Class Notes: Week 9 (11/22/10-11/26/10)

Revenge Tragedy (http://humx.org/vocabulary/revenge-tragedy)

Aristotle’s tragedy (as defined in Poetics):

· imitation of single, unified action that is serious, complete, has certain magnitude

· fall of someone good, believable, consistent

· fall is usually due to harmatia: tragic flaw

· fate may intersect with misfortunes of hero, but ultimately life is related to free will

revenge tragedy

· inspired by Seneca; made popular on Elizabethan stage by Thomas Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy

· theme: son’s revenge for father’s murder (or vice versa)

· murder is revealed and directed to protagonist by murdered man’s ghost

· revenge results from conscious and focused action

· examples of characteristic elements in plot:

o hero’s hesitation

o hero’s insanity

o sensationalized murder on stage or exhibition of dead bodies

· examples of dynamics of revenge:

o offense-can be maximized by multiplication of injuries and more insults

o antagonist-really formidable

o clarification of strategy or marshaling of resources

· intensified form of revenge tragedy: tragedy of blood

o works out theme of revenge and retribution through murder, assassination, mutilation, carnage

Background of Hamlet (http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sources/hamletsources.html)

· based on Norse legend written in Latin in 1200 AD by Saxo Grammaticus

o story of Amleth (Hamlet) was in books 3 and 4 out of 6 books-Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes): rise and fall of great rulers of Denmark

· 1514-first printed in Paris; 1570-Francois de Belleforest translated it into French as part of his collection of tragedies: Histoires Tragiques

· 1608-first appeared in English

· commonly accepted that Shakespeare used English source based on French translation: Thomas Kyd’s Ur-Hamlet

Question of Incest (http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/plays/incest.html)

· Hamlet considers the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius incestuous; he refers to the biblical allusion of one flesh: Ephesians 5:31: “For this cause [matrimony] shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Thus, by this reasoning, marrying your dead husband’s brother is equivalent to marrying your own brother.

· historical justification: Henry VIII considered his marriage with Catherine of Aragon incestuous because she had first been married to his elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, who died in 1502

Important Hamlet Discussion Questions

· central question: Why does Hamlet delay his revenge for so long?

· Why does Hamlet have so many lines? (this is a major imbalance, considering Shakespeare’s other works)

· Does Hamlet have an Oedipal complex towards Gertrude?

· What is Shakespeare trying to reveal?

· What is the role of the Ghost?

o Voice of dead Hamlet?

o Hamlet’s best intentions at heart?

o Manifestation of Satan?

o Young Hamlet’s own imagination?

Overall Connections

· Aristotle adds an element to the tragic hero that we did not discuss when we talked about Oedipus: harmatia, or the tragic flaw. Thinking back on Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’s tragic flaw would be a combination of hubris and stubbornness, since he adamantly refuses to listen to people at many points during the play.

· Like Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not an original work but an interpretation. Therefore, Shakespeare, like Sophocles, manipulates the story to make his own, unique points. In our discussion, this is what we are trying to figure out: what does Shakespeare do and why does he do it?

· The bit about Henry VIII overlaps with both World History and U.S. History. We also learned in our history classes that Henry’s denouncement of his marriage was less about incest than about power. In addition, another less noble reason he had was simply that Catherine of Aragon was old and unattractive by the time she married Henry.

· Many famous literary works make allusions to Shakespeare, but Shakespeare makes many allusions to the Bible. This makes sense, because as we read in Foster, the Bible and Shakespeare are two of the most important pieces in the accepted literary canon. So, if Shakespeare couldn’t allude to himself, he would have alluded to the Bible.

· Oedipus Rex and Hamlet make me realize that there really aren’t too many original stories out there, merely different versions which are constantly changed over time, perhaps so much that they become unrecognizable. This is actually brilliant, since as an audience, we like the idea of a basic, familiar plotline, but at the same time we watch for new twists and unique spins on the original story.