Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. William Shakespeare ( baptised The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Hamlet's mother. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Prince Hamlet is the protagonist in Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet. King Claudius is a Fictional character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. King Hamlet is a character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, also known as The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. In William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet 's mother and Queen of Denmark. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness—from overwhelming grief to seething rage—and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.
Despite much literary detective work, the exact year of writing remains in dispute. Three different early versions of the play have survived: these are known as the First Quarto (Q1), the Second Quarto (Q2) and the First Folio (F1). Mr William Shakespeares Comedies Histories & Tragedies is the first published collection of William Shakespeare 's plays Each has lines, and even scenes, that are missing from the others. Shakespeare probably based Hamlet on the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum and subsequently retold by 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest, and a supposedly lost Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet. Hamlet is a striking figure in Scandinavian romance and the hero of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet Prince of Denmark. "Saxo" redirects here For the car see Citroën Saxo and for the bank see Saxo Bank Saxo Grammaticus (c Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes" is a work of Danish history by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate" François de Belleforest ( Comminges, 1530 - Paris, January 1, 1583) was a prolific French author poet and translator of the Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era The Ur-Hamlet (the German prefix Ur- means "primordial" is the name given to a theoretical play believed lost that may have been extant before 1589 a
Given the play's dramatic structure and depth of characterisation, Hamlet can be analyzed, interpreted and argued about from many perspectives. For example, commentators have puzzled for centuries about Hamlet's hesitation in killing his uncle. Some see it as a plot device to prolong the action, and others see it as the result of pressure exerted by the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge and thwarted desire. A plot device is an element introduced into a story solely to advance or resolve the plot of the story More recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, and feminist critics have re-evaluated and rehabilitated the often-maligned characters of Ophelia and Gertrude. Psychoanalytic literary criticism refers to Literary criticism which in method concept theory, or form is influenced by the tradition of Psychoanalysis Many observers throughout history have argued that there are influences on Consciousness from other parts of the Mind. Ophelia is a Fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. In William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet 's mother and Queen of Denmark.
Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play, and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States It provides a storyline capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". [1] During his lifetime the play was one of his most popular works,[2] and it still ranks high among his most-performed, topping, for example, the Royal Shakespeare Company's list since 1879. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC is a British Theatre company [3] It has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella". ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE ( 15 July 1919 &ndash 8 February 1999) was a Dublin -born writer and philosopher Cinderella ( French: Cendrillon, Slovak: Popoluška, German: Aschenputtel, Spanish: Cenicienta [4] The title role was almost certainly created for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time;[5] in the four hundred years since, it has been played by the greatest actors, and sometimes actresses, of each successive age. Richard Burbage ( January 7, 1568 &ndash March 13 1619) was an Actor and theatre owner
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Synopsis
The protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of the recently deceased King Hamlet and the nephew of King Claudius, his father's brother and successor. Henry Fuseli (in German Johann Heinrich Füssli; February 7, 1741 – April 16, 1825) was a British painter Prince Hamlet is the protagonist in Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet. King Hamlet is a character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, also known as The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. King Claudius is a Fictional character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. After the death of King Hamlet, Claudius hastily marries King Hamlet's widow, Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. In William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet 's mother and Queen of Denmark. In the background is Denmark's long-standing feud with neighbouring Norway, and an invasion led by the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, is expected. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Fortinbras is the name of two minor Fictional characters from William Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet.
The play opens on a cold night at Elsinore, the Danish royal castle. Kronborg Castle (Kronborg Slot is situated near the town of Helsingør (immortalised as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet) on the extreme tip The sentinels try to persuade Hamlet's friend Horatio that they have seen King Hamlet's ghost, when it appears again. What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play Horatio is a character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. After hearing from Horatio of the Ghost's appearance, Hamlet resolves to see the Ghost himself. That night, the Ghost appears to Hamlet. He tells Hamlet that he is the spirit of his father, and discloses that Claudius murdered King Hamlet by pouring poison in his ears. The Ghost demands that Hamlet avenge him; Hamlet agrees and decides to fake madness to avert suspicion. He is, however, uncertain of the Ghost's reliability.
Busy with affairs of state, Claudius and Gertrude try to avert an invasion by Prince Fortinbras of Norway. Fortinbras is the name of two minor Fictional characters from William Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet. Perturbed by Hamlet's continuing deep mourning for his father and his increasingly erratic behaviour, they send two student friends of his—Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—to discover the cause of Hamlet's changed behaviour. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Fictional characters from William Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet. Hamlet greets his friends warmly, but quickly discerns that they have turned against him.
Polonius is Claudius' trusted chief counsellor; his son, Laertes, is returning to France, and his daughter, Ophelia, is courted by Hamlet. Polonius is a character from William Shakespeare 's Hamlet. The character is best known for uttering the immortal words "To thine own self be true" Laertes is a character in William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. Ophelia is a Fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Neither Polonius nor Laertes thinks Hamlet is serious about Ophelia, and they both warn her off. Shortly afterwards, Ophelia is alarmed by Hamlet's strange behaviour and reports to her father that Hamlet rushed into her room but stared at her and said nothing. Polonius assumes that the "ecstasy of love"[7] is responsible for Hamlet's madness, and he informs Claudius and Gertrude. Later, in the so-called Nunnery Scene, Hamlet rants at Ophelia, and insists she go "to a nunnery. An abbey (from Latin abbatia derived from Syriac abba "father" is a Christian Monastery or "
Hamlet remains unconvinced that the Ghost has told him the truth, but the arrival of a troupe of actors at Elsinore presents him with a solution. Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (26 April 1798 &ndash 13 August 1863 was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of He will stage a play, re-enacting his father's murder, and determine Claudius' guilt or innocence by studying his reaction. The court assembles to watch the play; Hamlet provides a running commentary throughout. During the play, Claudius abruptly rises and leaves the room, which Hamlet sees as proof of his uncle's guilt. Claudius, fearing for his life, banishes Hamlet to England on a pretext, closely watched by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with a letter instructing that the bearer be killed.
Gertrude summons Hamlet to her closet to demand an explanation. On his way, Hamlet passes Claudius in prayer but hesitates to kill him, reasoning that death in prayer would send him to heaven. In the bedchamber, a row erupts between Hamlet and Gertrude. Polonius, spying hidden behind an arras, makes a noise; and Hamlet, believing it is Claudius, stabs wildly, killing Polonius. The Ghost appears, urging Hamlet to treat Gertrude gently but reminding him to kill Claudius. Unable to see or hear the Ghost herself, Gertrude takes Hamlet's conversation with it as further evidence of madness. Hamlet hides Polonius' corpse.
Demented by grief at Polonius' death, Ophelia wanders Elsinore singing bawdy songs. Ribaldry is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to vulgar Her brother, Laertes, arrives back from France, enraged by his father's death and his sister's madness. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is solely responsible; then news arrives that Hamlet is still at large. Claudius swiftly concocts a plot. He proposes a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet in which Laertes will fight with a poison-tipped sword, but tacitly plans to offer Hamlet poisoned wine if that fails. Gertrude interrupts to report that Ophelia has drowned.
Two gravediggers discuss Ophelia's apparent suicide, while digging her grave. The Gravediggers (or Clowns) are examples of Shakespearean fools (also known as clowns or Jesters, a recurring type of character in Shakespeare Hamlet arrives with Horatio and banters with a gravedigger, who unearths the skull of a jester from Hamlet's childhood, Yorick. A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon is a member of a profession that came into popularity Yorick was the deceased court Jester whose Skull is exhumed by the Gravedigger in Act 5 Scene 1 of Shakespeare 's Hamlet Ophelia's funeral procession approaches, led by Laertes. He and Hamlet grapple, but the brawl is broken up.
Back at Elsinore, Hamlet tells Horatio how he escaped and that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent to their deaths. A courtier, Osric, interrupts to invite Hamlet to fence with Laertes. What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play With Fortinbras' army closing on Elsinore, the match begins. Laertes pierces Hamlet with a poisoned blade but is fatally wounded by it himself. Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine and dies. In his dying moments, Laertes is reconciled with Hamlet and reveals Claudius' murderous plot. In his own last moments, Hamlet manages to kill Claudius and names Fortinbras as his heir. When Fortinbras arrives, Horatio recounts the tale and Fortinbras orders Hamlet's body borne off in honour.
