Northern Border University

College of Arts and Science

Department of Languages and Translation

Shakespeare

Academic Year: 2023- 2024

Taught by: Faiz Ahmed Aljobaei

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 Shakespeare and Elizabethan Literature

1. Characteristics of Elizabethan Literature:

The Elizabethan Age (1558 - 1603) refers to the period of Elizabeth I's reign and is
characterized by vigorous intellectual thinking, an age of adventure and discovery, a time in
which new ideas and new experiences were sought after. The period revolutionized many
aspects of English life, most significantly literature. This new approach to things found its
genesis in the Italian Renaissance and was also much influenced by the development of
intellectual thought in France and other European nations. It was a time of discovery, when
sailors journeyed far and wide and were introduced to many new cultures and civilizations. All
this impacted on the way people thought.

These influences had a marked effect on English literature and many new styles of writing were
introduced. This was the period in which the sonnet was popularized after its introduction by
Thomas Wyatt early in the 16th century. Wyatt had brought to attention the beauty and
artfulness of the Petrarchan sonnet. Shakespeare made significant changes to the Italian
model and introduced his own style, now known as the English (or Shakespearean)
sonnet.

The Elizabethan Age is considered the Golden Age of English literature. English writers were
intrigued and heavily influenced by Italian Renaissance writing and readily adopted this
model. This period also saw the introduction of a new genre in English theatre, the
tragicomedy, which became very popular. The era is also considered the era of sonnets. The
works of writers such as Shakespeare, Wyatt and Thomas Campion became very popular as
printed literature and was widely distributed in households. Drama, under Elizabeth's reign,
became a unifying influence, drawing people of different social classes together, since
watching a play became a common experience and was not exclusively restricted to the gentry
or upper class. Commoners and royalty could enjoy the same performance in each other's
company, albeit in separate seating arrangements.

Elizabethan Literature has so deeply stamped its authority on all future literate endeavours and
developments, that we, almost half a millennium later, still study it and admire its exceptional
beauty and greatness.

The arts, including literature, and nationalism thrived during the Elizabethan Age. This was the
time of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and of Shakespeare.

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The Elizabethan Age can be identified by the following characteristics:

1. This was a period of great literary creativity and prolific writing. The works included a
variety of prose and verse with topics ranging from Platonic idealism, to romance, to
repulsive realism.

2. Romance dominated all types of literature including drama and plays that were of
utmost importance during this time.

3. This was a time of great experimentation that resulted in wonderful new discoveries
and imposing failures that often became literary topics in both drama and prose. Science,
theology, and the geography were topics of poetry and literature in general.

4. Literature in Elizabethan England was heavily influenced by that of Italy, and to a lesser
extent by that of Spain and France.

5. Authors during this era came from all of the classes including distinguished courtiers
to poor poets who hung out in local taverns, but invariably all were male.

Some of the most famous and prolific writers of this period include Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund
Spenser, Roger Ascham, Richard Hooker, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare.

The literary characteristics of the Elizabethan Age are so numerous one answer can't begin to
fully cover the question, but I can get you started. The Elizabethan Age is part of the English
Renaissance. As such, ideas, forms, themes, etc., from the Italian Renaissance and ancient
Greece and Rome lead to what becomes Elizabethan literature. Poetry, for instance, comes to
be dominated by the sonnet. Poetry moves away from the narrative to the lyric, specifically
the lyrical sonnet. Drama imitates and builds on Greek and Roman tragedy, particularly in the
person of Shakespeare.

Whether you are dealing with poetry or drama, one characteristic of Elizabethan literature is
that it is highly stylized, though not as much so as some of the poets that would write
later. Iambic pentameter dominates poetry and Shakespeare's drama.

2. Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare

The Early Plays: There are no accurate records of Shakespeare’s early theatrical successes.
Among his early works are the exceptional two-part play, The Wars of the Roses and The
Whole Contention betwixt the two Famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster. The Comedy of
Errors consisted of many hilariously comic situations. Titus Andronicus is a tragedy in the high

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Roman fashion. The Two Gentlemen of Verona broke ground as a new style of romantic
comedy. The Taming of the Shrew is renowned for its wittiness. Love’s Labour’s Lost is a witty
spoof on society. Romeo and Juliet presents tragedy, comedy, and merriment.

The Histories: Shakespeare drew inspiration from Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587) for
his English history plays and from Edward Hall’s earlier account of The Union of the Two
Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke (1548). From these, as well as several other
sources he imbibed traditional themes such as the birthright of royal succession, the need for
unity and order in the kingdom, the unacceptability of dissent and treason, the cruelty and pain
of war, the corruptive influence of money, the importance of family ties, the necessity of human
understanding and careful calculation, and the power of God’s influence, which protected his
followers, punished evil, and drove England into the stable comfort of Tudor rule. After
completing the last of his English history plays, he wrote about the Roman emperor, Julius
Caesar, who was particularly fascinating for the Elizabethans. After six or seven years
Shakespeare returned to the Roman theme again in, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus.

The Great, or Middle Comedies: The comedies written between 1596 and 1602 have much
in common. With the exception of The Merry Wives of Windsor, all are set in ‘imaginary’ lands
—Illyria, Messina, Venice and Belmont, Athens, or the Forest of Arden. In these plays, the
lovers are young and witty.

Their actions involve wooing which ultimately leads to marriage. Shakespeare’s sources were
varied, and he was inspired by, Italian novels (The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About
Nothing), a rustic English story (As You Like It), an Italian comedy (the Malvolio story in
Twelfth Night), or even his own imagination (probably A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and parts
of each of his plays). Using all these sources he portrayed exceptional mastery in theatre.

The Great Tragedies: Shakespeare’s mastery and contribution of the world of drama is most
visible in his tragedies — Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Antony and
Cleopatra and Coriolanus. Each of these works address different issues and are unique in their
own way.

The Dark Comedies: Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well That Ends Well and
Measure for Measure are known as dark comedies as they address the comic aspect in a
questioning, satiric, intense and very dark manner.

The Late Plays: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII, were
written between 1608 and 1612, and are collectively known as Shakespeare’s ‘late plays’, or

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his ‘last plays’. A common feature in all these plays is that they conclusively lead towards
reconciliations, reunions and resolution of difficulties even though they portray tragic or
pathetic emotions; events move toward a resolution of difficulties in which reconciliations and
reunions are prominent.

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in the same church where he was baptised.
The inscription on his tombstone reads:

Good Friend for Jesus’ sake forbear

To dig the dust enclosed here;

Blest be the man who spares these stones,

And curst be he that moves my bones.

There has been no comparison of Shakespeare in literature; he is ranked above all in English,
reigning the world literature supremely, sitting parallel to Dante, the Italian poet of the Late
Middle Ages, and the great writers of the Golden Age of Greece and Silver Age of Latin
classics. Shakespeare did not loudly confirm his assent to any specific movement or literary
trend as many other eminent writers did.

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 Elizabethan and Shakespearean Theatre
1. Elizabethan Theatre

English Renaissance theatre—also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan

theatre—refers to the theatre of England between 1562 and 1642. This is the style of the plays
of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson.

The Elizabethan era saw the rise in the popularity of theatres and during this time the staging
of plays moved from renovated inn-yards to the building of huge out door amphitheatres, such
as the Globe.

Elizabethan theatre derived from several medieval theatrical traditions, such as the Mystery
plays, which were based on biblical themes. They were also influenced by the Morality plays
that emerged from the mysteries; and the plays by the University Wits who recreated Greek
tragedies. The Italian tradition of Commedia Dell’arte (artistic comedy) as well as the rich
masques that were often enacted before the court also helped in the shaping of public theatre.
But the Elizabethan theatre was different from the Medieval Age dramas as the theatre came
out of the purview of the church to become secular and dealt with themes which were not
typically religious as those of the Medieval Age were.

Shakespeare and his contemporaries were inspired by stories from English and European
history, as well as by other poems and plays. In the sixteenth century, plays were initially
enacted on stages set up against walls in the yards of inns (hotels). Troupes of actors travelled
across the country performing in inns and in the houses of the rich. In 1576, three theatres were
set up in London. One was at Blackfriars and the other two, ‘The Theatre’ and ‘The Curtain’,
were erected in Shoreditch fields.

