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Hamlet
First performed between the years 1600-01, first printed in 1603.
Throughout Shakespeare's plays, the maintenance of identity is a very common conflict, as it was shown in
Macbeth and now in
Hamlet. In this play Shakespeare has portrayed young Hamlet to convey the two sides to him; one side shows his insane behaviour towards his family, the other side determines his thoughts of either doing right or wrong according to what he has seen. The play trembles with conflicts: one being identity, which shows all the characters in different disputes of their own. We also see the problems of lack of self-confidence, misjudgement, and betrayal.--Submitted by imran.
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First performance at the end of 15th century, ~ timeline, death of Elizabeth I and accession of James VI and I. First printing 1603. One of the more accessible Renaissance/early modern period texts. One constant theme of the English renaissance is the development of personal character and fame. Hamlet is portrayed as being uncertain as to whether he is the prince of the title, or student. Throughout the play Hamlet is presented with choices, of belief, of action, of love, of justice and of conscience. The play is famous for its soliloquies, where Hamlet presents the audience privately with his perceived choices. The results of his limited choices culminate in the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.--Submitted by Anonymous
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Recent Forum Posts on Hamlet
Shakespearean Grammar in Hamlet�s monologue on his way from the churchyard.
Sergey Oksanine Shakespearean Grammar in Hamlet�s monologue on his way from the churchyard. (written with the help of E.A.Abbott, A Shakespearean Grammar:An Attempt to Illustrate Some of the Differences Between Elizabethan and Modern English. Macmillan, 1870 and C.T.Onions, A Shakespeare Glossary. Oxford; at the Clarendon Press, 1911) The Monologue is published in two versions � the Forum version (Shakespeare Discussion Group at online-literature.com) and the Journal version (International Journal of ELT, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, Vol.8. Issue 3. 2020 May-June). The Journal version is completed by some remarks on Shakespearean Grammer. But the interest to the Monologue needs more attention to the pecularities of Elizabethan English used in the text. 1.Ellipses 1.1.The Monologue ends with the Horatio�s question: �But, if that love oh heavens do (him) outlive the time?� with the ellipse of �him�. Abbott wrote: �Similarly ''do'' is used like the French "faire" or "laisser" with the ellipsis of the person who is "caused" to do the action, thus� �Do stripen me and put me in a sakke, And in the nexte river do me drenche.� CHAUCER, Marchante's Tale, 10,074. i.e. "cause (some one) to strip me--to drench me." 1.2. The other Ellipses are exposed differently in the Forum version and in the Journal version. In the Forum version, when Hamlet starts talking to himself, he omits the verb �contrive� and then replaces �aught�: �Why, do nor let thy soul aught (contrive) againts thy mother.� Abbott wrote: �Several peculiarities of Elizabethan language have already been explained by the desire of brevity which characterised the authors of the age. Hence arose so many elliptical expressions that they deserve a separate treatment. The Elizabethan authors objected to scarcely any ellipsis, provided the deficiency could be easily supplied from the context. �Vouchsafe (to receive) good-morrow from a feeble tongue.�J.C.ii.1.313.� Hamlet repeats Father�s words almost step-by-step but with some differences. Thus, the ellipse appears. But there is another solution. It is the �let to� irregularity. Abbott wrote: �In the Elizabethan period, while this distinction between auxiliary and non-auxiliary verbs was gradually gaining force, there was some difference of opinion as to which verbs did, and which did not, require the "to," and in Early English there is much inconsistency in this respect. Thus in consecutive lines "ought" is used without, and "let" with, "to."�To is inserted after "let" both in the sense of "suffer" and in that of "hinder." �And let (suffer) no quarrel nor no brawl to come.� T.N.v.1.364. �If nothing lets (prevents) to make us happy both.� T.N.v.1.256. Hamlet remembers the words of his father and repeats them. But their emotions are absolutely different. The King admonishes his son, but as Shakespeare tells us throughout the play and especially in the Queen�s closet, Hamlet really suffers from that feeling. So, the same words can be repeated under different emotions. And �let to� in the sense of �suffer� appears. But the use of this irregularity makes the ellipse senseless. So, the Journal version gives us: �Why, do not let thy soul to contrive against thy mother aught.