Sources
Hamlet-like legends are so widely found (for example in Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Byzantium, and Arabia) that the core "hero-as-fool" theme is possibly Indo-European in origin. The sources of Hamlet, a Tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 trace back as far as pre-13th Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes" is a work of Danish history by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate" "Saxo" redirects here For the car see Citroën Saxo and for the bank see Saxo Bank Saxo Grammaticus (c The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, who likely lived around 4000 BC, during the Copper Age and the [9] Several ancient written sources for Hamlet can be identified. The first is the anonymous Scandinavian Saga of Hrolf Kraki. Hrólfs saga kraka, the Saga of King Hrolf kraki, is a late Legendary saga on the adventures of Hrólfr Kraki and his clan, the Skjöldungs In this, the murdered king has two sons—Hroar and Helgi—who spend most of the story in disguise, under false names, rather than feigning madness, in a sequence of events that differs from Shakespeare's. Hroðgar, Hrothgar, Hróarr, Hroar, Roar, Roas or Ro was a Legendary Danish king, living in the early 6th century Halga, Helgi, Helghe or Helgo was a Legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century. [10] The second is the Roman legend of Brutus, recorded in two separate Latin works. Lucius Junius Brutus (or Lucius Iunius Brutus) was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first Consuls in 509 BC Its hero, Lucius ("shining, light"), changes his name and persona to Brutus ("dull, stupid"), playing the role of a fool to avoid the fate of his father and brothers, and eventually slaying his family's killer, King Tarquinius. A 17th-century Nordic scholar, Torfaeus, compared the Icelandic hero Amlodi and the Spanish hero Prince Ambales (from the Ambales Saga) to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Similarities include the prince's feigned madness, his accidental killing of the king's counsellor in his mother's bedroom, and the eventual slaying of his uncle. [11]
Many of the earlier legendary elements are interwoven in the 13th-century Vita Amlethi ("The Life of Amleth") by Saxo Grammaticus, part of Gesta Danorum. "Saxo" redirects here For the car see Citroën Saxo and for the bank see Saxo Bank Saxo Grammaticus (c Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes" is a work of Danish history by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate" [12] Written in Latin, it reflects classical Roman concepts of virtue and heroism, and was widely available in Shakespeare's day. [13] Significant parallels include the prince feigning madness, his mother's hasty marriage to the usurper, the prince killing a hidden spy, and the prince substituting the execution of two retainers for his own. A reasonably faithful version of Saxo's story was translated into French in 1570 by François de Belleforest, in his Histoires tragiques. François de Belleforest ( Comminges, 1530 - Paris, January 1, 1583) was a prolific French author poet and translator of the [14] Belleforest embellished Saxo's text substantially, almost doubling its length, and introduced the hero's melancholy. [15]
Shakespeare's main source is believed to be an earlier play—now lost—known today as the Ur-Hamlet. The Ur-Hamlet (the German prefix Ur- means "primordial" is the name given to a theoretical play believed lost that may have been extant before 1589 a Possibly written by Thomas Kyd, the Ur-Hamlet was in performance by 1589 and is the first version of the story known to incorporate a ghost. Thomas Kyd ( 3 November 1558 – 16 July 1594) was an English Dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy [16] Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men, may have purchased that play and performed a version for some time, which Shakespeare reworked. The Lord Chamberlain's Men was the Playing company that William Shakespeare worked for as Actor and Playwright for most of his career [17] Since no copy of the Ur-Hamlet has survived, however, it is impossible to compare its language and style with the known works of any of its putative authors. Consequently, there is no direct evidence that Kyd wrote it, nor any evidence that the play was not an early version of Hamlet by Shakespeare himself. This latter idea—placing Hamlet far earlier than the generally accepted date, with a much longer period of development—has attracted some support, though others dismiss it as speculation. [18]
The upshot is that scholars cannot assert with any confidence how much material Shakespeare took from the Ur-Hamlet, how much from Belleforest or Saxo, and how much from other contemporary sources (such as Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy). The Spanish Tragedie or Hieronimo is mad againe is an Elizabethan Tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 &ndash 92 No clear evidence exists that Shakespeare made any direct references to Saxo's version. However, elements of Belleforest's version do appear in Shakespeare's play, though they are not in Saxo's story. Whether Shakespeare took these from Belleforest directly or through the Ur-Hamlet remains unclear. [19]
Most scholars reject the idea that Hamlet is in any way connected with Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet Shakespeare, who died in 1596 at age eleven. Hamnet Shakespeare ( Baptised February 2 1585 – Buried August 11 1596) was the only son of William Shakespeare Conventional wisdom holds that Hamlet is too obviously connected to legend, and the name Hamnet was quite popular at the time. [20] However, Stephen Greenblatt has argued that the coincidence of the names and Shakespeare's grief for the loss of his son may lie at the heart of the tragedy. Stephen Jay Greenblatt (born November 7, 1943) is a Literary critic, theorist and scholar He notes that the name of Hamnet Sadler, the Stratford neighbor after whom Hamnet was named, was often written as Hamlet Sadler and that, in the loose orthography of the time, the names were virtually interchangeable. [21] Shakespeare himself spelled Sadler's first name as "Hamlett" in his will. [22]
Date
"Any dating of Hamlet must be tentative", cautions the New Cambridge editor, Phillip Edwards. A frontispiece is an elaborate decorative Illustration that appears facing the Title page of the book [23] The earliest date estimate relies on Hamlet's frequent allusions to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, itself dated to mid-1599. Terminus post quem and the related terminus ante quem are terms used to give an approximate date for a text Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599 [24] The latest date estimate is based on an entry, of July 26, 1602, in the Register of the Stationers' Company, indicating that Hamlet was "latelie Acted by the Lo: Chamberleyne his servantes". Terminus post quem and the related terminus ante quem are terms used to give an approximate date for a text Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (better known as the Stationers' Company) is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London The Lord Chamberlain's Men was the Playing company that William Shakespeare worked for as Actor and Playwright for most of his career
In 1598, Francis Meres published in his Palladis Tamia a survey of English literature from Chaucer to its present day, within which twelve of Shakespeare's plays are named. Francis Meres (1565 &ndash January 29, 1647) was an English churchman and Author. Hamlet is not among them, suggesting that it had not yet been written. As Hamlet was very popular, the New Swan series editor Bernard Lott believes it "unlikely that he [Meres] would have overlooked . . . so significant a piece". [25]
The phrase "little eyases"[26] in the First Folio (F1) may allude to the Children of the Chapel, whose popularity in London forced the Globe company into provincial touring. Mr William Shakespeares Comedies Histories & Tragedies is the first published collection of William Shakespeare 's plays The Children of the Chapel (also known as the Children of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal the Children of the Queen's Revels the Children of the Revels the This became known as the War of the Theatres, and supports a 1601 dating. The War of the Theatres is the name commonly applied to a controversy from the later Elizabethan theatre; Thomas Dekker termed it the Poetomachia. [25]
A contemporary of Shakespeare's, Gabriel Harvey, wrote a marginal note in his copy of the 1598 edition of Chaucer's works, which some scholars use as dating evidence. Gabriel Harvey (c 1545 &ndash 1630 was an English Writer. Harvey was a notable scholar though his reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. Harvey's note says that "the wiser sort" enjoy Hamlet, and implies that the Earl of Essex—executed in February 1601 for rebellion—was still alive. Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex ( 10 November 1566 &ndash 25 February 1601) a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England Other scholars consider this inconclusive. Edwards, for example, concludes that the "sense of time is so confused in Harvey's note that it is really of little use in trying to date Hamlet". This is because the same note also refers to Spenser and Watson as if they were still alive ("our flourishing metricians"), but also mentions "Owen's new epigrams", published in 1607. Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The Thomas Watson (1557? &ndash 1592 was an English lyrical poet possibly educated at Oxford, and was a law-student in London. In Poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. John Owen (c 1564 – 1622 was a Welsh Epigrammatist, most known for his Latin epigrams collected in his Epigrammata [27]
Texts
Three early editions of the text have survived, making attempts to establish a single authentic text problematic. Mr William Shakespeares Comedies Histories & Tragedies is the first published collection of William Shakespeare 's plays [28] Each is different from the others:[29]
- First Quarto (Q1) In 1603 the booksellers Nicholas Ling and John Trundell published, and Valentine Simmes printed the so-called "bad" first Quarto. Valentine Simmes ( fl 1585 &ndash 1622 was an Elizabethan era and Jacobean era printer he did business in London "on Adling Hill near Bainard's Bad quarto is a term and concept developed by twentieth-century Shakespeare scholars to explain some problems in the early transmission of the texts of Shakespearean Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a Book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of Paper or other material Q1 contains just over half of the text of the later second quarto.
- Second Quarto (Q2) In 1604 Nicholas Ling published, and James Roberts printed, the second quarto. Some copies are dated 1605, which may indicate a second impression; consequently, Q2 is often dated "1604/5". Q2 is the longest early edition, although it omits 85 lines found in F1 (most likely to avoid offending James I's queen, Anne of Denmark). James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Anne of Denmark (12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619 was Queen consort of James VI of Scots I of England and Ireland. [30]
- First Folio (F1) In 1623 Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard published the First Folio, the first edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works. Mr William Shakespeares Comedies Histories & Tragedies is the first published collection of William Shakespeare 's plays Edward Blount (or Blunt) (1565 &ndash 1632 was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras noted for his William Jaggard (c 1568 &ndash November 1623 was an Elizabethan and Jacobean printer and publisher best known for his connection with the texts of William [31]
Other folios and quartos were subsequently published—including John Smethwick's Q3, Q4, and Q5 (1611–37)—but these are regarded as derivatives of the first three editions. John Smethwick (died 1641 was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras [31]
.jpg/180px-To_be_or_not_to_be_(Q1).jpg)
Early editors of Shakespeare's works, beginning with Nicholas Rowe (1709) and Lewis Theobald (1733), combined material from the two earliest sources of Hamlet available at the time, Q2 and F1. The phrase " to be or not to be " comes from William Shakespeare 's ''Hamlet Prince of Denmark'' (written about 1600 act three scene one Shakespeare's editors were essential in the development of the modern practice of producing printed books and the evolution of Textual criticism. Nicholas Rowe (1674 &ndash 1718 English Dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715 Lewis Theobald (baptised April 2, 1688 &ndash September 18, 1744) British textual editor and author was a landmark figure both Each text contains material that the other lacks, with many minor differences in wording: scarcely 200 lines are identical in the two. Editors have combined them in an effort to create one "inclusive" text that reflects an imagined "ideal" of Shakespeare's original. Theobald's version became standard for a long time,[32] and his "full text" approach continues to influence editorial practice to the present day. Some contemporary scholarship, however, discounts this approach, instead considering "an authentic Hamlet an unrealisable ideal. . . . there are texts of this play but no text". [33] The 2006 publication by Arden Shakespeare of different Hamlet texts in different volumes is perhaps the best evidence of this shifting focus and emphasis. [34]
Traditionally, editors of Shakespeare's plays have divided them into five acts. An act is a division or unit of a theatrical play or Opera. The number of acts in a production can range from one to five depending on how a writer structures the None of the early texts of Hamlet, however, was arranged this way, and the play's division into acts and scenes derives from a 1676 quarto. Modern editors generally follow this traditional division, but consider it unsatisfactory; for example, after Hamlet drags Polonius' body out of Gertrude's bedchamber, there is an act-break[35] after which the action appears to continue uninterrupted. [36]
The discovery in 1823 of Q1—whose existence had been quite unsuspected—caused considerable interest and excitement, raising many questions of editorial practice and interpretation. Scholars immediately identified apparent deficiencies in Q1, which was instrumental in the development of the concept of a Shakespearean "bad quarto". Bad quarto is a term and concept developed by twentieth-century Shakespeare scholars to explain some problems in the early transmission of the texts of Shakespearean [37] Yet Q1 has value: it contains stage directions that reveal actual stage practices in a way that Q2 and F1 do not; it contains an entire scene (usually labelled 4. 6)[38] that does not appear in either Q2 or F1; and it is useful for comparison with the later editions.