Just like the Royalists promoted literature and theatre, there was a faction in England called the
Puritans who had a strong dislike for theatre, as they saw the theatre as an immoral place.
Though Queen Elizabeth herself was a great admirer and promoter of theatre, still women were
not allowed to act in plays in the Elizabethan era. The women characters were mostly played
by boys who used to cross-dress as females. The authorities of the City of London, who were
primarily Puritans, were generally hostile to public performances, but their hostility was
overruled by the Queen’s liking for plays.

Theatres sprang up in suburbs, which was accessible across the Thames River to city dwellers,
but beyond the authority’s control. All the theatres of London during the Elizabethan era had

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their own uniqueness, yet the commonality of their function meant that they needed to have a
similar general approach. The public theatres usually extended to a height of three stories and
were constructed around an open space at their centre, into which a stage jutted. This stage was
basically a platform surrounded by the audience on three sides, with access to the rear being
restricted for movement of the actors and seating of the musicians. The upper level just behind
the stage was used as a balcony. In Elizabethan theatre the stage was largely bear with only a
few props, and there were no lavish scenery or sets used. Hence, the main visual experience
was created through the use of elaborate, bright and visually appealing costumes. However,
costumes were expensive and most of the actors wore contemporary clothing, irrespective of
the time period of the play.

The stage was primarily bare, and the backdrop of the play was left simple for the audience to
use their imagination. Mostly a placard was hung on the stage door to suggest where the scene
is set. A flag was unfurled to suggest that the play has started. After some music, an actor would
come on stage and give the gist of the setting of the play to make the audience understand the
backdrop against which the play is about to be performed. If the play lacked a prologue then in
the opening scene(s) the backdrop of the play is referred to, to tell the audience where the play
is set.

2. Shakespearean Theatre

All art has a history; all artistic creation springs from sources, influences, and traditions. If we
can understand something of where Shakespeare came from, then we will be better able to
understand the works he created. In addition, knowing what tools of the stage were at
Shakespeare’s disposal will help us understand how and why he wrote the plays that he did.

In 1567, a man named James Burbage opened a theatre in central London called The Red Lion.
This is the invention of modern theatre as we know it: a public space where people will pay
money to watch a play performed. Within three decades, a host of theatres like this one would
arise in London, including Shakespeare’s Globe. These theatres were built outside of the
original Roman walls that surrounded the city proper of London because the city was controlled
by Puritan leaders, who outlawed theatre within the city limits because they despised and
distrusted theatre.

Shakespeare and his colleagues built their theatres across the river, on the south bank of the
Thames. This was also the area of the bear-baiting pits, gambling dens, seedy taverns, and
whorehouses. This was, in short, the area of illicit activity, and here is where Shakespeare was

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at home. Now, this doesn’t mean that his plays are not absolute triumphs of high literary art.
He could, at the very least, traverse both the high and the low of society.

As we study Shakespeare’s plays, watch for how Shakespeare shows all the strata of society—
from the most common workers to kings, queens, and even gods—what we will call the broad
society tool. He wanted to know every aspect of his society so that he could present it truthfully
on the stage—so that he could hold the mirror up to nature.

The theatres would cater to a very mixed audience. There could be as many as 3,000 spectators
for any play—a huge number for a city of about 200,000—and it would attract the whole range
of the population.

The interiors of these theatres were roughly round or octagonal in shape, and inside there would
be seating going upward in boxes on at least three sides of the stage. The stage itself was a
thrust stage, which is pushed out among the audience who would surround the playing area.
This is the opposite of a proscenium stage, where the actors are more on distant display from
the audience.

In Shakespearean theatre, the actors could see and even interact with the audience, and vice
versa. As you read or listen to a soliloquy, or solo speech, for example—keep in mind that
those intimate speeches are meant to be a shared intimacy between the actor and the audience,
who is brought into the scene through the soliloquies.

The light would be natural daylight augmented by torches—no spotlights or scenes in the dark.
There was virtually no scenery; Shakespeare’s stage was quite bare. The idea of a highly
elaborate, lifelike stage that really resembles the world emerged in the Victorian era. As you
visualize these scenes and try to imagine how they might appear on stage, keep this in mind
and focus on the heart of the play, which is its language. Shakespeare constantly tries to use
language masterfully in order to conjure an illusion—an illusion that, if we participate in it,
can almost become our reality.

In Shakespeare’s theatre, there was very little scenery, and the audience would know what the
few props meant. For example, a throne in the middle of the stage meant that the scene was set
at court and a tree meant that the actors were in a forest. In short, the audience knew the
conventions. This theatre was not realistic, but rather, the illusion had to be accepted by the
audience—this is the idea of Shakespeare’s “contract with the audience.”

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 a. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men

London’s first permanent playhouse had been established in the 1570s, and by the 1590s
professional theatre was big business. During the closure of the theatres some companies went
out of business, and when the theatres were reopened in 1594 Shakespeare began to write
exclusively for a new company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, in which he was a shareholder.
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men included Richard Burbage, who was considered the greatest
actor of his day. Burbage was almost certainly the first actor to play all of Shakespeare’s lead
roles, from Romeo to Lear. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men quickly became London’s most
popular theatre company. Shakespeare was rich and famous. He bought a mansion in Stratford.
In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built their own theatre, the Globe, on the south bank of
the Thames.

b. Performances at Court

Neither Queen Elizabeth I nor King James I went to the theatre. Instead, they summoned
Shakespeare and his company to perform at their palaces. We know that Elizabeth saw
Shakespeare’s plays performed regularly. Elizabeth definitely saw The Merry Wives of
Windsor and Love’s Labor’s Lost because both plays were published with title pages
announcing that they had been performed for the Queen. When King James first came to
London in 1604, he appointed himself the patron of Shakespeare’s company, who were
renamed the King’s Men. The King’s Men were paid ten pounds per performance at court, and
were given extra cash to buy scarlet royal servant robes, which they wore in the procession at
James’s coronation. James enjoyed theater, and Shakespeare’s company performed more often
for the King than they had for Queen Elizabeth. The King’s Men performed at King James’s
court around ten times a year. Records show that James’s court saw Measure For
Measure , King Lear , The Merchant of Venice (twice), Much Ado About Nothing , The Winter’s
Tale and The Tempest.

The audience at the royal court was made up of the most powerful noblemen and women in the
country. Many of these aristocrats were highly educated. Elizabeth I spoke several languages
and wrote poetry of her own, while James I was the author of weighty volumes on political and
theological subjects. The aristocracy was especially interested in history, and noblemen took it
badly if one of their own ancestors was presented in a negative light. When Shakespeare
portrayed the historical Sir John Oldcastle as drunken and cowardly, Oldcastle’s descendants
took offence, and Shakespeare quickly changed the character’s name to Falstaff. We know the

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name-change must have been hasty because the plays in which Falstaff appears, Henry IV Parts
1 and 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor , still contain a few jokes that don’t make sense with
the character’s new name. Shakespeare also had to be careful to omit any negative references
to Scottish people before performing his history plays for King James. Had a play displeased
the king, Shakespeare could have been thrown in jail.

c. Actors

In Shakespeare’s England women were barred from performing on stage. Female characters
were played by boys dressed and made up to look like women. These boys were apprenticed
to older actors, who taught their apprentices the craft of acting. Some of the apprentices must
have been excellent actors in their own right. Many of Shakespeare’s most challenging roles
were written for boy actors, including Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth
in Macbeth . Several of Shakespeare’s female characters, like Rosalind in As You Like It and
Viola in Twelfth Night , dress up as young men. This required the boy actors to play women
who were pretending to be men, which would be a challenge for any actor. Cross-dressing
allowed Shakespeare to explore gender and sexuality in ways that could be provocative. The
religiously devout group known as the Puritans were outraged by the boy actors dressing up as
women, and they were even more outraged when these “women” dressed up as men.

