Marxism Readings of Hamlet

Question 1

Marxism based on

Answer 1

• The economic, political and philosophical writings of Karl Marx

Question 2

Karl Marx

Answer 2

• A German thinker
• Criticised the political and economic systems of 19th century capitalist societies

Question 3

Marxist politics vs analysis

Answer 3

• Highly relevant tool for examining the power relations within societies and representations of societies in literature

Question 4

Core Marxist belief

Answer 4

The belief that the way we think and behave is conditioned by society
- Looks at how far we are controlled by factors such as government, money, and social class

Question 5

Terry Eagleton on Hamlet

Answer 5

• Hamlet resists playing the roles that his society expects of him
• ‘Unable to find self-definition’
• He is therefore trapped between society’s expectations of him and his own inability to redefine himself, leading to his destruction

Question 6

James Shapiro in ‘1599: A year in the Life of William Shakespeare’

Answer 6

• Considers the tension in the play as resulting from the conflict between different ‘forces’ of history in the context of an old world of ‘chivalry’
• Fading away and a new society founded on Protestantism and global capitalism beginning to replace it

Question 7

Graham Holderness on Hamlet

Answer 7

• Dramatising fundamental changes in Elizabethan society
• The ‘medieval world’ of old Hamlet is fading into the past with Denmark no longer being ruled by the values of a ‘medieval warrior-king’
• Claudius, representing a new vision of statesmanship, negotiates peace rather than engaging in battle

Question 8

Graham Holderness on Hamlet being stranded

Answer 8

• ‘Hamlet is stranded between the two worlds, unable to emulate the heroic values of his father, unable to engage with the modern world of political diplomacy’