Hamlet, shakespeare, capitoli | Appunti di Inglese

/HAMLET/

It's a revenge tragedy: the features were defined by Seneca and revenge was something

immoral for Elizabethan. They criticised revenge but they loved the revenge tragedies.

There are 6 features of the revenge tragedies:

1. A sexual or violent crime committed against a family member of the hero and for

some reason the law/justice can’t punish it

2. A ghost that appears to ask for revenge

3. The protagonist has a period of doubts and there is a complex planning for his

revenge

4. The author created a very close relationship with the audience with monologues

and soliloquy

5. Someone that becomes mad. Madness can be real or not

6. A lot of deaths

/1^ ACT/

It opens in Denmark at Elsinore castle (1 setting), at night in the garden of the castle.

Here there are 2 guards that are later joined by another guard and Horatio, he is the

protagonist’s best friend.

The guards have called Horatio to inform him that something very strange happened, the 2

night before. The night before, while they were standing watch at midnight, something

shocking happened: a ghost appeared to them.

This ghost was the ghost of the recently deceased king Hamlet (≠ prince Hamlet - the

protagonist), but he didn’t speak to them.

Horatio was the one to be called because he was a man of culture and he could speak latin, which was believed

to be the language of the afterlife, so they thought that the ghost would speak to him even if he was very

skeptical.

The ghost appeared immediately and without speaking it vanished again. Because of this Horatio had to

recognise the presence of the ghost and he also recognised that it looked like king Hamlet.

In addition he noticed that the ghost was wearing an armour similar to the one the late king used in a battle

against Norway for the conquest of some territories, king Hamlet had defeated the king of Norway and

conquered those territories. However the king of Norway was now dead and his son, Fortinbras, wanted those

territories back. So Horatio believes that the ghost was there to warn them.

He also decided that prince Hamlet must be informed of the presence of the ghost and that it will speak to his

son.

At this time Denmark and Norway are in very similar situations: both kings are dead and had a son, both sons

had the same name as their father (Hamlet and Fortinbras) and in both countries the new king is the brother of

the old king.

Then we have a scene change and we are inside of Elsinore castle the morning after, where we met the new

king of Denmark, the old king’s brother, called Claudius.

Claudius makes a speech in front of the court which is necessary for us to understand what is happening and

it’s a declaration to the court . In this speech the new king thanks the ministers that have voted for him and he

says that he has married his brother's widow, and mother of prince hamlet, queen Gertrude.

With this speech we don’t have a good first impression of Claudius because it’s very strange and contradictory:

he says that he and the country are suffering for king Hamlet's death but he has decided to balance this

suffering with the joy of his marriage and that the country has to go on.

Then he mentions Fortinbrass-> he says that the prince of Norway has written to him because he wants the

territories lost by his father back, so Claudius decided to send 2 ambassadors to talk with the king of Norway.

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/HAMLET/

It's a revenge tragedy: the features were defined by Seneca and revenge was something immoral for Elizabethan. They criticised revenge but they loved the revenge tragedies. There are 6 features of the revenge tragedies:

A sexual or violent crime committed against a family member of the hero and for some reason the law/justice can’t punish it
A ghost that appears to ask for revenge
The protagonist has a period of doubts and there is a complex planning for his revenge
The author created a very close relationship with the audience with monologues and soliloquy
Someone that becomes mad. Madness can be real or not
A lot of deaths /1^ ACT/ It opens in Denmark at Elsinore castle (1 setting), at night in the garden of the castle. Here there are 2 guards that are later joined by another guard and Horatio, he is the protagonist’s best friend. The guards have called Horatio to inform him that something very strange happened, the 2 night before. The night before, while they were standing watch at midnight, something shocking happened: a ghost appeared to them. This ghost was the ghost of the recently deceased king Hamlet (≠ prince Hamlet - the protagonist), but he didn’t speak to them. Horatio was the one to be called because he was a man of culture and he could speak latin, which was believed to be the language of the afterlife, so they thought that the ghost would speak to him even if he was very skeptical. The ghost appeared immediately and without speaking it vanished again. Because of this Horatio had to recognise the presence of the ghost and he also recognised that it looked like king Hamlet. In addition he noticed that the ghost was wearing an armour similar to the one the late king used in a battle against Norway for the conquest of some territories, king Hamlet had defeated the king of Norway and conquered those territories. However the king of Norway was now dead and his son, Fortinbras, wanted those territories back. So Horatio believes that the ghost was there to warn them. He also decided that prince Hamlet must be informed of the presence of the ghost and that it will speak to his son. At this time Denmark and Norway are in very similar situations: both kings are dead and had a son, both sons had the same name as their father (Hamlet and Fortinbras) and in both countries the new king is the brother of the old king. Then we have a scene change and we are inside of Elsinore castle the morning after, where we met the new king of Denmark, the old king’s brother, called Claudius. Claudius makes a speech in front of the court which is necessary for us to understand what is happening and it’s a declaration to the court. In this speech the new king thanks the ministers that have voted for him and he says that he has married his brother's widow, and mother of prince hamlet, queen Gertrude. With this speech we don’t have a good first impression of Claudius because it’s very strange and contradictory: he says that he and the country are suffering for king Hamlet's death but he has decided to balance this suffering with the joy of his marriage and that the country has to go on. Then he mentions Fortinbrass-> he says that the prince of Norway has written to him because he wants the territories lost by his father back, so Claudius decided to send 2 ambassadors to talk with the king of Norway.

