Week Three Drama: Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Historical and Biographical Approaches in Practice: Hamlet Queen Elizabeth’s advanced age and poor health leads to the precarious state of the succession to the British crown. Queen Elizabeth(1585)

Hence, Shakespeare’s decision to mount a production of Hamlet, with its usurped throne and internally disordered state, comes as no surprise.

Shakespeare's Hamlet was a remake of an already popular play, based in turn on an episode from the Dark Ages, the lawless, might- makes-right era that followed the collapse of Roman-era civilization. Ophelia

In the original legend, the prince was still a child when his father was murdered. And he learned of the murder from the beginning. Therefore he had to act insane in order to survive and wait for his revenge. The prince in this version was not a melancholic youth but a model of heroes. The Spanish Tragedy, a predecessor of Hamlet

There is some ground for thinking that Ophelia’s characterization of Hamlet may be intended to suggest the Earl of Essex. The portrait of Earl of Essex

Another contemporary historical figure, the Lord Treasurer, Burghley, has been seen by some in the character of Polonius. The Lord Treasurer, Burghley

Knowing about eleventh-century Danish court life or about Elizabethan England is particularly germane to analysis of Hamlet. Danish supreme court in session. Photo: James Whitmore/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, 1959

In Hamlet’s day the Danish throne was an elective one In Hamlet’s day the Danish throne was an elective one. The royal council, composed of the most powerful nobles in the land, named the next king. The third quarto of Hamlet (1605); a straight reprint of the 2nd quarto (1604)

Hamlet, Gertrude and the ghost The custom of the throne’s descending to the oldest son of the late monarch had not yet crystallized into law.

The charge of incest against the Queen Although her second marriage to the brother of her deceased husband would not be considered incestuous today by many civil and religious codes, it was so to be considered in Shakespeare’s day. Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard, 1839

Hamlet’s role in revenge Modern readers/playgoers may think that one of Hamlet’s flaws is that he took revenge into his own hands and not resort to law. However, in Shakespeare’s time, Hamlet, the son of a murdered father, and more importantly, the son of an usurped king, was not only the legitimate revenger, it was his duty to take revenge and restore order to Denmark.

What is “melancholy” to Elizabethans? Nervous instability. Rapid and extreme changes of feeling and mood. The disposition to be for the time absorbed in a dominant feeling or mood, whether joyous or depressed. Hamlet and the Gravediggers by Jean Dagnan-Bouverte

If we examine Hamlet’s actions and speeches closely through Elizabethan’s eyes, we will realize that at least part of Hamlet’s problem is that he is a victim of extreme melancholy. Ophelia drowned

Different versions of Hamlet Hamlet in German Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet The Raj Hamlet Shakespeare set in India Hamlet in German

Many Hamlets Mel Gibson, with Glenn Close as Gertrude Laurence Olivier Kenneth Branagh Richard Burton

Ethan Hawke, with Julia Stiles as Ophelia Campbell Scott Kevin Kline, with Dana Ivey as Gertrude Ethan Hawke as Hamlet

Shamlet! 莎姆雷特劇照 莎姆雷特官網 「莎姆雷特」彩排，水晶燈掉落

Related links and resources about Shakespeare and Hamlet The life of Queen Elizabeth– http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizabio.htm BBC- Drama- 60 seconds Shakespeare http://0rz.net/e61U6   屏風表演班 <<莎姆雷特>> http://www.pingfong.com.tw/shamlet2006/shamlet_02.htm Kakiseni.com– our Hamlet http://www.kakiseni.com/articles/features/MDYyNA.html Hamlet in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

Hamlet(2000) Director: Michael Almereyda Opening Scene: New York city, 2000, press conference (0:00-01:20) Opelia wore wiretap (video II 2000-1300) Interrefertiality (video II 1747-1900) Polonius got shot (video III 0500-0800) Mousetrap (video III 0000-0100)

《經典解碼—文學作品讀法系列叢書1：西方傳統文學研究法、神話原型批評》 歷史研究方法pp. 39-65 Reference 版本研究方法pp. 66-113

歷史研究方法 Geoffrey Chaucer, 1343-1400, The Canterbury Tales勾勒出中世紀社會各階層的代表人物 英國伊莉莎白時期重要詩人Edmund Spencer & 劇作家William Shakespeare，了解英國16世紀環繞著伊莉莎白女王（1533-1603）的歷史背景，以及英國宗教改革的問題。 伊莉莎白女王登基時（1558）面臨兩問題： (1) 宗教問題 (2) 她的女性性別問題（如婚姻，嫁給誰等） 一個未婚貞潔如聖母般的貞潔王后(virgin queen)，可使國家免於被他國統治的危機。 她在演說的修辭上，特別強調其雙性身分的優點（男女和一或雌雄同體）

歷史研究方法 女王崇拜風潮(the cult of Elizabeth) 詩人筆下所描寫的女王是一位融合Petrarch Francesco十四行詩傳統、田園詩文學、希臘神話、聖經人物的美人集錦圖。 成為神話中的正義女神，也是黃金時代(myth of the golden age) 神話中的Astraea女神 John Davis(1569-1626) Hymnes of Astraea，費心安排每一行第一個字母連結成Elisa Betha女王的別稱。 歌頌女王這些特質的文學創作成為16世紀文學的主流 Spencer The Shepheardes Calender, 1579>描述女王的美貌

Edmund Spencer The Faerie Queene Spencer 有poet’s poet之稱 以英格蘭代表詩人自許，展示其書寫國家主義詩歌的企圖心 The Faerie Queene 採用義大利詩歌形式，押韻形式為ababbcbcc。此特殊詩段為Spencer專用，故稱 “Spencerian Stanza” 是1580年間住在愛爾蘭奇柯曼城堡時期的創作 運用君王雙重身分的傳統，說明女王的雙重身分。

William Shakespeare Sonnet 73 William Shakespeare 共寫了154首十四行詩，以結構、意象及押韻來說，第73首是一首標準的莎士比亞式十四行詩(Shakespearean Sonnet) 與亨利八士宗教改革歷史相關 說話人將生命比成深秋、落葉、燒毀的教堂 表面上看似一首描寫感情的十四行詩，用宗教改革這段歷史解讀，讓本詩容更豐富，自然的死亡帶走人類寶貴的生命，人為的火焰吞噬修道院珍貴的文化遺產。

Reference:版本學 Beowolf 充滿爭議的古英文詩歌手抄本，為版本研究最佳範例。 1815年史詩首次出版，讓譯者有充分發揮翻譯藝術的空間