Hamlet Binder

Article One

Article One

A#1"Wilson infers that Gertrude had a life -interest in the crown , and it may be that Shakespeare had in mind how in earlier versions of the story Hamlet's father acquired the throne by marriage; but the rights he accords Gertrude as dowager he is content not to define. What is clear is that Claudius became king before taking her 'to wife' but consolidated his position by a prudent marriage."(14)

A#2 "If we read Gertrude's marriage as a sequel to Claudius' coronation, we assign a very poor role to her: she becomes a helpless victim of circumstances; she loses a husband, then a new king is elected with little regard for her possible interest in the state as 'jointress', then she is seduced by the new king, who finally weds her for political reasons. It is doubtlessly part of the playwright's intention to present her in this light (see below, p. 173), yet there is more to Gertrude in the text. Something of the paratactic grammar of myth has rubbed off on Shakespeare. Laertes tells Claudius that he is there 'to show my duty in your coronation'; Horatio tells Hamlet he came 'to see your father's funeral'; Hamlet replies sarcastically it must have been 'to see my mother's wedding'. All three statements are found in the same scene (I. ii). We are not told which of the three events came first, which last, though we infer from Claudius' speech in I. ii. 1 ff. that the wedding has just taken place."

A#3 "On this same critical day Hamlet mourns his father's death' 'But two months dead - nay, not so much, not two'; seven lines later: 'within a month'; his pain makes his reckoning of time unreliable, but if it is Gertrude's wedding that, as Claudius seems to imply, has taken place on this day, when did the coronation take place? "

Article Two

Article Two

A #1 " Hamlet the malcontent, Hamlet the lunatic, Hamlet the ideal Prince, and Hamlet the neurotic make interesting academic conversation, but they are not, as Renaissance scholars would have it, the "whole man." They do not embrace the primordial mythic darkness that lies at the heart of Shakespearean tragedy; they do not project the eternal anguish of the human situation. Our most brilliant critics have already realized that Hamlet is a ritual scapegoat, but they have not yet grasped the artistic particularity of his archetypal role" (35).

A #2 "Polonius, archetypal "informer," suffers the classic fate of the stool-pigeon-murdered while trying to call the authorities. Ophelia in modern dress becomes the blond-haired kid from the next tenement who is shattered when her lover kills her dearest relative (cf. On the Waterfront). Laertes is her hot-tempered, mixed-up younger brother who seeks his initiation into adult society by matching knives with the hero" (35).

A#3 "Consider finally the vexing problem of the Ghost. Surely Shakespeare could have invented a more plausible way of communicating vital information. Dead men tell no tales, but drunkards brag in their cups, poison comes from apothecaries grave-diggers are notoriously loose-tongued. It is striking, is it not, that Shakespeare sophisticates his tale of primitive passion by staging it in Renaissance dress and yet retains in the Ghost a vestige of primeval superstition" (36).

Article Three

Article Three

A#1"Hamlet fits Into several of the defining traits of a tragic hero in literature, particularly in terms of how he possesses a tragic flaw. The fact that Hamlet’s best trait is also his downfall (his tragic flaw, in other words) makes him a prime candidate for a tragic hero and in fact, makes him one of the most tragic figures in the works of Shakespeare in general. More specifically, what makes Hamlet even more of a tragic hero is that his actions and tragic flaw is not his fault. He is an introspective character and in a normal situation, this might not be a problem."

A#2 "However, being part of the royal family makes him prone to negative and stressful situations and thus his engagement with words to level in which he is almost crippled is absolutely tragic, even if it is not because of anything he had overtly done. For Hamlet, the power of language and words are the key to both the driving action of the play as well its outcome as all characters have somehow been affected by poisoned words."

A#3 "In many senses, each character’s sense of reality has been created and shaped because of their relationship to language and words, often to tragic ends and for this reason, it becomes clear that his fascination with language is part of his tragic flaw as a character. The reader of this play by Shakespeare is offered some degree of foreshadowing when the ghost of Hamlet’s father states, in one of the important quotes from Hamlet that Claudius has poisoned “the whole ear of Denmark" with his words. Although the reader is not aware of it yet, words will drive the action of the play. For instance, it is not necessarily Hamlet’s actions toward Ophelia that are part of what drives her to suicide, but his words. He, like other men in the play, scolds her like a child, telling her she should enter a nunnery instead of becoming a “breeder of sinners" (III.i.122-123). While he may have simply ignored her or shunned her in a more physical manner, instead he uses the power of words to act as daggers."

Annotation

This "creature" could potentially be a seed or some sort of plant. It is innocent because nothing has become of it yet, and no evil has been sprouted.

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The creature will serve some sort of responsibility to society that is unknown. In Hamlet, Ophelia's archetype is the innocent, making it hard for her to decipher between good and bad.

The creature is not exposed to the outer world yet, as it is still beneath the soil. Ophelia is sheltered by her father Polonius, and advises her not to go out of her way to speak to Hamlet again announcing that, "[He] would not, in plain terms, from this forth have [Ophelia] so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet" (1.3.41-43).

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Annotation

Ophelia not knowing the difference between right and wrong, she is sought to be a spy by her father "that [Hamlet], as 'twere by accident may affront Ophelia" (3.1.32-34).

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Comparison of the human to the creature in the soil

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In Hamlet, Ophelia continuously grows, but her innocence and always seeing the brighter side of things causes her to become mad.

