ENGLISH 11H/AP Seminar (Shakespeare): Hamlet

Hamlet

When did Shakespeare write Hamlet?

Shakespeare probably wrote Hamlet in 1601. It was first published in 1603.

Where is Hamlet set?

Hamlet is set in Denmark, in Elsinore Castle.

Plot summary of Hamlet

Hamlet opens after the death of King Hamlet. His brother has succeeded him to the throne and quickly married the late King’s widow, Gertrude. The ghost of the old King returns to tell his son – Prince Hamlet – that he was murdered by his brother and must be avenged. Needing to establish whether the ghost speaks the truth, Hamlet feigns madness and arranges for a group of players to enact a dramatised version of the ghost’s accusations in front of the court in order to ‘catch the conscience of the King’ (3.2.604). When Hamlet sees the King’s outraged reaction, his suspicions are confirmed, but as he tries to act on them, he mistakes the court councillor Polonius for the King and kills him. The King sends Hamlet to England with orders that he should be killed, but Hamlet manages to escape.

Believing Hamlet’s madness to be a symptom of love for his daughter Ophelia, Polonius had constructed his own plot of surveillance, using Ophelia as bait to draw out Hamlet’s feelings. The emotional strain of being used in this way, combines with her bereavement to drive her to distraction, and she is found drowned. Her brother Laertes demands revenge. A fencing-match is staged between Hamlet and Laertes, with the King and Laertes planning to kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword and drink. But Gertrude unwittingly drinks the poison, and, having been fatally wounded with the sword, Hamlet also kills Laertes and the King. Finally, Fortinbras of Norway assumes the throne.

Madness and Memory: Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and "King Lear"

Mazzaro, Jerome. “Madness and Memory: Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear.’” Comparative Drama, vol. 19, no. 2, 1985, pp. 97–116. JSTOR, 

Shakespeare's Conception of Hamlet

Walley, Harold R. “Shakespeare’s Conception of Hamlet.” PMLA, vol. 48, no. 3, 1933, pp. 777–98. JSTOR.

HAMLET AND GERTRUDE, or THE CONSCIENCE OF THE QUEEN

Smith, Robert M. “HAMLET AND GERTRUDE, or THE CONSCIENCE OF THE QUEEN.” The Shakespeare Association Bulletin, vol. 11, no. 2, 1936, pp. 84–92. JSTOR.

Text Set:  “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sad Tale for Winter: Hamlet and the Tradition of Fireside Ghost Stories

Belsey, Catherine. "Shakespeare's Sad Tale for Winter: Hamlet and the Tradition of Fireside Ghost Stories." Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1-27,151. ProQuest; eLibrary.

HAMLET, "Or the Tragedy of Shakespeare"

Glaz, A. Andre. “HAMLET, ‘Or the Tragedy of Shakespeare.’” American Imago, vol. 18, no. 2, 1961, pp. 129–58. JSTOR.

The Conflict in Hamlet

Taylor, Michael. “The Conflict in Hamlet.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 2, 1971, pp. 147–61. JSTOR.

"Vows to the blackest devil": Hamlet and the evolving code of honor in early modern England

Terry, Reta T. ""Vows to the blackest devil": Hamlet and the evolving code of honor in early modern England." Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 4, 1999, pp. 1070-1086. ProQuest; eLibrary.

Title: Hamlet and His Mother

Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)

Date: 1849

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 10 3/4 x 7 1/8 in. (27.3 x 18.1 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967

Accession Number: 67.187.61

This painting depicts the moment in Shakespeare’s epic tragedy Hamlet in which the protagonist, who has been speaking privately with his mother, Queen Gertrude of Denmark, notices a figure behind the curtains of her closet. Immediately afterward, Hamlet will impale the hidden Polonius with his sword, and utter the memorable phrase "How now! A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!"