St Leonard's College



IB English (first examination 2013)

PART 3 – GENRE STUDY

Notes prepared by Victoria Thau

Hamlet in context: Shakespeare’s tragedies

Written in 1601, in the most productive periods of his life, Shakespeare’s Hamlet echoes some of the themes and moral concerns of his other plays: human evil and human goodness; destructive human passions such as sexual lust, greed for power, ruthless ambition; redemptive forces such as love and loyalty; appearance hiding a darker reality; tensions between surface and depth; questions of individual will and agency in the face of fate and destiny; moral corruption; filial duty and its violation; bonds of friendship and their breaking; tension between a Humanistic philosophy and a Medieval one; conflict between and old world and a new world; conflict between the New Testament ethos of forgiveness, redemption and compassion and an Old Testament ethos of revenge; tension between scientific scepticism and the authority of the supernatural; tensions between reason, pragmatism, empirical enquiry and the unquestioned mystery of faith; the meaning of life in the face of death; chaos and order; the nature of humanity, etc

Cultural contexts: 16th & early 17th century England Relationships between men and women are patriarchal and gender constructions reflect patriarchal values. Old Testament and New Testament Christian values, sometimes in tension, form the background of moral judgements. Notions of good and evil are defined by the patriarchal and religious contexts. Changes are occurring in the cultural climate, as Medieval and Old Testament notions of revenge and justice are beginning to be replaced by New Testament Christian notions of love, compassion, and redemption. Moreover good and evil are becoming less diametrically opposed and can be quite ‘nuanced’. Nature, illness, disease, etc still provide metaphors for inner moral states as well as political chaos and order. Humanism and the spirit of Science are becoming increasingly influential. Humanism emphasises the complexity of the inner self and individual control of destiny, challenging fate and divine authority. Sceptical doubt, rationality, empirical pragmatism, etc. champion proof and reason and work hand in hand with Humanistic notions of justice and moral life based on complexities of human psychology. Notions of fate work in tension with the affirmation of independent human agency, etc.

Literary context: Aristotle, Sophocles, Shakespearean tragedy, Italian ‘revenge’ convention and Morality plays

Hamlet is critically seen as a ‘tragedy’ as are plays such as ‘King Lear, ‘Macbeth and ‘Othello’. Shakespeare’s ‘tragedy’ draws on aspects of Aristotle’s notions of tragedy, which he saw perfectly exemplified by Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex’. Elizabethan tragedy also often features a ‘flawed’ but nonetheless admirable central character, usually male, brought to ruin by aspects of his ‘nature’, his inner character. As well as debilitating flaws such as greed, power lust, uncontrolled rage, self – delusion, absence of self – knowledge, the tragic hero can be ambiguously constructed and we find much to admire. Moreover, we increasingly find psychological motivation for his character and motives. In the case of Hamlet’s his debilitating character flaw is seen to be his fatal indecision, lack of decisive and consistent resolve, and his failure to fulfil his duty in avenging his father’s murder. Compassion, deep thought, reason and sensitivity are obstacles to Hamlet’s decisive action. Such ‘flaws’ can be excused by reference to their being grounded in humanistic impulses and concerns. His delay, his troubled mind and his contemplative temperament spawn profound redemptive insights into the human condition. Such indecision or failure to carry out his filial duty may be seen as not only reasonably rational, but a compassionate and sensitive humanist’s repugnance to commit murder. Moreover, his ‘modern’ ‘scientific’ scepticism makes him reluctant to act until he is certain that Claudius’ has committed regicide, murdered the king, Hamlet’s father. Humanism and modern sensibility drive Hamlet to insist on objective proof, a forensically, rationally acquired certainty of his ‘uncle’s’ guilt. Over the life of the classical ‘tragic hero’ there hangs the ineluctable force of fate, while, ironically, the classical ‘tragic hero’ harbours a deluded sense of his control of his destiny. Hamlet is given a greater degree of individual agency, Shakespeare expressing his scepticism about determinism and fate. In ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare also works with elements of Italian ‘revenge tragedy’, introduced to English theatre in 15th and 16th century, adapting it to his serve his own purpose. The convention of Medieval Morality Plays may also be seen to be influential. We need to ask, how these conventions work in the play and, more significantly, to what effect are they adapted?

Major characters

Hamlet

Claudius

Gertrude

Polonius

Ophelia

Laertes

Horatio

Minor characters

Rosencrantz

Guildenstern

Fortinbras

Horatio

Marcellus

Barnardo

The players

Fortinbras

Osric

The grave - diggers

Guide to character analysis

The play’s main characters are psychologically and morally complex. In all of Shakespeare’s plays, characters must be explored as ‘sites’ for the play’s exploration of ideas, themes, its view of humanity, its philosophical ideas and its values. As well as their psychological realism, the characters are emblematic and symbolic entities, representing moral states, ideas and philosophical notions. Characterisation, in the play, often works in pairs, doubles, offering dramatic contrasts and meaningful parallels.

Clearly, all characters will need to be explored in terms of inner factors such as: states of mind, feelings, thoughts, core psychological features, developments, evolution or degeneration, core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by character, values, relationships with other characters; inner tensions or conflicts; conflict between other characters; states of mind, range of different ‘selves’, range of assumed personas and disguises, inner conflicts, tension between surface and inner state; are they tragic of figures of pathos; roles in the moral scheme thematic interests and Shakespeare’s views of human life; parallels and contrasts with other characters; language features of characters, such as defining motifs; defining imagery; defining settings; defining actions; defining style of address

Point - form guide to character analysis

• States of mind

• Philosophy

• Attitudes

• Beliefs

• Values

• Feelings

• Thoughts

• Intellectual state

• Passions

• Inner conflicts and tensions

• Conflicts and tensions with other characters

• Fragmented self

• Different aspects of self

• Moral nature and moral trajectory: growth, stasis or degenerations

• Motivations and psychological states

• Tragic?

• Pathos?

• Parallels and contrasts with other characters

• Language features of character development, such as defining motifs; defining imagery; defining settings, etc

• Defining actions; defining style of address, etc

Role in thematic development

Role in the moral scheme of the play

Role in the play’s view of human nature

Role in the play’s philosophy

Find Key quotes and scenes

Note: not all characters will be as or complexly or deeply developed as Hamlet. Indeed, Hamlet is often seen as the most complex, enigmatic and ‘modern’ character in all of Shakespeare’s plays.

