Hamlet
Revision
, Shakespearean Tragedy
• Has a noble protagonist who is flawed in some
way, placed in a stressful heightened situation
and ends with a fatal conclusion
• Focuses on the reversal of fortune of the
centre characters, leading to their ruin/ death
• 10 plays are classified as tragedy
• Primary characters usually high status – their
lives/ families/ socio-political structures are
destroyed
, Hamlet and Elizabethan England
• Dr Hannah Lavery
• Revenge - Dominates the play
• During this time, ‘blood feuds’ would be settled by
duel – were subjective to the person avenging
• Francis Bacon: ‘a sort of wild justice’
• Dr Johnson: ‘an act of passion; vengeance is justice’
• Hamlet grapples with his position in corrupt court
• Revenge appears to be the only way he can achieve
resolution
Revision
, Shakespearean Tragedy
• Has a noble protagonist who is flawed in some
way, placed in a stressful heightened situation
and ends with a fatal conclusion
• Focuses on the reversal of fortune of the
centre characters, leading to their ruin/ death
• 10 plays are classified as tragedy
• Primary characters usually high status – their
lives/ families/ socio-political structures are
destroyed
, Hamlet and Elizabethan England
• Dr Hannah Lavery
• Revenge - Dominates the play
• During this time, ‘blood feuds’ would be settled by
duel – were subjective to the person avenging
• Francis Bacon: ‘a sort of wild justice’
• Dr Johnson: ‘an act of passion; vengeance is justice’
• Hamlet grapples with his position in corrupt court
• Revenge appears to be the only way he can achieve
resolution