Shakespeare wrote parts with particular actors in mind. The lead roles in his tragedies were
written for Richard Burbage, who was the best actor in Shakespeare’s company and the most
famous actor of his day. A poem written in tribute when Burbage died in 1619 suggests that in
Shakespeare’s lifetime, when people thought of Hamlet, Lear or Othello, they thought not of
the playwright but of Burbage, who created those characters onstage. As well as a powerful
stage presence, Burbage had an impressive memory. Thirteen of the characters Shakespeare
wrote specifically for him have more than 800 lines dialogue. Burbage was also renowned as
a stage-fighter, which is one reason most of his characters, including Romeo, Hamlet, Richard
III and Macbeth, fight duels.

d. Closures & Censorship

The theatre business came with risks. First and foremost was the plague. Outbreaks caused the
government to shut down all the theatres in London on a regular basis, most seriously for nearly
two years from 1593 to 1594. During these closures, actors had to find other ways to make
money. Acting had political risks as well. All plays were subject to censorship by a government
official called the Master of the Revels. It was illegal to perform plays which directly discussed

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political issues. This law may explain why Shakespeare’s political plays are set in either
medieval England or ancient Rome. In those settings, Shakespeare could explore questions
about how a country should be ruled without appearing to criticize the government of his own
day. Playwrights also had to be careful about discussing religion or anything that might be
considered “immoral.”

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 Shakespearean Comedy
Introduction

If there is a single element that unites all Shakespearean comedies, it is a wedding, or several
weddings, at the end of the play. Although not all of the fourteen plays classified as comedies
in the First Folio are particularly light-hearted or humorous, all end with at least one marriage.
Other features of Shakespearean comedy include disguises, usually in the form of cross-
dressing; thwarted lovers; wordplay; preposterously complicated plots; and music and song.
Unlike tragedies, whose events have lasting negative consequence for the protagonists and
society at large, the conflicts in comedies are reconciled before serious harm can come to
anyone Because the audience knows the discord is only temporary, we don’t take the foibles
and misfortunes of the characters seriously, trusting they will end the play happier than they
began. The earliest examples of the comedic genre date back to Aristotle, who said that while
tragedies concern characters who are more admirable than the average audience member,
comedies concern characters who, because of their exaggerated flaws, such as buffoonish self-
importance, are less admirable than the audience. In ridiculing these cartoonish characters,
comedies satirize the pretensions of society.

Because the characters in Shakespearean comedies test and deceive each other by disguising
their identities and even pretending to be dead, the plots of comedies can resemble the plots of
tragedies. For example, Hero fakes her own death in Much Ado About Nothing , in much the
same way Juliet fakes her own death in Romeo and Juliet . But because the truth in Much Ado is
revealed before anyone is harmed by Hero’s deception the device is comic, whereas in Romeo
and Juliet, Juliet’s fake death leads to the real death of the play’s lovers, making it tragic.
Dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the characters, is a common theme of
Shakespearean comedy, and keeps the audience from becoming too deeply invested in the
potentially upsetting plot twists before the happy conclusion. The love potion Puck applies to
the sleeping lovers’ eyes in Midsummer Night’s Dream and the cross-dressing disguise Viola
assumes in Twelfth Night are examples of dramatic irony. The audience knows Titania is not
really in love with a donkey in Midsummer Night’s Dream, and that the “boy” Olivia loves
in Twelfth Night is actually a girl. The characters, lacking similar knowledge, behave foolishly,
while the audience laughs at their predicaments.

Shakespeare’s Comedies: All’s Well that Ends Well , As You Like It , The Comedy of
Errors , The Taming of the Shrew , A Midsummer Night’s Dream , The Merchant of Venice , The

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 Tempest , Love’s Labour’s Lost , Measure for Measure , Twelfth Night , The Merry Wives of
Windsor , Much Ado About Nothing , Two Gentlemen of Verona , The Winter’s Tale

Characteristics of Shakespearean Comedy

Here are the main characteristics:

 Shakespearean Comedy themes

The dominant theme is of love, distance and union especially of separation lovers who
overcome obstacles and reunite in harmony. There is a clear conflict between the values of
reason and control (Apollonian) and values like freedom and lust, (Dionysian).

These are often scripted in terms of frequent clashes between characters. The Shakespearean
comedies had several thematic elements and almost always ended with a marriage.

Marriages constituted the achievement of happiness and the promise of continued

happiness. Example: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night.

Another thematic tool was a misconception, especially between lovers. This was the prime
force behind humour. Example: In Much Ado about Nothing etc.

Another element to add irony in comedy was the use of disguise particularly the women
disguised as young men. Of course, this had an element of the inevitability of circumstance as
at the time all women characters were played by young male actors.

Shakespeare just leveraged the circumstances and used gender and sexual identities to
embellish his work. Example: As You Like It etc, Use of sexual politics is seen in comedies
like The Taming of the Shrew etc.

 Shakespearean Comedy Structure

His comedies had an enmeshment of humour and tragedy. They provided a harmonious blend
of the two. Even the same character showed great interchange of tragic and comic strands.

In a very artistic transfusion comedy was used to bring relief from the sorrow or pain and create
a level of resolution and reconciliation along. Much like the comic release in his tragedies, his
comedies have a severe and grave undertone or dark background.

Humour is used to assure that human life is not always delight or despair, often it is both. In
Comedy, the characters exhibit a certain internal weakness for each other as comedy demands
action and counter-action.

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 Unlike tragedy, the reconciliation is not death but a comic and happy solution like a marriage.

 Plot

The plot typically began with the introduction of main character/s. This gave way to some form
of conflict or tragic event followed by a tumultuous journey of self-discovery.

After much introspection and reflection, some form of reconciliation was reached. Finally, the
conflict was resolved in a happy ending. The third act usually had the climax and the final
scene had some form of celebration of love and togetherness like marriage etc.

The scenes are not located in life-like things and usually transport the audiences to an elysian
or dream-like reality. Another trademark of Shakespearean Comedy is the interweaving of sub-
plots in the main plot.

 Shakespearean Comedy Characters

There were some recurring characters in the comedies like the drunk, the fool, the clever
servant and young lovers. They were often stereotypical caricatures to offer enough latitude for
the audiences to laugh at their expense.

 Tools and Devices

His comedies contain a wealth of imagination and poetry but also a touch of realism. Verbal
antagonism and verbal humour were appreciated in the same. Use of allusions, metaphors,
insults and puns were also profuse in Shakespearean comedies like As You Like It etc.

The playwright also used fantastic and supernatural elements to amuse the audiences and bore
an underlying philosophical theme.

Vocal and instrumental music was used to illuminate and foreshadow the characters, provide
momentum to the plot and sheer entertainment. Use of popular songs and ballads is also seen.

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 Shakespearean Tragedies
What Is a Tragedy?

The word tragedy was derived from the Greek word tragoidia, which means ‘the song of the
goat.’ It is called "the song of the goat" because in ancient Greece the theater performers used
to wear goatskin costumes to represent satyrs.

Today in theatre and literature a tragedy is a work that has an unhappy ending. The ending
must include the main character's downfall.

“Tragedy is a serious play or drama typically dealing with the problems of a central character,
leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in ancient drama, by fate and a
tragic flaw in this character, or, in modern drama, usually by moral weakness, psychological
maladjustment, or social pressures.”

— Webster Dictionary

What Is a Shakespearean Tragedy?

A Shakespearean tragedy is a play penned by Shakespeare himself, or a play written in the style
of Shakespeare by a different author. Shakespearean tragedy has got its own specific features,
which distinguish it from other kinds of tragedies. It must be kept in mind that Shakespeare is
mostly indebted to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy in his works. The elements of a Shakespearean
tragedy are discussed below.

“A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete
in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language; in a dramatic rather than narrative form;
with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.”
(Aristotle)

When we use the word tragedy to describe a Shakespearean play, we are referring to its
designation in the First Folio, but more importantly, we mean that the play fits a set of dramatic
conventions established by the ancient Greeks. Calling King Lear a tragedy doesn’t just mean
that it is sad, (although it is.) Lear is a tragedy because, like all the Shakespeare’s tragedies, it
tells a story of an admirable character who makes a terrible mistake. This mistake causes
suffering for the character and chaos for his community. In King Lear, Lear gives his kingdom
to the wrong heirs. By the time he realizes his mistake many characters are dead, and Lear dies
of grief. The ancient Greeks believed tragedy was useful because the audience
experienced catharsis, or emotional release, through the hero’s suffering. The mistake that the

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hero makes is called a hamartia. Hamartia comes from a Greek word that can be translated as
to err, or to miss the mark. Most classic tragic heroes suffer from hubris, or the arrogant belief
that they are immune to negative consequences for their actions, and this hubris contributes to
their hamartias. Fate also often plays a role in the hero’s actions: many tragedies explore the
tension between the role of fate versus free will.