Q1 is considerably shorter than Q2 or F1 and may be a memorial reconstruction of the play as Shakespeare's company performed it, by an actor who played a minor role (most likely Marcellus). The theory of the memorial reconstruction refers to the hypotheses concerning the transcription of 17th century plays from memory by actors who had played parts in them and the subsequent [39] Scholars disagree whether the reconstruction was pirated or authorised. Another theory, considered by New Cambridge editor Kathleen Irace, holds that Q1 is an abridged version intended especially for travelling productions. [40] The idea that Q1 is not riddled with error but is instead eminently fit for the stage has led to at least 28 different Q1 productions since 1881. [41]
Analysis and criticism
Critical history
From the early 17th century, the play was famous for its ghost and vivid dramatization of melancholy and insanity, leading to a procession of mad courtiers and ladies in Jacobean and Caroline drama. From its premiere at the turn of the 17th century Hamlet has been one of Shakespeare's best-known most-imitated and most-analyzed plays Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others Highlights of the Jacobean Era The practical if not formal unification of England and Scotland under one ruler was a development of the first order of importance for both Highlights of the Caroline Era The Caroline era was dominated by the growing religious political and social conflict between the King and his supporters termed the Royalist party [42] Though it remained popular with mass audiences, late 17th-century Restoration critics saw Hamlet as primitive and disapproved of its lack of unity and decorum. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored The classical unities or three unities are rules for Drama derived from a passage in Aristotle 's Poetics. Decorum (from the Latin: "proper fit becoming" was a principle of classical Rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory [43] This view changed drastically in the 18th century, when critics regarded Hamlet as a hero—a pure, brilliant young man thrust into unfortunate circumstances. [44] By the mid-18th century, however, the advent of Gothic literature brought psychological and mystical readings, returning madness and the Ghost to the forefront. Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity [45] Not until the late 18th century did critics and performers begin to view Hamlet as confusing and inconsistent. Before then, he was either mad, or not; either a hero, or not; with no in-betweens. [46] These developments represented a fundamental change in literary criticism, which came to focus more on character and less on plot. [47] By the 19th century, Romantic critics valued Hamlet for its internal, individual conflict reflecting the strong contemporary emphasis on internal struggles and inner character in general. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the [48] Then too, critics started to focus on Hamlet's delay as a character trait, rather than a plot device. [47] This focus on character and internal struggle continued into the 20th century, when criticism branched in several directions, discussed in context and interpretation below.
Dramatic structure
Hamlet departed from contemporary dramatic convention in several ways. First, in Shakespeare's day, plays were usually expected to follow the advice of Aristotle in his Poetics: that a drama should focus on action, not character. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle 's Poetics ( Greek: Ποιητικός, c 335 BCE aims to give an account of what he calls 'poetry' (for him the term includes the In Hamlet, Shakespeare reverses this so that it is through the soliloquies, not the action, that the audience learns Hamlet's motives and thoughts. A monologue is an extended uninterrupted speech or poem by a single person Second—and unlike Shakespeare's other plays (with the exception of Othello)—there is no strong subplot; all plot-forks directly connect to the main vein of Hamlet's struggle for revenge. The play is full of seeming discontinuities and irregularities of action. At one point, as in the Gravedigger scene,[8] Hamlet seems resolved to kill Claudius: in the next scene, however, when Claudius appears, he is suddenly tame. Scholars still debate whether these twists are mistakes or intentional additions to add to the play's theme of confusion and duality. [49] Finally, in a period when most plays ran for two hours or so, the full text of Hamlet—Shakespeare's longest play, with 4,042 lines, totalling 29,551 words—takes over four hours to deliver. [50] Hamlet also contains a favourite Shakespearean device, a play within the play. A story within a story is a Literary device or Conceit in which one story is told during the action of another story [51] Though it was first called The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet changes the name to The Mousetrap when he modifies the plot.
Language
Much of the play's language is courtly: elaborate, witty discourse, as recommended by Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 etiquette guide, The Courtier. Baldasare Castiglione, count of Novellata ( December 15, 1478 &ndash February 28, 1529) was an Italian Courtier, This work specifically advises royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language. Osric and Polonius, especially, seem to respect this injunction. Claudius' speech is rich with rhetorical figures—as is Hamlet's and, at times, Ophelia's—while the language of Horatio, the guards, and the gravediggers is simpler. Claudius' high status is reinforced by using the royal first person plural ("we" or "us"), and anaphora mixed with metaphor to resonate with Greek political speeches. In Rhetoric, an anaphora (ἀναφορά "carrying back" is emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects [52]
Hamlet is the most skilled of all at rhetoric. He uses highly developed metaphors, stichomythia, and in nine memorable words deploys both anaphora and asyndeton: "to die: to sleep— / To sleep, perchance to dream". Stichomythia is a technique in Drama or Poetry, in which alternating lines or half-lines are given to alternating characters voices or entities In Rhetoric, an anaphora (ἀναφορά "carrying back" is emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses Asyndeton (Greek ἀσύνδετον is a stylistic scheme in which conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses [53] In contrast, when occasion demands, he is precise and straightforward, as when he explains his inward emotion to his mother: "But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe". [54] At times, he relies heavily on puns to express his true thoughts while simultaneously concealing them. A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical [55] His "nunnery" remarks[56] to Ophelia are an example of a cruel double meaning as nunnery was Elizabethan slang for brothel. Not to be confused with Puns which employ multiple phrases A double entendre is a Figure of speech similar to the Pun, in Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era [57] His very first words in the play are a pun; when Claudius addresses him as "my cousin Hamlet, and my son", Hamlet says as an aside: "A little more than kin, and less than kind. "[58]
An unusual rhetorical device, hendiadys, appears in several places in the play. Examples are found in Ophelia's speech at the end of the nunnery scene: "Th'expectation and rose of the fair state"; "And I, of ladies most deject and wretched". [59] Many scholars have found it odd that Shakespeare would, seemingly arbitrarily, use this rhetorical form throughout the play. One explanation may be that Hamlet was written later in Shakespeare's life, when he was adept at matching rhetorical devices to characters and the plot. Linguist George T. Wright suggests that hendiadys was used deliberately to heighten the play's sense of duality and dislocation. [60]
Hamlet's soliloquies have also captured the attention of scholars. A monologue is an extended uninterrupted speech or poem by a single person Hamlet interrupts himself, vocalising either disgust or agreement with himself, and embellishing his own words. He has difficulty expressing himself directly and instead blunts the thrust of his thought with wordplay. It is not until late in the play, after his experience with the pirates, that Hamlet is able to articulate his feelings freely. [61]
Context and interpretation
Religious
Written at a time of religious upheaval, and in the wake of the English Reformation, the play is alternately Catholic (or superstitiously medieval) and Protestant (or consciously modern). The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Ghost describes himself as being in purgatory, and as dying without last rites. See also Intermediate state Limbo|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity Purgatory, in the original sense is the condition or process of purification Anointing of the Sick is the ritual anointing of a sick person and is a Sacrament of the Catholic Church. This and Ophelia's burial ceremony, which is characteristically Catholic, make up most of the play's Catholic connections. Some scholars have observed that revenge tragedies come from traditionally Catholic countries, such as Spain and Italy; and they present a contradiction, since according to Catholic doctrine the strongest duty is to God and family. Hamlet's conundrum, then, is whether to avenge his father and kill Claudius, or to leave the vengeance to God, as his religion requires. [62]
Much of the play's Protestantism derives from its location in Denmark—then and now a predominantly Protestant country, though it is unclear whether the fictional Denmark of the play is intended to mirror this fact. The play does mention Wittenberg, where Hamlet, Horatio, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attend university, and where Martin Luther first nailed up his 95 theses. Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a Town in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences, commonly known as The Ninety-Five Theses, were written by Martin Luther in 1517 [63] When Hamlet speaks of the "special providence in the fall of a sparrow",[64] he reflects the Protestant belief that the will of God—Divine Providence—controls even the smallest event. In Theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty superintendence or agency of God over events in people's lives and throughout In Q1, the first sentence of the same section reads: "There's a predestinate providence in the fall of a sparrow,"[65] which suggests an even stronger Protestant connection through John Calvin's doctrine of predestination. John Calvin (or Jean Calvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564 was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and Predestination (also linked with Foreknowledge) is a religious concept which involves the relationship between God and His creation Scholars speculate that Hamlet may have been censored, as "predestined" appears only in this quarto. [66]
Philosophical
Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist, existentialist, and sceptical. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence In ordinary usage skepticism or scepticism ( Greek 'σκέπτομαι' skeptomai, to look about to consider see also spelling differences For example, he expresses a relativistic idea when he says to Rosencrantz: "there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so". [67] The idea that nothing is real except in the mind of the individual finds its roots in the Greek Sophists, who argued that since nothing can be perceived except through the senses—and since all individuals sense, and therefore perceive, things differently—there is no absolute truth, only relative truth. [68] The clearest example of existentialism is found in the "to be, or not to be"[69] speech, where Hamlet uses "being" to allude to both life and action, and "not being" to death and inaction. The phrase " to be or not to be " comes from William Shakespeare 's ''Hamlet Prince of Denmark'' (written about 1600 act three scene one Hamlet's contemplation of suicide in this scene, however, is less philosophical than religious as he believes that he will continue to exist after death. [70]
Scholars agree that Hamlet reflects the contemporary scepticism that prevailed in Renaissance humanism. For a general discussion of skepticism see Skepticism. Philosophical skepticism (from Greek σκέψις - skepsis meaning Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century [71] Prior to Shakespeare's time, humanists had argued that man was God's greatest creation, made in God's image and able to choose his own nature, but this view was challenged, notably in Michel de Montaigne's Essais of 1590. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (French miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ ( February 28 1533 &ndash September 13 1592) was one of the most influential writers Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. Hamlet's "What a piece of work is a man" echoes many of Montaigne's ideas, but scholars disagree whether Shakespeare drew directly from Montaigne or whether both men were simply reacting similarly to the spirit of the times. The phrase " What a piece of work is a man! " comes from Shakespeare 's Hamlet Prince of Denmark, Act II scene II and it is often used in reference [72]
Political
In the early 17th century political satire was discouraged, and playwrights were punished for "offensive" works. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human In 1597, Ben Jonson was jailed for his participation in the play The Isle of Dogs. Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist The Isle of Dogs is a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson which was performed in 1597. [73] Thomas Middleton was imprisoned in 1624, and his A Game at Chess was banned after nine performances. Thomas Middleton (1580 &ndash 1627 was an English Jacobean playwright and Poet. A Game at Chess is a comic Satirical play by Thomas Middleton, first staged in August [74] Numerous scholars believe that Hamlet's Polonius poked fun at the safely deceased William Cecil (Lord Burghley)—Lord High Treasurer and chief counsellor to Queen Elizabeth I[75]—as numerous parallels can be found. Lord Burghley redirects here For other holders of the title see Baron Burghley William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 1520 &ndash Polonius' role as elder statesman is similar to the role Burghley enjoyed;[76] Polonius' advice to Laertes may echo Burghley's to his son Robert Cecil;[77] and Polonius' tedious verbosity may resemble Burghley's. Robert Cecil 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC ( 1 June 1563 &ndash 24 May 1612) son of William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [78] Also, "Corambis", (Polonius' name in Q1) resonates with the Latin for "double-hearted"—which may satirise Lord Burghley's Latin motto Cor unum, via una ("One heart, one way"). [79] Lastly, the relationship of Polonius' daughter Ophelia with Hamlet may be compared to the relationship of Burghley's daughter, Anne Cecil, with the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere. Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford ( 12 April 1550 &ndash 24 June 1604) was an Elizabethan Courtier, Playwright [80] These arguments are also offered in support of the Shakespeare authorship claims for the Earl of Oxford. The Shakespeare authorship question is the debate dating back to the early 18th century about whether the works attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon The Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604 wrote the plays and poems attributed to [81] Nevertheless Shakespeare escaped censure; and far from being suppressed, Hamlet was given the royal imprimatur, as the king's coat of arms on the frontispiece of the 1604 Hamlet attests. An Imprimatur is an official declaration from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church that a literary or similar work is free from error in matters of Roman Catholic A frontispiece is an elaborate decorative Illustration that appears facing the Title page of the book [82]
