LIT 601 – Literary Masterpiece

MICHAEL JAY U. MOÑERA

MAED – LT

TASK: HAMLET by William Shakespeare

1. Historical Approach of Hamlet

2. Feminist Approach
3. Biographical Approach
4. Psychosocial Criticism
5. Diaspora Criticism
6. LGBTQ+ Approach
7. Deconstruction Criticism

Analyze the Play of HAMLET by William Shakespeare using Bubble Map

ANALYZING THE Play USING BUBBLE MAP

1. CHARACTERS
2. SETTING
3. PLOT
4. THEME
5. DIALOGUE
6. IMAGERY
7. FIGURE OF SPEECH
8. TONE
9. RHYME/RHYTHM
10. POINT OF VIEW
11. DEBATABLE THESIS
12. OVERALL ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL

NOTE: DEADLINE NOVEMBER 18, 2022

Historical Approach of Hamlet

Shakespeare presents us with a play where actions happen off stage and words
dominate; he also presents us with a protagonist who repeatedly refuses to act, but who’s
words, especially his soliloquies, most deeply affect the audience. If it is Shakespeare’s
intention to present the inability to act in the tragic flaw of the protagonist, he also presents
the audience with the fullest realised character whose words cause the tragedy as much
as his refusal to act let it happen. However, in the early 17th century the audience directed
the vast majority of their focus on the actions in the play and would have paid little
attention to the depth of the words. Hamlet states “poison in jest” which is the first-time
poison is specifically mentioned and suggests that’s how he believes his father died. Later
on, the King speaks of “a brothers murder”. At the time of Shakespeare, the audience will
have considered this as the most important parts of the play whereas in modern times,
the audience focuses more on the meanings behind the words and soliloquies and values
Shakespeare’s writing for these features, showing a modern bias amongst views of the
play.
Feminist Approach

Feminist critics have focused on the gender system of Early Modern England. For
example, they point to the common classification of women as maid, wife or widow, with
only whores outside this trilogy. Using this analysis, the problem of Hamlet becomes the
central character’s identification of his mother as a whore due to her failure to remain
faithful to Old Hamlet, in consequence of which he loses his faith in all women, treating
Ophelia as if she were a whore also. In the 20th century, feminist critics opened up new
approaches to Gertrude and Ophelia. New Historicist and cultural materialist critics
examined the play in its historical context, attempting to piece together its original cultural
environment. [95] They focused on the gender system of early modern England, pointing
to the common trinity of maid, wife, or widow, with whores outside of that stereotype. In
this analysis, the essence of Hamlet is the central character’s changed perception of his
mother as a whore because of her failure to remain faithful to Old Hamlet. In
consequence, Hamlet loses his faith in all women, treating Ophelia as if she too were a
whore and dishonest with Hamlet. Ophelia, by some critics, can be seen as honest and
fair; however, it is virtually impossible to link these two traits, since ‘fairness’ is an outward
trait, while ‘honesty’ is an inward trait. [96]
Carolyn Heilbrun‘s 1957 essay “The Character of Hamlet’s Mother” defends
Gertrude, arguing that the text never hints that Gertrude knew of Claudius poisoning King
Hamlet. This analysis has been praised by many feminist critics, combating what is, by
Heilbrun’s argument, centuries’ worth of misinterpretation. By this account, Gertrude’s
worst crime is of pragmatically marrying her brother-in-law in order to avoid a power
vacuum. This is borne out by the fact that King Hamlet’s ghost tells Hamlet to leave
Gertrude out of Hamlet’s revenge, to leave her to heaven, an arbitrary mercy to grant to
a conspirator to murder. This view has not been without objection from some critics.
Ophelia has also been defended by feminist critics, most notably Elaine Showalter.
Ophelia is surrounded by powerful men: her father, brother, and Hamlet. All three
disappear: Laertes leaves, Hamlet abandons her, and Polonius dies. Conventional
theories had argued that without these three powerful men making decisions for her,
Ophelia is driven into madness. Feminist theorists argue that she goes mad with guilt
because, when Hamlet kills her father, he has fulfilled her sexual desire to have Hamlet
kill her father so they can be together. Showalter points out that Ophelia has become the
symbol of the distraught and hysterical woman in modern culture.
Biographical Approach
 Over 30 years ago a renowned Hamlet scholar expressed his astonishment that
some 400 works a year dealing with the play were being received at The Shakespeare
Quarterly. The rate of Hamlet studies has increased quite considerably since then. To
make any headway in the study of any aspect of Hamlet, the use of bibliographies—
annotated, if at all possible—is often necessary. The most up-to-date resource is the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.; their publication, The Shakespeare
Quarterly, has one issue per year devoted entirely to bibliography. As to their on-line
searching, a search of the keyword "Hamlet" in Folger's web-based catalog, Hamnet
(accessed 1/25/2008) returned 2245 entries; the result does not include the number of
entries in the library's card-catalog.
Psychosocial Criticism

