critics Flashcards
(15 cards)
There is no reason for his harshness with O and Gertrude - women
JORGENSEN: Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia approaches motiveless cruelty
Bear the pain, deal with the pain
JORGENSEN: It is a debate [about] whether to “bear” or to do
Contextual quote - shows the connection to Elizabethan England -> religion (all follow religion, power, control), anxiety around who would take over the throne (had no children) (eg. Hamlet vs Claudius), mental illness/madness wasn’t recognised
GIBSON: Mirrors the anxieties of Shakespeare’s England
Decision v indecision -> tragedy (genre - tragedy always ends in death)
OLIVIER: Tragedy about a man who cannot make up his mind
Chaotic and disordered - Denmark is rotten / prison
SCHEGEL: tragic view of the world as chaotic and disordered
he’s being used, he has no control/agency/power
You use an instrument to play music
antic disposition
JOHNSON: Hamlet is an “instrument rather than an agent”
17th century attitude towards women
saying women are dumb and weak :(
Contemporary DRAKE in 17th cent: “…a mind so tender and a sex so weak…”
Shakespeares father died before he wrote Hamlet - saying that the play is about his feelings towards his father
Remember: Freud came up with oedipus complex analysis for hamlet (eg he wants to kill his uncle so he can sleep with his mother ew)
Freud argued that the play is around Hamlet’s attraction feelings for his mother which is why he wants to kill his uncle
Suggests that Hamlet isn’t a hero
HAZLITT: “Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be’”
17th century perspective about how the mad should be treated
COLLIER in 17th cent: the mad “ought to be kept in dark rooms and without company.”
the play is really about death
KNIGHT: “Death broods over this play.”
Analysis of Gertrude as sexualised. hints to oedipus complex but suggesting that gertrude wanted to sleep with her son ew
JONES: GERTUDE: ‘…markedly sensual nature…’ ‘’…her passionate fondness for her son…’
revenge as a theme - that it is not justice, it’s going too far
BELSEY: “Revenge is not justice. … Revenge is always in excess of justice.”
Contrasting Claudius and Hamlet
PARKER: Claudius is “a man of action (in contrast to) Hamlet, a man of words.”
A critique of Hamlet’s character - anti hamlet
KNIGHT critiques Hamlet within the play by arguing he is “inhuman”, “a poison”, “a danger to the state” and that he takes “delight in cruelty”