Dramatic Elements

Elements of drama will be explored in the context of their contribution to the play’s moral and philosophical vision, thematic developments and characterisation

Narrative line and Plot

How does plot details and action advance our understanding of the characters, themes and vision of human life our understanding of the characters, themes and vision of human life?

Structure

Note the following: juxtapositions, contrasts, parallels, dramatic irony, fore – shadowing, repetitions, patterns of imagery, recurring motifs, etc and how they are used to advance our understanding of the moral life and the psychology of the characters, the play’s themes and philosophical vision of human life?

Dramatic irony

Carries foreshadowing; may work as irony against character indicating an illusory or ignorant state, such as control of destiny; it often carries tragic patterns; carries notions of fate and inexorable march of destiny, etc.

Settings

Time, place, and circumstances work metaphorically. For example, day night reflect hope, clarity, goodness, etc. night might denote confusion, darkness of the human soul; external events such as war and peace may reflect on moral and cosmic states; open and enclosed spaces may denote states of mind or reflect themes; intimate places such as bedrooms and closets are reserved for intimacy; symbolic use of places such as graveyard, gardens, ponds, etc may convey themes of death and loss; etc

Language as a dramatic device.

Prose passages, simple language often denotes strong feelings or down to earth characters High flown, blank verse, iambic pentameters, elaborate poetic language often denotes higher class and may carry lofty themes

Common language, colloquialism often denote lower class or down to earth character

Asides and soliloquies may have a range of effects: convey a solitary nature, secrecy, fear disclosure, meditation, interiority, take audience into confidence, garner sympathy, establish a complex paradoxical relationship with audience, a form of dramatic irony, etc.

Language style in dialogue may reflect the character’s state of mind and psychology; reflect character’s moral nature, eg. Hamlet’s metaphors and lofty language reflect his fine virtues and his complex humanity; it may signify character contrasts, oppositional views and / or moral nature

Character’s state of mind and transition can also be conveyed by language rhythms: even, rough, measured, sharp, lyrical, mellifluous, fragmented, etc

Opposition in language style and imagery: eg. H’s refined lyricism and profound mediations on human existence contrasts P’s pretentious, self regarding philosophising, his rhythms capture the self – indulgent, purposeless meanderings of his mind; imagery as a reflection of human psyche

Language imagery includes: imagery of nature, wholesome nature, corrupted nature, unweeded gardens, wild nature, controlled nature, disease, illness, madness, distortion, fragmentation, water, flowers, herbs, plants, sexuality, birds, animals, chaos, order, etc

Metaphors, similes, symbols, synecdoche, personifications, etc. convey feelings, moods, states of mind, moral character, psychology, themes, values, philosophical perspectives, etc.

Allusions carry insights into moral and psychological constructions of character and may also carry irony

Key words used by characters, eg. Time, disease, nature, garden, plants, flowers, etc. may carry insights into the moral and psychological construction of the character

Language imagery and rhythms may carry thematic developments, as well as insights into moral humanity, the play’s ‘world’, and Shakespeare’s play’s attitude to life

Themes such as moral corruption, fragmentation, deep disturbance, chaos, order, balance, etc are often conveyed in language rhythms and imagery

Rhyme: rhyming couplets often denote moralistic precepts, clinch a point of view, stress an idea, sound a triumphant note, carry dramatic irony, etc

Alliteration, assonance; onomatopoeia may intensify the tone, mood and feelings of the speaker

Themes

Revenge

Action and contemplation

Moral and political corruption

Life and art

Order and chaos

Power

Individual agency and forces of destiny

Love and loyalty

Bonds and violation of bonds

The nature of humanity

Meaning of life

Men and women

Other?

Key questions

• What are the dominant ideas/themes/concerns explored by the play?

• What does the play show about a particular set of ideas / themes concerns?

• How do themes/interests/ideas/views of the human condition emerge from the play’s deployment of dramatic features, such as characterisation, language [imagery metaphor, allusions, similes, symbolism], settings, actions, structure, and dramatic irony, etc?

• What positions does the play endorse, view sympathetically, ambiguously, criticise, and / or redemptively?

• What view of and attitudes to the human condition does the play convey?

Revenge, medievalism, modernism, humanism, action and contemplation

As a medieval gentleman and a loyal son, one part of Hamlet’s moral dilemma reflects the law of the Old Testament, an eye for an eye’ justice. His moral duty is to avenge his father’s death. Representing and urging Hamlet to just revenge, the honourable now deceased King Hamlet, now a ghost sentenced to walk the earth, passionately recounts the horrific circumstances of his death. The ghost of Hamlet’s father reconfirms what Hamlet intuitively feels in his own ‘prophetic soul’: his uncle and now step – father has murdered the king, Hamlet’s father, his own brother and with ‘indecent haste’ married the king’s widow, Gertrude. Claudius, the present king is guilty of the ‘primal’ sin, a brother’s murder [here Shakespeare alludes to the Old Testament story of Cane and Abel], regicide, a sin against the law, ‘heaven’, god and humanity and according to Hamlet, ‘incest’. Hamlet’s conflict, to act or not to act, can be seen as a conflict between a morality based on Old Testament law, medieval gentleman’s morality of dignified and righteous revenge, on the one hand and the law of forgiveness, a New Testament Christian precept, an aspect of 15th century Humanism and modernity.

An important part of the conflict, the tension between the Feudal Medieval world and the budding Humanism of the 15th / 16th century is symbolised by the dead king Hamlet’s call for Hamlet to avenge his ‘foul murder’ and Hamlet’s reluctance to do it. The old king represents Medieval justice, an Old Testament heroic moral world of decisive action while Hamlet’s ‘aversion to action’ represents a modern world. His preference is for deep intellectual musings, reliance on reason, the inner life, self - scrutiny, intimate self – questioning, certainty based on objective empirical proof rather than faith, scepticism, all part of a new Humanism. Humanism and modernity place humanity, individual psychology and states of mind at the centre of interest. Modernism sanctions a sceptical intellect. Medievalism favours an absolute moral universe, expressed in the swift, heroic and courageous action of the characters such as Laertes and the Fortinbras. It allows for the authority of the faith, supernatural, belief in ghosts, etc. .