� 1.3. There is one more ellipse, which has come unvoluntarily. There was an original phrase: �Alack, that canon is a-shooting false fires off�. But one of Forum readers proposed to omit �is� and it was accepted because: �'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill (is) upon his own head.�Hen.V.iv.1.197�. Here, the prepositon �a-� before a verbal noun is also used. Abbott wrote: �It is easy also to understand a- before verbal nouns and before adjectives used as nouns, where it represents on: �I would have him nine years a-killing. Oth.iv.1.188. i.e. "on, or in the act of killing." 2.Infection of Personal pronouns. There are a lot of them in The Monologue: �King Hamlet, abroad You watched the providence, methinks.� �Alas, thee�ve lost thy treasure.� �E�en thee make me guilty?� Abbott wrote: �The inflections of Personal Pronouns are frequently neglected or misused. It is perhaps impossible to trace a law in these irregularities. Sometimes, however, euphony and emphasis may have successfully contended against grammar� For reasons of euphony also the ponderous thou is often ungrammatically replaced by thee, or inconsistently by you.� However, Abbott paid attention to some particularities. �Thou� is used between intimate friends, but not from son to father: �Fathers almost always address their sons with thou; sons their fathers with you� In the excitement of the battle (1 HEN.VI.IV.6) the son addresses his father as thou: but such instances are very rare.� So, Hamlet could tell his father: �Thou wert, methought, offended.� 3.Passive Verbs. 3.1.Passive verbs produce many pecularities. For example, �with some few intransitive verbs, mostly of motion, both be and have are still used. "He is gone," "he has gone." The is expresses the present state, the has the activity necessary to cause the present state.� And Hamlet�s revelation is followed by: �Here the understanding is come at once.� 3.2.The formation of Passive Verbs is also interesting. Abbott wrote: �Hence arose a curious use of passive verbs, mostly found in the participle. Thus "famous'd for fights" (Sonn. 25) means "made famous;" but in �Who, young and simple, would not be so lover'd?� L.C. lover'd means "gifted with a lover." And this is the general rule. A participle formed from an adjective means "made (the adjective)," and derived from a noun means "endowed with (the noun)." On the other hand, stranger'd below means, not "gifted with a stranger," but "made a stranger." This use will be best illustrated by the following examples:-- Childed (provided with children).� �He childed as I father'd.� Lear,iii.6.117. Woman'd (accompanied by a woman). �To have him see me woman'd.� Oth,iii.4.195. 3.3.One of the most exiciting participle formed by Shakespeare from a noun is presented in Hamlet�s self-moquery: �But I am pigeon-liver'd� Hamlet,ii.2.605. The Monologue uses both the same grammar structure and Hamlet�s personal emotions in: �When thy dishonest, plume-armour�d son search�d grounds for a honorable action in the show.� Here the double sense is quite obvious. �Plume-armoured� means �armed with plume� where �plume� signifies �plumage� (Onion): plume: (?) plumage Tp. III. iii. 65 �One dowle that's in my plume� and Hamlet makes a mockery of his Prince title. But the French �plume� means an English �quill� by which Hamlet could write his �dozen or sixteen lines� for �The Murder of Gonzago�. Shakespeare didn�t use �plume� in the sense of �quill� but the French vocabulary is widely used in the play that gives such an opportunity: Hamlet finally understands that it was his mistake to verify the veracity of Ghost�s story onstage; the fatal mistake that offended his father and led to all following deaths - of Polonius and Ophelia; of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Being irresolute to commit a fair murder, he has become a murderer. 4.Modal verb�s re-ordering. The word order in phrases with modal verbs could change not only actor�s intonation but also the degree of modality itself: �I must from this enchanting queen break off.� AC, I.ii.129. �Then plain and right must my possession be.� 2H4,IV.v.221. �So must my voice be tragical again,� E3,V.i.105 And Hamlet also does this: �I must my arm lay freely at his feet.� 5. Other peculiarities. There are many other less important grammar details in the Monologue but one of them needs a particular attention. Hamlet really insults Laertes with the following: �I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.� Hamlet.v.1.12. Coming back to the castle, Hamlet feels ashamed of his arrogance. Can love be measured? Shakespeare gives once the indirect answer to this question: �It is not so. Ask them how many inches is in one mile: if they have measured many, the measure then of one is easily told.� L.L.L.V.ii.189 And the following sentence appears in the Monologue: �What�s told about forty thousand brothers, if a hand of one can send the proud fellow to hell.� Here the interrogative �what for why� appears but the analysis of this peculiarity can be left to readers.
