Hamlet - the Play

Hamlet -- the play

1) Hamlet is faced with many puzzles and uncertainties as he learns the extent of the problem he is faced with.

Is the ghost trustworthy? [Discussion Topic 1: Ghost--HamPlay1]

What is the nature of the ghost? Does it come from heaven, purgatory, or hell? The ghost says it comes from purgatory. The problem is that only Roman Catholics believed in purgatory, and Shakespeare leaned toward Protestantism. A committed Protestant at the time would have believed ghosts came from hell, but Shakespeare was not a committed Protestant--family members, maybe even his father, were Catholics. Therefore, is Hamlet's father's ghost from hell or is Shakespeare picking up on the ambiguous nature of ghosts and purgatory?

Hamlet idealizes his father and the ghost presents himself as an heroic ideal. Yet if it was a Christian ghost, why does it urge revenge? Is it an honest ghost, imposing on Hamlet a duty only Hamlet can fulfill? Or is it possible that it is an evil spirit that Hamlet must test?

Why is the ghost visible to all in the beginning but only to Hamlet in act 3?

A recent book, Hamlet in Purgatory by Stephen Greenblatt, explores Shakespeare's theology of heaven, hell, and purgatory in Richard III, King Lear, and Hamlet. Read the New York Times review.

Gertrude--how guilty is she? [Discussion Topic 2: Gertrude—HamPlay2]

Gertrude has the smallest part of all major characters and seems to have lived in the shadow of old Hamlet.

Gertrude was viewed by T.S. Eliot as not being a sufficient cause of Hamlet’s extreme emotion. “Hamlet (the man) is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in excess of the facts as they appear.”

If we assume Gertrude does not know about Claudius's murder of Hamlet Sr., is Hamlet going off on a tangent when he focuses on his mother's relation to Claudius or is her adultery – and a marriage to a deceased husband's brother would be prohibited by the Church of England at the time – a pertinent aspect of Hamlet's duty to straighten out?

Ophelia--does Hamlet love her despite her betrayal, as he claims to Laertes, or does she deserve his rough treatment? [Discussion Topic 3: Ophelia—HamPlay3]

She is seen by feminist criticism as the madwoman-as-heroine who “protests and rebels against family and social order.”

Or is she virtuous but afraid of thinking and feeling and acting on her knowledge?

Or are her actions a knowing betrayal of Hamlet? Does she knowingly and willingly allow her father and Claudius to spy on her and Hamlet while she lies about her true feelings? Is this a significant and culpable betrayal of Hamlet deserving of punishment?

Claudius--how can justice be obtained when the state is controlled by the criminal? Does revenge then become permissible? [Discussion Topic 4: Claudius—HamPlay4]

Note how correct Claudius consistently is in his assessment of Hamlet.

Note how the whole play is a duel between Hamlet and Claudius yet each uses others to seek his own end.

When Hamlet concludes that Claudius is indeed guilty, do his ends then justify his means? Does Hamlet's using and abusing of others – Ophelia, Gertrude, Polonius – taint Hamlet or do his ends justify his means?

2) Does Hamlet undergo a "sea-change" in Act 4 & 5 – a radical redirecting of focus and intention? If so, why and in what ways? [Discussion Topic 5: "sea-change"? —HamPlay5]

Some believe that the Hamlet who returns to Denmark from England has undergone a radical change (It’s sometimes referred to as Hamlet’s “sea change”).

Examine the Hamlet of 5.1 when he is with the gravedigger and examine the Hamlet of 5.2 when he is with Horatio.

Do you find the Hamlet of Act 5 different from the way he acted and spoke in the previous four acts? If so, in what ways and what does his changed attitude signify? If you find the same Hamlet, explain what his prime motives now in Act 5 are.

3) Is Hamlet's delaying of the revenge the ghost commands a weakness or a strength? [Discussion Topic 6: Delaying revenge—HamPlay6]

The play puts in parallel three young men of action: Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras.
A common view is that Hamlet delays, and that his delay is a fault. People often call his delay his tragic flaw. But is it? We see that Laertes and Fortinbras act much more quickly and resolutely than Hamlet does in the first four acts. Is their speedy action portrayed as exemplary? How would Shakespeare's conception of the character of Hamlet be different if Hamlet were patterned after Laertes and Fortinbras--quick and resolute in action? In your view, in the context of this play, is Hamlet's delaying of the revenge a weakness or a strength?

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