Shakespeare Tragedies Flashcards
Hamlet: Tell me a little about the three different versions of Hamlet.
Q1 (1603): Earliest and shortest version, but has a scene that’s in neither of the later versions, contains Hamlet’s age)
Q2 (1605): Longest (in this case, more Shakespeare = better Shakespeare)
F (1623): Longer than Q1, Shorter than Q2, gives some performance cues
All three texts are radically unstable and prior to the others in some way. What is generally performed is a conflation of Q2 and F so as to get “all the good bits.”
For what work was Shakespeare most famous for during his lifetime?
Venus and Adonis poem
Hamlet: How does the presence of the Ghost relate to the religious issues of Shakespeare’s day?
Catholicism was illegal during this period, but Protestants had banished the idea of ghosts because they’d eliminated purgatory.
If Hamlet’s father returns as a ghost, this makes it a Catholic play. We could see the ghost as the devil himself, which would be one way of reconciling it to the Protestant worldview.
Midsummer: Discuss the significance of dreams.
Dreams are used in the play as characters try to explain things that have happened to them; they are borders between supernatural and reality. Dreams are transgressive spaces where strange things can happen without them having an effect on day-to-day life. In a dream realm, you’re not always in control of your environment.
Shakespeare suggests that if he play has offended, the audience can imagine it was just a dream, and not be offended.
Midsummer: Whose father prompts the action of the play?
Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius, and takes his case to Theseus when she refuses.
What is Shakespeare’s source for Romeo and Juliet?
The Tragicall History of Romeo and Juliet by Arthur Brookes
How old is Juliet? What is this important?
- Contrary to popular belief, this was NOT common in Elizabethan times. She is aged down. We cannot be certain of the reason, but it seems like Shakespeare may have wanted to evoke a sense of unease about youthful sexuality in his audience.
What are the name’s of Lear’s daughters?
- Reagan
- Goneril
- Cordelia
King Lear: Discuss “Is this the promised end?”
These lines refer not only to the tragedy of the play itself, but also the surprise the audience might have felt about the way the play ended. The tragic ending was not a part of history.
In fact, Cordelia needed to survive so that the we get to Queen Elizabeth and King James. The change is not only surprising (perhaps distressingly so), but prompts reflection on the current state of England.
King Lear: Discuss “Is this the promised end?”
These lines refer not only to the tragedy of the play itself, but also the surprise the audience might have felt about the way the play ended. The tragic ending was not a part of history.
In fact, Cordelia needed to survive so that the we get to Queen Elizabeth and King James. The change is not only surprising (perhaps distressingly so), but prompts reflection on the current state of England. The theme of the play kind of becomes : “If children don’t obey, history is abolished.”
