Aim: What is the physical and political setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet ?

1. Aim: What is the physical and political setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet? Do Now: What do you know of William Shakespeare and the character of Hamlet? HW: Read Act I, Scene 2. Upon meeting Hamlet, what are your first impressions? How is the Prince of Denmark characterized in his first scene?

2. Why is it so important to read Hamlet? • Hamlet is widely considered one of the greatest plays written in the English language. • It is one of the most quoted and most referenced works in literature. • More has been written about Hamlet than any other literary character. • It is part of our cultural consciousness.

3. It’s modern English – seriously! Old English 5th-12th c. Modern English 16th-21st c. An excerpt from Hamlet: To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-- • An excerpt from Beowulf: Næshieðærefyllegefeanhæfdon, manfordædlan, þæthie me þegon, symbelymbsætonsægrundeneah; ac on mergenne mecum wunde be yðlafeuppelægon, Middle English 12th-15th c. An excerpt from The Canterbury Tales: Whanthat aprill with his shouressoote
 The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
 And bathed every veyne in swichlicour

4. Language • Blank verse – unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter • Iambic Pentameter – consisting of 10 syllables, alternately stressed and unstressed - To BE or NOT to BE… • Shakespeare’s lines maintain a regular beat adding to the beauty of his words! That’s partly why so many of his lines are memorable. • Prose – without any rhythmical structure. Shakespeare does use prose but normally for servants, clowns, commoners to indicate a class distinction.

5. Setting • The action of the play is set in and around the Danish royal palace at Elsinore. • The Kronborg Castle in Denmark still stands today and has been home to many productions of Hamlet within its walls.

6. Doubling • Opposites are examples of a language device that recurs through the play. • It is the use of ‘and’ to achieve a ‘doubling effect: tremble and looks pale,’ sensible and true avouch,’ ‘gross and scope,’ ‘strict and most observant.’ • The technical term for this use of doubling is hendiadys. • What is the purpose of this use of doubling or hendiadys? • Dramatic effect • Length and delay

7. [Enter Ghost] • Shakespeare is rumored to have played the ghost of Hamlet’s father. • What does the early introduction of the ghost set up for the play? • Political conflict – Young Fortinbras may want to regain lost lands. In addition, it begins to question the stability of the new monarch. Young Hamlet is mentioned, but at the beginning of 1.2, we see that Denmark is now ruled by King Claudius… • Foreshadow – something is rotten in the state of Denmark. The use of the supernatural indicates an omen. • A product of his time – the anxiety over the transition of the throne was something Shakespeare and his contemporaries were experiencing with Queen Elizabeth. The concept of the legitimacy of the throne is an idea we see repeated throughout Shakespeare’s work during this period. (1600, 1601)