William Shakespeare

An Introduction to The Tragedy ofHamlet, Prince of Denmark

William Shakespeare

● Few primary sources to verify the details of Shakespeare’s life

● 1564: Born in Stratford-on-Avon

● 1582: Married Anne Hathaway (he was 18; she was 26)

●Three children:●Susanna●Hamnet & Judith (twins)

●1592: Evidence that Shakespeare had moved to London to act and produce plays●1593: Shakespeare is a managing partner of a London acting company

William Shakespeare

●Successful during Elizabeth’s reign (six plays performed at Queen’s court) when his company was known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men*●Also prospered during reign of King James (when his acting company was renamed the King’s Men)● Shakespeare served as principal actor, dramatist, and shareholder

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*Lord Chamberlain is the title given to the senior official of the Royal Household.

Shakespeare’s Legacy

● The Globe theatre burned to the ground in 1613 (rebuilt in 1997)

● Shakespeare left London sometime between 1610 and 1613; returned to Stratford and lived as a wealthy man until his death in 1616

● Works:● 17 comedies● 10 histories● 10 tragedies● Countless poems

Shakespeare Influences

● Elizabethan Period (Renaissance)●Rediscovery of classic Greek and Roman

works

● Theatre●Open air / natural light

●Female roles performed by boys

●Little scenery / language sets the scene

● Religion● Protestant religion grows in strength, but the Catholics still strive to

practice their religion

● The historical record shows that Shakespeare was a member of the Anglican church, but many scholars speculate he may have been a secret Catholic

Shakespeare’s Language

● Pronouns● thou, thee, ye = you● thy or thine = your or yours

●Contractions● ‘t = it● ‘tis = it is● o’er = over● e’er = ever● ne’er = never

Shakespeare’s Language

● Verbs● hast or hath = have● ist = is● canst = can● dost or doth = does● art = are● wilt = will● wert = were

Shakespeare’s Language

● Some Common Words● anon = soon● fain = gladly● ho = hey, eh●hence = away from here●thence = away from there●hither = here●thither = there●whither = where●wherefore = why

Literary Terms● Anastrophe

● Sometimes referred to as “inversion”● In Star Wars

●“Powerful you have become” for “You have become powerful”

●In Hamlet●“How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!” for “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable the uses of this world seem to me!”

Literary Terms● Metonymy

● A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated

●In today’s news●“France has decided to limit immigration.”

●Here, “France” is a way of referring to French government officials

●In Hamlet●“Let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark,”

●Here, “Denmark” is a way of referring to the King of Denmark.

Literary Terms● Majestic Plural

● Sometimes referred to as ‘nosism,’ the majestic plural is an archaic tradition in which members of a royal family would refer to themselves using a plural form of pronoun, rather than a singular form.

● In Doctor Who●Rose tries to get Queen Victoria to say “We are not amused,” which would be how a member of the royal family at that time would say “I am not amused.”

● In Hamlet●Claudius says “We here dispatch you, good Cornelius,” although it’s really just Claudius sending Cornelius out on an errand.

Literary Terms● Pun

● A humorous play on words, using similar-sounding or identical words to suggest different meanings

● In The Lion King●The hyenas taunt Simba and Nala by saying, “We’d love to have you stick around for dinner. We could have whatever’s lyin’ around!” (Lyin = lion)

● In Hamlet●Gertrude tells her son, “Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die,” to which Hamlet archly replies, “Ay, madam, it is common.” (Gertrude means ‘pertaining to all of life,’ whereas Hamlet means ‘of inferior quality; low.’

Literary Terms● Soliloquy v. Monologue

● Both involve a solitary speaker● A monologue is a speech given by a single person to an

audience--the speech might be delivered to an audience within a play or directly to the audience in the theater

● A soliloquy is a speech that one gives to oneself. In a play, a character delivering a soliloquy is speaking to himself (thinking out loud), so that the audience better understands what is happening with the character internally.

Sources• Thomas Kyd's Hamlet in the

1580s (now lost); this is referred to as the “Ur-Hamlet.”

• Thomas Kyd's Spanish Tragedy (1587) (Revenge tragedy)

Sources● Based on a Norse legend from

Saxo Grammaticus's Historica Danica written in Latin in the second half of twelfth century

Sources• In Saxo’s legend, the central

character is Amleth (a word that means “fool” or “one who feigns madness” in Danish.)

• In the original, Amleth feigns madness to keep away from his murderous uncle

Elements of the Revenge Tragedy

• A crime gone unpunished• Inescapable fate, often brought on by long-

lived curse passed on from father• Supernatural manifestations• Exotic poisons• Madness• Sword fights

Bloody, bloody, bloody!

Chain of Being• The great chain of being: (literally "ladder or stair-way

of nature").

• It details a strict, religious hierarchical struture of all matter and life, believed to have been decreed by God. The chain starts from God and progresses downward to angels, demons (fallen/renegade angels), stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles, men, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals, and other minerals.

Chain of Being