Ophelia's innocence at the beginning of the play depicts her to be pure and harmless referring to being cut, or well maintained like mowing a lawn. However, Ophelia becomes the sharp point of the grass because her innocence is lost through lies, false love, deceit, and the death of her loved one which then brings her to commit suicide.

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The heart and flesh of someone who has no evil experiences, just purity

Aguirre, Manuel. "Life, crown, and queen: Gertrude and the theme of sovereignty." The Review of English Studies, vol. 47, no. 186, 1996, p. 163+. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A18579247/GLS?u=fair35939e&sid=GLS&xid=995b1ce1. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.

1

This article includes information on old folklore which can be depicted in Shakespeare’s works of art through character archetypes and characteristics. Along with this, The article goes into depth about the importance of Gertrude’s role in the play, with the effect she has on those around her like Claudius and Hamlet. Firstly, her hasty marriage to Claudius allowed for his power to be validated through means of royalty and sovereignty. Throughout the play, she remains loyal to her new husband and continues to ignore her son’s cries for help, which can be seen through his own isolation and crazed demeanor. In doing so, Gertrude's archetype can be identified as a loyal companion to Claudius. As readers can interpret, Gertrude may have not been a love interest at all. Instead, Claudius may have just been using her to spite Hamlet. In marrying Hamlet’s mother, he revokes the claim to the throne from Prince Hamlet and takes away the security system Hamlet should have had during the period of mourning. In this way, Gertrude initiates Hamlet’s demise as he begins to loath his mother and use that anger to fuel his drive to murder. However, at the end of the play, as Gertrude drinks the poison for Hamlet, she can be identified to be a dynamic character in her ability to develop from granting Claudius sovereignty to then transferring it to Hamlet after realizing who truly deserves her loyalty. Because of this, Gertrude’s archetype can also see a transition into one of the caregiver: a mother dedicated to the well being of her son.

Hogan, Linda. Innocence. Poetry Foundation, 2014, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/

57907/innocence-56d23bd375f1a. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

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The poem “Innocence” written by Linda Hogan is presented through the eyes of an innocent being who also see’s the innocence through an object found in the soil. The creature beneath the earth floor is maintained through its natural habitat where there is no exposure to society. The possibilty of a seed being planted in the ground could blossom into a flower, and the flower is an indication of innocence as Ophelia also holds one in Hamlet. While continuing to grow, society can eventually cause one to be blind about what could be right and wrong if one is innocent. Ophelia will grow and mature but by being influenced by outside factors such as her father Polonius, who corrupts her to become a spy. This causes her to be evil towards Hamlet, when she doesn’t intentionally mean to betray him. Ophelia’s archetype is an important aspect in the play because she plays the innocent, while everyone around her has some sort of malevolent behaviors around her. The connection between the poem and Ophelia's innocence ties together because they both display the unaffectedness of one's life without any interference from negative factors. Unaware of what is to come when beginning to grow, her sheltered life affects her from detecting the presence of the negative factors she is surrounded with.

Ornstein, Robert. “The Mystery of Hamlet: Notes toward an Archetypal Solution.” College English, vol. 21, no. 1, 1959, pp. 30–36. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/372440. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018.

Although Dr. Ornstein has printed two articles on American Literature in the College English, his major field is the Elizabethan period and his other publications have been on Tourneur, Marlowe, Donne, and Shakespeare. With graduate degrees from Wisconsin, he has taught at Oberlin and the University of Connecticut, and is now an assistant professor at Illinois College. This scholarly article provides information about how archetypes are used throughout the play. In addition, it also supports ideas that Hamlet is unlike any of the other works William Shakespeare has written due to the ambiguity of the main character, Hamlet, and his relationship with the other characters.

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Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2012.

4

Throughout the story Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, there is an astonishing amount of detail. Hamlet is an alive and kicking story about seeking revenge for his father. The play is a marvelous story that brings suicide, insanity, procrastination, and sarcasm all into one. The play opens with the death of the old King Hamlet, and also ends with a series of deaths. When a ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet swears revenge and crafts an elaborate and psychologically perplexing plot to avenge his father’s death.This play has been widely read as the key to understanding our deepest and most elusive psychological and emotional interiors. Hamlet has uncovered Shakespeare’s ability to unveil the yearning at the core of human nature.

Smith, Nicole. “Shakespeare's Hamlet as a Tragic Hero.” Article My Riad,

www.articlemyriad.com/shakespeares-hamlet-tragic-hero/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2018

5

This article focuses on Hamlet’s archetype as a hero within the play. The author explains how Hamlet displays many of the characteristics which come with being a hero, such as the need to fulfill an important task, facing adversity and pertaining a fatal flaw. Hamlet has proclaimed his loyalty to his father as well as his undying grief over his passing. In so, these aspects, along with his mother’s immoral decision to remarry the man who killed his father, has driven him to his task: murder Claudius. His adversity is his own image, his crazy persona which has played a role in his isolation and ultimately made many betray him i.e (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern). However, Hamlet also exemplifies the perfect description of a hero in his flaw which his inability to act. This flaw is a factor in his demise, for had he actually killed Claudius he could have spared many lives, including his own. Hamlet’s depiction in the play serves as a Tragic hero, one who could not complete his destiny and, instead, had forsaken many. Along with this, the article also describes the use of language in the play and how it established the roles of all the characters, but more specifically Hamlet’s. His usage of poetic speech created an elegance to his character which contradicted his crazy alternate personality. However, his language also described the writing style of Shakespeare, a topic which the author of this article touched upon.