Intro to Hamlet

1. Intro to Hamlet

3. Info on the Play • Full title: The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark • Genre: tragedy • Written: between 1600-1602 • Setting: late medieval period (1300-1500s), Denmark • Shakespeare used versions of a floating legend of Prince Hamlet to complete the play.

4. About the Setting: Denmark • Scandinavian country in northern Europe • Ruling system is a constitutional monarchy • Language is Danish (close to Norwegian and Swedish)

6. Medieval Denmark • Before the time period of the play, Danes were considered Vikings (Anglo-Saxons) • During the late medieval period (1300s-late 1500s), country was ruled by powerful kings and the nobility • Controlled the Baltic Sea • Religion was originally Catholic (presently Lutheran)

7. Kronborg Castle

9. Major CharactersPrince Hamlet • Son of Old King Hamlet and Gertrude • Visited by fathers ghost who asks him to seek revenge for his murder • Driven by revenge, hatred • Is extremely philosophical and moody • Learns to be disgusted by women • May have had an Oedipal Complex

10. Old King Hamlet’s Ghost • Visits the castle Elsinore around midnight, seeking Hamlet • Wants Hamlet to get revenge for his death

11. Claudius • Brother of Old King Hamlet • Uncle/stepfather of Hamlet • Husband to Gertrude • Killed Old King Hamlet

12. Gertrude • Wife of Old King Hamlet; now wife of his brother, Claudius • Was seduced into marrying Claudius by lust and gifts • Defined by her need for affection • Extremely dependent on men

13. Polonius • The Lord Chamberlain (responsible for all court functions) • Forces Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet • Father of Ophelia and Laertes

14. Ophelia • Daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes • Is completely dominated by the men • Goes insane

15. Laertes • Son of Polonius • Brother of Ophelia, whom he seems to have an incestuous lust for • Wants to kill Hamlet for what happens to his sister

16. Horatio • Hamlet’s best friend • First to tell Hamlet about the ghost of his father

17. Themes • Uncertainty The play shows how life is built upon uncertainties Some questions that arise: Can we believe in ghosts; Can we for certain know the details of a crime that has no witnesses; Can we know whether our actions will have the results we want them to have

18. Themes • Reasonable, Effective Action The question that comes up is whether or not actions can really be reasonable, since emotions are almost always involved. • Revenge Is revenge justified? Is it really ok to kill in revenge?

19. Themes • Death Hamlet is obsessed with death after his father dies; he becomes driven to kill Claudius; he ponders suicide; the death of several characters in the play

20. Themes • Incest and Incestuous Desire -Claudius and Gertrude -Hamlet’s fixation on Gertrude’s sex life and w/ her in general -Laertes fear of Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet and the loss of her virginity

21. Themes • Misogyny (“hatred of women”) -Hamlet turns misogynistic after his mother “jumps into bed” with Claudius -Hamlet tells Ophelia to become a nun so that she does not become corrupted by sex -Views women as weak and easily persuaded

22. Symbols • The only physical object used as a symbol is Yorick’s skull • Represents the inevitability of death and decay of the body • Also shows that no matter who we are, we all end up the same: as dust