother, Marries Gertrude after King’s
Death)
Hamlet (Son of Late King Hamlet and Gertrude)
Horatio (Hamlet’s Loyal friend, the “thinker” )
Polonius (Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’ court)
Laertes (Son of Polonius, Ophelia’s Brother)
Ophelia (Daughter of Polonius, in love with Hamlet, controlled by men)
Fortinbras (Prince of Norway. Wants to kill Hamlet)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (friends of Hamlet)
Citing a play in MLA format
First of all make sure that you are VERY clear in indicating what play
you are citing from. Play titles should ALWAYS be italicized
The PARENTHETICAL CITATION is ( ACT.SCENE.LINE)
"So shaken as we are, so wan with care," Henry announces to his court
(1.1.1). **this is a single LINE of a play at the beginning of sent.**
Henry appears infirm from the very beginning of the play: "So shaken
as we are, so wan with care" (1.1.1). **At end. Notice the : **
Henry thinks of the terrain of England as a thirsty mother perversely
feeding on the blood of her sons: "No more the thirsty entrance of this
soil / Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood" (1.1.5-6).
**More than ONE line separated by / **
Citing a play using MORE than four
lines
Usually this sort of quotation will be introduced by a
full colon (:) and then indented ten spaces from your
left-hand margin. You will no longer need slashes to
separate lines nor quotation marks; instead, the
quotation should appear as it does on the printed page.
*here the period is BEFORE the parenthetical
citation*
Henry's first speech is full of metaphors of physical distress:
So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils
To be commenced in stronds far remote. (1.1.1-4)
Citing a play in MLA Works Cited
Cite as if you were citing a book with one author with multiple editors:
(The Orange Edition of the play)
Shakespeare. William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul
Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.
Literary Terms
For each literary termUse a 3x5 Index Card
On BLANK Side-write the word
On LINED side
-Write the definition
-then write several examples from the
play as we read. You must have at
minimum of TWO quotes per term