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HAMLET

Written during the first part of the seventeenth century (probably in 1600 or 1601 Ha!let

"as probably first perfor!ed in #uly 160$% As "as co!!on practice during the si&teenth andseventeenth centuries' ha)espeare borro"ed for his plays ideas and stories fro! earlier literary

"or)s% The ra" !aterial that ha)espeare appropriated in "riting Ha!let is the story of a *anish

prince "hose uncle !urders the prince+s father' !arries his !other' and clai!s the throne% The

prince pretends to be feeble,!inded to thro" his uncle off guard' then !anages to )ill his uncle

in revenge%

Ha!let is faced "ith the difficult tas) of correcting an in-ustice that he can never have

sufficient )no"ledge of . a dile!!a that is by no !eans uni/ue' or even unco!!on% And "hile

Ha!let is fond of pointing out /uestions that cannot be ans"ered because they concern

supernatural and !etaphysical !atters' the play as a "hole chiefly de!onstrates the difficulty of

)no"ing the truth about other people . their guilt or innocence' their !otivations' their feelings'their relative states of sanity or insanity% The "orld of other people is a "orld of appearances' and

Ha!let is' funda!entally' a play about the difficulty of living in that "orld%

What separates Ha!let fro! other revenge plays is that the action "e e&pect to see'

particularly fro! Ha!let hi!self' is continually postponed "hile Ha!let tries to obtain !ore

certain )no"ledge about "hat he is doing%

Many people have seen Ha!let as a play about indecisiveness' and thus about Ha!let+s

failure to act appropriately% t !ight be !ore interesting to consider that the play sho"s us ho"

!any uncertainties our lives are built upon' ho" !any un)no"n /uantities are ta)en for granted

"hen people act or "hen they evaluate one another+s actions%

*irectly related to the the!e of certainty is the the!e of action% Ho" is it possible to ta)e

reasonable' effective' purposeful action n Ha!let' the /uestion of ho" to act is affected not

only by rational considerations' such as the need for certainty' but also by e!otional' ethical' and

psychological factors% Ha!let hi!self appears to distrust the idea that it is even possible to act in

a controlled' purposeful "ay% When he does act' he prefers to do it blindly' rec)lessly' and

violently% The other characters obviously thin) !uch less about 2+action++ in the abstract than

Ha!let does' and are therefore less troubled about the possibility of acting effectively% They

si!ply act as they feel is appropriate% 3ut in so!e sense they prove that Ha!let is right' because

all of their actions !iscarry%

Everything is connected in Ha!let' including the "elfare of the royal fa!ily and thehealth of the state as a "hole% The play+s early scenes e&plore the sense of an&iety and dread that

surrounds the transfer of po"er fro! one ruler to the ne&t% Throughout the play' characters dra"

e&plicit connections bet"een the !oral legiti!acy of a ruler and the health of the nation%

*en!ar) is fre/uently described as a physical body !ade ill by the !oral corruption of 4laudius

and 5ertrude' and !any observers interpret the presence of the ghost as a supernatural o!en

indicating that 2+so!ething is rotten in the state of *en!ar)++% The dead )ing Ha!let is portrayed

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as a strong' forthright ruler under "hose guard the state "as in good health' "hile 4laudius' a

"ic)ed politician' has corrupted and co!pro!ised *en!ar) to satisfy his o"n appetites% At the

end of the play' the rise to po"er of the upright ortinbras suggests that *en!ar) "ill be

strengthened once again%

78ME8 A9* #:LET

ha)espeare did not invent the story of 7o!eo and #uliet% He did not' in fact' even

introduce the story into the English language% A poet na!ed Arthur 3roo)s first brought the story

of 7o!eus and #uliet to an English . spea)ing audience in a long and plodding poe! that "as

itself not original' but rather an adaptation of adaptations that stretched across nearly a hundred

years and t"o languages% Many of the details of ha)espeare+s plot are lifted directly fro!3roo)s+ poe!' including the !eeting of 7o!eo and #uliet at the ball' their secret !arriage'