After this we meet Laertes, the son of the lord chamberlain called Polonius and the brother of Ophilea. The young man asks the king for permission to go back to France, where he was studying; in fact he returned for the coronation and now wants to go back and Claudius consents. Finally he talks to prince Hamlet and he asks him why he is still so sad, in fact Hamlet is still wearing black. The queen also seems worried and she invites him to try to recover. Claudius says that it’s right and noble that he’s crying for his father but there is a time to cry and a time to go on. It's a law of nature that sons lose their father, after all his father also lost a father; because of this crying too much is against nature and inappropriate. In addition he invites Hamlet to consider him as a father and reminds him that he’s next in line for the throne. Now our first bad impression is confirmed because the speech is very strange and we know that he’s speaking this way to a son who just lost his father. After this the king and the queen asked Hamlet to not go back to Wittemberg, where he’s studying at university, and he consents. Because of this Claudius, the queen and the court are happy so they abandon the room to go celebrate and they leave Hamlet alone; here he has his first soliloquy. We find out that he’s suffering for the death of his father but especially he’s furious with his mother because just 2 months after the death of her husband she has married Claudius; he remembers how deeply in love his parents seemed but now the queen has married his uncle, who he considers inferior to his father. For the first time Hamlet expresses his desire to die, he says that he would like to evaporate and disappear; also he wishes that god had not made suicide a sin. His pain appears in this soliloquy and he speaks in a bitterly ironic way. Hamlet is interrupted by the guards and Horatio and they are very happy to see each other. Horatio informs him of the ghost: he’s shocked and they agree to keep watch that night because they hope that the ghost will appear and talk to Hamlet. The scene changes and we are in another part of the castel with Polonius and his children. Laertes is preparing to leave for France, but before leaving he wants to talk to his sister; he’s worried about the relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet and he doesn’t want her to fall in love with him because he’s the future king so he will have duties and responsibilities, but she is of an inferior social ranch and because of this he won’t be able to marry her. Ophelia tells her brother not to worry. Then Polonius enters and Laertes leaves; her father wants to know what they were talking about and she says that they were talking about Hamlet. Polonius asks Ophelia about the nature of this relationship and she reveals the truth: the prince is in love with her; but her father, who agrees with Laertes, prohibits her to see Hamlet again. Because of this Ophelia is sad but she’s also a good daughter and she loves and respects her father so she’ll do what he says. Then we have a change of scene: it’s night and we are with Horatio, Hamlet and the guards, who are waiting for the ghost. When he appears he doesn’t speak but, with a hand gesture, he invites Hamlet to follow him and it seems that the ghost wants to talk with him alone. Horatio and the guards are worried and they don’t want Hamlet to follow the ghost because they believe that it could be dangerous, maybe the ghost isn’t king Hamlet but it’s a demon. However Hamlet declares that he doesn’t care about his life and says that his soul is immortal so nothing can harm it; in fact he follows the ghost and they disappear in the darkness. It is very clear that Hamlet is very religious and noble: he believes that his soul is immortal and it cannot be harmed, in addition he doesn’t kill himself because God made it a sin. Finally the ghost speaks to Hamlet and declares to be his father: he explains that he hasn’t gone to heaven yet because when he died he didn’t have time to ask forgiveness for his sins and says that he has been murdered. Everyone believes that he died while he was asleep in the gardens, as he was used to; but in reality he was sleeping and Claudius poured poison in his ear. The ghost asks for revenge but he asks Hamlet not to punish the queen because God will judge her; critics believe that she didn’t know about the murder and she appears really fragile and in need of someone to support her because she remarried so fast. Then the ghost disappears.

