critical anthology Flashcards
(25 cards)
summarise Kastan’s interpretation of shakespearean tragedy
shakespeare’s tragedys
look at the causes of suffering that lie in human weakness, divine retribution or arbitrary fate. Shakespeare’s coherent and powerful sense of tragedy develops and deepens w each tragic play.
what does Kaftan say are the main causes of suffering
human weakness, divine retribution or arbitrary fate.
does kastan say about Shakespeares tragedies
tragedy- genre of uncompensated suffering and as he writes in that mode the successive plays reveal an ever more profound formal acknowledgement of their desolating controlling logic
what does KASTAN say about uncertainty
uncertainty is the point- characters may commit themselves to a confident sense of the tragic world they inhibit.
summarise Nuttall’s- the pleasure of tragedy
Nuttal considers the tension between please and pain in tragic drama. Early critical responses to tragedy considered audience pleasure in realtion to the pain they were witnessing on stage. Contemporary reviews more commonly praise the playwrights ability to disturb the emotions of the audiences and render them uncomfortable
Nuttall, “grief and fear become in their turn matter for enjoyment.
can be linked to theme of theatre and success of Hamlet
Nuttall: “despite the pleasurable and to value the disturbing, the jagged, the painful work.
link to success of Hamlet, as perpetia of the play and incest ideas and fatricide. why hamlet is so successull as this enjoyment is manipulated by Shakespeare to comment on society, reflective of the horror in elizabethan society.
Nuttall: “one can enjoy an activity or process without at any point thinking consciously.”
idea of enjoying Hamlet and engrossing one’s self in Denmark so message successful, as thinking of activity not emotion.
A.C. Bradlеy (1851-1935)
Bradlеy was a prominent Shakespearean scholar and his work “Shakespearean Tragedy” is considered a classic in literary criticism
Bradlеy еxplorеd thе idеa of Hamlet’s tragic flaw, which hе idеntifiеd as a profound and all-consuming intеllеctualism:
According to Bradlеy, Hamlеt’s tеndеncy to ovеrthink and analysе еvеry situation, his obsеssion with philosophical and moral quеstions and his hesitation to take immediate action wеrе all manifestations of this
Bradlеy’s intеrprеtation of Hamlеt’s dеlay in avеnging his father’s murdеr is closеly tiеd to his viеw of Hamlеt’s tragic flaw:
Hе saw Hamlеt’s dеlay as a rеsult of his intеllеctual naturе, his nееd for cеrtainty and moral justification and his inner struggle with thе consequences of violеncе
Bradlеy’s еmphasis on thе psychological and moral complеxitiеs of Hamlet continuе to shapе discussions of the play today
what does a.c. Bradley argue ?
Bradley argues that Shakespearean tragedy necessarily centres on a character of high rank and exceptional qualities who undergoes a reversal of fortunes that leads to his own death and to a more general calamity
Bradley that the idea of a fall from grace from a man who “stood in high degree” is significant at is shows how man is “blind and helpless” safe for the hands of “fortune.”
considering religion in Hamlet can be linked here, also the success of the play in this sense as it shows the humanity of men etc warns people as it scares them of their own humanity and vulnerability disregarding social standing, everyone equal under God/fate.
what does Maynard mack argue ?
mack notes how frequently shakespearean tragic heroes suffer madness or are associated with it. Madness often seems to be a form of Devine punishment, but also brings with it special insight and freedom to speak the truth. Mack argues that art and madness both allow freedom of speech but that their insights may be dismissed as merely fiction or nonsense.
key quotes from Mack
1, doubtless a sort of explanation can be found in elixabthan psychological lore
2. excess of any passion approached madness and in general prevalence through Seneca and other sources.
3. madness, when actually exhibited, was dramatically useful as Kid had shown
4. allowing the combination in a single figure of tragic hero
what does mack say about the characters:
ophelia
ophelia- it is equally obvious however, that in both instances the madness has a further dimension , an insight and this is true also of Ophelia
ophelia- ophelia is mad, is able to make awards of flowers of the King and Queen which are appropriate to frailties of which she cannot be supposed to have conscious knowledge.
what does Mack say about the character:
hamlet
-Hamlet- can be privileged in madness to say things- about the corruption of human nature
memory and remembrance in Hamlet - Kerrigan
this extract hi lights the prominence in Hamlet of memory and acts of remembrance of various kinds. These centre on the figure of Hamlet dead father, who’s ghost is a personification of the past, creating in Hamlet feelings of loss and of a duty to commemorate personification of the past, creating Hamlet feelings of loss and of a duty to commemorate
key quotes from Kerrigan
- the language of this play is full of memory and it cognates.
- old hamlet is representative of that lost and epic age in which political issues were decided by fierce, single combat, an age unlike that in which kings take power by poison and combat is a Courtly exercise played with bated foils.
- cynical remembrance all reflect on the plays chief link with the past.
quotes from Freud/ Kerrigan about hamlet at old hamlets funeral
- Trauer and Melancholie - mourning has a psychological task to perform: detach the survivor’s memories and hope from the dead.
- remember me- the ghost condemns Halmet to an endless, fruitless ‘yearning for the lost figure’ - effect on his sanity.
quotes from Kerrigan about ophelia
ophelia wants to divest herself of every shred of attachment- she’s no better than Gertrude, glad to forget her first husband.
there my lord- old Hamlet like ophelia has pressed on the prince rememberances that were too much his already. ophelia is, in effect, forcing him to remember.
Kerrigan- death of Ophelia.
- through loss of Ophelia, Hamlet feels that of his father- which is why hysteria which follows is in excess of his apparent object. the sexuality which the prince denounces is that of his mother as well as ophelia; Claudius as well as he is an arrant knave and there is indeed a sad resonance to the question.
summarise Adelmans passage
Adleman finds that Hamlet’s principle concern is not revenge for his father, but complex feelings towards his mother. His fears about her sexuality and maternal power create a desire to purify her, to convert her from sin. For Adleman this accounts for the delays in the revenge plot and the centrality go the closet scene. Understanding Gertrude as a source of imaginings and anxieties more than an independent character also helps to account for the puzzles surrounding her character and her knowledge go her husbands murder.
key quotes from Adleman about Gertrude
Shakespeare effectively rewrites the story of cain and Abel as the story of Adam and Eve, relocating the masculine identity in the presence of the adulterating female. this accounts for Gertrude’s odd position within the play, especially for its failure to specify the degree to which she is complicit in the murder.- she is kept ambiguously innocent
deep fantasy that structures the plays imagery - plays the role of missing eve - her body is the garden in which her husband dies, her sexuality the poisonous weeds that kill him and the poisoned world - the self- her son
Adlemans quotes about old king hamlet.
Hamlet’s father is unavailable to him and shows hamlets complex vulnerbaility - father bring unable to protect son. there is a shift of agency and of danger from male to female seems to be the fantasy structure - the ghost’s initial injunction sets the prime business of the killing of Claudius. specifically said to leave Gertrude out of it. hamlets has a Ostensible agenda of revenge - remake her in the image of virgin mother. Overt drama of revenge. Hamlet seems motivated more by his mother than father.
summarise the complexity of hamlet by Hazlitt
the great 19th century - shakespeare created someone who has felt and lived through the whole range of human emotions. Hamlet the character embodies humanity in all its complexity and thereby reflects the full breadth of Shakespeare’s concerns. He examines his own thoughts and actions in a way that we cannot help but identify with.
