Hamlet part b plans (2023 questions yet to be asked)

Religion

Para 1: Presence of the ghost throughout bring to light the theme of purgatory/the afterlife

AO1: Protestant theology → Ghost is work devil, seen through Horatio's response to the ghost commanding the ghost "By heaven I charge thee". Ghost is in purgatory, imagery saying he has to return to 'sulphurous and tormenting flames'. Hamlet himself is skeptical

AO5: New historicist would interpret Shakespeare's presence of both protestant beliefs and catholic to be relevant to the authors time period → ghost reminds us of the confusion that surrounded christianity in Shakespeare's time, from the split from the catholic church and the protestant reformation. suggest lingering uncertainties in the face of a Catholic past.

AO5: Stephen Barker rightly suggests that 'the obsession throughout Hamlet with what happens to humans after death - a central Christian concern'. Echoes C.S. Elliot → 'Hamlet is haunted, not by a physical fear of dying but of being dead', he is obsessed with the idea of the afterlife (A3S1)

AO5: Kenneth Branagh Interpretation has bubbling mist in the ghost scene, shows the taboo/sensitive ideas of religion at the time.

Para 2: Biblical referencing throughout showing importance of religion

AO1: Links to biblical imagery of Eden, an "unweeded garden" and full of things "rank and gross in nature". Also the idea of a 'serpent' killing OH is a link to religion. The murder of OH also took place in a garden while he was sleeping, arguably a mimic to the religious fruit imagery and the vulnerability of Claudius sleeping and Eve's nativity that was taken advantage of by evil corrupters.

AO5: In this scene of Hamlet's first soliloquy (O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt), Jonathan Slinger performs it with his hands in prayer, emphasising his desperation to reconnect with God and escape this corrupted state.

AO5: Kenneth Branaghs sets the play in winter with the gardens dead and vacant of life, mimicking the state of Denmark → the garden is perhaps a link to Eden.

Para 3: A rejection of typical christian morals shows how the play has a complex relationship with the idea of religion, seen both in Claudius' unethical murder and Ophelia's arguable sin in suicide.

AO1: Claudius commits a double sin: not only does he kill a King, appointed by God, but he also kills his brother. Makes references to his kingship throughout 'divinity doth hedge a king' which seems to mock this. He seeks atonement from God through prayer , saying "Were thicker than itself with brother's blood there is not enough rain in sweet heaven to wash it as white as snow" wants to live in the afterlife - through prayer he negotiates himself into being "pardoned" from his sins.

AO1: Christian interpretations of the text would not interpret this as a true repentance of sin as his motives are self-serving for his future preservation. More modern/political interpretations reject this idea of christianity → Romanian production in the 1980s in which Claudius represents Ceausescu shows the political nature of the play and as such Claudius murder is unethical because of the way it politically corrupts the court, not because of its Christian sin.

AO1: Ophelia's suicide could perhaps be presented as sinful, by Christians

AO5: Millaud's painting, Bristol old vic/swalloing pills → interpretations of suicide

Memory

Paragraph 1: The prevalence of honour in 'Hamlet' as a revenge tragedy aligns all action with the protection of familial memory.

AO1: Hamlet and his father, A1S2, 'if ever didst thou father love... o god!', Hamlet loves his father and wants to honour his wishes to 'revenge this foul and most unnatural murder'. However, he consistently delays this revenge - there is a disconnect between his want to honour his father and his ability to do so.

AO5: Romantic perspective on Hamlet, Goethe believes he is a 'morally sensitive soul', focus on Hamlet's internal thoughts and the reasons why he is not able to revenge

Laertes and his father:

AO1: A4S5, Laertes says that he 'dares damnation' and will be 'revenged mostly through his father', more similar to Pyrrhus than Hamlet in his sense of honour/revenge.

Hamlet and Horatio:

AO1: "If thou did'st ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile, and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, to tell my story." Horatio and Hamlet's love and trust in one another represents how Horatio is the only one who can honour Hamlet's memory in explaining the events at Elsinore.

AO5: Variations of this scene are used to allegorically critique unjust social systems e.g. 1980's Romanian production of Hamlet sees Horatio shot before he is able to explain Hamlet as a 'hero' to Fortinbras.