The essays that culminated in his book Hamlet and Oedipus (1949). Influenced by
Jones’s psychoanalytic approach, several productions have portrayed the “closet scene”,
where Hamlet confronts his mother in her private quarters, in a sexual light. In this
reading, Hamlet is disgusted by his mother’s “incestuous” relationship with Claudius while
simultaneously fearful of killing him, as this would clear Hamlet’s path to his mother’s bed.
Ophelia’s madness after her father’s death may also be read through the Freudian lens:
as a reaction to the death of her hoped-for lover, her father. She is overwhelmed by having
her unfulfilled love for him so abruptly terminated and drifts into the oblivion of insanity. In
1937, Tyrone Guthrie directed Laurence Olivier in a Jones-inspired Hamlet at The Old
Vic. Olivier later used some of these same ideas in his 1948 film version of the
play.Hamlet must face the fact that he has been sired by the man he loathes. That point
overturns T.S. Eliot’s complaint that the play is a failure for not furnishing an “objective
correlative” to account for Hamlet’s rage at his mother. Gontar suggests that if the reader
assumes that Hamlet is not who he seems to be, the objective correlative becomes
apparent. Hamlet is suicidal in the first soliloquy not because his mother quickly remarries
but because of her adulterous affair with the despised Claudius which makes Hamlet his
son. Finally, the Ghost’s confirmation of an alternative fatherhood for Hamlet is a
fabrication that gives the Prince a motive for revenge.
Formalist Approach
Shakespeare presents us with a play where action happen off stage, and words
dominate; ha also presents us with a protagonist who repeatedly refuses to act, but whose
words, especially his soliloquies, most deeply affect the audience. If it is Shakespeare’s
intention to present the inability to act in the tragic flaw of his protagonist, he also presents
the audience with the most fully realized character, whose words cause the tragedy as
much as his refusal to act let it happen. Across the play contrasts between the different
parts of the acts portray characters impressions of the lack of trust in the relationships
and their suspicions laced between them. The family of Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes
show constant distrust as they consistently advise one another, mostly for personal gain
rather than protecting the ones they love. This is shown when Laertes advises Ophelia
about her “chaste treasure” as in Shakespeare’s time women were only desirable as pure.
However, the ulterior motive behind this is to make sure his self-image is protected –
ultimately Laertes knows Ophelia’s sensitivity and understands his words will affect her
more than his actions.

LGBTQ+ Approach

In Queer theory it examines the manner in which characters behave according to

their assumed sexuality and gender, or how their behaviour deviates from these roles. This
school of criticism also takes the sexuality and gender of authors into account when
analysing a text. Scholars have been debating William Shakespeare’s sexuality for
decades, claiming his sonnets contain hints about his homosexual relationships. It is almost
certain that Shakespeare engaged in sexual relations with men as well as women
(Giantvalley 9. When reading Shakespeare’s play Hamlet from the perspective of queer
theory, the misogynistic and homoromantic behaviour of its protagonist Hamlet can be
explained by his struggles with his sexual identity. Throughout the play it becomes clear
that Hamlet struggles in his relationships with women. While Hamlet feels deceived by all
of his relatives, friends and servants, his hatred for the women in his environment is the
one he expresses most. Hamlet lost his trust in his mother Gertrude when she committed
to an incestuous relationship with her brother-in-law, a loss he expresses in 1.2, when he
says “frailty, thy name is woman”
Diaspora

