HAMLET

background

● 1596 - shakespeare’s father and his 11yr old son hamnet died

setting

● denmark - dark and gloomy part of northern europe with few hours of daylight
● fortress of helsingor (city of kronborg)

the plot

● king hamlet’s death and coronation fo his brother claudius

● king hamlet’s ghost appears to prince hamlet
● he was murdered by his brother (poisoned through the ear) and asks his son to
avenge him
● gertrude (hamlet’s mother) marries claudius
● ophelia (hamlet’s girlfriend) thinks he’s crazy - he’s pretending to be mad to be left
alone and fulfill his father’s wish
● hamlet leaves ophelia to complete his mission - he tells her he never loved her
● hamlet sets up a play to show what claudius did (play-within-a- play)
● argument with gertrude overheard by ophelia’s father (who is killed because hamlet
thought he was claudius)
● hamlet exiled to englsnd and opheli
a commits suicide
● unexpectedly runs sxros from hum
● claudius plots hamlet’s death (fencung match with poisoned sword
● gertrude drinks poisoned wine
● everyone dies

themes

● ghost → hamlet’s subconcious and inner self ( reason why he and his father have the
same name)
● psychoanalysis → a representation of a human being who’s lost all points of
reference and lives in restlessness and struggle
● parental relationships → telemachus complex: he was born while ulysses was gone -
absent father
● meaning of life → hamlet contemplates the worth of living (soliloquy ‘to be or not to
be’) - why come to life if we suffer and die / why does evil win ? meaninglessness of
life (nihilism) but he does not commit suicide because he has to avenge his father &
he doesn’t want to suffer more in the afterlife
● revenge → final massacre
● madness →
1. freud : lieben & arbeiten (love and work) if a person is not capable of
either of these things they are mad
 2. pirandello : the mad man is the only one who really understands life and sees it
doesn’t make sense - the only reaction to this is madness, the price for understading
life

● isolation and loneliness → hamlet pretended to be crazy to be lef alone and plan his
revenge
● suicide → hamlet knows his life doesn’t make sense and chooses to live. ophelia is
‘weaker’ because she is pure and innocent and doesn’t have the means to live
without her lover and father

ophelia’s name may come from greek →

ophello : to make someone grow - hamlet grew more mature after her death

ophelio : a person who owes

opheles : favorable/convenient

● Love → impossibility to love/there is no love in the play

gertrude : betrayed and disappointed by his mother → he cannot love women anymore and
can’t be with ophelia

● nietzcshe → when understanding life doesn’t make sense, men are symbolized by
these animals:

camel - acceptance
lion - refusal
child - full acceptance
as hamlet is a nihilist he stops at the stage of refusal

HAMLET’S MELANCHOLY

line 4 kin & kind is a pun

line 5 why are you still sad? (his father died only a few days before) + **clouds**

hamlet uses the most sophisticated language, so shakespeare sides with him - claudius
speaks with simple words.

line 6 **sun** is pronounced the same as son (he still feels his father’s son), and
counteracts the image of **clouds**

line 7 **nighted**

line 8 and think of denmark (his kingdom) as a friend → behave like a ruler, don’t think
about your father and think about your country
line 9 -10 enj. do not **ever** search for your father in the **dust (death)**

the dust appears on things that don’t move or react → all that is dead which cannot move.

line 11 - 12 not comforting or sympathetic and her words are not personal.

line 14 - 15 ‘if it is, why does it **seem** you’re still mourning ?’

line 16 ‘**seems** it **is**’ reusing his mother’s words.

line 18 - 21 negations

the cloak reappears in many of shakespeare’s works. my 1 **inky** cloak is not alore, nor my
2 **black solemn** clothes, or my 3 **windy forced breath** (natural reference), ****nor the 4
**river in my eyes** (natural reference), nor the 5 **dejected appearance** of my face , 6
**all elements of grief** can define me truly → line 16 - 23 describe the impossibility to
describe pain and grieving with words

these things are about one’s appearance: they can be faked. they may **seem** fake.

i have something within me that trascends and goes over just appearance - my pain is deep
and cannot be shown by a costume. these are nothing but the trappings (pun -
orpelli/decorations or traps) of my pain - these are only the physical (like a decoration, or
mask, external clothes) part of my grief. gertrude and claudius may be able to fake their
suffering at the funeral, they cannot understand the real suffering of hamlet.

