Hamlet

Question 1

Ao5 for Claudius
(1 adaptation, 3 critical)

Answer 1

PATRIC STEWART- part where hamlet can’t kill him as a deception

SCHOFIELD- Claudius has the persuasiveness and psychical courage (no he doesn’t lol he uses poison) of a ruler but is morally empty

DAWSON- he loved Gertrude deeply and genuinely (no lol)

SMITH-he shares hamlets conception of Gertrude as an object. She is possessed as one of the effects of his actions (preach it)

Question 2

Ao5 for Ophelia
(One adaptation and 3 critical)

Answer 2

KATE WINSLET- no flowers and white flowy dress

DAVID CUMBERBATCH- very physical confrontation of Ophelia by hamlet

EDWARDS- we can imagine Hamlets story without Ophelia, but Ophelia literally had no story without Hamlet (heartbreak)

GABRIEL- Ophelia’s choice (suicide) may be seen as the only courages death (yep, preach it :))

WASIKOWSKA- Ophelia is a character who is so in love with a man that she loses herself (same girl)

ALL ADAPTATIONS- only seen on her own when killing herself, other than that always in the presence of a man

Question 3

Queen Elizabeth context

Answer 3

Virgin queen n she refused to marry= throne and country vulnerable to foreign attack/power

Question 4

Context for women

Answer 4

Subservient

Quiet

Homebound

Primary ambitions= marriage, childbirth and homemaking

Antithesis of the conventional norms= queen Elizabeth AKA GERTRUDE 🫨🤯

Poisoning seen as womanly approach to murder

Question 5

Context for Elizabethan theatre

Answer 5

Men had to play women (ugh)

Tudor audience loved violence

Long speeches for clothing change

Groundlings

Little scenery

Question 6

Context for religion

Answer 6

Central role in people’s lives and worldviews

Hamlet explores themes of sin, redemption and afterlife

Question 7

Context of the Renaissance

Answer 7

Explores new ideas of human nature, art, religion and the role of the individual in society

All of which reflected in Hamlets soliloquies- dive into these complex ideas

Shakespeare heavily influenced by Ancient Greek and Roman writers- evident in themes and characters

Question 8

Context for James the 1st

Answer 8

Elizabeth just died and James was her successor

He was keen to establish authority and legitimacy (after being the first boy in a while) (and the fact he wasn’t Elizabeth’s son- insecure masculinity who?)

so there was renewed focus on the power of the monarch and importance of the divine right

Question 9

Context for Shakespeare’s life and family

Answer 9

Son “Hamnet” passed away at 11 so Hamlets own struggle with grief mirrors his own

Both Shakespeare and Hamlet transverse into the after effects (loss of a father- son bond on both ends)

Question 10

Context for religious upheaval

Answer 10

Significant and violent changes in the religious beliefs and practices

Queen= Protestant (country was catholic for a while- Bloody Mary was catholic)

Question 11

Ao5 for polonius

Answer 11

DENTON- polonius deserved to die for his offences but hamlet had no right to slay (🤪) him

Question 12

Ao5 for Fortinbras

Answer 12

EDWARDS- fortrinbras is the success as hamlet is the failure

Question 13

Ao5 for Laertes
(Adaptation and 2 critics)

Answer 13

DAVID TENNANT ADAPTATION- fights with hamlet on his sisters grave

THOMPSON- he idealises his desperate sister rather as Hamlet idealises his dead father

HALL- representation of action (…) contrast to the non-activity of the Danish prince

Question 14

Ao5 for Gertrude
(Adaptation and 3 critics)

Answer 14

ALL ADAPTATIONS- never seen on her own, always in presence of a man

ANDREW SCOTT ADAPTATION- sexualised confrontation of Gertrude by hamlet

SMITH- pleasing men is Gertrude’s main interest

ERIKSON- she represents the convergence of 3 issues: sexuality, ageing and succession

PRAGATI- hamlet develops a deep seeded hatred for women from seeing his mothers hasty marriage

Question 15

Ao5 for hamlet
(3 critics and adaptation)

Answer 15

FLINT- he himself is no better than the sinner he is to punish

JONES- his uncle incorporates the deepest and most buried part of his own personality, so he cannot kill him without also killing himself

BRADLEY- his madness becomes his doom

ANDREW SCOTT- deliberately plays him as going mad

Question 16

Ao5 for the ghost
(Adaptation and 3 critics)

Answer 16

DAVID TENNANT ADAPTATION- not seen in Gertrude’s fields of view, insinulates he is an illusion (but in some she is chosing to ignore him)

G.W KNIGHT- if the spirit had been kind it would have prayed that Hamlet might forget

BROWNE- prompting us to mischief, blood and villinairy

ALEXANDER- the nature of the ghost is intended to be an open question

Question 17

Ao5 from David tennent

Answer 17

Spying on cameras

David plays hamlet as being childish

Breaks 4th wall- would be played infront of an audience

Question 18

Quotes about how Claudius responds to Hamlets grief

Answer 18

“THE POOR WRETCH COMES READING”- wretch= outcast- trying to manipulate situation to make hamlet seem like an unfit king

“TIS UNMANLY GRIEF”
“INWARD MAN”- criticism for lack of masculinity, ironic as he also shows cowardice- maybe they’re similar?

Question 19

How does Claudius describe Gertrude

Answer 19

“Th’imperial jointress to this warlike state”-

implies Gertrude’s marriage to him has a political function
Also implies he shares his power with her

Refrence to Denmark being a warlike state allluces to the difficulties of facing Denmark following Old hamlets death (divine right) and their conflict with Norway

Question 20

How does Claudius respond to the play

Answer 20

“Give me light: away”

Shows his guilt and fear of being caught

Asking someone to turn the lights on as he’s about to leave hastily

Light= common motif for truth
Irony how he asks for this while lying most of the play
Also foreshadowing of how he is found to be a liar?