Similar to the classic Greek plays, Shakespeare’s twelve tragedies almost always feature a
noble-born hero who makes a mistake, with disastrous consequences for both the hero and the
larger community. In addition to hubris, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often suffer from
symbolic blindness. Othello’s blindness to an enemy’s malevolence leads him to trust the
enemy more than his own wife. Lear’s blindness to his daughters’ true feelings causes him to
gives his kingdom to the wrong heirs. Macbeth’s blindness to the meaning of the witches’
prophecies convinces him he is invincible. Fate, often represented by the supernatural (such as
the witches in Macbeth ,) still plays a role, although many of Shakespeare’s plays emphasize
the protagonists’ inner turmoil more than external forces. Romeo and Juliet proves the
exception to many of these rules: the heroes are not royals, and it is arguable whether they have
made a fatal error leading to their downfall, or whether their tragic ends function as sacrificial
deaths necessary for the warring families to acknowledge the folly of their feud.

Shakespeare’s Tragedies: Titus Andronicus , Romeo and Juliet , Julius

Caesar , Hamlet , Othello , King Lear , Troilus and Cressida , Macbeth , Antony and
Cleopatra , Timon of Athens , Coriolanus , Cymbeline.

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The 9 Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy:

Elements Explanation

Tragic Hero A main character cursed by fate and possessed of a tragic flaw.

A Struggle Between Good This struggle can take place as part of the plot or exist within
and Evil the main character.

Hamartia The fatal character flaw of the tragic hero.

The good being destroyed along with the bad at the resolution
Tragic Waste of the play. Often played out with the unnecessary loss of life,
especially of "good guy" characters.

This can be a problem facing the hero as a result of the plot or

External Conflict
a "bad guy" character.

Internal Conflict The struggle the hero engages in with his/her fatal flaw.

The release of the audience's emotions through empathy with

Catharsis
the characters.

Supernatural Elements Magic, witchcraft, ghosts, etc.

Lack of Poetic Justice Things end poorly for everyone, including the "good guys."

One or more humorous characters who participate in scenes

Comic Relief
intended to lighten the mood.

All Shakespearean tragedies include these elements in some shape or form.

Below we are going to take a more in-depth look at each of the elements of Shakespearean
tragedy, as well as explore a few examples.

1. The Tragic Hero

A tragic hero is one of the most significant elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. This type of
tragedy is essentially a one-man show. It is a story about one, or sometimes two, characters.
The hero may be either male or female and he or she must suffer because of some flaw of
character, because of inevitable fate, or both. The hero must be the most tragic personality in
the play. According to Andrew Cecil Bradley, a noted 20th century Shakespeare scholar, a
Shakespearean tragedy “is essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to
death.” (Usually the hero has to face death in the end.)

17
An important feature of the tragic hero is that he or she is a towering personality in his/her
state/kingdom/country. This person hails from the elite stratum of society and holds a high
position, often one of royalty. Tragic heroes are kings, princes, or military generals, who are
very important to their subjects. Take Hamlet, prince of Denmark; he is intellectual, highly
educated, sociable, charming, and of a philosophic bent. The hero is such an important person
that his/her death gives rise to full-scale turmoil, disturbance, and chaos throughout the land.
When Hamlet takes revenge for the death of his father, he is not only killing his uncle but
inviting his own death at the hands of Laertes. And as a direct result of his death, the army of
Fortinbras enters Denmark to take control.

2. Good vs. Evil

Shakespearean tragedies play out the struggle between good and evil. Most of them deal with
the supremacy of evil and suppression of good. According to Edward Dowden, a 19th century
noted poet and literary critic, “Tragedy as conceived by Shakespeare is concerned with the
ruin or restoration of the soul and of the life of man. In other words, its subject is the struggle
of Good and Evil in the world.” Evil is presented in Shakespearean tragedies in a way that
suggests its existence is an indispensable and ever-enduring thing. For example, in Hamlet, the
reader is given the impression that something rotten will definitely happen to Denmark
(foreshadowing). Though the reader gets an inkling, typically the common people of the play
are unaware of the impending evil.

In Julius Caesar, the mob is unaware of the struggle between good and evil within King Caesar.
They are also ignorant of the furtive and sneaky motives of Cassius. Goodness never beats evil
in the tragedies of Shakespeare. Evil conquers goodness. The reason for this is that the evil
element is always disguised, while goodness is open and freely visible to all. The main
character (the most pious and honest person in the tragedy) is assigned the task of defeating the
supreme evil because of his goodness. As a result, he suffers terribly and ultimately fails due
to his fatal flaw. This tragic sentiment is perfectly illustrated by Hamlet in the following lines:

“O cursed spite,

That ever I was born to set it right."

3. Hamartia (tragic flaw. Downfall)

Hamartia is the Greek word for “sin” or “error”, which derives from the verb hamatanein,
meaning “to err” or “to miss the mark”. In other words, hamartia refers to the hero's tragic flaw.
It is another absolutely critical element of a Shakespearean tragedy. Every hero falls due to
18
some flaw in his or her character. Here I will once again reference A. C. Bradley, who
asserts, “The calamities and catastrophe follow inevitably from the deeds of men and the main
source of these deeds is character.” As a result of the fatal flaw, the hero falls from a high
position, which usually leads to his/her unavoidable death.

A good example of hamartia can be seen in Hamlet when Hamlet's faltering judgment and
failure to act lead him to his untimely death. He suffers from procrastination. He finds a number
of opportunities to kill his uncle, but he fails because of his indecisive and procrastinating
nature. Every time, he delays taking action. In one case he finds an opportunity to kill Claudius
while Claudius is praying. Still, Hamlet forgoes the excellent opportunity to achieve his goal
with the excuse that he doesn’t want to kill a man while he is praying. He wants to kill Claudius
when he is in the act of committing a sin. It is this perfectionism, failure to act, and uncertainty
about the correct path that ultimately results in Hamlet's death and lead Denmark into chaos.

“Hamartia, also called tragic flaw, (hamartia from Greek hamartanein, “to err”), inherent
defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy, who is in other respects a superior being
favoured by fortune." — Encyclopedia Britannica

4. Tragic Waste

In Shakespearean tragedies, the hero usually dies along with his opponent. The death of a hero
is not an ordinary death; it encompasses the loss of an exceptionally intellectual, honest,
intelligent, noble, and virtuous person. In a tragedy, when good is destroyed along with evil,
the loss is known as a "tragic waste." Shakespearean tragedy always includes a tragic waste of
goodness. Hamlet is a perfect example of tragic waste. Even though Hamlet succeeds in
uprooting the evil from Denmark, he does so at the cost of his death. In this case, the good
(Hamlet) gets destroyed along with evil (Claudius). Neither of them wins. Instead, they fail
together.

5. Conflict

Conflict is another imperative element of a Shakespearean tragedy. There are two types of
conflicts:

- External Conflict

External conflict plays a vital role in the tragedies of Shakespeare. External conflict causes
internal conflict in the mind of the tragic hero. Every tragic hero in a Shakespearean play is
confronted with external conflicts that must be addressed. Hamlet, for example, is confronted

19
with external conflict in the shape of his uncle, Claudius. He has to take revenge, but as a result
of his uncle's craftiness and effective security, Hamlet isn’t able to translate his ideas into
action. This external conflict gives rise to internal conflict, which hinders Hamlet from taking
any action.

