Shakespeare + Hamlet | HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
 Queen Elizabeth I: monarch for most of
S’s career
 midst of English Renaissance (1500-165o)

Time of national strength & wealth
 “life is exciting” (prevailing attitude)
 Age of exploration: world, human
nature, art & language

Shakespeare + Hamlet | HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
 Relevant, prevailing IDEAS of the time:
 RELIGION:
 Questioned value of medieval Christianity:
 FROM “life = prep for eternal life”
 TO “everyday life = opp for noble activity & meaning”
 SELF: Humans have potential for individual development
– in control of their own destinies (not “pawns of fate”)
 VALUES: the ideal Renaissance Man…
I am [3] Self-reflective
:
Shakespeare
+
Hamlet
|
H
ISTORICAL
I’m a [1] talented courtier
I examine my nature &
the causes of actions
CONTEXT& a witty, eloquent [2]
(my skill w/ flattery wins courtly
favor)
conversationalist
[4]Poet’s
Heart
The IDEAL Renaissance
Man

Shakespeare + Hamlet | HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
Relevant prevailing IDEAS of the time:
 WORLDVIEW: “a great chain of being”
 Accepted Plato’s conception:
 there is a “proper order” in all things.
 Harmony when all is in order;
 Chaos & suffering for all if order is broken
 SOCIETY:
 Marriages arranged (for wealth)
 Women: lower social status than men
 Rulers = God’s Agents on earth (regicide =
heinous crime eliciting ominous signs from
heaven)
Shakespeare + Hamlet | STYLISTIC
C
ONTEXT
 S’s Dramatic Conventions & Techniques:
 SOLILOQUY – monologue provides insight into thoughts +
emotions of character (e.g. reveal true cause of H’s meloncholy/
troubled state, his view of death, + his desire to die)
 ASIDE – unheard dialogue provides insight into character
 ALLUSION – indirect reference to est. ch., explore theme,
set mood
 Consider allusions to Mythology (Gk. + Ro.), Ro. history, Bible
 METADRAMA (metafiction) – chs. call attention to the fact
that they are fictional (unlike legends + myths), creates irony
used to explore themes, develop character, or heighten
tension (COMIC RELIEF)
Shakespeare + Hamlet | STYLISTIC
CONTEXT

S’s Dramatic Conventions & Techniques:
 THE SUPERNATURAL– used to est. mood, heighten tension,
explore theme
 CONFLICT– tension + struggle between opposing forces or wills (in
Hamlet the primary conflict is INTERNAL)
 MADNESS – real or feigned, was a common dramatic device used
to advance plot + heighten tension
 MOTIFS – recurring symbols + images
 GARDENS & serpents (the Fall = chaos + disorder)
 desire for / concepts of DEATH
 DISEASE & DECAY (a pervasive reminder of human mortality)
Shakespeare + Hamlet | STYLISTIC
CONTEXT
 S’s Dramatic Conventions & Techniques:
 TRAGIC HERO – familiar device, KEY DIFFERENCE:
 Aristotlean: man of high position brought down by two
EQUALLY POWERFUL forces: hamartia + fate
 The “tragedy” is lack of courage in response to will of Gods
 Renaissance: humans control individual destiny (not
pawns of fate) >> individuals (esp. of high position) are
therefore responsible for their own downfall
 The “tragedy” is the “waste of human potential”
Shakespeare + Hamlet | STYLISTIC
CONTEXT

STRUCTURE: the 5-Act “Template”
 Typical movement through exposition; rising action; conflict
and climax; falling action; and resolution
SPOILER ALERT:
 S ‘s tragedies ALWAYS end with the death of the main
character
 Ironically, he has spent the entire play trying to gain control of
a conflict …that he himself has created
 FYI: the character who delivers the final line is the one who will
restore order to the disorder
Shakespeare + Hamlet | ANALYTICAL
READING
 Try reading… sdrawckaB
 No action occurs without antecedent; therefore
nothing happens by accident or mistake (David Ball)
 Trace linear continuity of action from the END to
the BEGINNING:
 Key question: Why does
x happen?
 Consider the series of actions preceding it:
 Something happens that permits something else to
happen…
 Each “trigger” creates a “heap,” then each “heap”
might become a new “trigger”
Shakespeare + Hamlet | ANALYTICAL
READING
 Study the “cycle of action”
 Stasis, intrusion, battle for a new stasis
 The central conflict emerges from the “intrusion,”
what someone wants is hindered by an obstacle
The End
Hamlet | Focus 2: CHARACTER

