Hamlet lesson 1- 1/11/17
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Transcript of Hamlet lesson 1- 1/11/17
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HamletIt Begins with a Question
January 11, 2017
Sheila Jones, OLLI South
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Introductions
1. What is your name and one sentence of personal experience with Shakespeare or Hamlet in particular?
2. What you are most looking forward to in taking this course?
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Purpose – General
• Wrestling with many possibilities is stimulating.• Arriving at consensus is probably out of the
question.• Understanding our own human connections to
the themes heightens our enjoyment as the play unfolds.
• Recognizing the ambiguities guides our understanding of the director’s/actor’s creative scope of interpretation.
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Purpose – more specifically
• Using your knowledge of Shakespeare’s dramatic style and conventions to unlock the play’s meaning in new productions
• Understanding how both the director’s and actors’ interpretations of and decisions about the characters, themes, and design influence how the play is produced
• Discovering some of the deeper connections and meanings to gain a richer appreciation of the play and of Shakespeare’s genius.
• Seeing Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a product of its own age, but also recognizing that the character and the play remain relevant to humans across time and cultures.
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Slide deleted because of copyright
• This slide contained a 3:18 minute cartoon of Hamlet as portrayed by the Simpsons. If you wish to view it, please do a Google search using the keywords: Hamlet, Simpsons
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Getting on the same page
• Shakespearean Conventions – see handout*• Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero
– see handout* • Tracing images and motifs to unlock meaning
– see handout• Your mission, if you choose to accept it!?!
• previously emailed
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Getting on the same pageCommon Sources for Shakespeare’s plays:
Holingshed’s Chroniclesof England, Scotlande,
and Irelande
Two editions: 1577 and 1587From an exhibit at the University of Colorado, Aug. 22, 2016. Manuscripts on loan from Folger Shakespeare Library.
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Getting on the same pageCommon Sources for Shakespeare’s plays:
Left to right: • King James Daemonologie, 1597• Holingshed’s Chronicles• The Works of Shakespeare –
aka The First Folio, 1623
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Getting on the same page
• The REAL Hamlet…more the LEGEND• Based on 11th Century
Scandinavian legend thatoriginated from a Norse poem
• Shakespeare used early 13th
century version from Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum.
• Both have very similar plots.
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Getting on the same page
• Ur-Hamlet, (alleged). Possible author was Thomas Kyd • Kyd is best know for
The Spanish Tragedy• B. 1158 – D. 1594• Central figure in Elizabethan
drama• The ghost allegedly added
to Ur-Hamlet
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Getting on the same pageVersions of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
No ONE definitive version of HamletThe 1st Quarto – “Bad” 1603 The 2nd Quarto, 1604/1605First Folio 1623 (posthumously)
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Taking a
BREAK!See you in 10 min.
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Hamlet, as Shakespearean TragedyHamlet is a play about…
Public Concern Private Concern
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PublicConcern
Rainbow = a symbol of Peace. Latin inscription Non sine Sole iris Means “NoRainbowWithout theSun.
• Conspiracies• Irish rebellion• Earl of Essex
betrayal• Aging Queen• No designated
heir
The RainbowPortraitCirca 1600
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PublicConcern •
Conspiracies• Irish rebellion• Earl of Essex
betrayal• Aging Queen• No designated
heir
The RainbowPortraitCirca 1600
Youthful face = vitalityand strengthof Queen. Crown: Pearls = her virginity,Crown = herposition andpower.
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PublicConcern •
Conspiracies• Irish rebellion• Earl of Essex
betrayal• Aging Queen• No designated
heir
The RainbowPortraitCirca 1600
Eyes andears on the lining of herorange cloak= She seesall, knowsall. Symbolicof her intricatespy network
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PrivateConcern
Some claimthe death of Hamnet,Shakespeare’s11-year-oldSon in 1596 may have influenced his writing of Hamlet.
• Reflections on
death and
mourning• Depression• Suicidal
thoughts
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For next week
• Read or watch Act 1 – Last lines…“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite/That I was ever born to set it right.”• Begin tracing your chosen imagery/motif. • If reading, how do you imagine the characters to be? If watching the Tennant version online, how are the characters portrayed?• Read or watch for the gist of the play – the plot. Make note of any questions you have to discuss in class next Wednesday.
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Elizabethan World View – the basics• During Elizabethan times, people believed that
everyone and everything was arranged in a certain order – a hierarchy.
• It was this order, known as the Great Chain of Being, that was threatened by new and exciting discoveries in science and astronomy.
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• According to this idea, everything in the world had its position fixed by God:– The Earth was the centre of the universe and the stars moved
around it in fixed routes. – In Heaven God ruled over the archangels and angels. – On earth there was order everywhere. Society reflected this
order with its fixed classes from the highest to the lowest – kings, churchmen, nobles, merchants, and peasants.
– The animals had their own order too, the lion being the “king”.
– Plant life and minerals also reflected this order. Among the trees, the most superior was the oak; among flowers, it was the rose.
– Among the minerals, gold was the most superior.
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CherubsArchangels, Angels
Star controllers of DestinyMoon
KingChurchPrincesNobles
Man
LionOther Animals
Oak and RoseOther Plants
GoldOther Minerals
GodO
utsid
e of
cha
in: N
othi
ngne
ss/c
haos
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• The Chain of Being served to create social stability – everyone knew their places on the chain and interacted with the other levels:– The people higher up on the chain were
responsible to provide for or care/protect those below them.
– The people lower down had a responsibility to obey and serve those above them.
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The Chain of Being world view created the beliefs and values for individuals and the society of Shakespeare’s time.
• The chain was a transactional sort of system – “I do this for you if you do this for me”
• If someone in the chain doesn’t fulfill their responsibility, they are considered to be “breaking the chain.”
• Any attempt to break the Chain of Being would upset the established order and bring about universal disorder.
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• The Chain of Being represents the social order of the time.
• Anything that is outside the chain is considered to be chaos/nothingness/madness/evil.
• Therefore, by implication, if the chain is broken the order in the world is broken, and it can descend into chaos.
• Nothingness, chaos, madness, evil – all of these things are outside the chain and are not considered to be made by God.
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*Everything within the chain is created by God. *Therefore everything within the chain is good.*Therefore there is no evil in the chain. *As evil doesn’t exist within the chain, it can only enter if the chain is broken.
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The Divine Right of Kings
• It was believed that the King was divinely chosen by God.• As God’s chosen representative on earth, the King was the
supreme upholder of order on earth. • If his position was violated it would destroy the perfect order
in the universe and bring strife and chaos to the world. • Any act of treason or treachery against the King was
considered indirectly to be a mortal sin against God. The penalty was death.