Thus the theme of the morality of revenge as a honourable and integral moral response and conduct can be broadened to engage with themes such as the competing ethics of action and contemplation, as well as tension between humanism, modernity and traditional medievalism. Clearly, despite his resolve to ‘set it right’ Hamlet is not a medieval gentleman of swift and decisive action, but a modern humanist, preferring contemplation, deep thought, and philosophical speculation on the nature of humanity [‘what a piece of work is man’]. Shakespeare draws a dramatic contrast with the characterisations of Laertes and Fortinbras: the instant recourse to revenge and action of the loyal son of Polonius and loving brother of Ophelia and the courageous defence of a principle of a Fortinbras. Thus the moral tension between Medievalism and Humanism / Modernism is another way of articulating the conflict between an ethos of ‘action’ and ‘contemplation’.

Hamlet judges himself according to the ethos of action and revenge. His guilt and self - castigation testify to it. His Humanism compels self - scrutiny rational scepticism, a profound self – insight. The soliloquy [Act 2 scene 2] partly articulates Hamlet’s ethical quandary: to act, to revenge a murder or to allow sceptical reason to rule. The moral dilemma is between knightly honour of a Medieval Christian gentleman, on the one hand, and a Humanist philosopher, on the other. The soliloquy begins in self - questioning, self – loathing, self - disgust [‘what a rogue … ‘]. A man of honour needs to act, rather than languish in vacillating torpor. With such spirited self - scrutiny Hamlet questions his religious teachings, his scepticism opening out to radical doubts about the certainty of a life after death, eternal existence provided by a religious frame – work. He represents the new scientific spirit. Hamlet needs reason and objective proof before he can revenge himself. Again, the tension is between old and new worlds. Family honour, traditional notions of justice and his faith in the ghost’s pronouncements are challenged by a need for objective proof, negating the authority of faith. Christian goodness, compassion, forgiveness are set against the honour of a medieval warrior. While Hamlet admits he is called upon to restore a ‘moral balance’, his deepest instincts rebel against it, and while the ‘nobility of spirit calls for action’, his finer sensitive soul recoils from it. Despite his admission of Claudius’ ‘infamy’, Hamlet’s humanity, his sprit of rationality insists on proof.

Where do Shakespeare’s values lie? The play’s Humanism admires the inner life, self - reflection and moral self - scrutiny. Even Claudius is allowed redemptive moments of moral self – awareness. Hamlet constantly reflects upon the human condition. Macbeth, the killer of a ‘goodly’ king is admired for his poignant self – reflection, following his wife’s death. Indeed, Harold Bloom, an eminent literary authority on Shakespeare, critic credits ‘Hamlet’ with the ‘invention’ of the modern humanistic consciousness. So while Hamlet’s modern, humanistic radical scepticism stands in the way of decisive action. His deepest melancholy and indecisions generate profound insights into the nature of humanity. George Bernard Shaw sees the character of Hamlet as a humanist and the play’s values equally humanistic. He argues that had Shakespeare pursued his humanistic moral preferences to the end, he would not have allowed Hamlet, the character to send his two [disloyal] friends to their death, as he does fulfilling a older, more primitive impulses.

Is the moral tension resolved by the play? How? Does the play support medieval notions of justice? Humanism?

What other moral dilemmas are explored in the play, explored through the characterisations and actions?

Corruption: moral degeneration, disruption of moral order, disturbed intellect, disordered judgement and mental instability [madness]

Most of Shakespeare’s plays [Othello, Macbeth and King Lear] are concerned with disruption of moral order. Such morally ill world is explored and manifested through treacherous action and metaphoric language. In ‘Hamlet’, language is important, as the imagery of ‘unweeded garden’, ‘disease’, ‘illness’, ‘chaos’, etc constructs a morally corrupt universe, the moral disease, the degeneration of moral order, etc. The appearance of the ghost, the war, the uncertain political climate, the marriage of the Gertrude to Claudius, all contribute to the sense of a world in moral chaos. The ‘unweeded garden’ testifies to ‘something rotten in a state of Denmark’. It may originate in human action and spreads its corruption beyond the murderous individual, Claudius. Macbeth’s evil contaminates others. Othello’s world descends into moral chaos under the machinations of the ‘evil’ Iago. Hamlet’s Denmark plunges into moral chaos following Claudius’ grave sins: regicide, the killing of a king, and the killing of a brother, the primal sin committed by Abel and Cain. Linked to the broad themes of corrupted nature, Gertrude, the queen and Hamlet’s mother, represents corrupted feminine nature. Claudius’s sins represent the violation of the bonds of humanity, duty, brotherly love and proper reverence for a divinely anointed king. Gertrude is guilty of having violated moral decency, bonds of marriage, bonds of loyal love and female sexual reticence. Her female nature is constructed as unnatural, her ‘hasty’ marriage ostensibly motivated by unfeminine lustful desire, as well as moral blindness or a weak will. Metaphors of disordered time, signalled by the image of ‘time’s [being] out of joint’ work to represent a disturbed moral order and cosmic chaos.

What are the sources of moral corruption? Suggested are unnatural human nature, greed, ‘unnatural’ female nature, female sexuality, lust, power hunger, uncontrolled passions etc. Regicide is a crime against God, universal harmony, moral and political order, a serious violation of all that is sacred to the medieval mind. Kings are seen as anointed rulers, considered partly divine. Driven by lust for power and Lady Macbeth’s ‘unnatural’ female nature Macbeth murders a gracious and respected king. Claudius cruelly and unjustly takes his brother’s place as the King of Denmark, becomes step ‘father’ to Hamlet and husband of the equally morally infirm widowed queen. The source of corruption is a combination of hunger for power, greed, desire, female sexual lust, women’s lack of self – restraint, weak moral sense, the symptoms and effects of a profound disturbance of moral order. Moral chaos also takes the form of betrayals, disloyalty, violations of trust, breaking of sacred bonds, disregard of duties, corrupted friendships, duplicity, elaborate dissembling, the blurring of distinctions between reality and appearances as ‘things [are] not what they seem’.