Paragraph 2: Grief over the loss of familial structures causes the moral transgression of characters

Grief over loss of relationship between Gertrude/OH:

AO1: A1S2 'these funeral meats did coldly furnish the marriage tables'... 'he that killed by king and whor'd my mother'

AO1: Comparison of Claudius/OH- uses hyperbole/classical references to compare OH and Claudius, saying 'no more than hyperion (god of heavenly light) to a satyr (often viewed as lewd and sexually corruptive)' AO5: Cush Jumbo's depiction of Hamlet as far more tender (appreciated by the influence of un-repressed femininity in the character). At one point, Hamlet, runs into his mothers arms to weep, thus emphasising that this truly is a play about 'family grief'

AO5: in Bristol Old Vic, scene from Q2 is included, in which Gertrude asserts her loyalty to Hamlet or Claudius (tells Horatio) saying she will soothe and please him for a time to lull a false sense of security.

Subsequent misogyny etc. to Gertrude:

AO1: 'I will speak daggers to her but not use them' ... Hamlet hates to see her in 'incestutous sheets'AO5: Paapa Esseidu asserts that Hamlet has an unnatural obsession with mothers sexuality. Their relationship can often be portrayed sexually in the closet scene, e.g. in the 1989 production of Hamlet - Freudian theory of Oedipus complex.

'Hysterics', wrote Freud, 'suffer mainly from reminiscences.': explains hamlet's violent outburst toward ophelia in a3s1. Her hasty rejection of him is reminiscent of Gertrude's fast marriage and reminds him that women's love is brief and unworthy. He makes her remember which is why he hates her.

Paragraph 3: Strength of memory for lost characters causes madness

Ophelia's madness:

AO1: "Before you tumbled me you promised me to wed" AO5: Half naked in a trench coat whilst she performs her folkloric 'madness verses'. An important depiction of her as genuinely distressed and mad as opposed to more romanticised ideologies of her madness and consequent suicide such as Millais' portrait. Modern portrayals e.g. Bristol Old Vic where she swallows bottles of pills.

Hamlet's madness:

AO1: A3S1 - Hamlet's madness about death and the afterlife, 'to sleep, perchance to dream' .

AO5: Andrew Scott in a calm and collected way however this removes sense of iambic pentameter bt does create a greater connection with the audience, Bristol Old Vic played very calmly too, Howle sits on a cliff as if contemplating suicide

AO5: Michael Sheen depiction of Hamlet in which the entire play takes place in a psychiatric hospital and the Ghost of Old Hamlet is Played by sheen himself. Helps to emphasise the way in which Hamlet is so consumed by the memory of his father that is has become and infestation within

Appearance vs reality

'All is not what it seems in the court of Elsinore'

Point 1: Claudius is a key figure who demonstrates the corruption of the court in his attempt to show the court he is a 'moral king' but is really a dishonest leader.

AO1: In A1S2, Cladius makes a public speech mourning Hamlet, saying 'to bear our hearts in grief', sets up the idea that not is all what it seems to the rest of the court as the audience later finds out claudius has murdered OH, ashe says 'the serpent that did sting thy rathers life now wears his crown'. In A3S3 Claudius attempts to repent his sins but is unable to, the first time he admits to his wrongdoing, dramatic irony as the audience knows he wouldn't have gone to heaven anyway....

Claudius also tries to send Hamlet away to England to be murdered (not revealed to audience until the letter), establishes him as a corrupt ruler

AO5: Cush Jumbo production, OH and Claudius are played by the same actor so perhaps exposes the idea that they are more similar than Hamlet would like to thing

AO5: Andrew scott production (angus wright as claudius), it seems that claudius can see hamlet in the praying scene as he goes up to him afterward

AO5: Romanian production, the idea of Claudius as a ruler who is a dictator, similar to ceausescu - the production uses surveillance cameras, flashing searchlights and hamlet seems as though he is being interrogated in this scene

AO5: However, Sean Holmes wanted to make it seem as though Gertrude and Claudius were happy and Hamlet was 'ruining the party'...

Point 2: Corruption of the court elicits a presentation of characters who outwardly express loyal traits but really only aim to gain more personal power - aka theme of espionage

AO1: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - 'my honoured lord... my most dear lord' - to hamlet, but he gets angry, 'do you think you could play upon me like a pipe?'

AO5: Doubling effect is almost comedic (especially in their doubling), R&G are dead absurdist play shows comedic elements of characters. Peter Davidson - 'R&G would not be out of place in a modern pantomime'

AO1: Polonius is a flatterer of the court. Constantly concerned with his outward expression; 'you'll tender me a fool' to Ophelia, criticised by Shkaepseare who seems to be making fun of him. 'I hold my duty as I hold my soul, both to God and to my gracious King'.