line 27 repetitions, no synonims - claudius is a low character and shakespeare does not
sympathize with him. his low language is contrasting with hamlet’s sophisticated phrase.

your mourning duties are commendable (seems to sympathize with hamlet at first) but
youmust know your father lost his father as well - obvious assumption, as if hamlet didn’t
know and repeats what gertrude said.

the survivor’s duty is to mourn only for a limited amount of time, but to persevere in
obstinated suffering is a symptom of stupid stubbornness and **unmanliness**.

only the most evil and vile characters accuse of unmanliness.

it shows a will that goes against what god wants, because he chose to put the king in
heaven - bringing religion in the question.

line 36 a weak heart, impatient mind and poor comprehension of how the world and death
works.

line 37 death is understandable by the **mind** and normal, why stupidly take it to **heart**?

to do so is a fault against god, against death, and nature which is absurd to reason as we
are put in this world to die, and every man’s father inevitably dies
HAMLET’S SOLILOQUY

soliloquy - a dialogue a character tells themselves. hamlet dosen’t know ophelia is listening

to be or not to be - to be alive or to be dead

universal question which addresses humanity and not only himself - addresses US all, not
ME

is it more noble and worth it to suffer, or to take arms (to fight or to swim) against the
troubles of life (metaphor of the sea of troubles) and ending them ?

line 2-3 life is the answer

line 4-9 suicide is the answer

to die is to sleep endlessly and end the ache in his heart and the shocks the flesh has
endured.

when we come to lifeto suffer and die - the flesh is symbol of inevitable suffering in this
world. to take one’s own life is something to wishes for.

anadiplosis - line 9 and 10 repetition of a word at the end and begonning of 2 lines →
**EPIPHANY & TURNING POINT**

to die and sleep,

to sleep and maybe dream - is death not the end ?

is there a change you go on living after death? in the eternal sleep of death, the dreams that
may come after we’ve gotten rid of our mortality may be nightmares - they should stop us
from committing suicide.

this (lo scrupolo) is what makes a calamity (sventura) such a long life.

line 13-21 suicide is the answer. who would bear:

- whips and scorns (derisioni) of time

- the oppressor’s wrong
- the outrage(oltraggio) and insulting of the proud man
- the suffering/cramps of unrequited love
- the law’s delay (his father has not received justice yet)
- the insolence of power
- the scorn (sherno/derisione) that the patient receives from the unworthy, when he could kill
himself
line 23 - who would bear the weight of a malicious life if not for the **fear of something after
death? this is the reason he doesn’t commit suicide !**

the unknown country whose border no traveler returns from - metaphor for the afterlife

this puzzles the will about committing suicide, and makes it bearable to suffer this existential
dread than to fly towards pain that we do not know anything about, which may be even more
painful.

he is scared of what may come after death, but his soliloquy is meant to be a lesson for the
readers to find hope in our lives

LINE 27 - end of the hamletic doubt

MACBETH

characters

- macbeth
- lady macbeth (his wife)
- 3 witches
- banquo
- king duncan

● macbeth→ driven by ambition ignited by the 3 witches’ prophecies. tragic hero - he is

well aware of his moral decay while he commits bloody actions. (dehumanization)

lady macbeth → strong and masculine, is able to help macneth overcome his hesitation. it is
said she might be the fourth witch due to her ability to control her emotions and passions,
although this eventually drives her to insanity and suicide. (dehumanization)

the plot

set in medieval scotland. macbeth is one of the best generals in king duncan’s army, and
he’s returning home with his friend banquo. they meet 3 witches who tell them macbeth will
be the king of scotland and the next kings will descend from banquo’s family.

when he tells lady macbeth about the prophecy, she convinces him he must kill king duncan
to become the king of scotland. he kills the king, whose son malcolm flees to england, and
accuses two guards of the murder.

macbeth obtains the throne of scotland, but he doesn’t feel secure as he remembers the
witches’ prophecy and arranges banquo and his son fleance to be murdered.