Corruption in Shakespeare’s plays is a vital force and the like a virus, a physical disease, corruption spreads. The metaphor of ‘unweeded garden’ and the image of ‘something is rotten in a state of Denmark’ carry Shakespeare’s sense of the corrosive power of sin; sin pervades the soul as a contagion and spreads beyond its initial instigator. He shows that corruption will proliferate, thus Hamlet’s love for Ophelia becomes corrupted into gross lewdness. Hamlet’s former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern abandon loyalty for sycophantic treachery, Hamlet’s own friendship with the two traitors descends into brutality, as he, in a gross violation of compassion, heartlessly sends R and G to their death. Hamlet’s royal civilised propriety degenerates into dismissive scornful contempt for the elder statesman Polonius and later the insensitive disregard of Polonius’ accidental ‘death’ where Hamlet ‘mistakes him ‘for his better’. Polonius’ death remains unmourned, receives no remorse from Hamlet. .

Does the play offer redemptive possibilities? Is there an antidote to evil’s contagion? Can its flow be stemmed? Can justice be achieved in such a universe? Can order restored? The loyal friend and philosopher, Horatio, and the impetuous young man of heroic action, Fortinbras, remain the only ones alive. The guilty are justly punished but so have been the innocent victims such as Ophelia. Does the play suggest that the world is morally whole again?

Madness: part of general theme of corruption, misogyny, female frailty, defence strategy, psychological condition

Madness as a female condition and weakness

Lady Macbeths‘s ‘madness’ and suicide echoes the mental break down and self inflicted death of Ophelia. Such states can be interpreted as forms of female weakness, women’s psychological infirmity, a refuge and escape from responsibility, female compassion [repressed by Lady Macbeth], a refined female sensitivity. Such psychological break - downs can be interpreted psychologically as the effects of deep guilt, and an awareness of gross moral transgression, more acutely felt by women.

Ophelia’s mind breaks. The psychological causes of emotional anguish leading to madness are many: she is grieved by death of her father, the knowledge her beloved is the murderer, the hostility from her betrothed lover, a sense of life’s incongruity, and possibly guilt of having betrayed her lover.

Hamlet’s passionate rage, a form of ‘madness’, can be also seen in the context of Hamlet’s misogyny. Hamlet’s outburst of ‘mad’ rage against Ophelia, contrary to Polonius’ diagnosis of ‘unrequited love’, must be seen as part of Hamlet’s profound disillusionment with all women. His ‘madness’ at his mother expresses his bitter disapproval of his mother’s ‘all too hasty’ marriage’, her middle age sexual passions targets of Hamlet’s savage disgust.

Madness as a form of self - defence

Madness as demonstrated by Hamlet’s ‘antic disposition’ is a deliberate choice, showing a measure of rationality. How can a sane man survive when the world descends into chaos? What refuge can one seek in a world bent on destroying one? In this reading, Hamlet’s madness is not necessarily a psychic condition, as is Ophelia’s. We are encouraged to see it as a deliberately assumed form of behaviour and as Polonius rightly suspects, there is ‘method in it’. We accept Hamlet’s madness as part of defensive strategy, a necessary dissembling in a world bristling with lies, moral degeneracy and considerable danger. Hamlet assumes a disguise of mental instability as a defence strategy. In a morally degenerate universe, Hamlet’s manufactured paranoia is a good strategy, even a reasonable one. His disguise / cloak of insanity is required by degenerate times, as universal treachery requires desperate means of defence. Hamlet cannot be seen to be clinically mad, as he is capable of choosing madness as a strategic ploy. To some extent, Ophelia’s psychic degeneration may be seen a form of refuge, she finds solace in madness, her respite brief and self – destructive.

Madness as defiance, resistance and subversion

Connected to madness as self – defence, Hamlet’s ‘madness’ and ‘antic disposition, can be seen as a form of defiance. Paradoxically, Hamlet meets the world’s moral chaos with his own mental disorder

Madness as an adjunct of the theme of reality and illusion

Hamlet’s madness hides his inner reality as his motives and real self are hidden beneath the facade of madness

Madness as a metaphor for political and moral corruption

Madness acts as a metaphor for the disturbed state of the play’s moral universe, a metaphor for the moral corruption of the times. In such a corrupt state, the highest human attribute, reason is in jeopardy. Ophelia’s poignantly laments Hamlet’s ‘noble mind [being] over thrown’. His rational philosophical mind is at end of its tether, ‘mad as the sea and wind’. Hamlet’s madness, wild mood swings echo the moral instability and decline of the world of the play.

Loss of reason – psychological disturbance – madness - can be seen as a psychologically realistic response as well as a metaphoric representation

Shakespeare’s astute psychological insight sees Ophelia’s suicidal despair and loss of reason [madness] a psychologically reasonable response to the pain of betrayal, loss and grief. Suffering terrible anguish it is psychologically ‘normal’ that Ophelia loses her hold on sanity.

Likewise psychologically astute is Shakespeare’s rendition of Hamlet deeply disturbed state of mind, a response to a violent assault on moral order, which violates Hamlet’s core moral values and precepts. Following his mother’s failure to grieve, Gertrude’s ‘o hasty marriage’ to his uncle, the appearance of the ghost of his beloved father and noble king, accusing the brother of murder. Hamlet is mentally ‘destroyed by the moral chaos around him. In his powerless moral outrage he is driven to a form of ‘madness’. Madness in all its manifestations is thus partly a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation.

Even before the disclosure, Hamlet’s deeply troubled puzzlement is fuelled by the events mentioned above – the grief over his father’s ‘untimely’ and mysterious death, his mother’s ‘o’ hasty marriage’, and the new king’s hedonistic excesses. Later, a following the ghost’s appearance in the depth of the night, Hamlet, the thinker is cast in a role of a man of action. Hamlet bitterly resents his role, even if momentarily resignedly accepts ‘the cursed spite’ to set the world ‘right’, only to fail to fulfil his promise. His inaction, his indecisiveness, his unheroic failure to avenge his father’s death, his almost feminine passivity, his world’s loss of certainty, his betrayed by his friends, his distrust of his lover, drive him to melancholy, despair and self – disgust. His disturbed state of mind befits a morally integral idealist. His madness, paradoxically and ironically suggests a casting for stability in a morally shiftless world.