Psychoanalytic
Since the birth of psychoanalysis in the late 19th century, Hamlet has been the source of such studies, notably by Sigmund Freud, Ernest Jones, and Jacques Lacan, which have influenced theatrical productions. Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Alfred Ernest Jones ( January 1, 1879 – February 11, 1958) Welsh Neurologist, Psychoanalyst and Sigmund Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (French ʒak lakɑ̃ ( April 13, 1901 &ndash September 9, 1981) was a French Psychoanalyst
In his The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Freud's analysis starts from the premise that "the play is built up on Hamlet's hesitations over fulfilling the task of revenge that is assigned to him; but its text offers no reasons or motives for these hesitations". The Interpretation of Dreams is a book by Sigmund Freud. The first edition was first published in German in November 1899 as Die Traumdeutung [83] After reviewing various literary theories, Freud concludes that Hamlet has an "Oedipal desire for his mother and the subsequent guilt [is] preventing him from murdering the man [Claudius] who has done what he unconsciously wanted to do". The Oedipus complex, in Freudian Psychoanalysis, is named after the Greek mythical character Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father [84] Confronted with his repressed desires, Hamlet realises that "he himself is literally no better than the sinner whom he is to punish". Psychological repression, or simply repression, is the psychological act of excluding desires and Impulses (wishes Fantasies or feelings [83] Freud suggests that Hamlet's apparent "distaste for sexuality"—articulated in his "nunnery" conversation with Ophelia—accords with this interpretation. [85][86] John Barrymore introduced Freudian overtones into his landmark 1922 production in New York, which ran for a record-breaking 101 nights. John Sidney Blyth Barrymore ( February 15 1882 – May 29 1942) was an American Actor, frequently called the greatest
In the 1940s, Ernest Jones—a psychoanalyst and Freud's biographer—developed Freud's ideas into a series of essays that culminated in his book Hamlet and Oedipus (1949). Alfred Ernest Jones ( January 1, 1879 – February 11, 1958) Welsh Neurologist, Psychoanalyst and Sigmund Influenced by Jones' psychoanalytic approach, several productions have portrayed the "closet scene",[87] where Hamlet confronts his mother in her private quarters, in a sexual light. In this reading, Hamlet is disgusted by his mother's "incestuous" relationship with Claudius while simultaneously fearful of killing him, as this would clear Hamlet's path to his mother's bed. Ophelia's madness after her father's death may also be read through the Freudian lens: as a reaction to the death of her hoped-for lover, her father. She is overwhelmed by having her unfulfilled love for him so abruptly terminated and drifts into the oblivion of insanity. [88] In 1937, Tyrone Guthrie directed Laurence Olivier in a Jones-inspired Hamlet at the Old Vic. Sir William Tyrone Guthrie ( 2 July 1900 &ndash 15 May 1971) was an Anglo-Irish Tony Award -winning theatrical director Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron The Old Vic is a Theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. [89]
In the 1950s, Lacan's structuralist theories about Hamlet were first presented in a series of seminars given in Paris and later published in "Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in Hamlet". Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (French ʒak lakɑ̃ ( April 13, 1901 &ndash September 9, 1981) was a French Psychoanalyst For the use of structuralism in biology see Structuralism (biology Structuralism is an approach to the human sciences that attempts to analyze Sources The Seminars of Jacques Lacan An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis - Dylan Evans Lacan postulated that the human psyche is determined by structures of language and that the linguistic structures of Hamlet shed light on human desire. In Psychoanalysis, the psyche (ˈsaɪki refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought, Behavior and Personality. [84] His point of departure is Freud's Oedipal theories, and the central theme of mourning that runs through Hamlet. [84] In Lacan's analysis, Hamlet unconsciously assumes the role of phallus—the cause of his inaction—and is increasingly distanced from reality "by mourning, fantasy, narcissism and psychosis", which create holes (or "lacks") in the real, imaginary, and symbolic aspects of his psyche. The word phallus can refer to an erect Penis, or to an object shaped like a penis Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" The term narcissism means love of oneself and refers to the set of Character traits concerned with self-admiration self-centeredness and self-regard Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic [84] Lacan's theories influenced literary criticism of Hamlet because of his alternative vision of the play and his use of semantics to explore the play's psychological landscape. Semantics is the study of meaning in communication The word derives from Greek σημαντικός ( semantikos) "significant" from [84]
Feminist
In the 20th century feminist critics opened up new approaches to Gertrude and Ophelia. Feminist literary criticism is Literary criticism informed by Feminist theory, or by the politics of Feminism more broadly New Historicist and cultural materialist critics examined the play in its historical context, attempting to piece together its original cultural environment. New Historicism developed in the 1980s primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt, and gained widespread influence in the 1990s Cultural materialism in Literary theory and Cultural studies traces its origin to the work of the Left-wing literary critic Raymond Williams. [91] They focused on the gender system of early modern England, pointing to the common trinity of maid, wife, or widow, with whores alone outside of the stereotype. A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe) In this analysis, the essence of Hamlet is the central character's changed perception of his mother as a whore because of her failure to remain faithful to Old Hamlet. In consequence, Hamlet loses his faith in all women, treating Ophelia as if she too were a whore and dishonest with Hamlet. Ophelia, by some critics, can be honest and fair, however; it is virtually impossible to link these two traits, since 'fairness' is an outward trait, while 'honesty' is an inward trait. [92]
Carolyn Heilbrun's 1957 essay "Hamlet's Mother" defends Gertrude, arguing that the text never hints that Gertrude knew of Claudius poisoning King Hamlet. This analysis has been championed by many feminist critics. Heilbrun argued that men have for centuries completely misinterpreted Gertrude, accepting at face value Hamlet's view of her instead of following the actual text of the play. By this account, no clear evidence suggests that Gertrude is an adulteress: she is merely adapting to the circumstances of her husband's death for the good of the kingdom. [93]
Ophelia has also been defended by feminist critics, most notably Elaine Showalter. Elaine Showalter (born January 21, 1941) is an American literary critic, Feminist, and writer on cultural and social issues [94] Ophelia is surrounded by powerful men: her father, brother, and Hamlet. All three disappear: Laertes leaves, Hamlet abandons her, and Polonius dies. Conventional theories had argued that without these three powerful men making decisions for her, Ophelia is driven into madness. [95] Feminist theorists argue that she goes mad with guilt because, when Hamlet kills her father, he has fulfilled her sexual desire to have Hamlet kill her father so they can be together. Showalter points out that Ophelia has become—inaccurately and inappropriately—the symbol of the distraught and hysterical woman in modern culture. [96]
Influence
- See also Stage and screen adaptations (below), and Literary influence of Hamlet
Hamlet is one of the most quoted works in the English language, and is often included on lists of the world's greatest literature. See also Hamlet Stage and screen adaptations William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a Tragedy, believed written between William Shakespeare's play Hamlet has contributed many phrases to common English, from the famous " To be or not to be " to a few less [97] As such, it reverberates through the writing of later centuries. Academic Laurie Osborne identifies the direct influence of Hamlet in numerous modern narratives, and divides them into four main categories: fictional accounts of the play's composition, simplifications of the story for young readers, stories expanding the role of one or more characters, and narratives featuring performances of the play. [98]
Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, published about 1749, describes a visit to Hamlet by Tom Jones and Mr Partridge, with similarities to the "play within a play". Henry Fielding ( April 22, 1707 &ndash October 8, 1754) was an English Novelist and Dramatist known for his The History of Tom Jones a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a Comic novel by the English playwright and novelist [99] In contrast, Goethe's Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, written between 1776 and 1796, not only has a production of Hamlet at its core but also creates parallels between the Ghost and Wilhelm Meister's dead father. ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer A bildungsroman (ˈbɪldʊŋsroˌmaːn "novel of formation" is a Novelistic genre that arose during the German Enlightenment (and is regarded by some as Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre is the second Novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, published in 1795-96 [99] In the early 1850s, in Pierre, Herman Melville focuses on a Hamlet-like character's long development as a writer. Pierre or The Ambiguities is a Novel written by Herman Melville, and published in 1852 by Harper & Brothers. Herman Melville (August 1 1819 &ndash September 28 1891 was an American novelist Short story writer Essayist and poet [99] Ten years later, Dickens' Great Expectations contains many Hamlet-like plot elements: it is driven by revenge-motivated actions, contains ghost-like characters (Abel Magwich and Miss Havisham), and focuses on the hero's guilt. Great Expectations is a Novel by Charles Dickens first serialised in All the Year Round from 1 December Miss Havisham is a significant character in the Charles Dickens Novel, Great Expectations ( 1861) [99] Academic Alexander Welsh notes that Great Expectations is an "autobiographical novel" and "anticipates psychoanalytic readings of Hamlet itself". [100] About the same time, George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss was published, introducing Maggie Tulliver "who is explicitly compared with Hamlet"[101] though "with a reputation for sanity". Mary Ann (Marian Evans ( 22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880) better known by her Pen name George Eliot, was an The Mill on the Floss is a Novel by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans first published in three volumes in 1860 [102]
In the 1920s, James Joyce managed "a more upbeat version" of Hamlet—stripped of obsession and revenge—in Ulysses, though its main parallels are with Homer's Odyssey. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. [99] In the 1990s, two women novelists were explicitly influenced by Hamlet. In Angela Carter's Wise Children, To be or not to be[103] is reworked as a song and dance routine, and Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince has Oedipal themes and murder intertwined with a love affair between a Hamlet-obsessed writer, Bradley Pearson, and the daughter of his rival. Angela Carter ( May 7, 1940 – February 16, 1992) was an English novelist and journalist known for her Feminist, Wise Children ( 1991) was the last Novel written by Angela Carter. Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE ( 15 July 1919 &ndash 8 February 1999) was a Dublin -born writer and philosopher The Black Prince is Iris Murdoch 's 15th Novel, first published in 1973. [101]
Performance history
Shakespeare's day to the Interregnum
Shakespeare almost certainly wrote the role of Hamlet for Richard Burbage. Thomas Patrick Betterton (ca 1635 &ndash 28 April 1710) English Actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored Nicholas Rowe (1674 &ndash 1718 English Dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715 Hamlet by William Shakespeare has been performed many times over since the beginning of the 17th century Numerous performances of William Shakespeare's plays have occurred since the end of the 16th century Richard Burbage ( January 7, 1568 &ndash March 13 1619) was an Actor and theatre owner He was the chief tragedian of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, with a capacious memory for lines and a wide emotional range. The Lord Chamberlain's Men was the Playing company that William Shakespeare worked for as Actor and Playwright for most of his career [5] Judging by the number of reprints, Hamlet appears to have been Shakespeare's fourth most popular play during his lifetime—only Henry VI Part 1, Richard III and Pericles eclipsed it. The First Part of King Henry the Sixth is history play by William Shakespeare, believed written in approximately 1588–1590 Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591 Pericles Prince of Tyre is a play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions [2] Shakespeare provides no clear indication of when his play is set; however, as Elizabethan actors performed at the Globe in contemporary dress on minimal sets, this would not have affected the staging. The Globe Theatre was a Theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. [104]
