A Level Hamlet Revision Book:
Edexcel Drama Paper One
,Table of Contents:
A Level Hamlet Revision Book:............................................................................................................ 1
About the exam:..................................................................................................................................... 4
Hamlet Critics:....................................................................................................................................... 6
Revenge and Justice:...................................................................................................................6
A.C. Bradley.................................................................................................................. 6
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe........................................................................................ 6
William Hazlitt...............................................................................................................6
Jan Kott.......................................................................................................................... 6
Nuttel:............................................................................................................................ 7
Samuel Johnson............................................................................................................. 7
Madness and Sanity:................................................................................................................... 7
Mack:............................................................................................................................. 7
Sigmund Freud...............................................................................................................7
Carol Thomas Neely...................................................................................................... 8
John Dover Wilson.........................................................................................................8
Appearance vs. Reality............................................................................................................... 8
Stephen Booth................................................................................................................8
Marjorie Garber............................................................................................................. 8
Peter Hall....................................................................................................................... 8
John Dover Wilson.........................................................................................................9
Death and the afterlife:................................................................................................................9
Stephen Greenblatt.........................................................................................................9
T.S. Eliot........................................................................................................................ 9
Corruption and Decay:................................................................................................................ 9
Jonathan Dollimore........................................................................................................9
Graham Holderness......................................................................................................10
Kerrigan:...................................................................................................................... 10
Kastan:........................................................................................................... 10
Terry Eagleton..............................................................................................................10
Women, gender, and power:......................................................................................................10
Adelman:......................................................................................................................10
Elaine Showalter.......................................................................................................... 11
Juliet Dusinberre.......................................................................................................... 11
Marjorie Garber............................................................................................................11
Political power and legitimacy:.................................................................................................11
Jonathan Dollimore...................................................................................................... 11
Graham Holderness......................................................................................................11
Stephen Greenblatt.......................................................................................................11
Performance and theatricality:.................................................................................................. 12
Harold Bloom...............................................................................................................12
A.C. Swinburne............................................................................................................12
, Laurence Olivier (1948 Film)...................................................................................... 12
Peter Hall..................................................................................................................... 12
Structural criticism:...................................................................................................................12
T.S. Eliot:..................................................................................................................... 12
Character analysis:.................................................................................................................... 13
Harold Bloom:............................................................................................................. 13
Hazlitt:..........................................................................................................................13
Scene Summaries:................................................................................................................................ 14
Act 1..........................................................................................................................................14
Act 2..........................................................................................................................................17
Act 3..........................................................................................................................................20
Act 4..........................................................................................................................................23
Act 5..........................................................................................................................................26
Language techniques:.......................................................................................................................... 29
Key terms:.............................................................................................................................................30
Character quotes:.................................................................................................................................31
Getrude:.....................................................................................................................................31
Key themes:...........................................................................................................................................32
Action and Inaction:..................................................................................................................32
, About the exam:
21 marks
A01- Articulate, informed, personal, and creative responses, using associated concepts and
terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
- Tragedy
- Denmark
- Melancholy
- Procrastination
- Existentialism
- Psychoanalysis
- Poetics (Aristotle)
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
A02- Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts.
- Soliloquy
- Monologue
- Melodrama
- Duality
- Subplot
- ‘Play within a play’
- Courtly language
- Metaphor
- pun/wordplay
- Taboo language
- Semantic field
- Rhetoric
- Iambic pentameter
- Rhyming couplets
A03- Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary
texts are written and received.
- Decline of the Elizabethan era
- Dawn of the Jacobean era
- Religion
- Revenge tragedy
- Freud
- Tragic hero
- Madness
- Theatricality
- Masculinity
- Patriarchal society
- Women’s status in society
- The Renaissance and human experience
- Psychology
- Protestant reformation
- Courts and diplomacy
Edexcel Drama Paper One
,Table of Contents:
A Level Hamlet Revision Book:............................................................................................................ 1
About the exam:..................................................................................................................................... 4
Hamlet Critics:....................................................................................................................................... 6
Revenge and Justice:...................................................................................................................6
A.C. Bradley.................................................................................................................. 6
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe........................................................................................ 6
William Hazlitt...............................................................................................................6
Jan Kott.......................................................................................................................... 6
Nuttel:............................................................................................................................ 7
Samuel Johnson............................................................................................................. 7
Madness and Sanity:................................................................................................................... 7
Mack:............................................................................................................................. 7
Sigmund Freud...............................................................................................................7
Carol Thomas Neely...................................................................................................... 8
John Dover Wilson.........................................................................................................8
Appearance vs. Reality............................................................................................................... 8
Stephen Booth................................................................................................................8
Marjorie Garber............................................................................................................. 8
Peter Hall....................................................................................................................... 8
John Dover Wilson.........................................................................................................9
Death and the afterlife:................................................................................................................9
Stephen Greenblatt.........................................................................................................9
T.S. Eliot........................................................................................................................ 9
Corruption and Decay:................................................................................................................ 9
Jonathan Dollimore........................................................................................................9
Graham Holderness......................................................................................................10
Kerrigan:...................................................................................................................... 10
Kastan:........................................................................................................... 10
Terry Eagleton..............................................................................................................10
Women, gender, and power:......................................................................................................10
Adelman:......................................................................................................................10
Elaine Showalter.......................................................................................................... 11
Juliet Dusinberre.......................................................................................................... 11
Marjorie Garber............................................................................................................11
Political power and legitimacy:.................................................................................................11
Jonathan Dollimore...................................................................................................... 11
Graham Holderness......................................................................................................11
Stephen Greenblatt.......................................................................................................11
Performance and theatricality:.................................................................................................. 12
Harold Bloom...............................................................................................................12
A.C. Swinburne............................................................................................................12
, Laurence Olivier (1948 Film)...................................................................................... 12
Peter Hall..................................................................................................................... 12
Structural criticism:...................................................................................................................12
T.S. Eliot:..................................................................................................................... 12
Character analysis:.................................................................................................................... 13
Harold Bloom:............................................................................................................. 13
Hazlitt:..........................................................................................................................13
Scene Summaries:................................................................................................................................ 14
Act 1..........................................................................................................................................14
Act 2..........................................................................................................................................17
Act 3..........................................................................................................................................20
Act 4..........................................................................................................................................23
Act 5..........................................................................................................................................26
Language techniques:.......................................................................................................................... 29
Key terms:.............................................................................................................................................30
Character quotes:.................................................................................................................................31
Getrude:.....................................................................................................................................31
Key themes:...........................................................................................................................................32
Action and Inaction:..................................................................................................................32
, About the exam:
21 marks
A01- Articulate, informed, personal, and creative responses, using associated concepts and
terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
- Tragedy
- Denmark
- Melancholy
- Procrastination
- Existentialism
- Psychoanalysis
- Poetics (Aristotle)
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
A02- Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts.
- Soliloquy
- Monologue
- Melodrama
- Duality
- Subplot
- ‘Play within a play’
- Courtly language
- Metaphor
- pun/wordplay
- Taboo language
- Semantic field
- Rhetoric
- Iambic pentameter
- Rhyming couplets
A03- Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary
texts are written and received.
- Decline of the Elizabethan era
- Dawn of the Jacobean era
- Religion
- Revenge tragedy
- Freud
- Tragic hero
- Madness
- Theatricality
- Masculinity
- Patriarchal society
- Women’s status in society
- The Renaissance and human experience
- Psychology
- Protestant reformation
- Courts and diplomacy