According to J.R Lowell “Hamlet among all the characters of Shakespeare, is the
most eminently a metaphysician and psychologist. He is a close observer, continually
analysing his own nature and that of others, letting fall his little drops of acid irony on all
who come near him, to make them show what they are made of “.(7) It is true, Dislocation,
disjunction, instability and double vision have generally characterised the diasporic
writing. Often they are records of courage and endurance. Diasporic writing acquires an
appeal because they deal with the universal problems. Immigrant histories need not
necessarily be poignant biographies of loss and homelessness; they could well be stories
of fortitude and indomitable spirit and it is evident in the Hamlet. Diasporic writing too is
double faced: there is the preoccupation with home for a variety of different reasons, but
there is also the cultural representation of a society is statis. The body of writing Diaspora
needs continuing institutional thrust to engage the audience attention more systematically
and analytically. According to Edward Said “Survival in fact is about the connections
between things; in Eliot’s phrase, reality cannot be deprived of the “other echoes that
inhabit the garden”. (8) These connections between things, across space and time,
especially across both simultaneously, constitute the primary characteristics of Hamlet.
The treatment of the migrant condition, which has become a natural phenomenon in
literature, is the most engrossing topic, and an exciting and intellectual debate. The
postmodernist world has chosen the interdisciplinary and cultural studies as the major
thrust areas. Some literary men distinguish expatriation from immigration. The Expatriate
builds a cocoon around Himself/ herself as a refuge from cultural dilemmas and from the
experienced hostility or unfriendliness which they experience. Meditated by the
experience of migration and diasporic locations works of such writers reveal crucial
relations between their protagonists and the land . The interdisciplinary and cultural
studies is the much probed area in the academic exploration of the postmodernist world.
In this context identity and origin become structureless and assemblages.

Deconstruction Criticism

A literary criticism that emphasizes the internal working of language and

conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in
forms of expression. This can be done using binary oppositions (one cannot live without
the other. In Hamlet “To be or not to be--that is the question: Whether ‘this nobler in the
mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of
troubles and, by opposing, end them” (Shakespeare 3.1.57-61).
“Hamlet reluctantly agrees to stay at Elsinore instead of returning to study at Wittenburg”
(Shakespeare 1.1) “Of all the days i’ th’ year, I came to ‘t that/day that out last King Hamlet
overcame Fortinbras.../Why, here in Denmark. I have been sexton/here, man and boy,
thirty years” (Shakespeare, 5.1.146-147,164-165). Although there are implications that
Hamlet is somewhere around thirty years old and a college member, there is no concrete
foundation that neither solidifies nor denies that he is exactly that age and/or a college
student; he could be a professor, for all we know (Saylor Foundation, 14). There is nothing
in the text that specifies the details of what occurs in the royal bedroom of Queen Gertrude
and King Claudius, undermining the structure of Hamlet's path to revenge (Jones 7).
 By analyzing Hamlet through a deconstructive critique, readers can break down
the motives and perspectives of the royal family to find instability within the text, thus
proving that there is no definite meaning to the play. While Hamlet spends a lot of time
emphasizing how he is angry at Claudius and Gertrude for being in an incestuous
behavior--an idea further established once he interacts with the ghost of his father, there
is actually no sign of incest since Claudius is not related by Gertrude by blood, but by law;
this was broken the moment the late king died so they are technically no longer related.
The only thing that would be the symbol of Claudius and Gertrude being incestuous would
be Hamlet, who is related to both of them by blood (Mabillard 1). The relationship is
additionally not considered evil as well because while many would interpret “adulterate
beast” as a sign that Gertrude is in cahoots with Claudius, this is not specified, but rather
grazed over in the play. Gertrude remains relatively pure instead of being sullied with
intentions--her own possible sins would be not being considerate of her son’s personal
feelings.
To sum it up, In Hamlet, it is unlikely to find major characters within the plot who
speak an “absolute truth” since the text's meaning can fluctuate every time someone else
reads it, thus there cannot be a definite meaning to the play; this does not mean there is
no significant meaning to Hamlet, but its themes are not stable due to the nature of written
literature.
 CHARACTERS
PLOT SETTING
The King of Denmark has died and his wife, Gertrude, has married his brother,
Claudius. The king's son Hamlet has come home to Elsinore for his father's
Ophelia, Claudius, Polonius,
funeral.
Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. The ghost tells him that it was his brother
Laertes, Horatio, Hamlet, Elsinore, Denmark: in and
Claudius, the new king, who killed him and commands Hamlet to get revenge.
Hamlet has been behaving strangely and Claudius asks Hamlet’s childhood
Gertrude, Ghost of Hamlet's around the royal palace. The
friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to find out why.
A group of travelling actors visit the castle and Hamlet asks them to perform a
Father, Fortinbras, Yorick, story of Hamlet is set in the late
play about a man who murders a sleeping king, to see how Claudius reacts.
Hamlet tells his girlfriend Ophelia that he never loved her and then asks
Voltimand, Guildenstern, middle ages (14th and 15th
Gertrude how she can be happy when her husband has only just died. Rosencrantz, Osric, First
The actors perform the story of the murder of a sleeping king and Claudius
storms out. This confirms Hamlet's belief that Claudius killed his father. Gravedigger, Bernardo, centuries, or 1300 to 1499) in
Hamlet and his mother Gertrude argue about his behaviour. During their
argument Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, Ophelia's father. Reynaldo, Second and around (mostly) the royal
Hamlet will not tell anyone where Polonius’ body is. Claudius sends him to
England but he doesn’t arrive. Gravedigger, Cornelius, palace in Elsinore, a city in
Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, comes home and finds Ophelia has gone mad with
grief. She kills herself and Claudius and Laertes plot to murder Hamlet.
Hamlet agrees to fight Laertes. During the duel, Gertrude drinks poison and
Francisco, Marcellus. Denmark. Sixteenth-Century
both Hamlet and Laertes are fatally wounded. Hamlet kills Claudius before he
dies. Vibe, and in The Royal Court.

