Death

Question 1

Renaissance Views on Death

Answer 1

Early critics, writing in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, would have seen Hamlet’s obsession with death as reflecting the Renaissance fascination with the transience of life and the uncertainty of the afterlife.

Question 2

Existentialism

Answer 2

Modern critics may interpret Hamlet’s soliloquies, particularly the famous “To be or not to be” speech, as expressing existential anxiety about meaning and death in a world without divine certainty. This reflects a more modern, existential approach to Hamlet.

Question 3

Feminist or Marxist

Answer 3

Feminist or Marxist readings might also highlight the social commentary on how different characters view death based on class or gender.

Question 4

‘The devil is the source of all ghostly apparitions to delude the living’

Answer 4

Daemonologie in forme of a dialogue - King James vi of Scotland - 1597

Question 5

William Blake painting

Answer 5

William Blake - 1806 - Hamlet and his father, Hamlet on his knees, father towering over him - completely dominating him.

Question 6

painting of hamlet and corpse of Polonius - Hamlet lifting the curtain revealing Polonius, Hamlet is smiling.

Answer 6

Eugene delacroix- 1835-

Question 7

Thomas Hanmer - 1736

Answer 7

‘ Hamlet conduct is cruel… so unworthy of a hero’

Question 8

‘ A vulgar and barbarous drama’

Answer 8

Voltaire - 1748

Question 9

Sigmund Freud - 1900

Answer 9

‘ The play is built up on Hamlet’s hesitations’