Good and Evil

Notions of good and evil are both essentialist notions based on Old and New Testament moral schemes, often linked to essential human tendencies but occasionally propelled by a bad decision from a ruler, introducing a more pragmatic factor. King Lear’s abdication and division of kingdom, a human failing, unleashes human evil, sexual lust, pleasure in cruelty, breaking of filial bonds, explored through the two older sisters, Goneral and Regan, the ‘natural’ son of Edmund, and the husband of Regan, Cornwall. Paradoxically, Cordelia the youngest loyal daughter who represents idealised goodness, such as transcendent love, compassion and forgiveness, escapes the tainting power of evil. Othello introduces a figure of pure evil, Iago, a Machiavellian character whose motivation escapes psychological analysis but instigates evil deeds in others by playing on their character short – comings and character limitations: insecurities, lowly self – esteem and unstable self – perception.

Hamlet is given information of the ‘evil’, morally reprehensible deeds, regicide and fratricide, committed by Claudius against Hamlet’s father, the ‘goodly’ king Hamlet, who himself is not completely free of ‘sin’. The play denies absolute goodness: ‘something rotten in the state of Denmark’ extends to most characters in different degrees and intensities, however innocent they may appear, as the corrupt king’s deeds pollute all, his regicide and original sin of Cain and Abel extends beyond him. In Hamlet, the sources of evil are ambition, jealousy, desire, power lust and / or perhaps some essential ‘spot in human nature’. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are also corrupted by ambition, partly instigated by enigmatic message from the witches. King Lear’s misguided judgement and hubris are possibly to blame. ‘Hamlet’ offers no clear monolithic explanation. Causes of evil seem to originate in jealousy, power lust and sexual desire. The primal Cane and Abel murder of a brother by brother, and regicide, a sin against ‘heaven’ itself, express these impulses. Female lust is noted by gender studies and resistant readings as significant and regrettable in the play’s study of the origins of evil. Hamlet’s outrage against his mother’s lack of restraint, the sexual innuendoes directed at Ophelia, target female chastity and sexual restraint, reminiscent of Christian teachings about original sin and story of the Fall. Such primal sins generalise to the whole humanity. Evil can be be opposed by themes of moral goodness, moral clarity, and associated with moral corruption and mental confusion, as well as agency and destiny.

Individual agency, forces of fate, fortune, destiny

Macbeth’s actions are partly self - motivated and partly instigated by forces of fate; likewise, Othello’s down fall is partly the result of the machinations of the evil Iago and destiny and his own character. When Hamlet speculates on flawed humanity and related destiny, he asserts, ‘the flaw is not in our stars but in ourselves’. To Hamlet, in this instance, the self, the individual guides and determines human action and moral nature. Denying that cosmos is a force determining destiny Hamlet reaffirms the power that lies within. On the other hand, details of plot suggest limited human agency, as we see that Hamlet’s life is in Claudius’ hands. He exercises some self - determination and control, but his contemplative, indecisive character prevents his decisive action. That Hamlet can exercise power over the already hapless lives of R and G, sending them to their death, suggests that others are in control. Dramatic irony suggests the operation of ‘fate’ negating self - determination and control

Loyalty, disloyalty, friendship, violation of friendship bonds, love, lovelessness, constancy of the heart, corruption of human heart

• Macbeth is grossly disloyal to his gracious king and later his friend, Banquo.

• Iago falsely swears his loyalty and love to his master, Othello

• King Lear’s older daughters violate bonds of filial love and loyalty and turn against him while his youngest daughter, Cordelia, the idealised figure of love, compassion, and loyalty is misjudged and exiled by Lear, his own conduct a gross violation of paternal bonds

• Hamlet’s loyalty to his father is morally affirmed but severely qualified by his reluctance to avenge his father’s murder.

• Ophelia’s loyalty to Hamlet is tested by her ‘agreement’ to spy on him.

• Hamlet’s university friends, R and G, break the friendship bonds and bonds of loyalty when they agree on the bidding of the new king, to ‘spy’ on him.

• Claudius is grossly disloyal to his brother and king

• Gertrude, likewise, violates her womanly duty to her former husband, the play suggesting her over eager marriage to Claudius, possibly motivated by sexual lust. Hamlet accuses Gertrude of the violation of female nature, female restraint and womanly modesty.

• Hamlet’s castigation of his mother is disrespectful of her, a violation of the proper honour a son should afford his mother.

• Hamlet violates filial duty when he fails to carry out his revenge.

• Ophelia’s love is compromised by her partly innocent ‘spying’.

• Marital love in ‘Hamlet’ is compromised by false pledges, inconstancy, disloyalty, lustful passions but, celebrated for its tenderness, respect, loyalty, care and mutual nurture in Hamlet’s idealised depiction of the marriage of Gertrude and king Hamlet.

• King Lear’s daughters violate filial love

• Othello’s love, corrupted by jealousy, sews murderous passions

• Hamlet’s proper love for his late father cannot be expressed

• Hid love for Ophelia is tainted by suspicion and only expressed freely after her death Hamlet’s love for his mother compromised by rage and shades of Oedipal passions.

• Spurned love results in madness, according to Polonius, his view parodied by the play as he unfurls his typology of lover’s suffering

• Betrayal of love ends in Ophelia’s suicide

• Laertes displays his proper filial love and duty when he avenges his sister’s wrongs and his father’s death

• Appearance, illusion and reality, surface and depth, pretence, dissembling and honesty, blurred vision and moral clarity, seeming and being, things are not what they seem, art and life

• Surface and depth in Othello explores the tensions between Iago’s explicit protestation of loyalty and ‘love’ while he puts proudly into practice elaborate strategies and means of deception.

• ‘Hamlet features a recurrent motif of pretence, deliberate lies, strategic dissembling and deception

• In Macbeth the image of the ‘innocent flower’ with the ‘the serpent beneath it’ splendidly symbolises the tension between surface and depth

• King Lear’s older daughters’ pretence of filial love hides their conspiracy, cruelty and their intention to divest their father of power.