Criticism shown through Hamlet's character, 'your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service - two dishes, but to one table' - criticises trying to raise statusAO5: Andrew Scott 2017, Polonius as more emotionally complex and loving of his children, therefore Hamlet's cruelty can seem unfair

Point 3: Hamlets (debatable) madness demonstrates this theme as there is a different degree to which each character is aware of his antic disposition

Hamlet's madness overall:

AO1: Begins with an antic disposition, in order to outtake his plan of revenge for his fathers murder.

Hamlet's madness in A3S1:

AO1: A3S1 - Hamlet's madness about death and the afterlife, 'to sleep, perchance to dream' .

AO5: Maxime Peake, blood on her shirt, holding a gun ect.

AO5: Andrew Scott in a calm and collected way however this removes sense of iambic pentameter bt does create a greater connection with the audience, Bristol Old Vic played very calmly too, Howle sits on a cliff as if contemplating suicide

AO5: Michael Sheen depiction of Hamlet in which the entire play takes place in a psychiatric hospital and the Ghost of Old Hamlet is Played by sheen himself. Helps to emphasise the way in which Hamlet is so consumed by the memory of his father that is has become and infestation within

Politics

Point 1: Claudius as a corrupt political ruler

AO1: A1S2, honours the the King, but it is time for the court to mourn is over as they should celebrate his marriage to Gertrude. However, when Hamlet finds out that some Claudius killed Old Hamlet, that 'some serpent did poison... now sits on the throne', Claudius' corruption is revealed to the audience and his fascination with political power is inherently criticised as he murdered his own brother in order to raise his status.

AO5: Romanian production, 1980s, surveillance cameras and searchlights all across the stage, and Hamlet seems as though he is being interrogated, Ceausescu

AO5: In the Sean Holmes production of the play, he suggested that he wants it to seem as though Gertrude and Claudius were a 'happy couple' and Hamlet was 'ruining the party'. But this is unconvincing.

Point 2: Shakespeare uses the sycophantic characters in order to show a fascination with political power in the entire court of Elsinore

AO1: R&G as comedically sycophantic characters.

AO5: Peter Davidson, 'Rosencrantz and Gildenstern would not be out of place in a modern pantomime'. 'Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead', a modern absurdist play

AO1: Polonius also criticises for following Claudius in order to gain power.

AO5: Polonius also comically criticised, in Ethan Hawke version he is played by Bill Murray, typically comic. Andrew Scott production, Polonius would arouse huge laughs when eagerly trying to get involved in as many scenes as possible

Point 3: Hamlet is a character who does not show a fascination with political power throughout the play, until the end when he is attempting to raise his status higher than Laertes in a battle of masculinity

AO1: Hamlet's position as King rarely mentioned. His arguable madness shows how he is more preoccupied with the afterlife than political power. In Act 2 Scene 2, his soliouquy is about the nature of suicide, and similarly his soliouquy in Act 3 scene 3 shows how he is concerned with the afterlife.

AO5: Romantic critics would sympathise with Hamlet and show how he is more occupied with the personal than political.

AO1: Only obsessed with political power when with Laertes. However could say that his establishment of his status over Laertes is more of a personal competition regarding his love for Ophelia.

'Hamlet is a curiously modern play'.

Point 1: Discussion of political corruption and social unrest are still entirely accessible to a modern audience.

AO1: Regicide of Old Hamlet presents Elsinore as an organism at risk of infective corruption and death. Also the theme of Espionage/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's as Claudius' spy, means that the court is seen to be a claustrophobic, exposing environment.

AO5: modern adaptations of the play utilise these themes in order to make allegorical, political commentary in times of civil unrest. 1980's Romanian production of Hamlet, during the reign of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, used surveillance cameras to mimic the feelings of Romanian citizens who felt there was no escape.

AO5: Richard Icke's 'Hamlet', twelve large CCTV screens hang above the stage, recording every moment, thus also adding the sense of restriction and claustrophobia in the play as well as externally. AO5: Marxist critic Kiernan Ryan suggests that the moral questions of 'Hamlet' such as revenge and the importance of honour cannot be acted by the play's protagonist since 'time is out of joint' and that Cladius is merely a 'product of the barbaric era in which Hamlet finds himself stranded'.

