Riassunti letteratura inglese: Shakespeare - Hamlet

Hamlet

Someone thinks it’s Shakespeare’s main work! The longest and the most enigmatic play: Hamlet is not only a person but the play itself!

Hamlet

• 1596: death of his son, whose name was similar to
• 1601: death of his father at the time he was writing
• 1602: time of registration but it would have been already performed by Lord Chamberlain’s company (that’ll become Shakespeare’s company!)

Shakespeare played the ghost in some representations! A ghost, but it doesn’t mean it is really a ghost because it’s only described as a ghost!

Other versions circulating are reported, but there are no effective proves: everything was turned up and down to rely on public expectations

Hamlet

• Thomas Kid: he may have written
• One source of the story is from a Danish historian

3 main versions:

1. first corto- the one in the (bad corto) of 1603: pirated play, copied and printed and sold, but very good acting play
2. second corto- the one in the (good corto) of 1604-05: twice long the first one

it lasts even 4 hours

folio- the version in the of 1623: the most famous one, Shakespeare’s one

that assembles all his works

Put together the 3 versions: different editors trying to find the best version of

his works, but we can’t reconstruct Shakespeare own intention because it

changed frequently. (Focus on the intention of the text and not on the

intention of the author.)

Versions: unactable as plays because they were too long.

Why didn’t he stop writing 2-hour play? So completely absorbed and involved

that he couldn’t stop, and he went on and on… trying to make the play shorter

in order to bring it on the stage (folio version)

deontology

Questions about of the play. What Hamlet are we discussing?

The Turn of the Screw:

Reference to story in the story and need of an excuse

Ghost described as a ghost in the scene, but ambiguous because it’s not a real

ghost. They see the ghost but they do not hear it because it doesn’t talk to

Everybody is going tothem.

Horatio has his own theory about the ghost.

Construe the image of the ghost in different ways:

Act I

Buried Danemark: it means king Hamlet is dead!

Oxymoron: images of speech that reflects the play itself … here it’s endiade, called in Shakespeare’s time the figure of twins, and it uses words that are (sensible and true avouch) very similar in meaning

Idea of doubleness: figure of twins, image in which Shakespeare is really interested – twins and what they symbolically represent (they represent two similar world, but in this linguistic case, two similar meanings)

We learn something about the military background thanks to Horatio

Strange eruptions by Horatio and also in Cassius’ speech (Julius Caesar)

Julius Caesar and Hamlet: two twin plays. Brutus is an anticipation of Hamlet construe

Horatio has his own theory about the ghost: everybody is going to his version (Cicero’s words)

Marcellus wants to know why Denmark is involved in military preparation and Hamlet can

explain it!: Some years before there was a challenge between two kings, Fortinbras and Hamlet: who will have won would have taken the other one's territory

Two kings:

• a young one and very dynamic, Fortinbras that revenges his father's death by re-conquering the land he lost with the old king Hamlet, who acts
• an old one, Hamlet, who is no more young and who is incapable of revenge and who doesn't act

Denmark is preparing for war

The reason for Denmark preparing for war is the threat from young Fortinbras that wants back the land he had lost

At the same time the ghost appears, and they connect two things to its apparition

Everyone has his interpretation. It's as if Horatio is quoting Cicero's words. interpretation of the ghost in different ways and it's like the interpretations of the strange signs in Julius Caesar

Ghost: an explanation that seems to work

Horatio's quoting Caesar (Plutarch/Shakespeare, from whom he has taken his words)

Horatio gives 3

Possibilities to the ghost:

• Ghost is a spirit of Purgatory and the living can do things to alleviate the suffering of that soul: speak
• Know something about that country: speak
• In life the ghost had collected treasure and now he's there to reveal where it's: speak

3 different theories and 3 different stories

The ghost doesn't say anything and remains ambiguous

Hamlet mentioned right in the end Hamlet is dressed in black: it's part of Hamlet's icon

We learn about the character indirectly.

King Claudius of Denmark: the brother of the dead king Hamlet. According to some traditions, a man can't marry his brother's widow (because she's as his sister and so to marry her, it's committing incest) but he may be obliged to marry her * because dynasty must continue. The principles of the Anglican Church permit this wedding.