Posted By Oksanine at Sun 11 Apr 2021, 3:32 AM in Hamlet || 0 Replies
Shakespearean Grammar in Hamlet�s monologue on his way from the churchyard
Sergey Oksanine Shakespearean Grammar in Hamlet�s monologue on his way from the churchyard. (written with the help of E.A.Abbott, A Shakespearean Grammar:An Attempt to Illustrate Some of the Differences Between Elizabethan and Modern English. Macmillan, 1870 and C.T.Onions, A Shakespeare Glossary. Oxford; at the Clarendon Press, 1911) The Monologue is published in two versions � the Forum version (Shakespeare Discussion Group at online-literature.com) and the Journal version (International Journal of ELT, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, Vol.8. Issue 3. 2020 May-June). The Journal version is completed by some remarks on Shakespearean Grammer. But the interest to the Monologue needs more attention to the pecularities of Elizabethan English used in the text. 1.Ellipses 1.1.The Monologue ends with the Horatio�s question: �But, if that love oh heavens do (him) outlive the time?� with the ellipse of �him�. Abbott wrote: �Similarly ''do'' is used like the French "faire" or "laisser" with the ellipsis of the person who is "caused" to do the action, thus� �Do stripen me and put me in a sakke, And in the nexte river do me drenche.� CHAUCER, Marchante's Tale, 10,074. i.e. "cause (some one) to strip me--to drench me." 1.2. The other Ellipses are exposed differently in the Forum version and in the Journal version. In the Forum version, when Hamlet starts talking to himself, he omits the verb �contrive� and then replaces �aught�: �Why, do nor let thy soul aught (contrive) againts thy mother.� Abbott wrote: �Several peculiarities of Elizabethan language have already been explained by the desire of brevity which characterised the authors of the age. Hence arose so many elliptical expressions that they deserve a separate treatment. The Elizabethan authors objected to scarcely any ellipsis, provided the deficiency could be easily supplied from the context. �Vouchsafe (to receive) good-morrow from a feeble tongue.�J.C.ii.1.313.� Hamlet repeats Father�s words almost step-by-step but with some differences. Thus, the ellipse appears. But there is another solution. It is the �let to� irregularity. Abbott wrote: �In the Elizabethan period, while this distinction between auxiliary and non-auxiliary verbs was gradually gaining force, there was some difference of opinion as to which verbs did, and which did not, require the "to," and in Early English there is much inconsistency in this respect. Thus in consecutive lines "ought" is used without, and "let" with, "to."�To is inserted after "let" both in the sense of "suffer" and in that of "hinder." �And let (suffer) no quarrel nor no brawl to come.� T.N.v.1.364. �If nothing lets (prevents) to make us happy both.� T.N.v.1.256. Hamlet remembers the words of his father and repeats them. But their emotions are absolutely different. The King admonishes his son, but as Shakespeare tells us throughout the play and especially in the Queen�s closet, Hamlet really suffers from that feeling. So, the same words can be repeated under different emotions. And �let to� in the sense of �suffer� appears. But the use of this irregularity makes the ellipse senseless. So, the Journal version gives us: �Why, do not let thy soul to contrive against thy mother aught.� 1.3. There is one more ellipse, which has come unvoluntarily. There was an original phrase: �Alack, that canon is a-shooting false fires off�. But one of Forum readers proposed to omit �is� and it was accepted because: �'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill (is) upon his own head.�Hen.V.iv.1.197�. Here, the prepositon �a-� before a verbal noun is also used. Abbott wrote: �It is easy also to understand a- before verbal nouns and before adjectives used as nouns, where it represents on: �I would have him nine years a-killing. Oth.iv.1.188. i.e. "on, or in the act of killing." 2.Infection of Personal pronouns. There are a lot of them in The Monologue: �King Hamlet, abroad You watched the providence, methinks.� �Alas, thee�ve lost thy treasure.� �E�en thee make me guilty?