Download William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare
Review of Background
Information
William Shakespeare
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Born (baptized) April 23, 1564 in Stratford on Avon
Father –John Mother---Mary Arden
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 (@18 & she was 26)
Had 3 children together
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Susanna (1583)
Twins: Hamnet and Judith (1585)
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Settled in London where he began acting & writing
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Queen Elizabeth I loved arts, plays, and pageants
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Supported writers and theaters
Her support helped prompt the popularity and growth of the
arts in England
Other beloved writers: Edward Spenser, Christopher
Marlowe and Sir Philip Sidney
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William Shakespeare joined an acting group called:
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1594
Joined with leading tragic actor, Richard Burbage
James I became a patron of the theater and of the
acting company
He changed the name to The King’s Men
Financial success allowed Shakespeare to
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Become a partner in The Globe Theater
Buy home---called New Place
Bought a coat of arms for his father (usually only given to
royalty and knights by the king)
Earliest Masterpieces Included:
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Richard III
The Comedy of Errors
The Taming of the Shrew
Romeo and Juliet
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Wrote comedies, tragedies and histories
Most famous tragedies (play in which the
hero/heroine MUST die): Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,
Macbeth and Antony & Cleopatra
He retired to Stratford Upon Avon in 1611 and died
April 23, 1616
In his lifetime he wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 2
narrative poems
Included genres of histories, comedies, tragedies and
tragic comedies
Many plotlines based on or borrowed from ancient
Greece where the tragedies would bring about pity
and fear
 pity for the hero
 Fear of humans w/their character flaws
Theaters of the Renaissance
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“The Theater”---the 1st theater (1576)
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“The Rose”, “The Swan”, “The Curtain”, “The
Blackfriars” followed
“The Globe” was built in 1598 and used for many of
Shakespeare’s plays
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Built by James Burbage
Held up to 3,000 people (2 areas…the pit and the galleries)
Burned down in 1613 when a cannon was fired during a
play and caught the roof on fire
Very little scenery was used, therefore the writer
had to rely heavily on dialogue to set the scene
Flags were used to signify the genre of a play—Black
= tragedy, white = comedy
Eventually rebuilt and torn down again before 1644
Rebuilt in June 1997 (yes, 1997)
Characteristics of a Tragedy
 Tragic hero comes to an unhappy end
 Tragic hero is usually a person of importance
 Tragic hero exhibits tragic flaw
(an error in judgment or weakness)
 Antagonist contributes to the hero’s downfall
 A series of events lead inevitably to the
catastrophe (tragic resolution)
Plays of Shakespeare
 Tragedies
 Comedies
 Hamlet
 Othello
 Macbeth
 Antony & Cleopatra
 King Lear
 Romeo & Juliet
 Taming of the Shrew
 A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
 Merchant of Venice
 Twelfth Night
 Merry Wives of
Windsor
Introduction to
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Thematic Components:
Deception: antic disposition, revenge,
behavior of many characters
 Revenge: seeking to avenge a death
 Ambition: need/desire for more…anything
to get it…with this comes the lust and
incest
 Supernatural & death
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Theme #1:
The Impossibility of Certainty
The Impossibility of Certainty: there
are a lot of things going on that both
the characters and the audience are
left to wonder about.
 Many people see the play as a vicious
circle of indecisiveness and
uncertainty
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Theme #2:
The Complexity of Action
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The Complexity of Action: In Hamlet, the
question of how to act is affected not only
by rational considerations, such as the
need for certainty, but also by emotional,
ethical, and psychological factors.
Hamlet himself appears to distrust the
idea that it’s even possible to act in a
controlled, purposeful way.
Theme #3:
The Mystery of Death
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The Mystery of Death: Throughout the play
Hamlet ponders death—he obsesses over
King Hamlet’s death, Yorick’s death, his own
death, and the death he would like to see
come to Claudius.
“In his famous ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy
(III.i), Hamlet philosophically concludes that
no one would choose to endure the pain of
life if he or she were not afraid of what will
come after death
Theme #4:
The Nation as a Diseased Body
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The Nation (of Denmark) as a Diseased
Body:
Everything is connected in Hamlet, including
the welfare of the royal family and the
health of the state as a whole.
The troubles in the royal family seem as
though they have tainted all of Denmark.
“something is rotten in the state of
Denmark” (I.iv.67).
Motif #1:
Incest & Incestuous Desire
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Incest & Incestuous
Desire: Most obviously in
the characters of
Gertrude and Claudius
but also seen in the
relationship between
Laertes and Ophelia and
Hamlet’s fixation on his
mother (Gertrude
Motif #2 - Misogyny
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Misogyny (hatred of women): Shattered by his
mother’s decision to marry Claudius (his uncle),
Hamlet becomes cynical about women in general,
showing a particular obsession with what he
perceives to be a connection between female
sexuality and moral corruption.
This occurs sporadically throughout the play, but it
is an important factor in Hamlet’s relationships
with Ophelia and Gertrude.
Motif #3 - Ears & Hearing
Ears & Hearing: Words are
used to both express
characters’ thoughts and to
manipulate each other.
What the characters hear from
one another determines their
actions/reactions to people and
situations.
Symbol - Yorick’s Skull
Yorick’s Skull: There aren’t very many
physical symbols in the play, but this is an
important one. Hamlet talks to and about
the skull and refers morbidly to the
eventual death and decay of every human
being.
Terms to Remember:
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Amleth: the Danish prince upon
whom Shakespeare’s play is based
Elsinore: the Danish royal palace
Sigmund Freud: psychologist who
named the conflict b/t a son and a
father for the mother’s affection the
Oedipus complex
Manic-Depression: psychological
problem Hamlet seems to have, going
from extremes of frenetic action to
near paralysis
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The Murder of Gonzago: the play-
within-the play that is performed at
Elsinore. Hamlet calls it “The Mouse
Trap”
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Revenge Tragedy: a genre of
Renaissance tragedy in which the
catastrophe is brought about by one
character’s seeking a vengeful justice
Soliloquy: A speech in which a
character alone on stage speaks his
thoughts (their innermost thoughts)
Characters:
• Ghost: Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, the former king
of Denmark
• Claudius: New King of Denmark, the former king’s
brother (lil’ Hamlet’s uncle)
• Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, widow of the former
king and now wife of Claudius. Hamlet’s mother
• Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, son of late king and
Gertrude, student in Germany. He is melancholy, bitter
and cynical, full of hatred…sometimes hesitant and
indecisive, but at other times prone to rash and
impulsive acts
• Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’
court, a pompous, conniving old man….father
of Laertes and Ophelia
• Laertes: Polonius’ son & a student (in Paris)
• Ophelia: Polonius’ daughter & love of Hamlet,
sweet, innocent, young girl who obeys her father
and brother
• Horatio: Hamlet’s best friend and fellow
student at Wittenberg. Loyal and helpful to
Hamlet throughout
• Fortinbras: Prince of Norway (his uncle
Fortinbras is king)
Minor Characters
• Reynaldo: Polonius’ servant
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: childhood
friends of Hamlet….summoned by king and
queen
• Osric: courtier in Claudius’ court
• Voltimand & Cornelius: courtiers sent to
Norway
• Marcellus, Bernardo & Francisco: officers,
soldiers and guards –friends of Hamlet
Question to consider:
 Is
Hamlet mad?
Watch
his actions
Listen to his words
Decide with support if Hamlet is
mad or if he is not mad.