Hamlet by Shakespeare

Historical time period – Medieval England and Europe

By Jocelyn Wong
Thesis
“Shakespeare stayed truthful to
his audience by incorporating
honest historical contexts into
Hamlet's plot, including the
concept of "The Great Chain of
Being" and references to the
Protestant Reformation.
Nevertheless, by utilizing
Renaissance's humanism,
Shakespeare created a play
transcends beyond time.”
Introduction
• Hamlet remains the
most famous English
play since it’s
inception four hundred
years ago
Introduction
• Shakespeare is a
business man and he
needs to sell tickets.
Creating plays which
are relevant to his
audiences and
creating resonance
remained his top
priority.
Introduction
• Shakespeare
incorporates historical
contexts into Hamlet’s
plot, including “The
Great Chain of Being”,
the Protestant
Reformation and
Renaissance’s
Humanism.
Hamlet’s Characterisation
• The adaptation of
Medieval context had
created a juxtaposition of
plot vs character
development in the play
• Hamlet is described as
deeply melancholic, torn
between responsibilities
and inaction
• Such complication keeps
the play Hamlet
interesting and relevant
after four hundred years
The Great Chain of Being
• The Great Chain of Being is a
fundamental Elizabethan social
hierarchy most relevant to
Shakespeare’s audiences.
• each individual possesses their
position and rights from birth,
the top of the chain being God,
with a King underneath,
followed by Heir, Nobles,
Commoners and others.
The Great Chain of Being
• The chain is broken with King
Hamlet being murdered and his
Heir Hamlet became the
illegitimate son of the usurper,
King Claudius
• Shakespeare’s audience can
relate to this disruption as their
Queen Elizabeth I was facing
challenges of her legitimacy to
take the throne of England
• And she bears no Heir. The
Chain of England is also viewed
as being broken.
The Ghost
• King Hamlet's Ghost appeared
three times throughout the
play with each appearance
serving a different function
• The simple fact that King
Hamlet’s ghost appeared
indicates that he is not in
peace but in purgatory
• the concept of purgatory is of
Catholic origin but the
National religion in England
had been reformed to
Protestant, which denounces
purgatory.
The Ghost
• A religious conflict between
Catholicism and Protestant is
reflected in this concept of
purgatory.
• the Ghost urges Hamlet to take
revenge as he is burning in purgatory
fire; while Hamlet being Christian
doubts such setting and becomes
hesitant in his action.
• Furthermore, Hamlet fails to kill
Claudius when the latter is praying as
it is a Christian belief that if you kill
someone during a prayer, the person
shall go to heaven
• The implications of Protestant
Reformation play a crucial part in
affecting the plot development of the
play Hamlet
Renaissance Humanism
• Renaissance's humanism, allowing
deep insights into the study of inner
emotions and state of mind of human
being.
• The ideology promotes the cultivation
of reason hoping that coordination of
action and understanding would bring
great benefit to society
• And yet since human understanding of
the world was based on appearance, it
becomes most difficult for MAN to see
the truth underneath appearances.
• Hamlet, is an end product under such
complex philosophical beliefs.
Hamlet Transcends beyond Time
• complication in
characterization and
ambiguity, provides the best
scope for variations in
interpretations
• Directors and actors of
different generations from
different cultures can inject
their own touch in the play
• Each performance of Hamlet is
thus given a new life
Conclusion
• Shakespeare's close
reference to his
contemporary social and
political context has
contributed to the
success of arguably the
most famous English
language play in history.
THANK YOU