• Hamlet sees life as theatre and uses the ‘play’ as a mouse trap’ to provide proof of Claudius’s guilty inner life, providing evidence that surface appearances hide a dark reality

• Claudius seems to be a dignified ruler, a gracious and diplomatic statesman, but he is a ruthless murderer, his assumption to power based in moral corruption

• Gertrude professes love for her late husband but takes a new husband in a hasty and convenient marriage

• Assurance of love hide secret hatreds, while people assume false facades to gain power, in self – protection and self - interest

• The king celebrates and drinks while Denmark is preparing for war

• The ‘ghost’ seems to be an ‘honest ghost’ but must be doubted

• Surface friendship hides a manipulative treacherous intention

• A person says one thing but means another

• A proliferation of ‘stage’ and ‘theatre’ metaphor underlines the theme of acting and pretence and problematic nature of the truth of art

• Reflections on life include statements about darkness and light, surface and depth

• Clothes metaphors underline themes of surfaces and hidden depths

• Statements have hidden, ambiguous, elliptical, ambiguous meanings

• Ironically Polonius’s attempt to trap Hamlet results in his own demise

• Ophelia secretly and strategically spies on Hamlet while pretending to read and encounter Hamlet accidentally

• Hamlet’s friends utter half - truths and when challenged initially deny being ‘sent for’ and when they do admit they omit to confess that they are commissioned to spy Hamlet’s own honesty is questioned by his inaction

• Hamlet accuses himself of dissembling

• Life in Denmark is full of scheming and subterfuge

• Lying and dissembling is necessary in a world that is slippery, where one needs subterfuge to survive, where one must don a mask, one cannot be honest, as friends and lover are not to be trusted,

• The play casts doubt on human honesty in expression of feelings and dwells on inauthenticity

• Innocence [Ophelia] does the work of corruption and corruption masquerades as innocence,

• Ambiguity, lack of clarity, deliberate deception, self - deception constructs the human condition

• Act 2, scene 2, is particularly important in this context: Hamlet’s soliloquy is central to the theme of surface and depth, deception and truth

• We do not know what is real and what is to be doubted

• How can we know the evidence of the senses, when the mind, a source of certainty, cannot be trusted?

• Horatio’s trust in the senses is overturned as his scepticism gives way to faith

• The ghosts words are both doubted and believed –

• Philosophical, the play asks the how do we know what to believe – is anything certain and how do we know if it is

• Dissembling overlaps with theme of corruption [as above], life and art

Sexuality, desire, lust and chastity

‘Hamlet’ suggests that female lustful sexuality, in the figure of Gertrude, and Ophelia as is unchecked male lust, are the sources of corruption and destructive impulses; Hamlet himself crudely alludes to and rages against female sexual looseness; Shakespeare eroticises encounters between Gertrude and Claudius; players draw attention to sexual attraction between player queen and player usurper king.

• [King Lear’s diatribe against female sexuality and curse against the very sources of creation expresses his disgust with humanity at large; Lady Macbeth scorns Macbeth’s ’s waning masculinity, her sexual charms seduce him to fulfil their ambition regicide]

Female gender construction: Women

‘Hamlet’’s women are constructed around stereotypical gender polarities: as lovers, mothers, daughters: vulnerable, fragile, victims of male machinations, weak – willed, morally shallow, morally pragmatic, tender, loving, obedient, loving, tender and sensitive lovers, complaint and passive wives, loving spouses, solicitous wives, mothers and lovers, lustful, uncontrolled, fickle, solicitous mothers, solicitous mothers, emotionally and mentally unstable, dishonest, untrustworthy, two - faced, superficial, duplicitous, sexually unrestrained, etc qualities emerging from the language of the play, characterisations, as well as action. Female sexuality is indirectly one source of moral corruption, echoing the Old Testament construction of the original sin, Eve, the seductress, who lures Adam into sin

In King Lear, women are either idealised as abstract principles of Love or personification of despised, unredeemed Evil. Othello’s females are victims of male jealousy and evil. In ‘Macbeth’, women are victims of male violence [Lady Macduff], power hungry, scheming, ruthless, cunning, murderous seductresses [Lady Macbeth], as well as guilt ridden, mentally unstable and suicidal [Lady Macbeth], etc. Lady Macbeth violates her female nature, her ‘milk of human kindness’ and her compassion, etc. Her murderous intention is the effect of her denial of essential female nature. See also article on male perception of women in Hamlet

Male construction

Aspects of masculinity, a complex and multi – dimensional construct, are represented by the old king Hamlet, Laertes, Hamlet, Claudius, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, the grave diggers, as well as the players, in the play within a play.

Ideal men are characterised by resolute action, decisiveness, reason, practicality, self - restraint, control of emotions, balance, nobility, dignity, justice, authority, statesmanship, justice, friendship, philosophical detachment, intellectual depth, learning, etc

Hamlet displays some of what are stereotypically seen as female qualities and responses: sensitive, emotional, unstable, passionate, etc. Claudius berates Hamlet for being unmanly, being overly emotional, lacking judgment, lacking self - restraint, lacking balance, being hyper - sensitive, mentally unstable, excessive sensitivity, etc

Hamlet is also seen by Polonius to display stereotypical features of a spurned lover: excess, ‘mad with love, obsessive, unbalanced, etc

Meaning of life in the light of the inevitability of death, the human condition

Death is unknown entity, life is falling apart, a devolutionary spiral; H sees life as moral darkness, dominated by the imminence and inevitability of death, a sense of paradise having been lost. He notes moral decline. Death is imponderable as fears of mortality and uncertainty dominate. Death is devoutly to be ‘wished’ as the mood of melancholy despair prevails. Hamlet’s philosophically sees the pointlessness and meaninglessness of life. Literary evidence found in the motif of death: diggers’ meditation on death in the graveyard scene; H meditates on death; the grave diggers’ irreverent humour about death; H’s ironic meditation on the jester’s skull; death of Ophelia; O’s secret funeral; old king is murdered; Gertrude dies, accidentally poisoned; the usurper king is murdered; R and G are dead; earlier C plans Hamlet’s death; the dead come to life; H’s language of imagery: humanity as ‘quintessence of dust’; death is the ‘undiscovered country’, life as ‘weary and unprofitable’ etc

Views of human life

Is the pessimistic almost absurd sense of life and philosophy unchallenged? Against the pessimism is Hamlet’s marvel at the nobility of humanity and splendour of life, love despite all, play’s humour, ideas, human complexity, explored through the characterisation, etc. How are the themes explored through the dramatic features?