Point 2: Female protagonists in the play are so submissive to male authority but can assume that Shakespeare is purposefully making weak female figures in order to criticise an unjust social system that abuses women.

AO1: Polonius' lecture about Ophelia's chastity in Act I Scene III in which he refers to her as a 'green girl' thus mocking her immaturity we can see that female characters are subordinated.

Hamlet proclaims 'frailty thy name is woman' it is evident that female figures in the play are regarded as second class citizens to be disregarded or used by men.

AO5: Katie Mitchell wrote in 2016 that 'if you take just the five scenes [Ophelia's] in, it would be a short play about abuse. Margaret Atwood in 'Gertrude talks back', written in 1992, Gertrude is presented as a far more developed figure with her own sense of agency, she has killed her husband and appears to have far more control over Claudius than the original play suggests.

Point 3: Lastly, 'Hamlet's' messages about masculinity and complex sexuality have also allowed for new, divergent interpretations of the original text.

AO1: Hamlet struggles with his moral sensitivity which delays his action of revenge (A3S3, A4S4), of course this inaction emasculates him as his emotional state likens him to women. Fluidity of Hamlet's character as someone less motivated by violence and more by his emotional integrity. AO5: Maxine Peak's Hamlet is described as having a 'delicate ferocity' creating an androgynous Hamlet who is thus less confined by the boundaries of gender.

AO5: Queer theorists often regard the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio as a homoerotic one due to the young men's trust and care for each other in an otherwise entirely untrustworthy setting. Hamlet defies the social conventions of rank as he will not have Horatio calling him 'my lord' insisting 'I'll change that name with thee'.

AO5: The BBC production 'Hamlet at Elsinore' 1964 starring Christopher Plummer and Michael Caine as Hamlet and Horatio presented a close relationship between the two with an 'ambiguous sexuality'.

Revenge

Point 1: Revenge is motivated by love, therefore is important in Hamlet as it shows where different characters' loyalties lie.

AO1: Hamlet motivated my love → 'if thou ever didst thy father love.. Revenge this foul and most unnatural murder!'. Hamlet constantly reaffirms his love for his father, calling him 'hyperion' and Claudius a 'satyr' and wants to avenge his death (especially as he is so dissatisfied with his mother's new marriage/the collapse of familial structures).

AO5: ROMANTIC approach → Coleridge says Hamlet is 'a psychological study of a man who could not bring about a balance between his inward thoughts and the external world'.

AO1: Laertes also motivated by revenge, however he is a foil character to Hamlet who can actually act, screen in A4S5 when he storms into the church

Point 2: The task of revenge leads Hamlet and thus shows the psychoanalytic/mad element of the play

AO1: A1S5, OH says 'let not this taint your mind' however is an inherently difficult task on the phone. Arguably leads to Hamlet's madness, such as in A3S1 when he contemplates death, could be said to be mad rather than putting on an 'antic disposition'

AO5: Paapa Essiedu, Hamlet after descent into madness seen through a paint daubed suit and begins to graffiti on the walls. When asked 'Is Hamlet mad?' → answers that he must be somewhat mad, as he is constantly 'pushing past the parameters of the normal state of sanity'

AO5: Psychoanalytic theory. Perhaps Hamlet becomes 'mad' through the constant battle trying to reconcile his ID with his superego. Ernest Jones → hamlet cannot kill his father as in order to do so he must slay his father. Link to OEDIPAL complex leading to madness or something

Point 3: Through Claudius' status as king, the task of revenge is inherently political and thus revenge is important in showing he corrupt political state of Denmark

AO1: Through Claudius' position as King, Hamlet's task of killing him is inherently political. The initial deed of Claudius killing oH suggests that Elsinore is a corrupt court, and perhaps revenge is important in that is shows an attempt at H. taking down a corrupt political regime

AO5: Romanian production → suggests Hamlet is a political play through searchlights, OH as just a voice, representation of Ceausescu. However, perhaps it suggests revenge is ultimately pointless in the end of the play; Fortinbras comes and takes power but just represents one of Claudius/Ceausescu's henchmen and Hamlet somewhat fails after the end of AS52.

