Enter Shakespeare.
HUM 2052: Civilization II
Spring 2012
Dr. Perdigao
January 27-February 1, 2012
Establishing Shakespeare
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Born 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon; father a glove-maker
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Social mobility possible; merchant class could sell goods for money for land; father
becomes prominent in town council but later goes bankrupt
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Early life, during father’s success, probably attended town grammar school,
learning Latin, history, classical literature; did not attend college but well-educated
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Shakespeare started writing plays in 1590, mostly comedies and histories
1600-1611, mostly tragedies and romances
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Successful in his time; regarded in 1600 as best playwright; earns money, buys
father coat of arms and largest house in Stratford
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Stops writing in 1611, goes home; dies in 1616
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1558: Elizabeth became queen (1558-1593)
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Question of female ruler after Mary
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Long period of peace, avoided wars, prosperity
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Shakespeare’s works reflecting state of the country with change in genres
Framing
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With Reformation, increase in literacy, popularity of plays
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Period of colonization—danger, fear, change, and hope in plays
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Changes in beliefs, science
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1576—first theatre built in London
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Fear of influence of plays, regulations
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Ideas of women, thought to be dangerous and wild, not allowed to perform in plays
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Idea of “society, a polis, going to pieces—or even more, with its realization that it
has already gone to pieces” (2407).
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“sense of disenchantment,” idea of adopting an “individual code of conduct”
(2409), connection to DQ
Re-readings
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Use of language to convey complex opinions and feelings
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Use of metaphors, images, and created fast-changing English vocabulary with new
words invented
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Question if Shakespeare wrote Hamlet
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Different readings of Shakespeare:
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Deconstruction: language lacks coherent meaning, no final sense to be made;
“Death of the author”
Marxism: ideas about class, politics; question if Shakespeare was politically
conservative
Feminist theory: patriarchal society with little freedom for women
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The Magical World of Puppetry
Poor Shakespeare
On revenge
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As revenge tragedy, popular play
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Hamlet plagiarized from earlier play
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Conflict of old ethos of honor and new centralized state
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Legal system became more centralized, powerful; revenge not acceptable with new
justice system
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Tension between avenging death and following legal system
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Someone wants revenge but knows it is wrong
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Play speaks to the role and responsibilities of the individual
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Definition of the hero is changing, becomes less violent
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Concerns with relationship between past and present; dead come back and ask to be
avenged
Conventions in revenge plays
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Plot turns on revenge
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Society unable to impose justice because it is corrupt
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Individual responsible to seek revenge because society cannot take care of it
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Revenge is both necessary and wrong, putting hero in a bind
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Revenge hero gets revenge but appears corrupt after “housecleaning” and he
eventually dies (killed by self or others)
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All end up dead
Themes
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Renaissance outlook—positive view of human achievement vs. the negative view
(melancholy, sense of void and purposelessness) (2407)
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Disenchantment with the world in which he lives; “Ideals that once had power and
freshness have lost their vigor under the impact of satiety, doubt, and melancholy”
(2409)
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Influence of Machiavelli—idea of sneaky, scheming characters, using poison; hero
becoming Machiavellian; acquisition and maintenance of power, investigation of
means to that end (murder plots)
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Malcontent—character feels wronged, abused by system
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Metadrama—calls attention to the fact that it is a play; plays within the play to act
out plot
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Life as permeable, play between reality and illusion
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Seeming to be versus being
Themes
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Structure of play and language
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Spying and acting, reason versus emotion (as justification for action)
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Family relationships and psychology
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Gertrude and Ophelia
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Death
Acts I and II, Acting 101
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Play between inside/outside (scene 1 to scene 2)
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Place of corruption
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Sons avenging fathers
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Presence of the ghost, supernatural; idea of “unnatural”
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Claudius’ treatment of the “Norway problem” versus Old Hamlet’s
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Question if people are good on the inside or corruptible from the outside
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Spying
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Reynaldo on Laertes; King and Polonius on Ophelia; Ophelia on Hamlet; delegates
in Denmark
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Spying—within, between families, foreign policies
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Denmark—unstable, lack of trust
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Appearance versus reality—hiding, exposure
Acts I and II, Acting 101
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On Gertrude’s actions (I.2, 130)
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Marcellus: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (I.4, 91)
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Ghost: “Mark me” (I.5, 2); “remember me” (I.5, 90)
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Idea of what is “unnatural”
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“whole ear of Denmark” (I.5, 36)
Act III, if he chooses
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Discussion of madness between King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius,
and Ophelia (II.2, 93)
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“To be, or not to be” (III.1, 56): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHMYkUrV7A
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07IQp9uaIWg&feature=related
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The Mousetrap (III.2)
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In the bedroom, enter Freud (III.4, 53)
To act or not to act
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Idea of acting—as doing something or pretending to do something
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Actors as “players”
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Relation of action and emotion
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Delays—Hamlet as not emotional, coward, doesn’t know if ghost is telling the truth
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Laertes—moves immediately to revenge, as foil to Hamlet
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But uses dishonorable method for “honorable” actions
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Laertes’ change of heart—Claudius to blame, not honorable actions
Gender divides
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By act III, all original patriarchs are dead
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Sons left to avenge deaths, idealize fathers after death
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Identities of sons in crisis
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Polonius’ death—lives and dies behind façade
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Ophelia, Gertrude—weak, passive
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Characters disgusted by power women have over them, power struggle
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No strong male figure
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What’s rotten in Denmark? Hamlet: women; Hamlet’s attitude toward women
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Difficult to discern Shakespeare’s attitude because thoughts and actions given to
characters
Death, death, more death
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Spirituality, idea of fate
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Hamlet praying
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Skulls in graveyard
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Death as both joke and tragedy
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Words to Horatio
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Retelling of story
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds5nhGEk0Bc
Civilization and Youtube (thanks to Brittany)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApcrdI-XPdU -- Band of Brothers St. Crispin's
Day Speech
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owW4paF6lSQ -- Hamlet Rap
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iM1kb3b9t8 -- Melvin trying to read Hamlet
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRXa6qGgTZ8&p=92AA609ABDE3D793 -Starts teaching Hamlet and assigning parts