� Abbott wrote: �The inflections of Personal Pronouns are frequently neglected or misused. It is perhaps impossible to trace a law in these irregularities. Sometimes, however, euphony and emphasis may have successfully contended against grammar� For reasons of euphony also the ponderous thou is often ungrammatically replaced by thee, or inconsistently by you.� However, Abbott paid attention to some particularities. �Thou� is used between intimate friends, but not from son to father: �Fathers almost always address their sons with thou; sons their fathers with you� In the excitement of the battle (1 HEN.VI.IV.6) the son addresses his father as thou: but such instances are very rare.� So, Hamlet could tell his father: �Thou wert, methought, offended.� 3.Passive Verbs. 3.1.Passive verbs produce many pecularities. For example, �with some few intransitive verbs, mostly of motion, both be and have are still used. "He is gone," "he has gone." The is expresses the present state, the has the activity necessary to cause the present state.� And Hamlet�s revelation is followed by: �Here the understanding is come at once.� 3.2.The formation of Passive Verbs is also interesting. Abbott wrote: �Hence arose a curious use of passive verbs, mostly found in the participle. Thus "famous'd for fights" (Sonn. 25) means "made famous;" but in �Who, young and simple, would not be so lover'd?� L.C. lover'd means "gifted with a lover." And this is the general rule. A participle formed from an adjective means "made (the adjective)," and derived from a noun means "endowed with (the noun)." On the other hand, stranger'd below means, not "gifted with a stranger," but "made a stranger." This use will be best illustrated by the following examples:-- Childed (provided with children).� �He childed as I father'd.� Lear,iii.6.117. Woman'd (accompanied by a woman). �To have him see me woman'd.� Oth,iii.4.195. 3.3.One of the most exiciting participle formed by Shakespeare from a noun is presented in Hamlet�s self-moquery: �But I am pigeon-liver'd� Hamlet,ii.2.605. The Monologue uses both the same grammar structure and Hamlet�s personal emotions in: �When thy dishonest, plume-armour�d son search�d grounds for a honorable action in the show.� Here the double sense is quite obvious. �Plume-armoured� means �armed with plume� where �plume� signifies �plumage� (Onion): plume: (?) plumage Tp. III. iii. 65 �One dowle that's in my plume� and Hamlet makes a mockery of his Prince title. But the French �plume� means an English �quill� by which Hamlet could write his �dozen or sixteen lines� for �The Murder of Gonzago�. Shakespeare didn�t use �plume� in the sense of �quill� but the French vocabulary is widely used in the play that gives such an opportunity: Hamlet finally understands that it was his mistake to verify the veracity of Ghost�s story onstage; the fatal mistake that offended his father and led to all following deaths - of Polonius and Ophelia; of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Being irresolute to commit a fair murder, he has become a murderer. 4.Modal verb�s re-ordering. The word order in phrases with modal verbs could change not only actor�s intonation but also the degree of modality itself: �I must from this enchanting queen break off.� AC, I.ii.129. �Then plain and right must my possession be.� 2H4,IV.v.221. �So must my voice be tragical again,� E3,V.i.105 And Hamlet also does this: �I must my arm lay freely at his feet.� 5. Other peculiarities. There are many other less important grammar details in the Monologue but one of them needs a particular attention. Hamlet really insults Laertes with the following: �I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.� Hamlet.v.1.12. Coming back to the castle, Hamlet feels ashamed of his arrogance. Can love be measured? Shakespeare gives once the indirect answer to this question: �It is not so. Ask them how many inches is in one mile: if they have measured many, the measure then of one is easily told.� L.L.L.V.ii.189 And the following sentence appears in the Monologue: �What�s told about forty thousand brothers, if a hand of one can send the proud fellow to hell.� Here the interrogative �what for why� appears but the analysis of this peculiarity can be left to readers.
