Transcript HAMLET and the Revengers tragedy critical quotesx

HAMLET
Critics and key vocab
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/
earlycrit.html
Swinburne
• “The single characteristic of Hamlet’s innermost
nature is by no means irresolution or hesitation
or any form of weakness, but rather the strong
conflux of contending forces”
• Paraphrased: A characteristic of Hamlet’s
innermost nature is not irresolution or hesitation,
but a desire to prove an argument right and the
struggle to overcome dangers.
Samuel Johnson
• Hamlet is, through the whole play, rather an
instrument than an agent.
• he makes no attempt to punish Claudius, and
his death is at last effected by an incident
which Hamlet has no part in producing
Von Goethe
• Impossibilities have been required of Hamlet;
not in themselves impossibilities, but such for
him.
• All duties seem Holy for Hamlet
Bradley
• Hamlet is unable to carry out the sacred duty,
imposed by divine authority, of punishing an
evil man by death
Coleridge
• Paraphrase: Shakespeare seems to have
wished to exemplify the moral necessity of
balance between our senses and our minds. In
Hamlet, this balance seems disturbed; his
thoughts and imagination are far more vivid
than his actual perceptions.
• Hamlet is obliged to act on the spur of the
moment
Wilson Knight
• Claudius, as he appears in the play, is not a
criminal. He is—strange as it may seem—
a good and gentle king, enmeshed by the chain
of causality linking him with his crime. And this
chain he might, perhaps, have broken except for
Hamlet, and all would have been well.
• Hamlet is an element of evil in the state of
Denmark
Wilson Knight
• Claudius can hardly be blamed for his later
actions. They are forced on him. As King, he could
scarcely be expected to do otherwise. Hamlet is a
danger to the state, even apart
from his knowledge of Claudius’ guilt. He is
inhuman (…) he is feared by those around him.
They are always trying in vain to find out what is
wrong with him. They cannot understand him. He
is a creature of another world. As King of
Denmark he would have been a thousand times
more dangerous than Claudius.
Wilson Knight
• Hamlet is a figure of nihilism (The rejection of
all religious and moral principles, often in the
belief that life is meaningless) and death.
• He is in fact the poison in the veins of the
community.
• The question of relative morality of Hamlet
and Claudius reflects the ultimate problem of
the play
Alexander
• The play does not offer any conclusions about
what is the right repsonse to the questions it
poses about human aggression, not because it
is confused but because Hamlet is aware that
more than one single set of answers exists.
• The proof of the King’s guilt does not solve
Hamlet’s problem. The question remains, how
does one deal with such a man, without
becoming like him?
Belsey
• Revenge is not justice. It is rather an act of
injustice on behalf of justice
• Revenge is always in excess of justice
• Claudius is still in possession of the crown and
Gertrude and is planning the death of Hamlet
(…) in these circumstances revenge is a
political as well as a moral issue
• Revenge exists on a margin between justice
and crime
Alexander
• The desire for vengeance is seen as part of a
continuing pattern of human conduct.
• The audience are entertained because they
are being asked to see, feel and understand a
little more about the hidden springs of action
which are supposed to drive the characters.
Alexander
• The feeling of failure and frustration, which
Hamlet himself recognizes, is created by this
rapid alternation between the language of blood
revenge and the language of conscience.
• The other characters in the play do not hesitate
to act because they are sure of their own values
and beliefs. Fortinbras and Laertes act because
they believe that certain actions are right or
honourable.
Marilyn French
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sacrifice the
bond of human friendship to a social propriety
Rebecca Smith
• Although he clearly loves her- Claudius shares the
Hamlets’ conception of Gertrude as an object.
She is possessed as one of the effects of his
actions.
• Gertrude uses her dying words to warn Hamlet of
the poison, but doesn’t accuse Claudius.
• Gertrude has not moved in the play toward
independence; only her divided loyalties and her
unhappiness intensify.
Rebecca Smith
• Polonius seems to love his children; he seems
to have the welfare of the kingdom in mind.