Everybody, in seeing the play would have recognised a reference to Queen Elizabeth, who was the daughter of Anne Bolene and Henry

VIII.* Henry VIII + marriages, incest or not, divorces and marry anyone he wants. Kathrine of Aragon was the wife of Henry VIII’s brother! And Henry VIII had a special dispensation from the Church of Rome to marry her because her previous marriage was, according to her, not consummated. But then he wanted to divorce from her because he recognised he committed incest marrying her, and the Church said no. Everybody would agree, because it would have been good for the state of Denmark. Claudius: the impression we get of him is that of a man very efficient, administrator and that knows how to deal problems and there’s nothing stupid about him. We learn he has killed his bother but not tremendously evil. But how evil is Claudius at all? Polonius: always talking and long winded. He’s the canceler of the king. He has a particular way of expressing himself, given by Shakespeare. Son: tricks between old and young Hamlet. Hamlet has now two fathers: one dead and a stepfather (king Claudius).

Who's married his mother) It's like Brutus' history. He has two fathers, too: one is his ancestor Brutus and the other non-biological one, a stepfather, may be Caesar

Homophony: sun/son

Do not for ever with thy vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust thinks Hamlet is always moaning* his father's death Death is Queen: natural and is part of human circle of life, so why is he taking it so personally? He explains that it seems that he's always complaining about his father's death (Seem/be: different interpretations) and his black outfit doesn't mean he's moaning and what's really in him, she cannot see.

Ink plot text: Hamlet as it. Everybody tries to understand it by explaining his own version* King's speech: King seems to be a nasty man, stupid man? First impression is not negative The speech sounds as an advice: losing father is normal in life but moaning too much is unmanly, unnatural and irreligious (to moan too long is against God,

against our person)Shakespeare’s father was dying at the time it may have influenced the writing and the speeches!

Good advices to Hamlet and nothing nasty about him

Wittenberg: Martin Luther, where he’ll affirm his Thesis. The king is pleased

Hamlet has not come back to Wittenberg and he’ll get drunk in a party to welcome his decision, and every time he’ll drink a glass, a cannon will contribute. (Get drunk: cannons… men’s strength)

King Claudius demonstrates to be generous towards people (Polonius and Hamlet), an efficient administrator, and feels the problems (sentimental or not) and likes any physic contacts.

Hamlet soliloquy: we learn something about what’s going on inside of Hamlet!

silly jokes with homophones (most of the times he transcripts sounds) through the effect words have on the stage.

“solid”: sully (dirty, scandal), solid (something touchable), attack; solid to turn into dew: he hates his body so, he has been thinking about

suicide even if it should be against the fate? he's describing his psychological state

He thinks by metaphors inspired by what people thinks.

Even an animal would moan more than her.

Generalization to all the women: he's obsessed

Image of the garden: metaphor associated with the image of his mother (sexual fertility and sexual desire that is more than loyalty that disgusts him + disgust to the fact that she's getting married two months after the dead of the king Hamlet). Woman seen as a garden (fertility) by the man.

Image of the garden inspired by his own garden, famous all over London and by the fact he's fascinated by botanic!

King Hamlet has been like a satire (man+goat), associated with sexual lust.

But even an animal won't do anything in that case!

Now he has really understood: he's the product of a wound of a sexual desire

And this shows that Hamlet is a deeply troubled man because of what his mother is going to do, and he's really moaning about his

mother and not about his dead father! Hamlet insists on the big differences between his dead father and Claudius, who is not such a fellow. And this soliloquy shows how he is already predisposed against Claudius, even if he has no good reason to be so against him because everybody says it is fine…but nobody opposes to this marriage pretending it wasn’t incest*! *incest: only the ghost and Hamlet will use this word! They interpret the apparition as a negative sign of preparation of Denmark for war: something may be going to happen to the state of Denmark and the ghost may give some advices of this. Ghost: maybe a warning+ 3 potential stories that are not resolved nobody spoke of a crime and nothing involves a crime Hamlet gives his own opinion of a previous crime to harm Claudio (his story is a foul play) Ghost might signify a revenge, that a crime has been committed in the past and the ghost is going to tell us about it. Hamlet is predisposed to read this story in this way because

he’s looking for acrime

Skip scene 3 with Ophelia and her sister, who love each other, and Polonius, who loves them and who advices them to never listen to Hamlet because he’s an influent person. Here we learn that Hamlet has shown his affection to Ophelia.

Hamlet: very similar words to Brutus’ ones.

Ghost: called by Hamlet with the name “Hamlet”, because he recognises him as his dead father. Echo of the ghost of Caesar and Hamlet wants to pose some questions to him.

Conversation only between Hamlet and the ghost. The other people see something but nobody listens to what they are saying: is it only his mind?

Everybody exits, and Ha