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أكـاديـمـي نــشـط
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رد: third year english student second term
hamlet
Q-6- classical features in Hamlet
The 16th century was called the Renaissance. Classical literature was reborn in the 16th century. The 16th century writers started to imitate the classical writers. In his Poetics, Aristotle, mentioned some rules about classical literature. In the 16th century, William Shakespeare and others considered classicism as something very important that should be imitated.
In the fourth century B.C, Aristotle said that philosophy is better than art and history and he claimed that the philosopher is the best in society because of the contemplating life of having good intellectual skills. We will see how this is reflected in Hamlet.
According to him, people should take rules for granted without questioning them.
William Shakespeare, in his tragedy Hamlet, imitated Seneca- a roman tragedian . He wrote a horror drama or tragedy of revenge. Like Seneca’s tragedy, Shakespearean Hamlet consists of five acts. Although Seneca and the classics use blank verse, William Shakespeare likes to mix blank verse with prose. In the play of Hamlet, he uses blank verse for the important characters or when people talk about philosophical matters.
The play of Hamletis full of poetic diction. It is known that Shakespearean language is highly metaphorical. Hamlethas many classical allusions and references to the god and goddesses. William Shakespeare, like Seneca, used classical dramatic structure. Shakespearean Hamlet consists of five acts. William Shakespeare, like Seneca, used classical dramatic structure. The play starts with an exposition (act I, scene i). In the exposition, he introduces the main characters and themes. Then the events develop till they reach a climax. After that, the problem is solved and action falls down until it reaches the denouement. in the middle, there is the concept of tragic hero.
‘Hamlet’ is a tragedy. In classical tragedies, there is a tragic hero and in the Shakespearian tragedies, there is also a tragic hero but because William Shakespeare is a humanist, he makes some changes in the characteristics of his tragic hero. So, his tragic hero is not totally typical. For example, in classical tragedy, the hero must be either a semi-god or a superhuman, but William Shakespeare, because he is a humanist, he believed that an ordinary person of high rank can affect people as well and an ordinary person is powerful. So, he makes Hamlet as his tragic hero, he is neither a semi-god nor a superhuman; he is an ordinary human being. However, he has a high rank. However William Shakespeare followed Aristotle in the fact that he always makes his tragic heroes in his tragedies of high rank in society to affect the audience and help them experience catharsis.
‘Hamlet’ starts with chaos. All the play starts in disorder and it reveals to us the knot in the Chain of being. Because William Shakespeare is a humanist; he combines ideas from different cultural backgrounds. So, he involves medieval ideas and new humanist ideas and Christian ideas, all these together. It was like a general trait in the age of the 16th century to adopt all these different ideas together. Writers used to make this mixture to reflect the age. After the middle Ages, people kept on believing on the medieval ideas. So, here William Shakespeare discusses an important medieval idea which is the control of the Great Chain of being on the world (the world the microcosm and the macrocosm; the universe). So, there is a knot in the Chain of being.
Act I scene I is the exposition of the play. So, in this act, we come to know who the main characters are and what the main events are. So, those three soldiers while talking let the audience know many things about what is happening. So, they talk here about Fortinbras of Norway. They say that Fortinbras of Norway is the enemy of Denmark. Horatio says that the situation in Denmark is like the situation in Norway. It is ironical that the father king died in Norway as the one of Denmark and instead of having his son ruling after him, his brother came to throne. So, the crown princes could not rule the countries. The late king’s brothers came to throne. Horatio says that what happens in Denmark is repeated in Norway. He passes important information to audience. He says that the young prince Fortinbras is very enthusiastic and zealous to restore Denmark to Norway. And this young prince Fortinbras represents a threat to Denmark.
What is about the brother of Fortinbras; the uncle who rules? He does not really care for restoring Denmark. At the end of the play this little prince Fortinbras will play an important role in the play. What happens in the exposition is like a hint at what will happen at the end of the play. Horatio is scared lest the appearance of the ghost means that something bad will happen. He says that it might be a bad omen. The Elizabethans believe that the appearance of the ghost indicates chaos; disorder, in the macrocosm because it is a supernatural element. So, he calls this a supernatural element. Scene I ends with Horatio insisting to his friends that they should tell prince Hamlet about this and asks them to keep that as a secret until they go and tell prince Hamlet. So, this is the exposition. In the exposition, we knew the main characters and we knew the main event which is the appearance of the ghost and there is an element of suspense here. The audience and the characters want to know why this ghost appears. The ghost has refused to talk to Horatio or to his other friends Marcellus and Bernardo, but they think that it might talk to Hamlet.
When Hamlet is shocked he talks as if in hallucinations. It might be an example of his assumed madness. This is the effect of Seneca. William Shakespeare imitated Seneca in making his heroes assume madness. After saying so, Hamlet did not tell his friends what the ghost has told him. He kept it for himself. He did not tell them that it is Claudius who killed his father but he asked them to swear not to tell anybody about the appearance of the ghost.
Ophelia tells Hamlet that he is like a chorus. She is telling him that he is playing the chorus. Chorus is always found in the classical drama. A chorus is one actor or more, he or they always comment on action to help the audience to understand more. Now he is playing the chorus and he asking them to listen, that they we will watch the part when the king, who stole the crown, is going to woo the queen and the queen will relent to him.