The group is interrupted because a group of actors arrives at the castel; these actors used to travel from court to court to offer their performance, this happened especially when theaters were closed because of the plague. Hamlet is happy to see the actors and we find out that he has already met them, in particular he talks to one of them because he remembers a speech he performed about and the death of king Priam in the play “the fall of Troy”; because of this he invites this actor to perform the same speech for him. The actor’s performance is brilliant: it describes the death of king Priam and the suffering of queen Hecub, he’s also able to show real involvement-> he’s able to get paler and tears appear in his eyes. After this performance Hamlet invites the actors to stay and to perform a play for the entire court the following day; he asks a play in particular, “the murder of gonzago” (a popular tragedy at the time), and he also asks if he can add a scene to the play, just a few lines written by Hamlet himself. The actors agree and leave, with everyone else who, and Hamlet remains alone on the stage. Here he has his second soliloquy. For the first time he blames and curses himself for his inability to act and to take revenge for his father. He hasn’t been able to do anything and he has just been wasting time, because of this he’s frustrated, tense, over reactive and especially guilty-> he feels the necessity to justify himself because of the guilt. He says that he can’t b sure of the real identity of the ghost, maybe it isn’t his father, but a demon or an evil presence who wanted him to commit a terrible crime or to lose his soul; this is just an excuse that Hamlet uses to feel less guilty. He decided that he needs to verify the identity of the ghost, this is the reason he requested the murder of gongazo because it will be a trap for Claudius. In the play Gonzago (the king) is killed by his nephew who also obtains the love of the queen, the scene Hamlet wants to insert is the moment of the murder (like the ghost described) where Gonzago is sleeping in the garden and his nephew pours poison in his ear. Hamlet wants to see Claudius’s reaction in front of this scene: if he’s shocked it means that he’s guilty, if not it means that the ghost lied. In addition there is another reason for this play, Hamlet wants to critique the behavior of his mother and embarrass her in front of the court, because she remarried very fast like the queen in the play. /ACT 3/ The act opens with the king and the queen discussing Hamlet's behavior with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and they admit that they haven’t been able to discover the reason for Hamlet’s madness but they inform the monarchs that the prince has organized a play for the court that evening and they are delighted and they agree to participate. Then Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and the queen while Polonius enters because they are ready to spy on Ophelia and Hamlet. The scene changes and we are in one of the corridors where Hamlet is walking alone, here there is the famous soliloquy “to be or not to be”-> Hamlet questions the possibility of suicide to put an end to suffering; in the first soliloquy he was only talking about himself but now he’s about all of man kind/ men in general. He asks why do people decide to continue living when life is just suffering, and why they don’t put an end to their lives; the answer is that we’re afraid of the after life because we don’t know what we can find after death: the fear of the unknown is what prevents people from suicide, people bear the suffering that we already know rather than facing the possibility of new suffering (we are cowards). The soliloquy is interrupted by Ophelia; in the beginning Hamlet seems happy to see her but the she does as Claudius and her father told her-> she says that she wants to give him back the love letters he wrote to her and the situation changes: Hamlet becomes nervous and initially he denies to have written her the letters and starts to contradict himself; one moment he says that he loved her but not anymore, then that he never loved her. At some point the situation gets worse: they hear a noise and Hamlet understands that they’re being spied on; so he asks Ophelia where her father is, giving her the possibility to be honest but she lies and says that her father is at home.

Hamlet gets angry: he grabs Ophelia and criticises her and women in general-> women can transform men into monsters and they increase the world’s dishonesty by painting their faces to appear more beautiful than they are, Hamlet invests Ophelia to enter a nunnery to in order not to become a breeder of sinners. He’s verbally violent and because of this Ophelia screams and cries, then Hamlet runs away. In this scene there are 2 important things: ➔ At the end of the first act Hamlet informed us that he would pretend to be mad for his plans of revenge, but now and in other moments of the play we have doubts about this, at times he seems to actually be mad: he has no reason to be angry with Ophelia, because of this we have the impression that there is something more going on in his mind and that he is really disturbed. Probably the suffering has been too much for him. ➔ Ophelia is desperate and she says that the sweet and noble prince, who was a model of honor has disappeared. This is the reason why Hamlet hasn't killed Caludius immediately: he's pure of heart so killing someone in cold blood is difficult for him and it goes against his principles. On one and he would like to avenge the father he loved, but on the other hand a murder is terrible for someone who is pure of heart; so he takes time and he feels guilty for it, because of this he feels the need to find a justification for his inability to act (the first excuse is that he has to verify the ghost’s identity).

Hamlet, shakespeare, capitoli, Appunti di Inglese

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/HAMLET/