Hamlet- Critical Material

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  • Created by: AJ2004
  • Created on: 10-06-21 09:21

Kastan

  • Tragic  heroes suffer because of human weakness, divine retribution (arbitary fate), irreligious beliefs or behaviour. 
  • Hamlet is compensated because Claudius dies- linik to revenge tragedies
  • Apply to soliloquys, final scene or ghost asking for revenge. 

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Bradley

  • Tragic hero must be of high rank- greek tragedy. 
  • They must experience a reversal of fortune leading to downfall. 
  • Tragedy centralised around suffering.
  • The fall of a high status man effect the welfare of the nation.

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Mack

  • Tragic heroes inflicted with madness as part of the suffering.
    • From divine punishment.
  • Leads to lack of control of speech-outpoor of inner thoughts (about madness).
  • Allows audience to see them as tragic hero
  • Argument- Hamlet's conscious decision to construct his madness undermines theory if feigned. 
    • Even more tragic because uses feigned madness to mask his true madness- his denial to accept it increases tragedy.

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Adelman

  • Making Gertrude pure is Hamlet's main drive. 
  • The play is a recreation of Cain and Abel- Gertrude= Eve. 
  • Hamlet and Gertrude unusual relationship because Gertrude plays mother and father. 
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Newell

  • Act 1 Scene 2- Hamlet is searching for spiritual release- revealing inner thoughtrs concealed from Claudius. 
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Zoia

  • Appearances are decieving and people are not always as they seem. 
  • Identities can be hidden behind a facade. 
  • "A play about ambiguities of identity, in which the characters all try to fool one another, pulling the vel over eachothers' faces and pretending to feel certain emotions that are nothing but pretense." 
  • "The word 'seem' in Hamlet is central to the theme of muddled, deceptive identity".
    • Used frequently. Includes the illusion of things appearing as they really aren't. 
  • Hamlets own use of 'seem' shows his desire to feel things as they are. Doesnt want to rely on illusions and pretenses. 
  • Hamlet is truly mourning and not making an illusion that he is unlike Claudius does. 
  • The use of 'seem' blurs the line between fact and fiction, reality and illusion, and truthfulness and falsehood. 
  • "For Hamlet, there is no "seems", he is not putting up an act". 
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Will Tosh

  • Madness a form of demonic possession- a condition of fear and darkness. 
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Sterret

  • Claudius trapped- cant accept own forgiveness. Compares to Cain- feels he is a representation of sin. 
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