Q- 7- medieval features in the play
The events of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet take place in the eleventh century A.D. for that reason, the play reflects heavily on some medieval beliefs that show order in the microcosm (man) or macrocosm ( universe) . The following two medieval concepts control order in both the universe and man's body: the Great Chain of Being and the theory of humors.
In the middle Ages, people used to believe that the universe is arranged in a fixed system of hierarchies. In his book The Great Chain of Being( 1936) A.O. Lovejoy argues, the whole of creation was conceived of as a great chain of being, headed by God. Matter comes at the very bottom. Half way between God and matter is man. Half way between God and man are the angels. Below man are the animals and below the animals are the plants. Within each link of the chain there is also gradation. Every created being or thing has a divinely appointed place which must be kept. god is continually pulling the chain upward, while matter is continually pulling it downward. Any attempt at uprising a place which is not one's own, results in a knot. But this knot is quickly pulled back into place by the very balance of the chain.
Hamlet starts in chaos and shows that there is a knot in Denmark according to the Great Chain of Being. According to the Great Chain of being, everybody should stick to his place. If one changes his place, disorder prevails. In Hamlet, we will see that disorder is prevailing. When somebody changes his place in the great chain of being, a knot occurs. And it is still there until God pulls up tightly and matter pulls down tightly and so the knot is undone. This is what will happen at the end of the play.
King Hamlet; the father of Hamlet, usurped the throne of Denmark. So, chaos and disorder prevailed. According to the people in the middle ages, chaos that happens in microcosm is transferred to the macrocosm. And supernatural elements are shown. After taking the thorn of Denmark, king Hamlet; the father, was killed by his brother. His brother killed him and he married his widow (Hamlet’s mother). And Hamlet will know that his uncle killed his father and he will think of revenge. I want to talk about the influence of Seneca. Like Seneca, Shakespeare made his tragedy bloody. Seneca’s tragedies are full of bloodletting, horror, ghosts, and feigned madness. “My father’s spirit in arms! All is not well;”
The theory of Humorsfirst appeared in the classical period but became popular in the Middle Ages. People in the Middle Ages used to think that both the microcosm (man) and macrocosm (universe) are made of four elements: air, fire, water and dust. if these four elements are mixed in man in proper proportion, he is said to be balanced and in good health. if these elements are mixed in an improper proportion, man is said to be imbalanced and sick.
According to the medieval theory of Humors, if air dominates the other elements in somebody, his body secrets excess of a fluid or humor called sanguis (blood), which causes him to become moody, trivial, irresponsible, cheerful or emotional. if fire dominates the other elements, one's body secrets excess of a fluid or humor called cholera( yellow bile) which leads him to turn vindictive, violent, active or hasty. if water dominates the other elements, one's body secrets excess of pituita (phlegm) that makes one sluggish, passive or cold. finally, if the earthly element (dust) overcomes the other elements, one's body secrets a fluid called melancholia( black bile) which causes one to turn like an introvert, so he becomes sad, selfish and callous.
it is worth noting that the Muslim doctor and philosopher of the Middle Ages Avicenna (980-1037) refers in his book The Canon of Medicine (1025) to similar Humors and calls them' temperaments' according to Avicenna, one's temperament is generative when his spirit is sanguine, one's temperament is natural when his spirit is choleric, one's temperament is sensual when his spirit is phlegmatic and one's temperament is brutal when his spirit is melancholic.
it is obvious in the play that Hamlet has an excess of melancholia in his body. Accordingly, he suffers from psychological and mental disorder.
Hamlet appeared for the first time in scene ii. Both his uncle and his mother blame Hamlet for being extremely sad; melancholic. according to the theory of humors, Hamlet got excess of the earthly element; dust in his body and this made him melancholic.
In this scene, the king tells Hamlet that his long mourning is not manly. He keeps on bothering Hamlet and he makes him feels that he (Claudius) is senseless.
The theme of order and disorder isfrom the medieval ages and it is found in William Shakespeare. The medieval features are there in the 16th century.
QUEEN GERTRUDE:
Why seems it so particular with thee?
Why are you so melancholic?!
His father died two months ago and it is actually not natural for somebody to keep mourning for so long period of time. That is why his uncle king Claudius told him that what he is doing is unnatural. This shows that Hamlet is exaggerating his emotions and sadness. He is overacting his sadness. We can say that he is really psychologically sick; he is psycho patient. In the past, there was no science of psychology and the psycho patients were not recognized as sick people who need treatment. They did not know how to treat them.
(This part can be used in answering the question how the play is modern? )
In the 20th century, the science of psychology was born at the hands of Sigmund Freud. He is an Austrian psychiatrist. He wrote his theory of psychoanalysis. One of the important things he made is that he wrote his book ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ and he showed how dreams reflect the unconscious self of the psycho patients.
One of the critics said that Hamlet has Oedipus complex. That critic has been Freudian in his analysis. Freud said that some psycho patients have complexes like Electra complex and Oedipus complex. Sigmund Freud is known for in his psychological theory that he refers people’s behavior from a sexual point of view. He analyzes people’s behavior from a sexual point of view. So, he said that there are kinds of complexes; Electra complex and Oedipus complex.
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