Firm evidence for specific early performances of the play is scant. What is known is that the crew of the ship Red Dragon, anchored off Sierra Leone, performed Hamlet in September 1607;[105] that the play toured in Germany within five years of Shakespeare's death;[106] and that it was performed before James I in 1619 and Charles I in 1637. Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. [107] Oxford editor George Hibbard argues that, since the contemporary literature contains many allusions and references to Hamlet (only Falstaff is mentioned more, from Shakespeare), the play was surely performed with a frequency that the historical record misses. Sir John Falstaff is a Fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare as a companion to Prince Hal the future King Henry V. [108]
All theatres were closed down by the Puritan government during the Interregnum. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, The English Interregnum was the period of Parliamentary and Military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the [109] Even during this time, however, playlets known as drolls were often performed illegally, including one called The Grave-Makers based on Act 5, Scene 1 of Hamlet. [110]
Restoration and 18th century
The play was revived early in the Restoration. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored When the existing stock of pre-civil war plays was divided between the two newly created patent theatre companies, Hamlet was the only Shakespearean favourite that Sir William Davenant's Duke's Company secured. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The patent theatres were the Theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken Drama " after the English Restoration of Charles II in 1660 Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March, 1606 &ndash April 7, 1668) also spelled D'Avenant, was an English Poet The Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies (the other being the King's Company) that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English [111] It became the first of Shakespeare's plays to be presented with movable flats painted with generic scenery behind the proscenium arch of Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. Flats, short for Scenery Flats, are flat pieces of theatrical Scenery which are painted and positioned on stage so as to give the appearance Proscenium theatre is a Theatre space whose primary feature is a large Archway (the proscenium arch) at or near the front of the stage, through Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, England. [112] This new stage convention highlighted the frequency with which Shakespeare shifts dramatic location, encouraging the recurrent criticisms of his violation of the neoclassical principle of maintaining a unity of place. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and The classical unities or three unities are rules for Drama derived from a passage in Aristotle 's Poetics. [113] Davenant cast Thomas Betterton in the eponymous role, and he continued to play the Dane until he was 74. Thomas Patrick Betterton (ca 1635 &ndash 28 April 1710) English Actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in [114] David Garrick at Drury Lane produced a version that adapted Shakespeare heavily; he declared: "I had sworn I would not leave the stage till I had rescued that noble play from all the rubbish of the fifth act. David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in Hereford &ndash 20 January 1779) was an English Actor, Playwright, The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. I have brought it forth without the grave-digger's trick, Osrick, & the fencing match". [115] The first actor known to have played Hamlet in North America is Lewis Hallam. Jr. , in the American Company's production in Philadelphia in 1759. For companies which are American see List of United States companies. [116]
John Philip Kemble made his Drury Lane debut as Hamlet in 1783. John Philip Kemble ( February 1, 1757 &ndash February 26, 1823) was an English Actor. [117] His performance was said to be 20 minutes longer than anyone else's, and his lengthy pauses provoked the suggestion that "music should be played between the words". [118] Sarah Siddons was the first actress known to play Hamlet; many women have since played him as a breeches role, to great acclaim. Sarah Siddons ( 5 July 1755 &ndash 8 June 1831) was a British actress, the best-known Tragedienne of the A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role) is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing ( Breeches being tight-fitting knee-length pants [119] In 1748, Alexander Sumarokov wrote a Russian adaptation that focused on Prince Hamlet as the embodiment of an opposition to Claudius' tyranny—a treatment that would recur in Eastern European versions into the 20th century. Aleksandr Petrovich Sumarokov (Russian Александр Петрович Сумароков ( November 25 1717 - October 12 1777) was [120] In the years following America's independence, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, the young nation's leading tragedian, performed Hamlet among other plays at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and at the Park Theatre in New York. For the other New York City theatre of this name see Park Theatre (Brooklyn. Although chided for "acknowledging acquaintances in the audience" and "inadequate memorisation of his lines", he became a national celebrity. [121]
19th century
From around 1810 to 1840, the best-known Shakespearean performances in the United States were tours by leading London actors—including George Frederick Cooke, Junius Brutus Booth, Edmund Kean, William Charles Macready, and Charles Kemble. George Frederick Cooke (April 17 1756 in London – September 26 1812 in New York) was an English Actor. Junius Brutus Booth (May 1 1796&ndashNovember 30 1852 was an English Actor. Edmund Kean (March 17 1789 &ndash May 15 1833 was an English Actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever William Charles Macready ( March 3, 1793 - April 27, 1873) English Actor, was born in London, and educated at Charles Kemble ( November 25, 1775 &ndash November 12, 1854) was a British Actor, the youngest son of Roger Kemble. Of these, Booth remained to make his career in the States, fathering the nation's most notorious actor, John Wilkes Booth (who later assassinated Abraham Lincoln), and its most famous Hamlet, Edwin Booth. Abraham Lincoln assassination John Wilkes Booth (May 10 1838 – April 26 1865 was an American stage actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal Edwin Thomas Booth (13 November 1833 &ndash 7 June 1893 was a famous 19th century American Actor. [122] Edwin Booth's Hamlet was described as "like the dark, mad, dreamy, mysterious hero of a poem . . . [acted] in an ideal manner, as far removed as possible from the plane of actual life". [123] Booth played Hamlet for 100 nights in the 1864/5 season at The Winter Garden Theatre, inaugurating the era of long-run Shakespeare in America. A showcase for the finest in American theater The first theater in New York to bear the name The Winter Garden Theatre had a brief but important seventeen year history as one [124]
In the United Kingdom, the actor-managers of the Victorian era (including Kean, Samuel Phelps, Macready, and Henry Irving) staged Shakespeare in a grand manner, with elaborate scenery and costumes. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities Samuel Phelps (1804-1878 was an English Actor, born in Devonport. Sir Henry Irving ( February 6 1838 &ndash October 13 1905) born John Henry Brodribb was an English stage actor in the Victorian era [125] The tendency of actor-managers to emphasise the importance of their own central character did not always meet with the critics' approval. George Bernard Shaw's praise for Johnston Forbes-Robertson's performance ends with a sideswipe at Irving: "The story of the play was perfectly intelligible, and quite took the attention of the audience off the principal actor at moments. George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson ( January 16, 1853 – November 6, 1937) was an English Actor and theatre manager What is the Lyceum coming to?"[126]
In London, Edmund Kean was the first Hamlet to abandon the regal finery usually associated with the role in favour of a plain costume, and he is said to have surprised his audience by playing Hamlet as serious and introspective. The Lyceum Theatre is a 2000-seat West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street just off the Strand. [127] In stark contrast to earlier opulence, William Poel's 1881 production of the Q1 text was an early attempt at reconstructing the Elizabethan theatre's austerity; his only backdrop was a set of red curtains. William Poel (1852-1934 was an English actor theatrical manager and dramatist best known for his presentations of Shakespeare [128] Sarah Bernhardt played the prince in her popular 1899 London production. Sarah Bernhardt (October 22 1844 &ndash March 26 1923 was a French stage actress and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world" In contrast to the "effeminate" view of the central character that usually accompanied a female casting, she described her character as "manly and resolute, but nonetheless thoughtful . . . [he] thinks before he acts, a trait indicative of great strength and great spiritual power". [129]
In France, Charles Kemble initiated an enthusiasm for Shakespeare; and leading members of the Romantic movement such as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas saw his 1827 Paris performance of Hamlet, particularly admiring the madness of Harriet Smithson's Ophelia. Victor-Marie Hugo ( ( February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a French Poet, Playwright, Novelist Henrietta Constance (Harriet Smithson (1800 - 3 March 1854 was an Irish actress, the first wife of Hector Berlioz, and the inspiration for his [130] In Germany, Hamlet had become so assimilated by the mid-19th century that Ferdinand Freiligrath declared that "Germany is Hamlet". Freiligrathhaus_Unkel_1jpg|thumb|Ferdinand Freiligrath lived in Unkel 1839/40]] Ferdinand Freiligrath ( 17 June 1810 - 18 March 1876 [131] From the 1850s, the Parsi theatre tradition in India transformed Hamlet into folk performances, with dozens of songs added. [132]
20th century
Apart from some western troupes' 19th-century visits, the first professional performance of Hamlet in Japan was Otojiro Kawakami's 1903 Shimpa ("new school theatre") adaptation. was a Japanese Actor and Comedian from present-day Hakata-ku Fukuoka, best known for a satire song called "Oppekepe [133] Shoyo Tsubouchi translated Hamlet and produced a performance in 1911 that blended Shingeki ("new drama") and Kabuki styles. is a form of traditional Japanese theatre. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate Make-up worn by some of its performers [133] This hybrid-genre reached its peak in Fukuda Tsuneari's 1955 Hamlet. [133] In 1998, Yukio Ninagawa produced an acclaimed version of Hamlet in the style of Nō theatre, which he took to London. is a Japanese Theatre director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. or is a major form of classic Japanese musical Drama that has been performed since the 14th century [134]
_for_Hamlet_1-2_at_Moscow_Art_Theatre.jpg/180px-Craig's_design_(1908)_for_Hamlet_1-2_at_Moscow_Art_Theatre.jpg)
Constantin Stanislavski and Edward Gordon Craig—two of the 20th century's most influential theatre practitioners—collaborated on the Moscow Art Theatre's seminal production of 1911–12. Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (Константин Edward Gordon Craig ( 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966) sometimes known as Gordon Craig was a English modernist Theatre Theatre practitioner is a modern term to describe someone who both creates theatrical Performances and who produces a theoretical Discourse that Moscow Art Theatre ( Russian: Московский Художественный Академический Театр МХАТ is a theatre company in Moscow The Moscow Art Theatre's (MAT production of Hamlet in 1911-12 on which two of the 20th century's most influential Theatre practitioners — Constantin Stanislavski [135] While Craig favoured stylised abstraction, Stanislavski, armed with his "system", explored psychological motivation. Stanislavski's system is an approach to acting developed by Constantin Stanislavski, a Russian Actor, director, and theatre administrator [136] Craig conceived of the play as a symbolist monodrama, offering a dream-like vision as seen through Hamlet's eyes alone. Russian Symbolism was an intellectual and Artistic movement predominant at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century A monodrama (also Solospiel in German; " solo play " is a theatrical or Operatic piece played by a single Actor or singer [137] This was most evident in the staging of the first court scene. [138][139] The most famous aspect of the production is Craig's use of large, abstract screens that altered the size and shape of the acting area for each scene, representing the character's state of mind spatially or visualising a dramaturgical progression. Dramaturgy is the art of Dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage [140] The production attracted enthusiastic and unprecedented worldwide attention for the theatre and placed it "on the cultural map for Western Europe". [141]
Hamlet is often played with contemporary political overtones. Leopold Jessner's 1926 production at the Berlin Staatstheater portrayed Claudius' court as a parody of the corrupt and fawning court of Kaiser Wilhelm. Leopold Jessner ( March 3, 1878 &ndash December 13, 1945) was a noted producer and director of German Expressionist [142] In Poland, the number of productions of Hamlet has tended to increase at times of political unrest, since its political themes (suspected crimes, coups, surveillance) can be used to comment on a contemporary situation. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland [143] Similarly, Czech directors have used the play at times of occupation: a 1941 Vinohrady Theatre production "emphasised, with due caution, the helpless situation of an intellectual attempting to endure in a ruthless environment". The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Vinohrady (in English literally "vineyards" formerly Královské Vinohrady, Königliche Weinberge is a cadastral district in Prague. [144] In China, performances of Hamlet often have political significance: Gu Wuwei's 1916 The Usurper of State Power, an amalgam of Hamlet and Macbeth, was an attack on Yuan Shikai's attempt to overthrow the republic. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Yuan Shikai ( Courtesy Weiting 慰亭 Pseudonym: Rong'an 容庵 ( September 16, 1859 &ndash June 6, [145] In 1942, Jiao Juyin directed the play in a Confucian temple in Sichuan Province, to which the government had retreated from the advancing Japanese. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B ( Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital in Chengdu. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. [145] In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the protests at Tiananmen Square, Lin Zhaohua staged a 1990 Hamlet in which the prince was an ordinary individual tortured by a loss of meaning. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre (referred to in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident, to avoid confusion with two Tiananmen Square ( is the large Plaza near the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen (literally Gate of Heavenly Peace In this production, the actors playing Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius exchanged roles at crucial moments in the performance, including the moment of Claudius' death, at which point the actor mainly associated with Hamlet fell to the ground. [145]