- Internal Conflict

Internal conflict is one of the most essential elements in a Shakespearean tragedy. It refers to
the confusion in the mind of the hero. Internal conflict is responsible for the hero's fall, along
with fate or destiny. The tragic hero always faces a critical dilemma. Often, he cannot make a
decision, which results in his ultimate failure. Again, Hamlet is a perfect example. He is usually
a doer, but over the course of the play, his indecision and frequent philosophical hangups create
a barrier to action. Internal conflict is what causes Hamlet to spare the life of Claudius while
he is praying.

6. Catharsis

Catharsis is a remarkable feature of a Shakespearean tragedy. It refers to the cleansing of the

audience's pent-up emotions. In other words, Shakespearean tragedies help the audience to feel
and release emotions through the aid of tragedy. When we watch a tragedy, we identify with
the characters and take their losses personally. A Shakespearean tragedy gives us an
opportunity to feel pity for a certain character and fear for another, almost as if we are playing
the roles ourselves. The hero's hardships compel us to empathize with him. The villain's cruel
deeds cause us to feel wrath toward him. Tears flow freely when a hero like Hamlet dies. At
the same time we feel both sorry for Hamlet and happy that Claudius has received his proper
punishment.

7. Supernatural Elements

Supernatural elements are another key aspect of a Shakespearean tragedy. They play an
important role in creating an atmosphere of awe, wonder, and sometimes fear. Supernatural
elements are typically used to advance the story and drive the plot. The ghost Hamlet sees plays
an important role in stirring up internal conflict. It is the ghost who tells Hamlet his father was
killed by his uncle Claudius and assigns him the duty of taking revenge. Similarly, the witches
in Macbeth play a significant role in the plot. These witches are responsible for motivating
Macbeth to resort to murder in order to ascend the throne of Scotland.

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 8. Absence of Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice means good is rewarded and evil is punished; it refers to a situation in which
everything comes to a fitting and just end. There is no poetic justice in the tragedies of
Shakespeare; rather, these plays contain only partial justice. Shakespeare understood that poetic
justice rarely occurs outside of fiction. Good deeds often go without reward and immoral
people are often free to enjoy life to its fullest. “Do good and have good” was considered an
out-dated ethos in the time of Shakespeare, which is why we don’t find any poetic justice in
his tragedies. Good is crushed along with evil. Hamlet dies along with Claudius.

9. Comic Relief

Comic relief is our final key element. Shakespeare didn’t follow in the footsteps of his classical
predecessors when writing tragedies. Greek and Roman writers didn’t use comic relief. But
Shakespeare wanted to relieve the tension for the reader and lighten up the mood here and
there. A few examples of comic relief scenes include the grave digger scene in Hamlet, the
drunken port scene in Macbeth, the fool is smarter than the king dialogue in King Lear, and the
Polonius in the wings speech in Hamlet.

Shakespearean Tragic Structure

A tragic story (Shakespearean) can be divided into four parts and they are as follows:

1. Exposition: Exposition is the beginning of the play where the reader/audience gets to know the
characters and their traits, the general setting of the story, the major conflict in the story and
most importantly, the tragic flaw of the hero. Normally, exposition begins and ends in the first
act itself, however, sometimes there are some characters who enter late into the story.

2. Rising Action: Rising action develops through the second act and extends up to the third and
the fourth act. This is the time when the plot gathers momentum and the action increases. The
plot eventually reaches the crisis where the hero makes a decision that changes the course of
the play, sealing his own fate. For example, Macbeth kills Duncan in act II whereas Lear's
foolish decision to divide the kingdom occurs in act I. This is how the location of the crisis
differs from play to play. By the end of the rising action, the hero is left alone for the rest of
the story.

3. Falling Action: From the beginning of the fourth act, the opposite forces become active and
start an open resist. They also start plotting the removal of the hero as a result the power of
the tragic hero starts declining.

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4. Resolution: In the last and final act, the opposite forces reach the full power and defeat the
isolated tragic hero. This is the time when the hero recognizes his faults, yet, cannot do anything
about it.

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 The Merchant of Venice
1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Like much of the rest of Europe, England severely restricted the rights of Jews. In fact, Jews
were banished completely from England in 1290 by King Edward I, and were not officially
allowed to return until 1655, when Oliver Cromwell allowed Jews to return. This exile was
technically in effect during Shakespeare's time, but scholars believe that a few hundred Jews
still lived around London in the guise of Christians. One of the reasons Renaissance Christians
disliked Jews was the Jews' willingness to practice usury—the practice of charging interest or
"use" on borrowed money. There was a long tradition in Classical and Christian moral
thinking against usury. Shakespeare's contemporary, the philosopher and statesman Sir
Francis Bacon, argued in his essay On Usury that it was "against nature for money to beget
money."

2. SETTING:

Time: The Sixteenth Century

Place:

Venice: A city of Trade, of Business deals, and of conflicts and intrigues. It represents the
world of relentless materialism.

Belmont: The romantic city of peace and love, a contrast to Venice. It stands for mercy versus
the Venetian veneration of mere justice.

3. PLOT SUMMURY

Bassanio asks the Jewish moneylender, Shylock, to lend him 3000 ducats. After much
hesitation, Shylock agrees—Antonio will guarantee the loan with his property as collateral.
However, when Antonio himself arrives and begins insulting Shylock for committing usury
(charging interest on his loans), Shylock proposes a bizarre alternative. He will not charge
Bassanio any interest for three months. However, if Antonio defaults, Shylock will be entitled
to cut one pound of flesh from anywhere on Antonio's body that he likes. Confident that his
ships will return to Venice, with many times 3000 ducats, well before Shylock's deadline,
Antonio accepts.

At Belmont, the Prince of Morocco arrives to try his luck at the riddle of the caskets. He
chooses incorrectly (gold), and leaves in defeat. Meanwhile, in Venice, Lorenzo, a friend of

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Bassanio's, has fallen in love with Shylock's daughter, Jessica. One night, when Shylock goes
out, Jessica steals a large sum of money from her father and elopes, as planned, with Lorenzo.
Lorenzo and Jessica, along with many others, then travel with Bassanio to Portia's estate.

The Prince of Aragon is the next of Portia's suitors to try to solve the riddle of the caskets.
After much deliberation, he chooses silver, which is wrong. As the Prince of Aragon leaves,
Bassanio arrives, laden with gifts for Portia.

A few weeks pass, and news arrives that Antonio's ships have been lost at sea. Though
Shylock has been unable to locate Jessica, he consoles himself that he will have his revenge
in the form of the pound of flesh promised to him by his contract with Antonio.

Back at Belmont, Portia and Bassanio, who have spent all this time together, have fallen in
love. Portia begs Bassanio to wait before facing the riddle, because she can't bear the thought
of losing him if he guesses wrong. But he insists on going ahead. To their joy, he chooses the
correct casket (lead). To seal their betrothal, Portia gives him a ring, instructing him never to
lose it or give it away. Then Nerissa and Bassanio's vulgar friend Gratiano announce that they,
too, intend to wed. However, just then, a letter arrives from Antonio, with news of his lost
ships and Shylock's intention to collect his pound of flesh. Alarmed, Portia gives Bassanio
enough money to repay the loan many times over. As Bassanio hurries off to Venice, Portia
hatches a plan of her own to save Antonio.

In the court of Venice, the Duke is presiding over Antonio's trial. Shylock resists their requests
that he show mercy and insists on pursuing his "pound of flesh," despite the fact that Bassanio
has offered him 9000 ducats instead. Nerissa and Portia arrive on the scene, disguised as a
law clerk and a lawyer, respectively. Portia points out that the contract Shylock holds doesn't
give him the right to take any blood from Antonio, and that if Shylock sheds even a drop of
blood while cutting Antonio's flesh that all of Shylock's wealth will be confiscated by the
state. She further finds Shylock guilty of conspiring to kill a Venetian citizen, and therefore
must hand over half of his wealth to Antonio and the other half to the state. Antonio and the
Duke decide to show mercy, however: Shylock must only give half his wealth to Antonio,
and promise to leave the other half of his wealth to Jessica and Lorenzo after his death. In
addition, Shylock must convert to Christianity. Devastated, Shylock accepts.

