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Hamlet - Coggle Diagram
Hamlet
PLOT
ACT 1
Scene i
Horatio and the watchmen of Elsinore castle talk about an apparition that has been appearing. Horatio is sceptical. the ghost appears and vanishes, and Horatio comments that it resembles the dead king of Denmark, perhaps declaring the impending misfortune of the country.
Scene ii
Hamlet's uncle Claudius announces his marriage to Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude. Hamlet is very unhappy about it and still mourns his father. Claudius doesn't want him going back to school in Wittenburg. Alone, Hamlet wishes he could die. Horatio tells him of the apparition.
Scene iii
Laertes cautions his sister, Ophelia, not to fall in love with Hamlet because he is too far above her. Their father, Polonius, cautions Laertes about his behaviour in France. Polonius forbids Ophelia from associating with Hamlet.
Scene iv
The men wait outside for the apparition. When it appears, Hamlet is unsure whether it is an evil demon or the king's spirit, but doesn't care for his life so it doesn't matter. They follow the ghost.
Scene v
The ghost tells Hamlet of how Claudius murdered him. He encourages him to take revenge. Hamlet agrees but doesn't tell the others, deciding to pretend to be mad to cover his tracks.
ACT 2
Scene i
Polonius sends a spy to check on Laertes. Ophelia is upset by her accosted by Hamlet who grabbed her like a madman. Polonius thinks that Hamlet's lovesickness is making him mad.
Scene ii
The king and queen welcome Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, concerned about his erratic behaviour. Dignitaries from Norway enter and discuss business with the king. Polonius devises a plan to test Hamlet's love for Ophelia. Hamlet enters and greets his friends, complaining of his melancholy. A troop of stage players arrives and Hamlet schemes to use the play to see if Claudius is guilty.
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CONTEXT
Religion
Clashes of philosophies
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Skepticism: cautions to a fault, unwilling to take a leap of faith so doesn't act effectively
Neo-platonism: too dismissive of the mundane, practical realities of political life
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Associated with traditional Catholic Christianity, Aristotle etc
Playwrights weren't allowed to present Christianity directly on stage: Protestant iconoclasm, avoidance of theological controversy in the audience. Makes Shakespeare seem more secular than Milton or Dante
Shakespeare invokes allegorical modes and conventions at the same time as experimenting with new, more naturalistic modes of representation e.g. Falstaff as a vice character in Henry V (paraphrased Patrick Gray 11/11/20)
Philosophy
Senecan tragedy: like an action movie. Vengeance and violence are accepted if a loved one is involved (e.g. Liam Neeson in Taken)
Socrates: reveals cognitive dissonance underlying their incoherent beliefs. Shakespeare highlights this through Hamlet's delay to kill Claudius --> emphasises the departure from the Senecan conventions of revenge tragedy
Contrast with Othello = doesn't delay long enough, jumps to conclusions too quickly.
Imperatives of Post-lapsarian politics (after the Fall of Man)
How acceptable is it for a Christian to make moral compromises? Henry IV / V, Hamlet
Hamlet is a symbol of the new Protestant theology = educated in Wittenberg, the birthplace of Lutheranism
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THEMES & MOTIFS
Madness
Inwardness as 'allegorical psychomachia' (Everyman, physical presentation of human features, good & evil angel in Dr Faustus) vs
Inwardness as soliloquy (Hamlet talks to himself = more naturalistic. Stream of consciousness)
Is Hamlet pretending? Shakespeare is investigating madness. Genuine interest and response to a historical anxiety about competing claims over theology.
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CHARACTERS
Plot vs Character
Shakespeare puts character development at the centre of his plays = different to Aristotle's view that plot is more important than character
Critical view = Margreta de Grazia ('Hamlet's Thoughts and Antics'): we have overvalued character in our assessment of Hamlet --> DISAGREE
Ophelia
- Institutional Marriage --> she is caught between two visions of marriage: arranged / companionate like Romeo & Juliet