Notable stagings in London and New York include Barrymore's 1925 production at the Haymarket; it influenced subsequent performances by John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier. Haymarket Theatre (Leicester|Her Majesty's Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket or Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre is a West End theatre in Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH ( 14 April, 1904 – 21 May 2000) known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron [146] Gielgud played the central role many times: his 1936 New York production ran for 136 performances, leading to the accolade that he was "the finest interpreter of the role since Barrymore". [147] Although "posterity has treated Maurice Evans less kindly", throughout the 1930s and 1940s he was regarded by many as the leading interpreter of Shakespeare in the United States and in the 1938/9 season he presented Broadway's first uncut Hamlet, running four and a half hours. Maurice Herbert Evans ( June 3, 1901 - March 12, 1989) was an English Actor who became a US citizen in 1941 [148] Olivier's 1937 performancee at the Old Vic Theatre was popular with audiences but not with critics, with James Agate writing in a famous review in The Sunday Times, "Mr. The Old Vic is a Theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. James Evershed Agate ( September 9, 1877 - June 6, 1947) was a British diarist and critic and a notable collector of Aphorisms The Sunday Times is a Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Olivier does not speak poetry badly. He does not speak it at all. "[149] In 1963, Olivier directed Peter O'Toole as Hamlet in the inaugural performance of the newly formed National Theatre; critics found resonance between O'Toole's Hamlet and John Osborne's hero, Jimmy Porter, from Look Back in Anger. Peter O'Toole (born 2 August 1932) is an Irish and British actor who achieved instant stardom in 1962 playing T The Royal National Theatre, located on the South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England. John James Osborne ( December 12, 1929 &ndash December 24, 1994) was an English Playwright, Screenwriter, Look Back in Anger (1956 is a John Osborne play and 1958 movie about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man (Jimmy Porter [150]
Other New York portrayals of Hamlet of note include that of Ralph Fiennes's in 1995 (for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor) - which ran, from first preview to closing night, a total of one hundred performances. Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( "rafe fines" born 22 December 1962) is a British Actor. The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American Theatre and are presented About the Feinnes Hamlet Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that it was ". . . not one for literary sleuths and Shakespeare scholars. It respects the play, but it doesn't provide any new material for arcane debates on what it all means. Instead it's an intelligent, beautifully read. . . "[151] Stephen Lang's Hamlet for the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1992 received positive reviews, and ran for sixty-one performances; and Sam Waterston's for the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in 1975 (for which Lang played Bernardo and other roles) was well-received. Stephen Lang is Stephen Lang, an Actor Stephen Lang, a Fictional character in Marvel The Roundabout Theatre Company is the largest Non-profit theatre company based in New York City. Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston (born November 15 1940) is an American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jack McCoy New York Shakespeare Festival is the traditional name of a sequence of shows organized by the Public Theater in New York City, most often being held at the Delacorte The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theater in New York City in the United States. Off Broadway, the Riverside Shakespeare Company mounted an uncut first folio Hamlet in 1979 at Columbia University, with a playing time of under three hours. Off-Broadway plays or musicals are performed in New York City. The Riverside Shakespeare Company of New York City was founded in 1977 as a professional (AEA theatre company on the Upper West Side of New York City by W Mr William Shakespeares Comedies Histories & Tragedies is the first published collection of William Shakespeare 's plays Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. [152] In fact, Hamlet is the most produced Shakespeare play in New York theatre history, with sixty-four recorded productions on Broadway, and an untold number Off Broadway. Off-Broadway plays or musicals are performed in New York City. [153]
Screen performances
.jpg/180px-Sarah-Bernhardt_(Hamlet).jpg)
The earliest screen success for Hamlet was Sarah Bernhardt's five-minute film of the fencing scene,[154] produced in 1900. See also Shakespeare on screen. Over fifty films of William Shakespeare 's Hamlet have been Sarah Bernhardt (October 22 1844 &ndash March 26 1923 was a French stage actress and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world" The film was a crude talkie, in that music and words were recorded on phonograph records, to be played along with the film. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. [155] Silent versions were released in 1907, 1908, 1910, 1913, and 1917. [155] In 1920, Asta Nielsen played Hamlet as a woman who spends her life disguised as a man. Asta Nielsen ( 11 September, 1881 - 24 May, 1972) was a Danish Silent film actress who became the most popular leading [155] Laurence Olivier's 1948 film noir Hamlet won best picture and best actor Oscars. Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Hamlet is a British film adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS to artists working Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS to recognize "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. His interpretation stressed the Oedipal overtones of the play, to the extent of casting the 28-year-old Eileen Herlie as Hamlet's mother, opposite himself, at 41, as Hamlet. Eileen Herlie (born Eileen Herlihy; March 8 1918 &ndash October 8 2008 was a Scottish-American Actress. [156] Gamlet (Russian: Гамлет) is a 1964 film adaptation in Russian, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak and directed by Grigori Kozintsev, with a score by Dmitri Shostakovich. Hamlet ( Гамлет) is a 1964 film adaptation in Russian of Shakespeare 's play of the same title, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к ( — May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize -winning Soviet Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (Григорий Михайлович Козинцев Kiev, &ndash Leningrad now Saint Petersburg, 11 May 1973 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer [157] Innokenty Smoktunovsky was cast in the role of Hamlet, which won him a praise from Sir Laurence Olivier. Innokentiy Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky (Инноке́нтий Миха́йлович Смоктуно́вский b Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron Shakespeare experts Sir John Gielgud and Kenneth Branagh consider this work the definitive rendition of the Bard's tragic tale. Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH ( 14 April, 1904 – 21 May 2000) known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an Emmy Award -winning Academy Award -nominated Northern Irish Actor [158] John Gielgud directed Richard Burton at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1964–5, and a film of a live performance was produced, in ELECTRONOVISION. Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH ( 14 April, 1904 – 21 May 2000) known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Richard Burton, CBE (10 November 1925 &ndash 5 August 1984 was a Welsh multiple award-winning Actor. The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown- Manhattan Richard Burton’s Hamlet is a 1964 filmed record of the Broadway production of William Shakespeare 's tragedy that played from [159] Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films have been described as "sensual rather than cerebral": his aim to make Shakespeare "even more popular". Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. [160] To this end, he cast the Australian actor Mel Gibson—then famous for the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon movies—in the title role of his 1990 version, and Glenn Close—then famous as the psychotic other woman in Fatal Attraction—as Gertrude. Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3 1956 Mad Max is a 1979 Australian apocalyptic action thriller Film directed by George Miller and written Lethal Weapon is a 1987 Action film, the first in a series of American Films that were released in 1987 1989 Hamlet is a 1990 Film based on the Shakespearean play of the same name. Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American Singer and Actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller about a married man who has a weekend Affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end and who becomes [161]
In contrast to Zeffirelli, whose Hamlet was heavily cut, Kenneth Branagh adapted, directed, and starred in a 1996 version containing every word of Shakespeare's play, combining the material from the F1 and Q2 texts. Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an Emmy Award -winning Academy Award -nominated Northern Irish Actor Branagh's Hamlet runs for around four hours. Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare 's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh [162] Branagh set the film with late 19th-century costuming and furnishings;[163] and Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, became Elsinore Castle in the external scenes. Blenheim Palace is a large and Monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. The film is structured as an epic and makes frequent use of flashbacks to highlight elements not made explicit in the play: Hamlet's sexual relationship with Kate Winslet's Ophelia, for example, or his childhood affection for Yorick (played by Ken Dodd). The Epic is a genre of film which places emphasis on human drama on a grand scale In history film television and other media a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born 5 October 1975 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -nominated Emmy Award -nominated Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE (born November 8, 1927) is a veteran English Comedian and Singer Songwriter, famous [164] In 2000, Michael Almereyda's Hamlet set the story in contemporary Manhattan, with Ethan Hawke playing Hamlet as a film student. Michael Almereyda (born 1960 is an American Film director. His most well known work is Hamlet ( 2000) starring Ethan Hawke. Hamlet, also referred to as Hamlet 2000, is an American Film by Michael Almereyda, released in 2000, set in contemporary Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6 1970 is an American Actor, Writer and Film director. Claudius became the CEO of "Denmark Corporation", having taken over the company by killing his brother. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator [165]
Stage and screen adaptations
- Further information: References to Hamlet
Hamlet has been adapted into stories that deal with civil corruption by the West German director Helmut Käutner in Der Rest ist Schweigen (The Rest is Silence) and by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa in Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru (The Bad Sleep Well). To be or not to be|References to Ophelia|What a piece of work is a man Numerous references to Hamlet in Popular culture (in film literature arts West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Helmut Käutner (March 25 1908&ndashApril 20 1980 was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 50s is a 1960 film directed by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. [166] In Claude Chabrol's Ophélia (France, 1962) the central character, Yvan, watches Olivier's Hamlet and convinces himself—wrongly and with tragic results—that he is in Hamlet's situation. Claude Chabrol (klod ʃaˈbʁɔl in French (born 24 June 1930 Paris) is a French film director and has become well-known since his first film [167]
Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (which has a 1990 film version), portrays the events of Hamlet from the perspective of Hamlet's two school friends, recasting it as the tragedy of two minor characters who must die to fulfil their role in a drama that they do not understand. Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE (born 3 July 1937 is a British Screenwriter playwright Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist Tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a 1990 film written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his play of the same name. A parody of Hamlet called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had been written by W. S. Gilbert in 1874. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern A Tragic Episode in Three Tabloids is a short comic play by W Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 &ndash 29 May 1911 was an English Dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen In 1977, East German playwright Heiner Müller wrote Die Hamletmaschine (Hamletmachine) a postmodernist, condensed version of Hamlet; this adaptation was subsequently incorporated into his translation of Shakespeare's play in his 1989/1990 production Hamlet/Maschine (Hamlet/Machine). Heiner Müller ( January 9, 1929 &ndash December 30, 1995) was a (formerly East) German Dramatist, Poet Hamletmachine (in German, Die Hamletmaschine) is a postmodernist drama by East German playwright and theatre director Heiner Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism [168] The highest-grossing Hamlet adaptation to date is Disney's Academy Award-winning animated feature The Lion King, which enacts a loose version of the plot among a pride of African lions. Walt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company: Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner was established "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released in theaters on June 15 1994 [169]
References
Notes
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 74).
