Elizabethan Drama The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
Elizabethan Theater Retains much of Greek Drama No female actresses--female parts played by young boys Much dialogue poetry: blank verse, unrhymed iambic/pentameter
Elizabethan Theater Retains much of Greek Drama Tragic heroes are persons of high noble station Tragic Heroes partly brought to tragic end by hamartia or tragic flaw
Hamartia & Elizabethan Physiology Hamartia may be physical Four humors blood = red = passionate, gluttonous phlegm = white = bookish, sterile bile = yellow = waspish, hot tempered black bile = black = melancholy
Four Humors Blood = Red passionate gluttonous impulsive
Four Humors phlegm = white bookish sterile
Four Humors bile = yellow waspish hot tempered
Four Humors Black bile = Black melancholy manic depressive
Elizabethan Universe Universe is a hierarchy Good = Up Bad = Down
Elizabethan Universe Heaven of God Perfect Good & Salvation above Nature (Physical World)
Elizabethan Universe Hell of Satan Perfect evil & destruction often associated with destructive natural phenomena below Nature (Physical World)
Two Levels of Nature Upper Level Man's natural (original) Garden of Eden Now reached only through religion, education, social institutions & morals
Two Levels of Nature Lower Level Animal world Survival of the fittest is natural
Taken seriously by Elizabethans Stars were Angels Instructed by God to reward or punish Humanity for eating apple Astrology
More Alterations & Innovations Theater no longer a religious service pure entertainment actors considered in same class as muggers, thieves prostitutes, etc. City of London frequently tried to suppress acting companies for the moral good
More Alterations & Innovations Sex & Violence on stage Shakespeare strews stage with corpses Protagonist subject to actions of others Tragedy always ends in death of hero
More Alterations & Innovations Mingling of tragedy & comedy to produce a "drama" Plays not considered literature--tv scripts No Chorus--but sometimes a chorus figure
Elizabethan Tragic Plot Terms Formulated by Freytag, not Elizabethans Crisis decision by Hero that seals his/her doom usually found in Act III, Scenes 1 or 2 Climax decisive event, greatest tension/suspense Moment of final suspense only in Shakespeare
Elizabethan Tragic Plot Terms Soliloquy distinct aura of interior monologue inner workings of character's mind reveals his true thoughts & emotions Solo Speech up front stage directional speech cues audience to character's plans
Elizabethan Tragic Plot Terms Umbrella speech often out of character provides necessary information for both audience & play characters Mirror Speeches & Scenes mimics words or actions dramatic irony often thematic
Elizabethan Tragic Plot Terms Mirror Speeches & Scenes Claudius: O my offense is rank, it smells to heaven,/ It hath the primal eldest curse upon t,/ A brother s murder. Pray I cannot,/ Though inclination be as sharp as will/ My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying,/ And now I ll do t it, and so a goes to heaven,/ And so I am revenged: that would be scanned: A villain kills my father, and for that,/ I his sole son, do this same villain send / to heaven./ Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge./
Elizabethan Revenge Play Conventions Accepts revenge as self-justifying Avenger, high noble person State too corrupt to provide justice Evildoers are powerful figures
Avenger obsessed with loss Difficult to prove identity of villain Avenger must find an ingenious way Elizabethan Revenge Play Conventions
Avenger becomes clever, remorseless & menace to public order Elizabethan Revenge Play Conventions
Elizabethan Revenge Play Conventions Avenger utters enigmatic threats & pontificates about injustices of state Avenger verges on true madness Avenger employs madness as a cloak for his schemes
Elizabethan Revenge Play Conventions Play-within-the-play Revenge play accepts revenge as self-justifying Shakespeare will use these conventions to challenge their underlying values
Concentric Circles of Revenge Denmark and Norway Fortinbras seeks revenge for father s death Hamlet and Claudius Hamlet seeks revenge for father s death Laertes and Hamlet Laertes seeks revenge for father and sister s death Claudius and Hamlet Claudius seeks revenge for Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Ophelia & Hamlet? Does Ophelia seek revenge for father s death?
Christian Stoicism All life on earth doomed to pain, suffering & death Therefore to fight against injustice & suffering is foolish Individual should look to afterlife for happiness
Christian Stoicism To act ( to take arms against a sea of troubles ) will only bring them on sooner Better to endure ( to suffer the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune ) & not to let one's passions affect one
Play about insoluble problems & questions Creates CLAUSTROPHBIC atmosphere Watch how the movie reinforces this with sets & camera Hamlet
Hamlet Tragic Hero must undergo development toward a sense of his/her role in scheme of things Recognition of his/her error
Hamlet In classical theory, without self-knowledge there is no tragedy Hamlet becomes a play that debates Free Will & Determinism
Shakespeare s Unique Tragedy Conventions Hyperbolic Hero Effusive and sophisticated use of language Impassioned, articulate, verbose hero never shuts up Hyperbole dramatizes hero s spiritual anguish at difference between reality & the way things ought to be
Shakespeare s Unique Tragedy Conventions Voice of Reason Character Pragmatic Counter Voice character Usually, a commoner Speaks for practical, common sense Concerned with being reasonable getting along, surviving, making best of the way things are
Shakespeare s Unique Tragedy Conventions Insanity of Tragic Hero At some point during play, tragic hero goes insane for at least a short while When does this happen to Hamlet?
Shakespeare s Unique Tragedy Conventions Obligatory Absence of Tragic Hero At some point hero makes a journey Takes him away from central setting of play Hero returns from journey with changed attitude or direction
Shakespeare s Unique Tragedy Conventions Obligatory Debate between Hero & Commoner Otherworldly focus of Hyperbolic Tragic Hero Counter pointed with pragmatic, realworld focus of Commoner
Classical Figures of Speech Definition: a use of language that departs from customary construction, order, or significance in order to achieve special effects or meanings
Classical Figures of Speech Rhetorical Figure achieves special effects without a radical change in the meaning of words Trope causes a basic change or reversal of the meaning of words
Example ANAPHORA: repetitive rhetorical figure that repeats same expression (word or words) at start of two or more lines, clauses or sentences And shall I couple hell?--o, fie!--hold, my heart; And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
Example ANTIPHRASIS: trope involving irony to use a word or phrase satirically or humorously to convey an idea exactly opposite to its literal significance. Gertrude: Why seems it so particular with thee? Hamlet: Seems, Madam? Nay, it is. I know not seems.
Example EPISTROPHE: rhetorical figure involving repetition of closing word or phrase at end of several clauses, sentences, or lines Hamlet: You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willing part withal, except my life, except my life,--except my life.