HAMLET

Characterisation of Hamlet

Comment on the language, images, tones, soliloquy, dramatic strategies, states of mind, motivations, role in context of themes and vision. What language features [imagery, rhythm, rhyme] does the play use to denote Hamlet’s psychological and moral state?

How do they compare and contrast with those of other characters and why?

Find changes, transitions and tensions in the language.

Specific critical questions:

• What sort of man is he? Morally? Psychologically? Philosophically?

• What are his states of mind? Explore each stage of development.

• Trace the different stages of Hamlet’s trajectory

• Explore the different motivations for response and action at each stage.

• Does he know him self? Does he understand his deeper self?

• Does he understand others?

• Why is Hamlet unable to act?

• What aspects of Hamlet’s character and/or circumstance contribute to his demise and moral and psychological disintegration?

• To what extent is he responsible for his own demise?

• What are the key tensions?

• What do we admire about him? Why?

• What are his different selves? Humanistic philosopher? Profound thinker? Lover? Scholar? Loving son? Dutiful son? Divided self?

• What do we see as his limitations?

• How far do they command our sympathy?

• How does he see himself and how do others see him?

• Is he the unpredictable and mercurial Hamlet some see him as being?

• Do you agree with the critics who play down Hamlet’s moral stature?

• Does his downfall due to some noble weakness of character?

• To what extent do we still retain our regard/sympathy/respect for him? Why?

• Is his suffering yield some great insight into the human condition?

• Is his plight moving and profound?

• Is his brutality excused and is it balanced by some finer impulses?

• Is he over self regarding and egotistical?

• Find passages inspiring deep, ambiguous and complex responses from the audience. What qualities of language make them particularly poignant?

• What is the nature of his love for Ophelia, mother, and father?

Trace the steps of Hamlet’s trajectory. Is it degeneration or moral elevation?

Find key passages revealing aspects of H’s character and the language features dramatising it. Note imagery. How do we see and judge Hamlet initially?

Note: respectful, a man of reason, eloquence, philosopher, splendid command of language, witty, ironic bent of mind, complex interiority, loving regard for father, genuine grief at his father’s death and dismay at mother’s speedy marriage, suspicion of such speed, etc. How does the initial image change and develop? How do we see Hamlet at the end of the play?

HAMLET

More questions

• What are the causes of his downfall? What is his tragic flaw? Evaluate the relative contribution of character, fate and circumstances.

• How sympathetically is he drawn? How do we view Hamlet’s inability or unwillingness to fulfil the morally sanctioned revenge?

• How do we judge his descend into despair? How do we judge his self – scrutiny and self - analysis?

• How do we view his pretence of madness, his unwillingness to kill Claudius when he is in prayer, cruelty to Ophelia and berating his mother, his rash killing of the old man, Polonius? Does he ever lose redemptive potential? Do his suffering and anguish command our sympathy? Do our sympathy, compassion and pity, admiration and respect balance our dismay at his cruelty and his killings?

• What is the character like, before he fails to act? Why does he not act? What do we admire? How do Hamlet’s admirable character traits contribute to his demise? Does his condition rouse sympathy? Is he partly responsible for his demise? Who suffers at the hands of the tragic character? How does Shakespeare keep our sympathies in tact despite Hamlet’s cruelty, insensitivity and murders? Does he ever abuse balanced reasoned logic and embrace logic of passionate revenge? What aspects of the tragic character earn our greatest respect and/or admiration? Explore the ambiguity of reader response and tensions within the character. Explore misogyny and fear of female sexuality.

The play is seen by critics as a ‘tragedy’, in that it involves the down fall of a noble and admirable man brought down by a combination of character traits or faults and agency of fate or circumstances, we may respect the tragic hamartia even if it also contributes to Hamlets’ demise. We may admire and sympathise with the states of mind and philosophical meditations, at various stages of the play.

How does the tragic dimension contribute to Shakespeare’s world - view?

Does Shakespeare posit a moral order a return to moral order? Does evil triumph?

Does something valuable flow from the suffering? Is the tragic protagonist redeemed in some way? Is nature benign, indifferent or malevolent?

Other major characters

CLAUDIUS

Give an overall character profile: include:

• key psychological features

• motivations for action and response

• core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by the character

• attitudes to self; relationships with other characters

• inner tensions or conflicts

• range of different ‘selves’

• dominant states of mind

• understanding of others and clever manipulation of others

• deliberate disguises or assumed personas

• turning points

• moral or psychological developments, steps in devolution or evolution

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

KEY SCENES

• Claudius initial sin of regicide and brother killer

• Claudius lust and appetites

• Claudius statesman like address to court

• generosity to Laertes, deference to Hamlet

• tolerant of Polonius, suspicion of Hamlet

• planning to rid of Hamlet

• Claudius’ guilt during the play

• Claudius’ failure to pray for remorse; key selves; key roles: Claudius as statesman, king; father, husband, brother, king; moral humanity; audience positioning; play’s attitudes to character and various traits represented by him; characters’ tragic stature or otherwise; role in moral scheme,

Key thematic interests explored through the character:

• love, loyalty and betrayal

• moral goodness and evil; moral corruption

• ambition and self – advancement

• sexuality and lust; tension between surface and inner state, divided self; etc.

POLONIUS

Give an overall character profile: include:

• key psychological features

• motivations for action and response

• core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by the character

• attitudes to self; relationships with other characters

• inner tensions or conflicts

• range of different ‘selves’

• dominant states of mind

• understanding of others and clever manipulation of others

• deliberate disguises or assumed personas

• turning points

• moral or psychological developments, steps in devolution or evolution

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

KEY SCENES

• Polonius’ initial travel advice to Laertes

• P’s command and fatherly advice to Ophelia

• P’s speculations about causes of H’s melancholy

• P’s setting up of Ophelia’s spying on H

• manipulation of Ophelia

• spying on Hamlet and Gertrude

• ‘learned’ dialogues with Hamlet

• P’s pompous & self important greeting of players garding, ‘learned’ discourse on arts

• P’s sycophantic service to the king and queen

• P’s accidental death

• L’s grief and revenge over death of father; O’s grief and madness

• key roles: P as father, statesman, advisor, theatre critic

• P’s moral humanity; flaws; audience positioning; play’s attitudes to character and various traits represented by him; characters’ tragic stature or otherwise; role in moral scheme,

Key thematic interests explored through the character

• love, loyalty and betrayal

• moral goodness and evil; moral corruption

• ambition and self – advancement

• sexuality and lust; tension between surface and inner state, divided self; etc.