- ^ a b Taylor (2002, 18).
- ^ Crystal and Crystal (2005, 66).
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 17).
- ^ a b See Taylor (2002, 4); Banham (1998, 141); Hattaway asserts that "Richard Burbage . . . played Hieronimo and also Richard III but then was the first Hamlet, Lear, and Othello" (1982, 91); Peter Thomson argues that the identity of Hamlet as Burbage is built into the dramaturgy of several moments of the play: "we will profoundly misjudge the position if we do not recognise that, whilst this is Hamlet talking about the groundlings, it is also Burbage talking to the groundlings" (1983, 24); see also Thomson on the first player's beard (1983, 110). Dramaturgy is the art of Dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage
- ^ Hamlet 1. 4.
- ^ Hamlet 2. 1. 99.
- ^ a b The Gravedigger Scene: Hamlet 5. 1. 1–205.
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 36–37).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 16–25).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 5–15).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 1–5).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 25–37).
- ^ Edwards (1985, 1–2).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 66–67).
- ^ Jenkins (1982, 82–85).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 67).
- ^ In his 1936 book The Problem of Hamlet: A Solution Andrew Carincross asserted that the Hamlet referred to in 1589 was written by Shakespeare; Peter Alexander (1964), Eric Sams (according to Jackson 1991, 267) and, more recently, Harold Bloom (2001, xiii and 383; 2003, 154) have agreed. Eric Sams ( May 3, 1926 &mdash Sept 13, 2004 was a British musicologist and Shakespeare scholar Harold Bloom' (born July 11, 1930) is a Literary critic. Bloom defended 19th-century Romantic poets at a time when their reputations This is also the opinion of anti-Stratfordians (Ogburn 1988, 631). The Shakespeare authorship question is the debate dating back to the early 18th century about whether the works attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon Harold Jenkins, the editor of the second series Arden edition of the play, dismisses the idea as groundless (1982, 84 n4). Francis Meres's Palladis Tamia (published in 1598, probably October) provides a list of twelve named Shakespeare plays, but Hamlet is not among them (Lott 1970, xlvi). Francis Meres (1565 &ndash January 29, 1647) was an English churchman and Author.
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 66–68).
- ^ Saxo and Hansen (1983, 6).
- ^ Greenblatt (2004a, 311); Greenblatt (2004b).
- ^ Shakespeare's Last Will and Testament.
- ^ MacCary suggests 1599 or 1600 (1998, 13); James Shapiro offers late 1600 or early 1601 (2005, 341); Wells and Taylor suggest that the play was written in 1600 and revised later (1988, 653); the New Cambridge editor settles on mid-1601 (Edwards 1985, 8); the New Swan Shakespeare Advanced Series editor agrees with 1601 (Lott 1970, xlvi); Thompson and Taylor, tentatively ("according to whether one is the more persuaded by Jenkins or by Honigmann") suggest a terminus ad quem of either Spring 1601 or sometime in 1600 (2001a, 58–59). Terminus post quem and the related terminus ante quem are terms used to give an approximate date for a text
- ^ MacCary (1998, 12–13) and Edwards (1985, 5–6).
- ^ a b Lott (1970, xlvi).
- ^ Hamlet F1 2. 2. 337. The whole conversation between Rozencrantz, Guildenstern and Hamlet concerning the touring players' departure from the city is at Hamlet "F1" 2. 2. 324–360.
- ^ Edwards (1985, 5).
- ^ Hattaway (1987, 13–20).
- ^ Chambers (1923, vol. 3, 486–487) and Halliday (1964, 204–205).
- ^ Halliday (1964, 204).
- ^ a b Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 78).
- ^ Hibbard (1987, 22–23).
- ^ Hattaway (1987, 16).
- ^ Thompson and Taylor published Q2, with appendices, in their first volume (2006a) and the F1 and Q1 texts in their second volume (2006b). Bate and Rasmussen (2007) is the F1 text with additional Q2 passages in an appendix. The New Cambridge series has begun to publish separate volumes for the separate quarto versions that exist of Shakespeare's plays (Irace 1998).
- ^ Hamlet 3. 4 and 4. 1.
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 543–552).
- ^ Jenkins (1982, 14).
- ^ Hamlet Q1 14.
- ^ Jackson (1986, 171).
- ^ Irace (1998); Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 85–86).
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006b, 36–37) and Checklist of Q1 Productions in Thompson and Taylor (2006b, 38–39).
- ^ Wofford (1994) and Kirsch (1968).
- ^ Vickers (1974a, 447) and (1974b, 92).
- ^ Wofford (1994, 184–185).
- ^ Vickers (1974c, 5).
- ^ Wofford (1994, 185).
- ^ a b Wofford (1994, 186).
- ^ Rosenberg (1992, 179).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 67–72, 84).
- ^ Based on the length of the first edition of The Riverside Shakespeare (1974).
- ^ Also used in Love's Labour's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare 's early comedies believed to have been written in the mid-1590s and first published in 1598 A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by " The Knight's Tale " from Kermode (2000, 256).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 84–85).
- ^ Hamlet 3. 1. 63–64.
- ^ Hamlet 1. 2. 85–86.
- ^ MacCary (1998, 89–90).
- ^ Hamlet 3. 1. 87–148 especially lines 120, 129, 136, 139 and 148.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2004, CD).
- ^ Hamlet 2. 1. 63-65.
- ^ Hamlet 3. 1. 151 and 3. 1. 154. The Nunnery Scene: Hamlet 3. 1. 87–160.
- ^ MacCary (1998, 87–88).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 91–93).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 37–38); in the New Testament, see Romans 12:19: " 'vengeance is mine, I will repay' sayeth the Lord".
- ^ MacCary (1998, 38).
- ^ Hamlet 5. 2. 197–202.
- ^ Hamlet Q1 17. 45–46.
- ^ Blits (2001, 3–21).
- ^ Hamlet F1 2. 2. 247–248.
- ^ MacCary (1998, 47–48).
- ^ Hamlet 3. 1. 55–87 especially line 55.
- ^ MacCary (1998, 28–49).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 49).
- ^ Knowles (1999, 1049 and 1052–1053) cited by Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 73–74); MacCary (1998, 49).
- ^ Baskerville (1934, 827–830).
- ^ Jones (2007, web page).
- ^ French writes in 1869: "The next important personages in the play are the 'Lord Chamberlain', Polonius; his son, Laertes; and daughter, Ophelia; and these are supposed to stand for Queen Elizabeth's celebrated Lord High Treasurer, Sir William Cecil, Lord Burleigh; his second son, Robert Cecil; and his daughter, Anne Cecil" (301). Excepts from his research may be found here. In 1932, John Dover Wilson wrote: "the figure of Polonius is almost without doubt intended as a caricature of Burleigh, who died on August 4, 1598" (1932, 104). Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans.
- ^ Winstanley (1921, 112). Winstanley devotes 20 pages proposing connections between scenes involving Polonius and people and events in Elizabethan England.
- ^ See Chambers (1930, 418); in 1964, Hurstfield and Sutherland wrote: "The governing classes were both paternalistic and patronizing; and nowhere is this attitude better displayed than in the advice which that archetype of elder statesmen William Cecil, Lord Burghley—Shakespeare's Polonius—prepared for his son" (1964, 35).
- ^ Rowse (1963, 323).
- ^ Ogburn (1988, 202–203). As glossed by Mark Anderson, "With 'cor' meaning 'heart' and with 'bis' or 'ambis' meaning 'twice' or 'double', Corambis can be taken for the Latin of 'double-hearted,' which implies 'deceitful' or 'two-faced'. "
- ^ Winstanley (1921, 122–124).
- ^ Ogburn (1984, 84–86).
- ^ Matus (1994, 234–237).
- ^ a b Freud (1900, 367).
- ^ a b c d e Britton (1995, 207-211).
- ^ Freud (1900, 368).
- ^ The nunnery conversation referred to in this sentence is Hamlet 3. 1. 87–160.
- ^ The Closet Scene: Hamlet 3. 4.
- ^ MacCary (1998, 104–107, 113–116) and de Grazia (2007, 168–170).
- ^ Smallwood (2002, 102).
- ^ Hamlet 4. 5.
- ^ Wofford (1994, 199–202).
- ^ Howard (2003, 411–415).
- ^ Bloom (2003, 58–59); Thompson (2001, 4).
- ^ Showalter (1985).
- ^ Bloom (2003, 57).
- ^ MacCary (1998, 111–113).