As Portia is leaving, Bassanio (who still thinks she is Balthazar, the lawyer) tries to offer her
money in thanks for her favorable judgment. She refuses, asking for his the ring that he is

24
wearing instead. Thinking of his vow never to part with it, Bassanio hesitates. But after some
prodding from Antonio, he gives in. Gratiano also gives his ring to Nerissa.

Back at Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica have been enjoying an idyllic romantic evening.
Shortly before dawn, Portia and Nerissa arrive, soon followed by Bassanio, Gratiano, and
Antonio. The women feign indignation that their husbands lost their rings. However, they
soon end the game and confess their role in the court scene. The couples are reconciled, and
news arrives that Antonio's lost ships have returned safely to port, bearing great riches.

4. THEMES
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
a. Prejudice and Intolerance

The Venetians in The Merchant of Venice almost uniformly express extreme intolerance
of Shylock and the other Jews in Venice. In fact, the exclusion of these "others" seems to be
a fundamental part of the social bonds that cement the Venetian Christians together. How
otherwise would the ridiculous clown Launcelot ingratiate himself with the suave Bassanio?
Or why would the sensitive Antonio tolerate someone as crass as Gratiano? It is possible to
argue that Shakespeare himself shares his characters' certainty that the Jews are naturally
malicious and inferior to Christians because of Shylock's ultimate refusal to show any mercy
at all and, as a result, his pitiful end.

Yet there are also reasons to think that Shakespeare may be subtly criticizing the prejudices
of his characters. Shylock's fury comes not from some malicious "Jewishness" but as a result
of years of abuse. For example, though he is criticized by Antonio for practicing usury
(charging interest on borrowed money) Jews were actually barred from most other
professions. In other words, the Christians basically forced Shylock to work in a profession
that the Christians then condemned as immoral. Shylock insists that he "learned" his hatred
from the Christians, and it is Shylock alone who argues that all of the characters are the same,
in terms of biology and under the law. Viewed this way, The Merchant of Venice offers a
critique of the same prejudices that it seemingly endorses?

b. Human and Animal

Closely related to the theme of prejudice and intolerance is the theme of humanity—and the
inhumanity of which various characters accuse one another. In insulting and abusing Shylock,
the Venetians frequently denigrate him as an animal or devil. Shylock, in turn, seeks to reduce
his debtor Antonio to the status of an animal whose body can be bought or sold. In the

25
courtroom scene, he justifies his purchasing of a pound of Antonio's flesh as being
fundamentally similar to the way in which other Venetians might buy slaves or livestock.

Shakespeare was writing The Merchant of Venice as a philosophical movement called

"Renaissance humanism" became prominent. This philosophy defined humans as exceptional
beings, existing outside of the chain of being of God's other creatures. Yet, The Merchant of
Venice shows how this type of humanism can be used to abuse outsiders. After all, if being
"human" ceases to be based on biology, then exactly who is human and who isn't becomes a
matter of interpretation. The play's Christian characters clearly believe that being Christian is
a primary requirement for being human, as both the insults aimed at Shylock and the Prince
of Morocco suggest. In his famous speech justifying his desire for revenge in 3.1, Shylock
explicitly rejects the humanist definition of "humanity," describing his similarity to the
Venetians in terms of biological functions that all human beings share: tickling, eating,
bleeding, dying. Constant references in the play to "flesh and blood" further highlight humans'
biological, "animal" origins.

c. Law, Mercy, and Revenge

Both the central action of The Merchant of Venice—Shylock's attempt to revenge himself on
the Christian Antonio—and the romantic subplot—between Bassanio and Portia—explore the
relationship between law, mercy, and revenge.

Shakespeare's contemporary, the philosopher Francis Bacon, defined revenge as a "kind of

wild justice." When one private individual decides to revenge himself on another, he is going
outside the official justice system. And yet, as the phrase "wild justice" suggests, the revenger
is responding to what he sees as a "higher law." The revenger takes the law into his own hands
when he feels that the state is not capable of or refuses to enforce justice. Therefore, while
law and revenge are technically opposed to each other, since revenge is illegal, they also
overlap. Shylock, pursuing Antonio's "pound of flesh," exposes the intimate connection
between law and revenge. He seeks vengeance against Antonio precisely by sticking to the
letter of the law within the Venetian justice system.

In the courtroom scene of Act 4, scene 1, both the Duke and Portia present mercy as a better
alternative to the pursuit of either law or revenge. Shylock explicitly refuses to show mercy,
while the Christians, in sparing Shylock's life in the end, claim that they have. Yet, when they
do, Shylock himself asks to be killed. He says that, having had all of his possessions
confiscated and his religious identity revoked (which would also make it impossible for him

26
to work as a money-lender, since Christians were not allowed to practice usury), he has
nothing left to live for. The question of who is or is not merciful, therefore remains open.

d. Greed Vs Generosity

The primary grievance that Antonio has against Shylock is that he is greedy—for charging
interest to those who borrow money from him when they are in need. The Venetians implicitly
contrast Shylock's greed with the generosity that they show one another. For instance, Antonio
is willing to place his whole "purse and person" at Bassanio's disposal and regularly saves
other Christians from having to pay interest to Shylock by paying off their debts for them.

It seems that, like love or mercy, generosity is limitless, unbounded. However, The Merchant
of Venice also frequently begs the question of whether friends aren't using friends, or lovers
their lovers, for materialistic reasons. For instance, why is the perpetually
indebted Bassanio so intent on wooing the rich Portia? And as Portia's and Nerissa's anger
over the rings that their husbands give away in the final scene reflects, even the freest gift-
giving comes with strings attached, like the rules governing Shylock's more frankly
capitalistic contracts.

e. Reading and Interpretation

Instances of reading and interpretation occur many times in The Merchant of Venice. An early
scene in which Shylock and Antonio bicker over the meaning of Biblical scripture shows that
the all-important distinction between Jews and Christians basically boils down to interpretive
differences—different ways of reading and understanding a shared heritage of texts.

The play also stages "scenes of interpretation"—in which the act of reading becomes a
dramatic event. The first major instance, connected to the themes of both law and love, is
when the Prince of Morocco becomes the first suitor to try to solve the riddle of the caskets,
with major consequences for both Portia and himself depending on whether he interprets it
correctly. This scenario repeats with both the Prince of Aragon and Bassanio. The courtroom
scene, in which Portia must find an alternative way to read and understand the law in order to
save Antonio's life, similarly turns an act of interpretation into a highly dramatic game with
very high stakes. The Merchant of Venice shows how the practice of reading (and not just
reading literature) is woven into the structures of prejudice and intolerance, love, law, and
justice—how it is central to everyday life.

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 f. Love and Friendship

In connection with mercy and generosity, The Merchant of Venice also explores love and
friendship between its characters. The central romantic relationship of the play is that
between Bassanio and Portia. Their marriage is paralleled by several others: the elopement
of Shylock's daughter, Jessica, with the Christian, Lorenzo; and the marriage of Portia's
servant, Nerissa, to Bassanio's companion, Gratiano. In addition, numerous critics have
suggested that the strongest friendship in the play—between Antonio and Bassanio—also
approaches romantic love. In addition, the play shows how strong the amicable ties are that
connect all the various Venetian characters.

Given the generosity that they motivate between characters, love and friendship might seem
to offer alternatives to the ugly emotions of prejudice, greed, and revenge on display in The
Merchant of Venice. However, beginning with Bassanio's borrowing money from his friend
Antonio in order to woo Portia, the play also demonstrates that the apparent purity of love and
friendship can be tainted by selfish economic concerns. In addition, love and friendship are
also at the mercy of the law, as seen in Portia's being subject to the terms of her father's riddle
of the caskets.

5. CHARACTERIZATION

Shylock

A Jewish moneylender in Venice who has been embittered by years of abuse at the hands of
Venetian Christians and Antonio, the merchant, in particular. Shylock's anger and bitterness
lead him to sign a contract with Antonio, in which Antonio puts up a pound of his own flesh
as collateral for a loan. When Antonio can't cover his loan, Shylock refuses to show any mercy
and insists that the law be upheld and that he get to take his pound of flesh. The other
characters, including Shylock's own daughter, Jessica, consider him inhuman—bestial or
demonic. However, their treatment of Shylock helps illuminate the prejudice and hypocrisy
that lies behind many of their stated ideals of human brotherhood and Christian fellowship.

