*Shakespeare, W. (2003). Hamlet (D. Bevington, Ed.). Pearson Longman.
(Original work published 1603)
*Act 1 Scene 1:
Summary:
Play begins at midnight with the changing of the Danish royal guards. Horatio, a skeptic, is
brought to examine the plausibility of an appearance of an apparition. The ghost appears,
heavily resembling the former king, Old Hamlet, leaving the audience to determine whether it is
a force of good or evil. Denmark seems to be preparing to go to war against Norway’s prince
Young Fortinbras, ‘of unimproved mettle, hot and full,’ claiming land that was previously lost to
the Danish.
How Shakespeare creates doubt and intrigue:
- Lack of speech of the ghost/its repeated entrances and exits
- Opens the scene en media res: setting = midnight: foreboding, liminal and transitional
- Dual ideas of what the ghost may be: force of good or evil?
- Frantic and quick exchange of lines, intended to create an anxious tone
Quotations (the uncertainty of the ghost):
● ‘This bodes some strange eruption to our state’ - Horatio
- Metaphor - the apparition is perhaps an omen to unpredictable change and
corruption
● ‘Fair and warlike form’ - Horatio
- Ambiguity of whether the ghost is a force of good or a violent threat
● ‘Dreaded sight’/’guilty thing’
- No specific description of the ghost, nor any dialogue from it
- Ambiguity is presented through the absence of identity
● ‘Harrows me with fear and wonder’
- AO5: “The aim of tragedy is to arouse sensations of pity and fear” - Aristotle
Relevant AO3:
Influence of the Tragic genre:
- Shakespeare’s earlier works such as Titus Andronicus reflected on violence and
sensational cruelty, similar to Senecan Tragedies
- Difference in Hamlet: began to explore the single mind - interest on emotions (catharsis)
Revenge tragedies:
- Sub-genre of tragedy
- Hamlet heavily influenced from Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’
(Original work published 1603)
*Act 1 Scene 1:
Summary:
Play begins at midnight with the changing of the Danish royal guards. Horatio, a skeptic, is
brought to examine the plausibility of an appearance of an apparition. The ghost appears,
heavily resembling the former king, Old Hamlet, leaving the audience to determine whether it is
a force of good or evil. Denmark seems to be preparing to go to war against Norway’s prince
Young Fortinbras, ‘of unimproved mettle, hot and full,’ claiming land that was previously lost to
the Danish.
How Shakespeare creates doubt and intrigue:
- Lack of speech of the ghost/its repeated entrances and exits
- Opens the scene en media res: setting = midnight: foreboding, liminal and transitional
- Dual ideas of what the ghost may be: force of good or evil?
- Frantic and quick exchange of lines, intended to create an anxious tone
Quotations (the uncertainty of the ghost):
● ‘This bodes some strange eruption to our state’ - Horatio
- Metaphor - the apparition is perhaps an omen to unpredictable change and
corruption
● ‘Fair and warlike form’ - Horatio
- Ambiguity of whether the ghost is a force of good or a violent threat
● ‘Dreaded sight’/’guilty thing’
- No specific description of the ghost, nor any dialogue from it
- Ambiguity is presented through the absence of identity
● ‘Harrows me with fear and wonder’
- AO5: “The aim of tragedy is to arouse sensations of pity and fear” - Aristotle
Relevant AO3:
Influence of the Tragic genre:
- Shakespeare’s earlier works such as Titus Andronicus reflected on violence and
sensational cruelty, similar to Senecan Tragedies
- Difference in Hamlet: began to explore the single mind - interest on emotions (catharsis)
Revenge tragedies:
- Sub-genre of tragedy
- Hamlet heavily influenced from Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’