at a banquet the ghost of banquo appears but is only visible to macbeth, whose strange
behaviour due to this is noticed by the guests. macbeth consults the witches again and they
tell him to beware of macduff, saying he cannot be killed by ‘one of woman born’ and until
‘birnham wood moves to dunsinane hill’ , which seems impossible thus convincing macbeth
he has nothing to worry about.

he learns macduff has left scotland to side with malcolm, so he has his wife and children
murdered.

meanwhile, lady macbeth is driven insane by her guilt, having been the one to push macbeth
to murder the king. malcolm and macduff get their army ready in birnham wood and lady
macbeth dies (possibly by suicide). macbeth is defeated by macduff, as his army moved
from birnham wood to dunsinane hill and he was born by cesarean section. malcolm
becomes king.

setting

scotland - a dark and gloomy place. macbeth is the darkest and shortest play

james I’s kingdom - he wrote about demonology, the play honors and glorifies the stuart
dynasty and scottish tradition

characters

macbeth → driven by ambition, he beocmes the worst possible version of himself. his
ambition is personified by the witches. he wasn’t born evil.

witches → they teach that prophecies mustn’t be taken literally, and symbolize the
relationship between man and god.

lady macbeth → the real protagonist, an overreacher, the puppeteer (puck). theorized to be
the 4th witch as she sometimes speaks like them. manipulative, quickly convinces her
husband to kill the king by accusing him of being unmanly.

themes

ambition → initiated by the witches but the characters follow their own desires as the story
progresses. it tranforms macbeth into a murderer, as uncontrolled ambition can never be
fulfilled or satisfied.

fate and witchcraft → witchcraft is what set the events in motion. macbeth acts upon the
prophecy while banquo doesn’t, and it forces macbeth to act again in a chain of events.

blood → many murders take place, useless bloodshed. it symbolizes guilt, because it stains
and it can’t be washed away. violence leads to violence

regicide → the health of a nation is determined by the morality of the monarch. nature is
affected negatively by the sense of guild which destroys everything.
act II scene II

macbeth is paranoic: rambling about things that make no sense. he feels sorry and guilty,
but lady macbeth shows no remorse and didn’t change her mind, she still thinks it was
necessary. macbeth fears he won’t be able to pray anymore and go to heaven, as he wasn’t
able to say ‘amen’ when the two guards woke up and prayed before falling asleep again.
lady macbeth is rational and starts giving orders, she asks him to bring the daggers so they
can make the guards look guilty of the murder. when macbeth keeps showing regret, his wife
accuses him of being unmanly and wishes she had killed the king herself.

act V scene V

soliloquy at the end of the play, the most powerful part - the queen’s death.

tomorrow is the subject repeated in the beginning, it symbolizes the future and the passing
of time. the soliloquy talks about how short human life is, futile and impalpable, like a candle
consumed by flame, a walking shadow, or an actor who performs on stage for a brief time
and is never heard from again and never remembered. sound and fury symbolize the frenzy
that life can be, and macbeth doubts it even has any meaning (nihilism). he has created his
own tragedy.

JULIUS CAESAR

roman histories

characters

julius caesar → protagonist with the least words in shakespeare’s plays. trench role: no one
wants to play it. he is a genius, brave and universally famous, beloved by most and could
write amazingly.

brutus → loved julius more than anyone in the entire world, but he thought he was
dangerous for rome: he is tormented, because what would you do if the person you love
most was a danger to society? he wouldn’t have the courage to kill him alone. he is a
honorable man, an intellectual and philosopher, and he thought julius was great because of
rome. he speaks in prose, language of rationality as he speaks to the minds of men.

mark antony → he thought rome was great because of julius. he speaks in iambic
pentameters because he speaks to the heart of men. he is romantic, passionate, beautiful.
made the same crowd that supported brutus change their minds in 3 minutes.

- they both loved caesar

- shakespeare doesn’t take sides
- no wrong answers
act II scene II

calphurnia, wife of julius, is intruduced. julius speaks of himself in third person. calphurnia
has an omen, so she tells him not to leave but he doesn’t listen. if he had listened maybe
things would have ended differently. caesar is strong-willed but self-centered, he says those
who talked behind his back would vanish if they looked in the face.

