English 4, honors
Hamlet by William Shakespeare:
Critical Theory Research
“Mourning and Misogyny” by
Steven Mullaney
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Types of Criticism:
Historical/Biographical
Feminist
Freudian Psychological Criticism
Mourning and Misogyny Major
Arguments
• What is misogyny?
• Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of
women. Misogyny can be manifested in
numerous ways, including sexual
discrimination, denigration of women,
violence against women, and sexual
objectification of women.
Mourning and Misogyny Major
Arguments cont.
• What is the reason for the misogyny in
Hamlet?
• End of Elizabeth’s reign – ushering in a
king (patriarchal universe)
• Political misogyny prevalent at the time
period
• Ambivalent, ambiguous portrayals of
Elizabeth (both of the queen and of
women)
Misogyny and Mourning cont.
• Misogyny is part of the mourning process.
• Have to vilify to grieve, especially when
the woman is such an important figure
• Misogyny is a vehicle for mourning.
• Emotions have a history.
• Popular theater considered quasi-illicit and
was geared toward a highly diverse culture
that was not all literate nor refined.
• Drama a catharsis of mourning
Mourning and Misogyny cont.
• Queen portrayed in paintings as highly sexualized (“inch
thick paintings”)
• Symbolic of a “healthy” body politic
• Portrayals of Elizabeth incongruous and violating also
• Elizabethan audience might connect Gertrude to
Elizabeth.
• Play could be an attempt to resolve or stage
contradictions associated with portrayals of Elizabeth.
• Hamlet unable to properly mourn because he is so
distracted and disgusted by his mother’s sexuality and
illicit desire
• Violation of Elizabeth – violation of women
“Hamlet on the Couch” by W.F.
Bynum
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Types of Criticism:
Psychological Criticism
Historical/Contextual Criticism
Biographical Criticism
Formalism
“Hamlet on the Couch” cont.
• Major Arguments:
• Must judge, evaluate a work in its proper
context
• Hamlet studied psychoanalytically for
centuries – part of its history
• Multiple practitioners analyzing Hamlet as
a subject
• Plethora of psychological diagnoses, but
Hamlet confounds them all.
“Hamlet on the Couch” cont.
• 18th Century – Hamlet reasoned figure – madness
pretended
• Romantics – Hamlet all-human – full range of human
emotion, except the ability to act – Everyman
• 19th Century – viewed Hamlet as insane based on
several factors (suicidal tendencies, warnings of feigned
madness, inaction, moral madness)
• Coming of Freud – Oedipal complex
• Hamlet now come full circle – represents all of us in
some way
• After all, maybe it’s all just an act . . . (“A recorder is
brought on, and Hamlet challenges Guildenstern to play
upon it:”
“Old King, New King, Eclipsed Sons, and
Abandoned Altars in Hamlet by Elizabeth S.
Watson
• Types of Criticism:
• Historical Criticism
• Formalism
Old King, New King cont.
• Major Arguments:
• Wordplay in Hamlet mimics changes,
transformations in history
• Wordplay = unresolved issues, particularly
changes in church
• Religion (Catholicism) – altars fading
• What is the religious backdrop for Hamlet?
• Uncertainty = slippery wordplay
Old King, New King cont.
• Emerging English Church of Reformation
• Hamlet’s family antithesis of Holy Family
• Doubling, splitting, mirroring = break off of Catholic
Church
• Two fathers could represent two fathers of different
churches
• Hamlet – play of reversals – maimed rights and altered
customs = fading of altars
• Decline in belief in Purgatory – Ghost – “Remember me!”
• Fall – murder of brother – Cain and Abel
• The Pun – finally amalgamation of old and new – bridge
words
“Shakespeare after Columbine: Teen Violence in Tim Blake
Nelson’s ‘O’” by Gregory M. Colon Semenza
• Type of Criticism:
• Popular Cultural Criticism
Shakespeare after Columbine cont.
• Major Arguments:
• Does art reflect life or vice versa?
• What is the role of popular culture on literature?
On humanity?
• Writer/producer drew from what he saw in
epidemic of teen violence
• Can young viewers understand well enough to
be influenced?
• Could Shakespeare be a lens through which to
study violence and, thereby, help society to
understand/ extinguish teen violence?
Shakespeare after Columbine cont.
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Manipulative marketing of Shakespeare to teens
E.g. other “teen” Shakespeare films
Not all children behave the same
Age is not necessarily a predictor of human
behavior
• “O” supposedly presents complicated, “real”
portrayals
• “O” ultimately is about simplistic and self-serving
readings of teen behavior
• Teens are smarter and more complicated than
these “teen” portrayals of Shakespeare present.