Posted By Oksanine at Sun 11 Apr 2021, 3:31 AM in Hamlet || 0 Replies
This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof
Why would Hamlet (Shakespeare) call this a paradox? To what works / authors might Shakespeare be referring (Donne - Why are the fairest, falsest, Guazzo - Beauty breedeth temptation)? There seems to be no paradox, but Hamlet never says anything without a reason, so what is it?
Posted By GeorgeJones at Thu 2 Aug 2018, 2:02 PM in Hamlet || 5 Replies
Use every man after his desert
Polonius: My lord, I will use them accoding to their desert. Hamlet: God's bodkin, man, much better! Use every man after his desert and who shall scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity - the less they deserve the more merit is in your bounty. 2.2. "Use every man after his desert and who shall scape whipping?" is one of the my favourite phrases from Hamlet, but I've possibly been reading too much into it for some time now: It would make sense if Hamlet was only talking about the players, because who else would the "whipping" refer to? But at the same time it seems more like a general phrase to me, which might possibly even refer to EVERYONE - it might be like one of his other internal conceptions, like "After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live." The two Hamlet-editions that I've got don't say much about this: the Norton doesn't mention this specifc line at all and the Arden just explains words like "whipping": "standard punishment for vagabounds/unlicensed players" - which leads me to believe that the editors of this edition also think that Hamlet's talking exclusively about the players, but I'm not quite satisfied with that. What does anyone else think about this?
Posted By Embla at Sun 15 Apr 2018, 12:45 PM in Hamlet || 0 Replies
To whom is Hamlet speaking when he says "To be or not be?"
So, the question is: To whom is Hamlet speaking when he says "To be or not to be?" Derek Jacobi wrote: Over the years since I first began playing Hamlet, I have become more and more convinced that 'To be or not to be' is to be treated not as a soliloquy but as a dramatic speech to Ophelia." Add to that J. Dover Wilson's and Isaac Asimov's suggestion that Hamlet overhears Polonius before he enters in Act 2, scene 2 and we have an interesting puzzle. Therefore, is he most likely speaking to his uncle, all three characters at once or to himself? Each is possible. Most likely, I think, he is mainly speaking to his uncle.
Posted By stanley2 at Sat 10 Mar 2018, 11:22 PM in Hamlet || 2 Replies
Best conflated single edition of Hamlet?
I'm looking for a conflated single edition of Hamlet that includes all the famous lines, since my complete Shakespeare inexplicably includes only the Second Quarto despite including three versions of Lear. :frown2:
Posted By Leopard at Thu 19 Jan 2017, 8:09 PM in Hamlet || 0 Replies
Help With A Hamlet Essay
I'm writing an essay for a literary criticism class. I chose a psychoanalytic approach to Hamlet. I'm having trouble finding a thesis in all of my ideas. I want to write about Hamlet's Oedipal complex, because it sticks out like a sore thumb to me. But the way I see it, there are three "fathers" (Ghost Hamlet, Claudius, and Polonius). I also think the Hamlet has identified a lot with his mother, and that's why he calls his grief and cowardice "feminine" and compares himself to Fortinbras, who does masculine things in Hamlet's eyes. He also acts crazy towards Ophelia and thinks the same of her as he does of his mother, and I think there's something there maybe because according to Freud Hamlet needs to project his want for his mother onto another woman, and he does but that also conflicts with the anger for his mother causing the anger towards her. If you can help in any way, please do!
Posted By shakespearebtch at Sat 7 Nov 2015, 11:52 PM in Hamlet || 1 Reply
Hamlet's Revenge?
What reason does Hamlet give for being so cautious in taking revenge and so thorough in his search for evidence? Is his reason convincing?