1. a lioness gave birth in the streets

2. graves have opened and let out the dead
3. warriors fought over the clouds and rained blood
4. noise of battle in the air
5. horses neigh
6. dying men groaning
7. ghosts scream in the streets

act III scene I

parallelism between move and commove. compares himself to the pole star, resting,
immobility. spark - not rigid, dynamic. unassailable, a war term. unshaked of emotion - not
affected by emotions.

act III scene II

brutus → speaks in third person with rhetoric ability, and speaks of the past and the present
at the same time. he puts himself in the audience’s shoes and sees from their perspective.
he says caesar’s fault was ambition.

mark antony → declares that evil actions remain even after one’s death, but doesn’t accuse
caesar of anything. he praises him and says rome was rich and great thanks to him, and
that he was generous and not ambitious. he still sympathizes with brutus, and refers to him
as honorable and noble and speaks passionately and with much emotion.

THE TEMPEST

1610 - 1611, romance (comedy + tragedy)

romance catered towards both poor (supernatural anc comical) and rich (sophisticated
entertainment)

text structure

1st scene - **shipwreck** (3%)

2nd scene - **island** (96%)

3rd scene - **epilogue** (1%)

act I scene I - the shipwreck

- courtmen
- sailors
- hierarchy - the courtmen thunk they are superior even at sea
- technical language for sailing

characters

- alonso - king of naples, thinks the hierarchy works at sea, ferdinand’s father
- gonzalo - old man, king’s councillor, wise honest and faithful, white beard and hair
- sebastian - alonso’s brother
- antonio - prospero’s brother
- stefano & trinculo - comical element

turning point - ‘all is lost!’ they think they won’t survive the tempest.

3 points of view

- sailors : internal to the tempest, they are afraid and they think they’re going to die
- miranda : external, she sees brave people fighting to stay alive
- prospero : is the cause of the tempest

themes

- guilt
- forgiveness
- reconciliation
- english colonialism - metaphor in the play
- true protagonist - the tempest ( metaphor for facing problems)
- utopia - the island is a microcosm. the ideal land has no ruler according to prospero
- conscience - sebastian and antonio talk about the possibility of killing the king. sebastian
asks him about his conscience/feeling guilty, antonio ‘where is that?’ because it is intangible
and doesn’t really affect him.
- revenge vs forgiveness - prospero chooses to forgive alonso - play written late in
shakespeare’s life, more mature
- dreams - ‘we are such stuff as dreams are made on , and our little life is rounded with a
sleep’ our body and soul and dreams are immaterial and not eternal. dreams dissolve after
waking up, like our bodies decompose after death, and our soul flies away from it. (memento
mori)

setting

the island may be in the mediterranean

time reference - respects the aristotelic units: the story takes place over 4 hours, so the
play/representation lasts 4 hours.
act II scene I

15 year-old miranda sees the tempest from the island. miranda’s name means beautiful both
in body and soul, she is the only female character.

prospero is the protagonist & mastermind who caused the tempest to take place. when he
wears his cloak he becomes a wizard, when he takes it off he is a father and duke of milan.

the story starts with prospero and miranda at the beach and he tells her (and the audience )
what happened in a flashback. prospero’s brother usurped his throne and sent him and
miranda to the island for 12 years.

magic is the thread connecting the whole play.

ariel - air spirit who serves prospero, who promised him freedom if he did what he ordered.
he uses white magic and caused the tempest.

caliban - earth spirit, monster-like, son of sycorax the witch and the devil. tried to rape
miranda to populate the island. speaks with poor and incomprehensible language.

act III scene I

miranda and ferdinando, son of alonso. while alonso is evil and an usurper, ferdinando is
loyal and fell in love at first sight with miranda. she did the same as he was the first young
man she ever saw. their encounter is planned by prospero, as ferdinando asks to marry her.

act III scene III

on the island a banquet drops from the sky and a monster (ariel dressed as a monster)
appears. contrast between amazement and sudden fear - the characters think they’re going
crazy.

act IV scene I

the weddong is organozed by prospero. he sees miranda as a mere object, ‘giving’ her to
ferdinando.

act V scene I

at the masquerade miranda sees humanity for the first time ever and refers to it as a ‘brave
new world’