POINT OF VIEW

It focuses on the point of view of a single character:

THEME Hamlet himself, which makes him sympathetic even as
he commits unsympathetic acts. Hamlet has more lines
than any other character in Shakespeare, and nearly
40% of the lines in his play—the highest proportion of
The Theme of Hamlet lines Shakespeare ever gave to a single character.
Hamlet’s speeches are also exceptionally revealing: he
were all about Family, discusses his thoughts and feelings about profound
questions like the meaning of life, the possibility of an
Misogyny, Identity, and afterlife, familial and sexual love, suicide, religion, and
suffering. Despite his many flaws—recklessness, cruelty,
indecisiveness, misogyny—Hamlet has remained an
Madness. It explores enduringly popular and fascinating character because
Shakespeare shows us so much of his inner life that we
treachery, revenge, cannot help but sympathize with him. Hamlet reveals his
mental state to the audience throughout the play, so the
audience remains close to him and understands his
and moral corruption. motivations from beginning to end. Rather than
becoming estranged from the audience as he becomes
estranged from himself, like Macbeth, Hamlet continues
to question himself and his actions up until his death.

DIALOGUE
DEBATABLE THESIS
“There is nothing either
good or bad, but thinking
makes it so.”
― William
HAMLET According to Hamlet, the
marriage is “foul incest”
Shakespear, Hamlet
Play by William Claudius has had himself
“One should not commit a crowned King despite the
Shakespeare
foul or evil action because it fact that Hamlet was his
can hurt others.”
father’s heir to throne.

IMAGERY
OVERALL ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL
The imagery in the play of Hamlet is Hamlet, or The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of
composed of disease, poison, and Denmark, is a play by William Shakespeare. Of all
decay this adds to the overall of Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet is one of the most
famous and most enigmatic. The play tells the story
atmosphere of horror and tragedy. First,
of a young Danish prince, called Hamlet, whose
hamlet uses images of disease to show father, the king, has recently died. Early in the play,
the state of the country of Denmark and Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, who tells him
his mother. Second, the imagery of that it was Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, who killed the
king. Shortly after the murder, Claudius married
poison is used to describe his father's Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. The ghost tells Hamlet
death. that he needs to kill Claudius to get revenge for the
murder. Hamlet spends much of the rest of the play
Visual – On the Dark winter night a ghost debating when and how he ought to try and follow
appeared on the ramparts of the castle. the ghost's instructions.

RHYME/RHYTHM
FIGURE OF SPEECH The pattern most favored by
Shakespeare is iambic pentameter.
Based on what I have observed the author Iambic pentameter is defined as a ten-
used Apostrophe syllable line with the accent on every
“O God! O God! How weary, state, flat and other syllable, beginning with the
unprofitable seem to me all the uses of the TONE second one. The rhythm of this pattern
world. of speech is often compared to a
Dark, Uncertain, Introspective, beating heart.
Hamlet compares his misfortunes first to Tortured. It turns dark and
an attacker assailing him with “slings and brooding as Hamlet comes to terms The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch
arrows” and then to the sea, which with his own dark nature and resigns the conscience of the king.
threatens to overwhelm him with troubles. himself to committing more murders, The greater part of Hamlet is in blank
in his killing of Rosencrantz, verse — the unrhymed, iambic five-
Apostrophe Repetition. Metaphor. Simile. Guildenstern, and finally Laertes and stress (decasyllabic) verse, or iambic
Claudius. The many secrets in pentameter
Hamlet create an atmosphere of
mystery and conspiracy.