- ^ Hamlet has 208 quotations in "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; it takes up 10 of 85 pages dedicated to Shakespeare in the 1986 Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (14th ed. 1968). The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is an 1100-page book listing short Quotations that are common in English language and culture Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartlett's, is an American Reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed For examples of lists of the greatest books, see Harvard Classics, Great Books, Great Books of the Western World, Harold Bloom's The Western Canon, St. John's College reading list, and Columbia College Core Curriculum. The Harvard Classics originally known as Dr Eliot's Five Foot Shelf is a 51-volume Anthology of classic works from world literature compiled and edited by Great Books refers to a curriculum and a book list Mortimer Adler lists three criteria for including a book on the list the book has contemporary significance Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952 by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Harold Bloom' (born July 11, 1930) is a Literary critic. Bloom defended 19th-century Romantic poets at a time when their reputations St John's College is a Liberal arts college with two US campuses Annapolis Maryland and Santa Fe New Mexico. The Core Curriculum was originally developed as the main curriculum used by Columbia University 's Columbia College.
- ^ Osborne (2007, 114–133 especially 115 and 120).
- ^ a b c d e Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 123–126).
- ^ Welsh (2001, 131).
- ^ a b Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 126–131).
- ^ Novy (1994, 62, 77–78).
- ^ Hamlet 3. 1. 55–87.
- ^ Taylor (2002, 13).
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006a; 53–55); Chambers (1930, vol. 1, 334), cited by Dawson (2002, 176).
- ^ Dawson (2002, 176).
- ^ Pitcher and Woudhuysen (1969, 204).
- ^ Hibbard (1987, 17).
- ^ Marsden (2002, 21).
- ^ Holland (2007, 34).
- ^ Marsden (2002, 21–22).
- ^ Samuel Pepys records his delight at the novelty of Hamlet "done with scenes"; see Thompson and Taylor (1996, 57). Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703 was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for
- ^ Taylor (1989, 16).
- ^ Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 98–99).
- ^ Letter to Sir William Young, 10 January 1773, quoted by Uglow (1977, 473). Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1773 ( MDCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
- ^ Morrison (2002, 231).
- ^ Moody (2002, 41).
- ^ Moody (2002, 44), quoting Sheridan. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 &ndash 7 July 1816 was an Irish playwright and Whig Statesman.
- ^ Gay (2002, 159).
- ^ Dawson (2002, 185–187).
- ^ Morrison (2002, 232–233).
- ^ Morrison (2002, 235–237).
- ^ William Winter, New York Tribune 26 October 1875, quoted by Morrison (2002, 241). The New York Tribune was an American newspaper first established by Horace Greeley in 1841 which was long considered one of the leading Newspapers in the
- ^ Morrison (2002, 241).
- ^ Schoch (2002, 58–75).
- ^ George Bernard Shaw in The Saturday Review 2 October 1897, quoted in Shaw (1961, 81). George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common
- ^ Moody (2002, 54).
- ^ Halliday (1964, 204) and O'Connor (2002, 77).
- ^ Sarah Bernhardt, in a letter to the London Daily Telegraph, quoted by Gay (2002, 164). Sarah Bernhardt (October 22 1844 &ndash March 26 1923 was a French stage actress and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world" For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia.
- ^ Holland (2002, 203–205).
- ^ Dawson (2002, 184).
- ^ Dawson (2002, 188).
- ^ a b c Gillies et al (2002, 259–262).
- ^ Dawson (2002, 180).
- ^ For more on this production, see The MAT production of Hamlet. The Moscow Art Theatre's (MAT production of Hamlet in 1911-12 on which two of the 20th century's most influential Theatre practitioners — Constantin Stanislavski Craig and Stanislavski began planning the production in 1908 but, due to a serious illness of Stanislavski's, it was delayed until December, 1911. Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (Константин See Benedetti (1998, 188–211).
- ^ Benedetti (1999, 189, 195).
- ^ On Craig's relationship to Russian symbolism and its principles of monodrama in particular, see Taxidou (1998, 38–41); on Craig's staging proposals, see Innes (1983, 153); on the centrality of the protagonist and his mirroring of the 'authorial self', see Taxidou (1998, 181, 188) and Innes (1983, 153). Russian Symbolism was an intellectual and Artistic movement predominant at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century A monodrama (also Solospiel in German; " solo play " is a theatrical or Operatic piece played by a single Actor or singer
- ^ The First Court Scene: Hamlet 1. 2. 1–128.
- ^ A brightly lit, golden pyramid descended from Claudius' throne, representing the feudal hierarchy, giving the illusion of a single, unified mass of bodies. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed In the dark, shadowy foreground, separated by a gauze, Hamlet lay, as if dreaming. The term scrim has two separate meanings in terms of fabric In each case it refers to woven material one a finely woven lightweight fabric widely used in theatre the other a heavy On Claudius' exit-line the figures remained but the gauze was loosened, so that they appeared to melt away as if Hamlet's thoughts had turned elsewhere. For this effect, the scene received an ovation, which was unheard of at the MAT. A standing ovation is a form of Applause where members of a seated Audience stand up while applauding Moscow Art Theatre ( Russian: Московский Художественный Академический Театр МХАТ is a theatre company in Moscow See Innes (1983, 152).
- ^ See Innes (1983, 140–175; esp. 165–167 on the use of the screens).
- ^ Innes (1983, 172).
- ^ Hortmann (2002, 214).
- ^ Hortmann (2002, 223).
- ^ Burian (1993), quoted by Hortmann (2002, 224–225).
- ^ a b c Gillies et al. (2002, 267–269).
- ^ Morrison (2002, 247–248); Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 109).
- ^ Morrison (2002, 249).
- ^ Morrison (2002, 249–250).
- ^ "Olivier" by Robert Tanitch, Abbeville Press, 1985
- ^ Smallwood (2002, 108); National Theatre reviews Retrieved: 4 December 2007. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.
- ^ Vincent Canby, "Theatre Review: Ralph Fiennes as Mod Hamlet," The New York Times May 3, 1995.
- ^ Ari Panagako, "Dandy Hamlet Bows Uptown", Heights/Inwood Press of North Manhattan, June 14, 1978.
- ^ According to the Internet Broadway Database: http://www.ibdb.com/show; Romeo and Juliet is the second most-produced Shakespeare play on Broadway, with thirty-four different productions, followed by Twelfth Night, with thirty. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the Twelfth Night Or What You Will is a Comedy by William Shakespeare, based on the Short story "Of Apolonius and Silla" by
- ^ The Fencing Scene: Hamlet 5. 2. 203–387.
- ^ a b c Brode (2001, 117–118).
- ^ Davies (2000, 171).
- ^ Guntner (2000, 120–121).
- ^ http://movies.nytimes.com/person/66625/Innokenti-Smoktunovsky/biography)
- ^ Brode (2001, 125–127).
- ^ Both quotations from Cartmell (2000, 212), where the aim of making Shakespeare "even more popular" is attributed to Zeffirelli himself in an interview given to The South Bank Show in December 1997. The South Bank Show is an award-winning Television arts magazine show made by London Weekend Television, presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast
- ^ Guntner (2000, 121–122).
- ^ Crowl (2000, 232).
- ^ Starks (1999, 272).
- ^ Keyishian (2000, 78–79).
- ^ Burnett (2000).
- ^ Howard (2000, 300–301).
- ^ Howard (2000, 301–302).
- ^ Teraoka (1985, 13).
- ^ Vogler (1992, 267–275).
Editions of Hamlet
- Bate, Jonathan, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. 2007. Complete Works. By William Shakespeare. The RSC Shakespeare. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0679642951.
- Edwards, Phillip, ed. 1985. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New Cambridge Shakespeare ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521293669.
- Hibbard, G. R. , ed. 1987. Hamlet. Oxford World's Classics ser. Oxford. ISBN 0192834169.
- Hoy, Cyrus, ed. 1992. Hamlet. Norton Critical Edition ser. 2nd ed. New York: Norton. ISBN 9780393956634.
- Irace, Kathleen O. 1998. The First Quarto of Hamlet. New Cambridge Shakespeare ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521653908.
- Jenkins, Harold, ed. 1982. Hamlet. The Arden Shakespeare, second ser. London: Methuen. ISBN 1903436672.
- Lott, Bernard, ed. 1970. Hamlet. New Swan Shakespeare Advanced ser. New ed. London: Longman. ISBN 0582527422.
- Spencer, T. J. B. , ed. 1980 Hamlet. New Penguin Shakespeare ser. London: Penguin. ISBN 0140707344.
- Thompson, Ann and Neil Taylor, eds. 2006a. Hamlet. The Arden Shakespeare, third ser. Volume one. London: Arden. ISBN 1904271332.
- ———. 2006b. Hamlet: The Texts of 1603 and 1623. The Arden Shakespeare, third ser. Volume two. London: Arden. ISBN 1904271804.
- Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. 1988. The Complete Works. By William Shakespeare. The Oxford Shakespeare. Compact ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198711905.
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- ———. 1935. What Happens in Hamlet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959. ISBN 0521068355.
- Welsh, Alexander. 2001. Hamlet in his Modern Guises (New Jersey: Princeton) in Thompson and Taylor (2006a, 125).
- Winstanley, Lilian. 1921. Hamlet and the Scottish succession, Being an Examination of the Relations of the Play of Hamlet to the Scottish Succession and the Essex Conspiracy. London: Cambridge University Press. Reprinted Philadelphia: R. West, 1977. ISBN 084922912X.
- Wofford, Susanne L. 1994. "A Critical History of Hamlet" In Hamlet: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives: 181–207. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martins Press. ISBN 0312089864.
External links
- Texts
- Open Source Shakespeare—Hamlet A complete text of Hamlet based on Q2.
- ISE — Internet Shakespeare Editions: transcripts and facsimiles of Q1, Q2 and F1.
- Hamlet (Regained) — Full play text, with parallel modern English translation, and extensive notes.
- "HyperHamlet" — The Q2 text, with copious hyper-linked references and notes. Run by the University of Basel.
- Hamlet with Hypertext - The full text of the play with easy-to-use hypertext commentary for all readers. You can even add your own commentary.
- Analysis
- Hamlet on the Ramparts — The MIT's Shakespeare Electronic Archive.
- Hamletworks.org A highly respected scholarly resource with multiple versions of Hamlet, numerous commentaries, concordances, facsimiles, and more.
- "The Hamlet Weblog" — A weblog about the play.
- "Nine Hamlets" — An analysis of the play and nine film versions, at the Bright Lights Film Journal.
- Full summary of Hamlet
Dictionary
hamlet
-noun
- A small village or a group of houses.
- (UK) A village that does not have its own church.
- Any of the fish of the genus Hypoplectrus in the family Serranidae.
Hamlet
-proper noun
- The eponymous main character of Shakespeare's play.
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