His means of action, however, are totally
corrupt.
• Female virtue is identical with chastity; thus
Polonius (…) trained his daughter to be
obedient and chaste and is able to use her a a
piece of bait for spying.
Showalter
• Ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality and
language.
• She represents the strong emotions that the
Elizabethans as well as the Freudians thought
womanish and unmanly.
• Hamlet’s disguist at the feminine passivity in
himself is translated into violent revulsion
against women and into his brutal behaviour
towards Ophelia
Brucher
• Revengers create their own civil justice, often
in ways that imitate or even mock divine
justice and that compromise their own moral
impulses.
• The problem is that while a diabolically
ingenious killing may offend our moral
responsibilities, it may also appeal to our
fantasies about power, control and poetic
justice in a corrupt world
Unknown
• There is the simple, inescapable fact that the attempt
to rid Denmark of its villain-king has left the country in
a worse state than it was at the outset.
• Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are a pair of faceless
automatons (imitating human beings) and serve as an
element of comedy in the tragedy. When the King
thanks “Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern” the
Queen thanks “Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz”.
They are so alike that they are almost indistinguishable.
Evans (The Revenger’s Tragedy)
• Lust becomes a metaphor for wider social sicknesses
• Misogyny of Lussurioso and Junior Brother as well as
their cynicism towards women reflect their own
corruption. Vindice’s cynicism is born out of a
disappointed idealism.
• Despite his misogyny, Vindice still believes that his
mother and sister are somewhat different and atypical
from the rest. The audience are not likely to share
Lussurioso’s cynicism because to a large extent, the
audience shares Vindice’s idealism about Castiza and
Gratiana.
Evans (The Revenger’s Tragedy)
• The scene where Vindice tests his mother and
sister and the play’s focus on women
functions with dramaturgical as well as
thematic effectiveness, in this case helping to
create an effect of real suspense.
• Vindice tempts his mother and sister not out
of misogyny, but precisely to protect them
from viciousness. If they fall, he will be there
to catch them.
Evans (The Revenger’s Tragedy)
• Gratiana’s salvation means more than the redemption
of Vindice’s mother. Gratiana’s transformation
symbolizes the possibility of at least individual
regeneration in the dark world presented by the play.
• The opportunity for Gratiana to test her newly
recovered virtue arrives too conveniently and so
neither Gratiana nor the audience is likely to believe
that Castiza has changed so abruptly and drastically.
• However, this shows that Castiza is not entirely
incapable of corruption.
Evans (The Revenger’s Tragedy)
• Vindice does not seem despaired by his death,
his final words are not tragic. They have
undertones of light-hearted vigour. This may
seem surprising, but after all he has achieved
his revenge in a manner as cruel as he could
have imagined. If his mother stayed a bawd
and sister had become corrupt, his death
would have been utterly different-utterly
darker than it is.
Key vocabulary to use
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Social disorder is reflected in the play
Seneca is the creator of the genre
Antithesis is the opposite of something
Ubiquitous refers to an idea or a feeling which
is present everywhere, e.g. corruption
• Jacobean establishes when the play was set
• Patriarchal refers to a male dominated society
Key vocabulary to use
• Soliloquy/soliloquies refer to Hamlet’s
monologues which are directed at the
audience
• Middleton uses asides for a similar effect
• Retribution means the same as revenge
• Malcontent refers to a person disillusioned
with the society
• Hubris describes excessive pride and over
confidence
Key vocabulary to use
• Hamartia is another term for fatal flaw
• Anagnorisis refers to the moment in the play when a
character makes a critical discovery
• Stichomythia is when dialogue is used as alternating lines (as
seen in the closet scene)
• Plethora refers to an excess of something
• Inexorable describes something which is impossible to stop.
• Circumlocutious is a word for unnecessarily wordy speech
• Louche can be used to describe something or someone of
of questionable taste or morality
• Quixotic refers to something exceedingly idealistic
• Convoluted means extremely complex
• To ruminate is to think of something deeply