Antonio

A prosperous Venetian merchant, liked and admired by his fellow citizens. To help his friend
Bassanio woo Portia, Antonio signs a contract with Shylock, guaranteeing a loan with one
pound of his own flesh as collateral. Many critics argue that Antonio harbors an unrequited
erotic desire for Bassanio. In contrast to the benevolence that he shows others, Antonio

28
expresses an intense hatred of Shylock and the Jews, though at the end of the play he does
argue that Shylock should be shown mercy and not be condemned to death.

Portia

A beautiful, clever, and wealthy noblewoman who lives in the country estate of Belmont,
outside Venice. Portia is bound by a clause in her father's will, which obligates her to marry
whoever solves the so-called riddle of the caskets, by choosing the correct chest from one of
gold, one of silver, and one of lead. After despairing over a parade of suitors whom she finds
distasteful, Portia does get to marry her true love, Bassanio, who happily makes the correct
choice. She also saves Antonio's life, during his trial with Shylock, dressed up as a lawyer
named Balthazar. For centuries, Portia was admired as an ideal of feminine virtue. However,
many modern critics have pointed out that Portia, though seemingly a genius and a perfect
wife, regularly displays a vicious prejudice toward non-Christians and foreigners.

Bassanio

A nobleman from Venice, who is a kinsman, close friend, and longtime debtor of the
merchant, Antonio. Because he wants to woo the noble Portia, but cannot himself afford to
do so, Bassanio borrows 3000 ducats from Shylock, with Antonio as his guarantor. His status
as Portia's suitor and, later, her husband, makes Bassanio the romantic hero of the play.
However, his character is deeply flawed. At best clueless, and at worst consciously selfish
and manipulative, he always manages to avoid earning his own way: first, he exploits the
generosity of his friend Antonio, and then he freely passes on the money and gifts that Portia
gives him.

Minor Characters

Gratiano

A notoriously vulgar Venetian and friend of Bassanio. While Bassanio courts Portia, Gratiano
falls in love with and eventually marries her servant, Nerissa.

Jessica

Shylock's daughter, who moves from merely disdaining her father to actually robbing him,
eloping with a Christian Venetian, Lorenzo, and converting to Christianity.

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Lorenzo

A Venetian and friend of Bassanio and Antonio, who is in love

with Shylock's daughter Jessica. Lorenzo elopes with Jessica, taking money and precious
items that she has stolen from her father.

Nerissa

Portia's servant and confidante, Nerissa ultimately marries Bassanio's companion, Gratiano.

Launcelot Gobbo

A clownish servant, who leaves Shylock in order to work for Bassanio.

Salerio

A Venetian nobleman, friendly with Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, and Lorenzo.

Solanio

A Venetian nobleman and good friend of Salerio.

Prince of Morocco

A Moorish prince who comes to woo Portia at Belmont. He asks Portia not to judge him by
the color of his skin, but incorrectly picks the gold casket.

Prince of Aragon

A Spanish nobleman who woos Portia at Belmont. He incorrectly picks the silver casket.

Duke of Venice

Presides over the trial of Antonio. Although the Duke attempts to persuade Shylock to
show Antonio mercy, he knows that Venice's commercial interests depend on a consistent
application of its laws, so he can't make an exception to help Antonio.

Old Gobbo

Launcelot's blind father.

Tubal

A Jew in Venice, and Shylock's sole friend and confidante during the course of the play.

Doctor Bellario

Portia's cousin and a well-respected lawyer in Padua. He never appears on stage.

30
Balthazar

The servant Portia sends to obtain her letters of introduction and costume from Bellario.
Balthazar is also the name Portia takes when she impersonates a lawyer at court.

6. SYMBOLS

Stones, Rings, and Caskets

When Shylock raves about the "stones" that Jessica has stolen from him, part of the joke is
that in the Renaissance "stones" was a slang word for the testicles. And indeed Shylock's only
child's renouncing her father, eloping, and converting to Christianity is symbolically
tantamount to castrating him, cutting off his family name. Multiple characters undergo kinds
of symbolic castration throughout the play. Antonio, who seems not to expect to marry or
have children, refers to himself as a "wether," or neutered ram. Portia's suitors, who vow never
to seek other wives, also forfeit their ability to produce heirs.

The chests that Portia's suitors must open, like the rings that she and Nerissa give their
husbands to safeguard, none-too-subtly evoke the female genitalia. In the final scene, when
Portia and Nerissa pretend to have slept with the lawyer and the law clerk to whom their rings
were given, they make this connection explicit. By using precious objects and, in the case of
the stones and the rings, objects of commercial exchange to stand for human sex, Shakespeare
links the supposedly pure spheres of love and marriage to the play's exploration of money and
greed.

7. IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS EXPLAINED

i. “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same
weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and
cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we
not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?
And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?
Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by
Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute,
and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction”.
(III.i.49–61)

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There are perhaps fewer disturbing lines in all of Shakespeare than Shylock’s promise to
Solanio and Salarino in Act III, scene i, that he will outdo the evil that has been done to him.
Shylock begins by eloquently reminding the Venetians that all people, even those who are not
part of the majority culture, are human. A Jew, he reasons, is equipped with the same faculties
as a Christian, and is therefore subject to feeling the same pains and comforts and emotions.
The speech, however, is not a celebration of shared experience or even an invitation for the
Venetians to acknowledge their enemy’s humanity. Instead of using reason to elevate himself
above his Venetian tormenters, Shylock delivers a monologue that allows him to sink to their
level: he will, he vows, behave as villainously as they have. The speech is remarkable in that it
summons a range of emotional responses to Shylock. At first, we doubtlessly sympathize with
the Jew, whose right to fair and decent treatment has been so neglected by the Venetians that
he must remind them that he has “hands, organs, dimensions, senses” similar to theirs (III.i.50).
But Shylock’s pledge to behave as badly as they, and, moreover, to “better the instruction,”
casts him in a less sympathetic light (III.i.61). While we understand his motivation, we cannot
excuse the endless perpetuation of such villainy.

ii. “What if my house be troubled with a rat,

And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats
To have it baned? What, are you answered yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig,
Some that are mad if they behold a cat,
And others when the bagpipe sings i’th’ nose
Cannot contain their urine; for affection,
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes or loathes. . . .
...
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answered?
(IV.i.43–61)

When, in Act IV, scene i, Antonio and Shylock are summoned before the court, the duke asks
the Jew to show his adversary some mercy. Shylock responds by reasoning that he has no
reason. He blames his hatred of Antonio on “affection, / [that] Mistress of passion,” who is

32
known to affect men’s moods in ways they cannot explain (IV.i.49–50). Just as certain people
do not know why they have an aversion to cats or certain strains of music or eating meat,
Shylock cannot logically explain his dislike for Antonio. The whole of his response to the court
boils down to the terribly eloquent equivalent of the simple answer: just because. The speech
merits consideration not only because it articulates a range of emotions that often cannot be
verbally expressed, but also because Shylock’s language patterns reinforce our impression of
his character. The use of repetition in the passage is frequent. Shylock returns not only to the
same imagery—the “gaping pig” (IV.i.53) and the “woolen bagpipe” (IV.i.55)—but he also
bookends his speech with the simple question, “Are you answered?” (IV.i.61). Here, Shylock’s
tightly controlled speech reflects the narrow and determined focus of his quest to satisfy his
hatred.

