Romantic period

When was the romantic period?

First half of the 19th century (1800s)

What does this period prioritise?

human emotion and imaginative freedom

Who are the 3 key figures?

Coleridge Schegal Hazlitt

What did Coleridge identify Hamlet as?

A new hero

What did Coleridge quote about Shakespeare’s plays?

they appealed to the imagination rather than the senses

What was Coleridge critical quote on Hamlet’s mind?

‘overbalance of imaginative power which is consistently occupied with the world within and abstracted from the world without’

What did Coleridge say about Hamlet and himself

‘i have a smack of Hamlet myself’

What did shelgal say was the reason for Hamlet’s indecision?

Overintellectualizing of his problems

What was Schlegal quote about Hamlet

‘ he looses himself in labyrinths of thought’

What did Coleridge argue Hamlet’s inaction was because of

his imagination was more real to him than what his senses told him

What was Hazlitt’s role

Seeing whether we could identify with Hamlet

What did Hazlitt criticise? What did he say instead?

pre-romantic critics ‘it is we that are Hamlet’

What did Hazlitt believe Hamlet’s cruelty to Ophelia should be excused by?

‘quite natural in his circumstances’

Is Hazlitt very sympathetic towards Hamlet?

yes

What does Hazlitt argue the play is? quote

‘unstudied ( unnatural ) development of character