Hamlet Notes

Since its inception, Hamlet has been reinterpreted, critically appraised, and adapted for performance to suit the context of an evolving audience. Shakespeares Hamlet not only touches basic truths of the human experience and condition, but also permeates many flaws and even though the play is deeply rooted and emblematic of the Elizabethan period, it has captivated audiences throughout the ages since its induction more than four hundred years ago. The play does this through its superb delineation of the themes of corruption, deception, love and madness and key characters such as Hamlet. Thus these universal preoccupations of Hamlet as a play have evoked a myriad of critical interpretations and performances for over four hundred years, a testament to the plays adaptability and brilliance. Shakespeare introduces the theme of appearance versus reality early in the play through the character of Hamlet, when Claudius and Gertrude admonish Hamlet for his desponded appearance, he replies with a clever pun, I am too much in the sun. He tells his mother that neither his inky cloak or sighs and tears and truly reflect his inner grief. Hamlets constant witticism highlights his anxiousness about his fathers mysterious death. Furthermore Hamlet alerts the audience to the idea of seeming very early in the play setting up an apprehensive mood. The deceiving nature of characters is exemplified early in Act 1 when Hamlet says, Seems, madam? Nay, it is, Shakespeares use of dramatic techniques such as rhetoric questions show the complexity of Hamlet as tragic hero. As Theodore Spencers asserts in his Shakespeare and the nature of man (1942), Shakespeare provides in Hamlet a man who thought expansively about his existence, in a world he found difficult to comprehend. The character of Hamlet in the play is deep yet charismatic. Thus echoes many of the universal themes. Loyalties have played a key role in the play and it is something that shapes how most of the characters act. Hamlet choses not show to loyalty towards his own mother but shows his confidence in Horatio as he includes him in his plan to draw the kings conscious, for I mine eyes rivet to his face, / and after we will both our judgements join. Through this we also see the nature of Hamlet that is, for much of the play hidden in his procrastinating nature. He goes beyond his rational thinking and his ambition for revenge also echoes his contextual responsibilities to avenge his fathers murder. Horatio is one of the only people we see Hamlet truly trust throughout his journey. Their relationship was earlier seen in the play in the very first act when Hamlet tells Horatio about the murder of the king. Thus these universal themes throughout the play make it a timeless play.

Shakespeares characterises Hamlet as a Renaissance man, a thinker capable of questioning the purpose of existence. Hamlet struggles with two opposing forces: moral integrity and the need to avenge his fathers murder. This is apparent through the use of metaphor to suggest that the native hue of resolution/is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought . Here he negatively portrays his own inaction and highlights his predicament. Hamlets inner conflicts are further

evident in Hamlets soliloquy at the end of Act 2, Oh what a rogue and peasant slave I am I? reflects his emotional upheaval at the events around him. Hamlets melancholy and inability to judge the value of life is further emphasised through the use of the metaphoric language, a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. In his despair and disillusionment, he metaphorically compares earth to a bleak landscape, It goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory. Through this, Shakespeare comments on the deception, human weakness, vices and corruption present in the world, and the confusion and chaos it causes, which resonates in all contexts. Hamlet is thus a play about the inadequacy and impotency of sensitivity in the face of the demands of action. Hamlets famous soliloquy To be or not to be serves as a discourse on the human condition, reflecting his inability to make sense out of existence by delving into the pain, sickness, misery and frustration that accompany living. The use of antithesis in this soliloquy reveals the depth of Hamlets inner conflict described in military metaphors, to take the arms against a sea of troubles. In his philosophical discourse, What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties Hamlet questions humanity, the existence of God and the purpose of life. This also highlights paradox that is in humanity: if humans are wonderful creation, they also suffer from human frailties. Through the use of euphemism, he compares death to sleep, sleep which is full of dreams, which must give us pause. Hamlet philosophically concludes that no one would choose to endure the pain of life if he or she were not afraid of what will come after death. Hamlet thus through these explores some of the truths of human experience and condition that are present through all contexts.