7o!eo+s fight "ith Tybalt' the sleeping potion' and the ti!ing of the lovers+ eventual suicides%

uch appropriation of other stories is characteristic of ha)espeare' "ho often "rote plays based

on earlier "or)s%

ha)espeare+s use of e&isting !aterial as fodder for his plays should not' ho"ever' be ta)en

as a lac) of originality% The play distinguishes itself fro! its predecessors in several i!portant

aspects; the subtlety and originality of its characteri

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The the!es of death and violence per!eate 7o!eo and #uliet' and they are al"ays

connected to passion' "hether that passion is love or hate%

The the!e of death continues throughout the play until its inevitable conclusion; double

suicide% This tragic choice is the highest' !ost potent e&pression of love that 7o!eo and #uliet

can !a)e% t is only through death that they can preserve their love' and their love is so profound

that they are "illing to end their lives in its defense%

MA43ETH

ha)espeare+s shortest and bloodiest tragedy' Macbeth tells the story of a brave cottish

general (Macbeth "ho receives a prophecy fro! a trio of sinister "itches that one day he "ill

beco!e )ing of cotland% 4onsu!ed "ith a!bitious thoughts and spurred to action by his "ife' Macbeth !urders

)ing *uncan and sei

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to ever !ore terrible atrocities% The proble!' the play suggests is' that once one decides to use

violence to further one+s /uest for po"er' it is difficult to stop% There are al"ays potential threats

to the throne . 3an/uo' leance' Macduff . and it is al"ays te!pting to use violent !eans to

dispose of the!%

A M*:MME7 95HT+ *7EAM

Written in the !id . 1B0s' probably shortly before ha)espeare turned to 7o!eo and

#uliet' A Midsu!!er 9ight+s *rea! is one of his strangest and !ost delightful creations' and it

!ar)s a departure fro! his earlier "or)s and fro! others of the English 7enaissance% The play

de!onstrates both the e&tent of ha)espeare+s learning and the e&pansiveness of his i!agination%

The range of references in the play is a!ong its !ost e&traordinary attributes; ha)espeare dra"s

on sources as various as 5ree) !ythology (Theseus' for instance' is loosely based on the 5ree)hero of the sa!e na!e' and the play is peppered "ith references to 5ree) gods and goddesses=

English country fairy love (the character of Cuc)' or 7obin 5oodfello"' "as a popular figure in

the si&teenth . century stories= and the theatrical practices of ha)espeare+s London (the

crafts!en+s play refers to and parodies !any conventions of English 7enaissance theater' such as

!en playing the roles of "o!en% urther' !any of the characters are dra"n fro! diverse te&ts;

Titania co!es fro! 8vid+s Meta!orphoses and 8beron !ay have been ta)en fro! the !edieval

ro!ance Huan of 3ordeau&' translated by Lord 3erners in the !id 1@0s% :nli)e the plots of

!any of ha)espeare+s plays' ho"ever' the story in A Midsu!!er 9ight+s *rea! see!s not to

have been dra"n fro! any particular source but rather to be the original product of the

play"right+s i!agination% 2+The course of true love never did run s!ooth++ co!!ents Lysander' articulating one of

A Midsu!!er 9ight+s *rea!+s !ost i!portant the!es . that of the difficulty of love% Though

!ost of the conflict in the play ste!s fro! the troubles of ro!ance' and though the play involves

a nu!ber of ro!antic ele!ents' it is not truly a love story' it distances the audience fro! the

e!otions of the characters in order to po)e fun at the tor!ents and afflictions that those in love

suffer% The tone of the play is so lighthearted that the audience never doubts that things "ill end

happily' and it is therefore free to en-oy the co!edy "ithout being caught up in the tension of an

uncertain outco!e%

The the!e of love+s difficulty is often e&plored through the !otif of love out of balance

. that is' ro!antic situations in "hich a disparity or ine/uality interferes "ith the har!ony of a

relationship% The play has strong potential for a traditional outco!e' and the plot is in !any "ays

based on a /uest for internal balance= that is' "hen the lovers+ tangle resolves itself into

sy!!etrical pairings' the traditional happy ending "ill have been achieved%