Impulsivity

Point 1: Hamlet's lack of impulsiveness is what destroys him as he can never complete the task he sets himself out to do, therefore leading to madness - mental death

AO1 - A2S2, 'O what a rogue and peasant slave I am', A4S4, 'How all occasions do inform against me', mental turmoil. Shown in TB speech A3S1, A3S3 almost killing claudius, etcetera

AO5 - Psychoanalytic reasons for Hamlet's delay in revenge

AO5 - Romantic approach, Goethe, Coleridge

AO1 - Laertes as a foil character

Point 2: Impulsivity is perhaps a reflection of Hamlet's descent into madness/he seems more impulsive when putting on an 'antic disposition'

AO1 - Let not this taint your mind A1S5 is impulsive as the task of madness would inherently push someone into a tough mental state. Hamlet displays impulsivity in A3S1 (nunnery scene) and arguably in killing Polonious, also when talking to R and G.

AO5: Paapa Esseidu on madness

AO5: Michael Sheen madness

Point 3: Female characters less impulsive // foil characters to their male counterparts

AO1 - Gertrude is a mediator, she loves both H and C. Is constantly loving Hamlet - 'I pray thee stay with us not go to Wittenberg' - but still marries Claudius

AO5 - Margaret Atwood, Gertrude talks back, empowers her

AO1 - Ophelia is a target of Hamlet's madness/impulsivity rather than doing anything impulsive herself

AO5 - Emma Smith structuralist approach

AO5 - Elaine showater - ophelia important in showing presentation of female madness

Ambition

Point 1: Hamlet's love for his father causes a want to outtake the ambitious task laid out for him, however his constant delay in the murder of his father shows a lack of ambition, especially emphasised by his foil characters Laertes and Fortinbras.

AO1: In A5S1, OH's murder by Claudius is revealed with 'revenge this foul and most unnatural murder', and Hamlet demonstrates his love for his father with 'if thou ever didst thy father love' ... 'O God!'. Hamlet displays examples of wanting to avenge his father, such as in A3S2 'tis the very witching time of night... I will drink hot blood' etcetera. However delays this in A3S3, when Claudius is praying, as well as throughout the play → seven soliloquies but no attempt at murder!

AO5: Many who had inherited a tradition in which families settle scores for themselves at a local level were no doubt frustrated... revenge tragedies may have provided some kind of pressure valve release.' Stevie Simkin, New Casebooks: Revenge Tragedy, 2001. APPEAL to the Jacobean audiences of the time → may contrast modern audience's, who live in a time of (seeming) peace and democracy, and are therefore less enthralled by Hamlet's plight of revenge.

AO5: In the Gregory Dolan 2008 w David Tennant, Hamlet seems to kill Claudius in A3S3, but then it goes to interval → after interval, the scene resumes as normal in the play (ie he doesn't kill him). Perhaps links to Kiernan Ryan (Marxist critic). Focuses on the circumstances of which Hamlet finds himself, and suggests that revenge is futile but society demands Hamlet must seek it, so he does, and would only be killing Cladius because of the circumstances of the moment that force him to.

AO1: Hamlet's futile revenge is only emphasised by Laertes and Fortinbras, who are clear revenge seekers. Laertes storms into the castle in A4S5, demanding 'where is my father' and that he 'dares damnation', and Fortinbras does a futile invasion in A4S4 leading to Hamlet's soliloquy.

Point 2: Hamlet's seeming lack of ambition causes him to go mad.

AO1: In A1S5, OH says to Hamlet 'let not this taint your mind', however it is innate a task which requires mental strain and thus he is bound to go mad in the task of killing Claudius (or not killing him). Shown in solioquy's commenting on death, seeming suicidal e.g. A2S2, constantly comparing himself for not being able to be mad.

AO5: Psychoanalytic approach, Coleridge suggests Hamlet is a 'morally sensitive soul', and would thus be more sympathetic to his madness. Debate surrounding whether or not hamlet is mad → shown in the Paapa Esseidu version, becomes more mad visually with spray paint on his clothes, however when asked 'is Hamlet mad' → suggested he has to go through such mental turmoil that is mind is 'pushed passed the parameters of normal sanity'.

Point 3: The political element of the play shows characters who are ambitious to maintain and/or further their high status in the court, however Shakespeare satirises this throughout.

AO1: Claudius is 'ambitious' in his political power. He kills his own brother, and throughout the play attempts to protect his power and is therefore very ambitious

AO5: Romanian production and politics

AO5: Sean Holmes, C&G are happy so Hamlet is 'ruining the party' by his ambitious revenge