Examine S ‘s techniques used to portray character
&character relationships to audience
 H may be the most debated character in
literature
 Focus analytical reading on: H, Claudius,
Polonius, Gertrude, and Ophelia
CONTEXT | The Renaissance

Shift from feudalism to
nationalism = increased
individualism

Renaissance = profound
changes in the average
person’s view of:
 the universe

Declining power /
influence of Roman
Catholic Church =
increased secularization
(education & arts)
 God
 relationship between God &
humanity
 religion & everyday life
 government & individual
rights
CONTEXT| Renaissance Beliefs


Humans have potential
for development
Questioning of
traditional (medieval)
Christian beliefs:
 Life is meaningful, an
opportunity for noble
activity…NOT merely
“preparation for eternal
life”
 Heroism is valued:
 the “Renaissance man”
“…a talented courtier,
adventurer, fencer, poet,
and conversationalist. He
was a witty and eloquent
gentleman who examined
his own nature and the
causes of his actions…”
CONTEXT | Renaissance Beliefs
 Preoccupation with the order of things

(“great chain of being”: within and among all things—from a grain of
sand, to the heavens, to God—there is a complex order):
Proper Order = Harmony;
Broken Order = Chaos = Suffering
 Kings were “God’s agents” of Order

To kill a King was a heinous crime…and the heavens would show
ominous portents if such evil were present
Shakespeare’s | Theme & Structure

Echoing a contemporary worldview, S’s works revolve
around one common thematic idea:
disorder

In each play, one must consider:
 how disorder is shown
 how order is restored
 what the effect of the new order is
Shakespeae & CHARACTER:
The CLASSICAL Tragic Hero

Aristotle: tragic hero = a man who rose to a high
position , then fell from that position (a tragedy)
 Usually this “fall” results in death or utter desolation (e.g.
Oedipus)

In classical tragedy, TWO forces seem EQUALLY
powerful:
 hamartia (the “tragic mistake” or “flaw”)
 fate
Shakespeae & CHARACTER:
The CLASSICAL Tragic Hero
 Most tragic heroes
 However, some
are pawns of fate
and suject to
hamartia
tragic heroes clearly
cause their own
downfall
 (e.g. Oedipus and his
 (e.g. Creon’s downfall in
parents do everything
possible to outwit fate
and—ironically—in doing
so the very prophecy is
fulfilled)
Antigone is due to his
hubris: he believes his law
holds precedence over the
gods’ sense of “Right”)
Shakespeae & CHARACTER:
The RENAISSANCE Tragic Hero

The tragic hero retains
many of his original
traits: privileged, exalted
character of high repute who
falls from glory into suffering
because of a tragic flaw
(hamartia) … BUT

Renaissance worldview people are in control of
their own destinies (NOT
“pawns of fate”)

The Elizabethan
tragic hero is almost
always responsible
for his own downfall

To the Elizabethans
the “waste of human
potential” is much
more tragic than the
vagaries of fate
Shakespeare | Dialogue

Renaissance culture maintained a FORMAL and
INFORMAL language for a second-person address
(e.g. “you” = formal, “thou” = familiar)
 Be aware of how various characters (e.g. Hamlet, Claudius,
and Gertrude) address one another and in what contexts
they use what form of address
Shakespeare | Motif
Notice how Shakespeare returns to certain themes for
emphasis and development:
 The Garden (& Serpent)
 Desire for / concept of Death (esp. Hamlet)
 Images of Disease and Decay
 Meta-fiction / Meta-drama
 (when, in lit or drama, characters comment on the state of the art
form using its own actions and/or devices—e.g. when the Players
arrive in Hamlet)
Shakespeare| Ghosts
Using a ghost to begin a play was a common
dramatic convention
 Contextually, the existence of ghosts was a matter
of great philosophical and theological concern for
Shakespeare’s audience
 Different views of the AFTERLIFE will shape one’s
interpretation of the ghost:

Shakespeare| Ghosts

PROTESTANT VIEW: at death, a soul travels to
Heaven OR Hell…and does not return
 Many Protestant theologians believed that, while a soul
could not return, a demon could easily assume any shape
or likeness

CATHOLIC VIEW: at death, a soul may exist
between Heaven and Hell:
 Many Catholic theologians believed that a soul might be
able to return from Limbo or Purgatory

Note: Hamlet (and Horatio) are being schooled at
[very Protestant] Wittenberg!
Shakespeare| Ghosts:
Application

Read the opening passage of Hamlet (l.

Explain how the scene immediately
begins to build suspense and establish
the tone for the rest of the play.
Shakespeare| Girlfriends

What do we do with Ophelia?
 Some (probably mistakenly) have suggested that Ophelia
may be as well-rounded and possibly more important
than Hamlet himself!
What role does she play in Hamlet’s madness?
 Is Hamlet’s love sincere or merely a game?
 Why does Ophelia go mad?

 Note: As the Greek’s considered an individual’s downfall
at the hands of the Gods/fate, Shakespeare sympathizes
with the downfall of the innocent and powerless at the
hands of human manipulators!
Shakespeare| Girlfriends
Does Ophelia commit suicide or is her death an
accident?
 Eve vs. Mary:

 Some critics assert that Ophelia’s role is only important
as a foil, insomuch as she serves to illustrate the dual
nature of women—when she is paired with Gertrude
 Thus, they are manifestations of Hamlet’s
(Shakespeare’s???) warped view of women: at once the
seducing temptress AND the innocent and virtuous
Shakespeare| Graveyards
DEATH: The “great equalizer” or “eternal class
distinction”?
 Contextually, unbaptised persons (incl. babies);
suicides; unmarried, pregnant women; and any
person who died in a state of mortal sin were NOT
ELIGIBLE for “full Christian burial”

Shakespeare | Dramatic Conventions

Understand the function and purpose of:
 SOLILOQUY
 ASIDE
 ALLUSION
 SUPERNATURAL
 MADNESS (whether real or pretend, this was a popular
device in Elizabethan drama)
 CONFLICT
 TRAGIC HERO / TRAGIC FLAW
Reading Shakespeare:
Decoding Language
400 years of “static”—caused by changes in
language and life—make “translation” challenging
 Understand nuances related to Shakespeare’s
words & wordplay, syntax, and implied stage
action

Reading Shakespeare:
Understanding | Wordplay
Be prepared for the pervasive use of figurative
language & puns
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: be vigilant for SIMILES
and METAPHORS—consider the significance of the
comparison as well as its figurative meaning
 More advanced readers will have fun looking for
Shakespeare’s subtle-but-brilliant humor,
embedded in his language

Reading Shakespeare:
Understanding | Syntax

BEWARE: Shakespeare often shifts or inverts the
“normal” syntax of language (anastrophe)
 This allows him to emphasize certain elements or rhyme
certain words
Often, Shakespeare separates basic sentence
elements (such as subject/verb or verb/object)
 Often, Shakespeare employs elision (of letters or
words) to keep his blank verse style
 You may find it necessary to mentally restructure
the syntax to determine meaning!

Reading Shakespeare:
Understanding | I.S.A.
Remember: what you are reading was intended to
be seen, not just read…
 Dialogue is written to complement movement,
gesture, facial expression
 Explicit, described “stage direction” is included in
the text
 “implied stage action” (I.S.A.) is NOT: be alert to
signals in dialogue or action that reveal I.S.A.