Posted By LWilbanks at Sat 3 Oct 2015, 8:56 PM in Hamlet || 1 Reply
Original Hamlet
Hello. My english is not the best, so please apologize, if I make some mistakes. I want to buy "Hamlet", written in the original english, which was used by Shakespeare. Most of the books, which I have found on the internet, are rewritten in modern-english. So, I just want to know, if there is any book, written in the original english, which you can recommend. I am looking forward to your answers; thank you! Greetings Max
Posted By max1994 at Thu 25 Jun 2015, 7:06 PM in Hamlet || 16 Replies
I Know a Hawk from a Handsaw - Hamlet and the Spanish Armada
(This is extracted from my free and ad-free Hamlet website, which I've been working on for over 20 years. For more, please google for "Smith's Hyper Hamlet, then see my introductory essay, "How to Love Hamlet." ) I Know a Hawk from a Handsaw - Hamlet and the Spanish Armada HAMLET (2.2.387-388} I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. BERNARDO (1.1.44-47} Last night of all, When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his course to illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, The "pole" is the North Star. "Westward from the pole" would be "north-northwest." Thus "I am but mad, north-northwest" means that Hamlet is only mad when under the influence of his father's ghost. "Pole" might also be an allusion to Reginald Pole, who, as Bloody Mary's Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, liked to call himself "the Pole Star" because he thought of himself as the guiding star about which the English people revolved. Please see Shakespeare, Breakspear, and Broken Pole (The Prophesy) (Note: I mark my speculations with green italics. The rest is accepted historical fact.) But Reginald Pole died of a broken heart when Queen Mary died and England reverted to Protestantism. Thirty years later, Queen Mary's widower, King Phillip of Spain sent the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the Spanish Armada to bring England back to the Catholic Church by "strong hands and terms compulsatory." But like Hamlet, Medina was but mad north-north-west: when the wind southerly,) he was sane. On August 8, Saint Dominic's Day, Medina decided that if the wind continued to blow from the south (which it did) he would have to abandon the attack on England. He was unable to recapture the faith of Englishmen by force. He did "it wrong, being so majestical, to offer it the show of violence, for it is, as the air, invulnerable, and vain blows malicious mockery." St Dominic had advocated reasoning with heretics to bring them back to the Church by persuasion rather than burning them. The significance of St Dominic's Day was not lost on English Catholics. From the context, "I know the difference between a hawk and a handsaw" clearly means "I am in my right mind." However, I don't know why Shakespeare used that phrase to denote sanity. It might be related to the following line in Hamlet's instructions to the players: HAMLET (3.2.4) . . . Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. In the tempest that had blown his Armada off course, Medina acquired and begat a temperance to abandon his vain blows against England. Perhaps "hand" is a pun on "Armada", similar to "Fort-in-bras" (near French for "strong arm"). It is worth noting that Shakespeare took pains to let us know that there had been a 30-year interval between the time old Fortinbras died and the time young Fortinbras came to reclaim those lands by strong hand and terms compulsatory. There was also a 30-year interval between the time Queen Mary died and the time her widower, Prince Phillip of Spain, sent the Spanish Armada to attempt to reclaim England by strong hand and terms compulsatory. Elsewhere Hamlet alludes to another war to recover lost land, with his cryptic reference to old Jephtha. HAMLET (2.2.418) Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah? . . . HAMLET (2.2.426) . . . 'It came to pass, as most like it was, "As most like it was" sounds like "so like the king that was." BERNARDO (1.1.121-124)) . . . . so like the king that was and is the question of these wars. That is Hamlet's dilemma - whether "to be or not to be," like the Ghost, "so like the king that was and is the question of these wars." So like so many kings, his father, or old Jephtha. The story of Jephtha, in Judges 11, sounds most like the story of the king that was and is the question of these wars. The Ammonites were preparing for war against Israel to recover land Israel had taken from them, just as young Fortinbras was preparing for war to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost in the fatal duel with old King Hamlet. Judges 11.12 ... What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? Judges 11.13 ...Because Israel took away my land... now therefore restore those lands again And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. (5.2.278) Also please see The Memory Be Green - Hamlet in Historical Context The Madness of Hamlet How to Love Hamlet
Posted By RayEstonSmithJr at Wed 22 Apr 2015, 6:11 PM in Hamlet || 0 Replies