Question 21

Claudius confession

Answer 21

“O my offence is rank it smells to heaven”

He understands the severity of his sin And expresses his sense of his own moral corruption
Through grotesque imagery of decay and putrefaction

His sin in “rank” and sends the smell of rot all the way to heaven

Devilish- closely liking Claudius to the devil at a time where most people in the audience would be puritans, establishing him as the clear antagonist

Gives audience confirmation of the murder for the first time

Question 22

Claudius echoing the debate he had with himself concerning the effectiveness of his prayer

Answer 22

“My words fly up; my works remain below” “words without thoughts never to heaven go”

He wants to be forgiven for his crime but still wants to keep the benefits from it

He’s aware that this means he isn’t sincere or feels regret, doesn’t trust his own feelings

“May one be pardoned and retain thy offence”

Wants to repent but doesn’t think he’ll mean it

Question 23

Quotes about/from the ghost

Answer 23

“[the ghost cries out ‘swear’ from under the stage]”
shakey only uses stage directions when it is necessary for the plot of the play/so the audience can understand his intent of certain things

Illudes to the fact he might have intended for the ghost to be considered a false ghost (the devil corrupting Hamlet to evil)

“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”
Demands hamlet to sin

HES ALSO DRESSED IN WAR ARMOUR EVEN THO HE DIED IN HIS NIGHT WEAR

Question 24

Quote about Hamlets fears

Answer 24

“This conscience does make cowards of us all”
Adair’s of death and unsure about the results of killing Claudius

He is an antihero
Cannot be our protagonist as he is still morally corrupt but cannot be our antagonist as he is morally aware and doesn’t seek out sin like Claudius

Establishes how he is not like his father who is heroic and is unfearfull

Hamlets more like Claudius

Question 25

Quote show how Hamlet views Claudius

Answer 25

“Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, mindless villain”
Sibilance creates hissing sound

Reflect how hamlet sees his uncle as being on the same level as the devil himself

“Remorseless” his true desire is for Claudius to feel guilt (which he knows won’t happen)
He doesn’t really want physical revenge

Hamlet is not a naturally physically violent person he is just confused and feels both sociatle pressure and pressure from his masculine father to act with action

He is insecure of his masculinity as he is always criticised about his lack of manly hood

Question 26

Polonius quotes

Answer 26

“THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS YET THERE IS METHOD IN’T”- believes Hamlets madness is an act and has strategy

“THIS IS THE VERY ECTASAY OF LOVE”- about Hamlet being violent to his daughter

Question 27

What does Laertes refer to his father Polonius as

Answer 27

“My lord”- not close, no stichomythia between them

Question 28

Best Laertes quote

Answer 28

“O thou vile king, give me my father”
Interjection show his raw emotion

Driven by emotion, heightening his contrast to Hamlet

He acts with rashness, insulting the KING and accusing him of killing his father (could legit get killed for treason)

Demonstrates how he is a reckless character and has concern for his honour

Question 29

What are the role women of the play are given

Answer 29

Non other than to be the item of a man’s desire

Question 30

Even though Ophelia should be help responsible for her actions….

Answer 30

Ultimately, the patriarchal pressure that governed society of the time perpetuated her demise,

As the constant sexualisation and mistreatment by her male superiors lead to her death

Hence she is a victim of her time!!!!

Question 31

Who is Ophelia as a character

Answer 31

A character who cannot escape the sexual comparisons made to her

A completely innocent character made helpless due to the outside circumstances beyond her control

Question 32

How does Gertrude describe Ophelia’s dead body

Answer 32

“Mermaid- like” and her clothes as “widespread”(acts of removing clothes before sex)

internalised misogyny shows no hope for the women of the play, they are even victims of each other

Even in death Ophelia cannot escape the constant sexualisation- she is seen as a fantasy for the males of the play

Question 33

What is Ophelia only defined by

Answer 33

Being controlled and hurt by the men around her (her dad- “beautified is a vile phase”)

Question 34

Hamlet being abusive towards Ophelia

Answer 34

“Get thee to a nunnery why wouldst be a breeder of sinners”

“I love you not”

Question 35

What piece of dialogue is the epitome of Ophelia’s character

Answer 35

“I shall obey, my lord”
As men talk about Ophelia more than they talk directly to her

And when they do talk to her it’s to give direct orders or verbal abuse

Question 36

Quote supporting Polonius death as a cause for Ophelia’s madness

Answer 36

“I would give you some violets but they withered all when my father died”
Constantly fixating on his death

Violets= associated with nobility, doesn’t see herself as a Nobel person anymore

Question 37

The sexual references Ophelia makes in her song

Answer 37

“Promising his love”

“Young men will do’t if they come to’t by cock they are to blame”

“You promised me to wed”

All Illude to the fact she may have had a sexual relationship with hamlet and he has left her a dishonoured woman at the time

Hamlet= cause for her mental fracturing

Question 38

How does Hamlet refer to Gertrude after their confrontation

Answer 38

“A beast that want discourse of reason”
“Beast”- cannot think, portraying her as a insatiable, perpetually lustful woman who must “feed” her uncontrollable desire and need for sexual fulfilment

Her marriage and consequently her sex life is frequently mocked as improper and incestuous by Hamlet

Her sexuality is constantly discussed and exposed to the audience in both an extremely invasive and almost perverted and predatory manner

Alternatively- the comparison of a “beast” could be implying that she lacks both the conscience and morals to make a human

Question 39

First sentence of intro

Answer 39

In shakespeares tragic play “Hamlet” written around 1600 in the Elizabethan era… [reference question]