GERTRUDE

Give an overall character profile: include:

• key psychological features

• motivations for action and response

• core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by the character

• attitudes to self; relationships with other characters

• inner tensions or conflicts

• range of different ‘selves’

• dominant states of mind

• understanding of others and clever manipulation of others

• deliberate disguises or assumed personas

• turning points

• moral or psychological developments, steps in devolution or evolution

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

KEY SCENES

• G’s marriage to C

• G’s failure to grieve her husband’s death

• G’s initial advice on appropriate display of grief to H

• G’s advice to H

• G’s choice of husband & readiness to marry

• G’s speculations about causes of H’s melancholy

• G’s compliance in setting up of Ophelia’s spying on H

• dialogues with Hamlet

• dialogues with R and G

• P’s accidental death in her closet

• G’s response H’s accusation

• G’s grief at O’s madness and death

• G’s accidental death

• G as mother, wife &queen

Key thematic interests explored through the character

• love, loyalty and betrayal

• moral goodness and evil; moral corruption

• ambition and self – advancement

• sexuality and lust; tension between surface and inner state, divided self; etc.

Feminist reading of character: evaluate the play’s gender construction.

Does Shakespeare challenge or re-enforce patriarchal stereotypes?

How does she violate the ideal of Christian grace, chastity and love?

What moral character virtues are corrupt by her?

Consider: Love, honesty, trust, chastity, loyalty, dignity and innocence.

Look at the language used by and about her: note reference to sexuality, loyalty, love, devotion, grace, constancy, beauty, selflessness, obedience, etc.

Why is it important for the play’s moral universe that she remains loyal to her dead husband?

OPHELIA

Give an overall character profile: include:

• key psychological features

• motivations for action and response

• core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by the character

• attitudes to self; relationships with other characters

• inner tensions or conflicts

• range of different ‘selves’

• dominant states of mind

• understanding of others

• attitude of others towards Ophelia

• turning points

• moral or psychological developments, steps in devolution or evolution

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

KEY SCENES

• Advice to O from L and P

• O and spying on H’s activities

• O’ manipulation by P and C

• H and O in the closet

• O at the play

• O’s decent into madness

Key thematic interests explored through the character

• love, loyalty and betrayal

• moral goodness and evil; moral corruption

• ambition and self – advancement

• sexuality and lust; tension between surface and inner state, divided self; etc.

How does this character parallel or contrast other characters? Effect of such parallels and contrasts? Moral responsibility? Sympathy? Pathos? Victim? Agent? Redeeming features?

Feminist reading of character: evaluate the play’s gender construction.

Does Shakespeare challenge or re-enforce patriarchal stereotypes?

How does she violate the ideal of Christian grace, chastity and love?

What moral character virtues are corrupt by her?

Consider: Love, honesty, trust, chastity, loyalty, dignity and innocence.

Look at the language used by and about her: note reference to sexuality, loyalty, love, devotion, grace, constancy, beauty, selflessness, obedience, etc.

Gender construction: Evaluate Shakespeare’s gender construction of the character.

How far do his responses conform to typical male constructions?

How does the play construct female sexuality?

How does it construct female passions?

How does it construct male and female sexuality?

Is sexuality and sexual lust a source of evil? Is gender specific?

LAERTES

Give an overall character profile: include:

• motivation

• core psychological features, core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by character, relationships with others such as Ophelia, Polonius, Claudius, and Hamlet

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

• moral or psychological degeneration

• steps in development

• play’s attitudes to character, such as sympathy and respect

• victim or agent

• role in play’s moral and dramatic scheme, such as parallels and contrasts with Hamlet’s reluctance to avenge his father’s murder

KEY SCENES

• L’s warning and advice O

• L’s brotherly and filial love

• P’s advice to L

• C’s support for L’s departure

• L’s absence

• L’s return

• L’s passionate grief

• L’s intention to avenge his family’s deaths

• L manipulated by Claudius’ clever appeal to his honour; etc

Key thematic interests explored through the character

• revenge

• medieval and humanistic notions of justice

• filial duty and loyalty

• brotherly love

• action and contemplation

• victim or agent

• will and individual agency

• gender; etc

HORATIO

Give a character profile: include:

• Motivations

• core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by character, relationships with other characters

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN

Give an overall character profile: include:

• motivations

• core psychological features, core moral traits, ideas and attitudes held by character, relationships with other characters

• range of different ‘selves’

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

• turning points

• trace steps in moral degeneration

• play’s attitudes to character

• themes explored through character; victim or agent; ambition

• loyalty and love

• duty and responsibility; etc

KEY SCENES

• R and G with Hamlet and players

• R and G with Claudius

• R and G with Gertrude

• R and G on with H after he suspects their agreement to spy

• death of R and G on H’s behest

KEY QUESTIONS:

• Are they interchangeable? Effect?

• How does the characters parallel or contrast other characters?

• Effect of such parallels and contrasts?

• Do the characters know their immoral mission?

• Do they receive justice? Sympathy? Critique? Redeeming features?

KING HAMLET’S GHOST

Role?

Character profile: include:

• motivations

• core psychological features, core moral traits, attitudes and views held by character, relationships with other characters

• defining motifs, imagery, motifs, settings, actions and language features

• defining style of address

Minor characters

OSRIC

MARCELLUS

BARNARDO

FORTINBRAS

GRAVE DIGGERS

• Role in play

• motivations

• core moral traits,

• ideas and attitudes held by character;

• defining motifs

• defining imagery

• defining settings

• defining actions

• defining language features

• defining style of address

• moral stature

• play’s attitudes to character

• themes explored through character; etc.

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