The speech’s imagery is of the prosaic sort typical of Shylock. Other characters speak in
dreamily poetic tones, evoking images of angels and waters scented with spice, but Shylock
draws on the most mundane examples to prove his point. To him, Antonio is a rat, and his
dislike of Antonio no more odd than that which some men have toward pigs or cats. Shylock
uses bodily functions to drive home his point, likening rage to urination in a crass turn of phrase
that is unique to his character. Also, Shylock’s rage takes on an apparent arbitrariness.
Originally, Shylock’s gripe with Antonio seems based on a carefully meditated catalogue of
the Venetian’s crimes. Here, however, it appears little more than a whim, a swing of the
pendulum that “sways” to affection’s moods (IV.i.50). By relying on the defense that his
actions are justified simply because he feels like them, Shylock appears unpredictable and
whimsical, and he further fuels our perception of his actions as careless and cruel.

iii. “You have among you many a purchased slave

Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts
Because you bought them. Shall I say to you
’Let them be free, marry them to your heirs.
Why sweat they under burdens?. . .
...
You will answer
’The slaves are ours.’ So do I answer you.
The pound of flesh which I demand of him

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 Is dearly bought. ‘Tis mine, and I will have it”.
(IV.i.89–99)

Again, in this passage, we find Shylock cleverly using Venice’s own laws to support his
vengeful quest and enlisting society’s cruelties in defense of his own. Shylock begins his
speech on a humane note, yet this opening serves merely to justify his indulgence in the same
injustices he references. Shylock has no interest in exposing the wrongfulness of owning or
mistreating slaves. Such property rights simply happen to be established by Venetian laws, so
Shylock uses them to appeal for equal protection. If Antonio and company can purchase human
flesh to “use in abject and in slavish parts,” Shylock reasons, then he can purchase part of the
flesh of a Venetian citizen (IV.i.91). In his mind, he has merely extended the law to its most
literal interpretation. Unlike the Venetians, who are willing to bend or break the law to satisfy
their wants, Shylock never strays from its letter in his pursuit of his bond. His brand of abiding
by the law, however, is made unsavory by the gruesome nature of his interpretation.

iv. “The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. . . .
...
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy”.
(IV.i.179–197)

Even as she follows the standard procedure of asking Shylock for mercy, Portia reveals her
skills by appealing to his methodical mind. Her argument draws on a careful process of
reasoning rather than emotion. She states first that the gift of forgiving the bond would benefit
Shylock, and second, that it would elevate Shylock to a godlike status. Lastly, Portia warns
Shylock that his quest for justice without mercy may result in his own damnation. Although
well-measured and well-reasoned, Portia’s speech nonetheless casts mercy as a polarizing issue

34
between Judaism and Christianity. Her frequent references to the divine are appeals to a clearly
Christian God, and mercy emerges as a marker of Christianity. Although it seems as if Portia
is offering an appeal, in retrospect her speech becomes an ultimatum, a final chance for Shylock
to save himself before Portia crushes his legal arguments.

v. “The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stategems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus”.
(V.i.82–86)

By Act V, with Shylock stowed safely offstage, Shakespeare returns to the comedic aspects of
his play. He lightens the mood with a harmless exchange of rings that serves to reunite the
lovers, and he brings Antonio’s lost ships back to port. Because Shylock has been such a large,
powerful presence in the play, and because his decimation at the hands of the Venetians is
profoundly disturbing, the comedy in Belmont never fully escapes the shadow of the
troublesome issues that precede it. The lovers’ happiness, then, is most likely little more than
a brief passing moment. This passage can be read as a meditation on the transitory nature of
the comforts one finds in a wearisome world. Lorenzo, ordering music to celebrate Portia’s
homecoming, reflects that music has the power to change a man’s nature. Much like a wild
beast that can be tamed by the sound of a trumpet, a man can be transformed into something
less “stockish, hard, and full of rage” (V.i.80). As the Venetians, all of whom have exercised
“treasons, strategems, and spoils” of one kind or another throughout the play, congregate at
Belmont, we imagine them as kinder and happier than they have otherwise been, but we also
know that the music of Belmont will not likely survive on the streets of Venice (V.i.84).

8. MOTIFS

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop
and inform the text’s major themes.

i. The Law

The Merchant of Venice depends heavily upon laws and rules—the laws of the state of
Venice and the rules stipulated in contracts and wills. Laws and rules can be manipulated for
cruel or wanton purposes, but they are also capable of producing good when executed by the
right people. Portia’s virtual imprisonment by the game of caskets seems, at first, like a

35
questionable rule at best, but her likening of the game to a lottery system is belied by the
fact that, in the end, it works perfectly. The game keeps a host of suitors at bay, and of the
three who try to choose the correct casket to win Portia’s hand, only the man of Portia’s
desires succeeds. By the time Bassanio picks the correct chest, the choice seems like a more
efficient indicator of human nature than any person could ever provide. A similar
phenomenon occurs with Venetian law. Until Portia’s arrival, Shylock is the law’s strictest
adherent, and it seems as if the city’s adherence to contracts will result in tragedy. However,
when Portia arrives and manipulates the law most skillfully of all, the outcome is the
happiest ending of all, at least to an Elizabethan audience: Antonio is rescued and Shylock
forced to abandon his religion. The fact that the trial is such a close call does, however, raise
the fearful specter of how the law can be misused. Without the proper guidance, the law can
be wielded to do horrible things.

ii. Cross-dressing

Twice in the play, daring escapes are executed with the help of cross-dressing. Jessica escapes
the tedium of Shylock’s house by dressing as a page, while Portia and Nerissa rescue Antonio
by posing as officers of the Venetian court. This device was not only familiar to Renaissance
drama, but essential to its performance: women were banned from the stage and their parts
were performed by prepubescent boys. Shakespeare was a great fan of the potentials of cross-
dressing and used the device often, especially in his comedies. But Portia reveals that the
donning of men’s clothes is more than mere comedy. She says that she has studied a “thousand
raw tricks of these bragging Jacks,” implying that male authority is a kind of performance that
can be imitated successfully ([Link].77). She feels confident that she can outwit any male
competitor, declaring, “I’ll prove the prettier fellow of the two, / And wear my dagger with
the braver grace” ([Link].64–65). In short, by assuming the clothes of the opposite sex, Portia
enables herself to assume the power and position denied to her as a woman.

iii. Filial Piety

Like Shakespeare’s other comedies, The Merchant of Venice seems to endorse the behaviour
of characters who treat filial piety lightly, even though the heroine, Portia, sets the opposite
example by obeying her father’s will. Launcelot greets his blind, long lost father by giving
the old man confusing directions and telling the old man that his beloved son Launcelot is
dead. This moment of impertinence can be excused as essential to the comedy of the play, but
it sets the stage for Jessica’s far more complex hatred of her father. Jessica can list no specific

36
complaints when she explains her desire to leave Shylock’s house, and in the one scene in
which she appears with Shylock, he fusses over her in a way that some might see as tender.
Jessica’s desire to leave is made clearer when the other characters note how separate she has
become from her father, but her behaviour after departing seems questionable at best. Most
notably, she trades her father’s ring, given to him by her dead mother, for a monkey. The
frivolity of this exchange, in which an heirloom is tossed away for the silliest of objects, makes
for quite a disturbing image of the esteem in which The Merchant of Venice’s children hold
their parents, and puts us, at least temporarily, in Shylock’s corner.

9. SYMBOLS

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or
concepts.

i. The Three Caskets

The contest for Portia’s hand, in which suitors from various countries choose among a gold, a
silver, and a lead casket, resembles the cultural and legal system of Venice in some respects.
Like the Venice of the play, the casket contest presents the same opportunities and the same
rules to men of various nations, ethnicities, and religions. Also like Venice, the hidden bias of
the casket test is fundamentally Christian. To win Portia, Bassanio must ignore the gold casket,
which bears the inscription, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” ([Link].5),
and the silver casket, which says, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves”
([Link].7). The correct casket is lead and warns that the person who chooses it must give and
risk everything he has. The contest combines a number of Christian teachings, such as the idea
that desire is an unreliable guide and should be resisted, and the idea that human beings do not
deserve God’s grace but receive it in spite of themselves. Christianity teaches that appearances
are often deceiving, and that people should not trust the evidence provided by the senses—
hence the humble appearance of the lead casket. Faith and charity are the central values of
Christianity, and these values are evoked by the lead casket’s injunction to give all and risk all,
as one does in making a leap of faith. Portia’s father has presented marriage as one in which
the proper suitor risks and gives everything for the spouse, in the hope of a divine recompense
he can never truly deserve. The contest certainly suits Bassanio, who knows he does not deserve
his good fortune but is willing to risk everything on a gamble.

37
 ii. The Pound of Flesh

The pound of flesh that Shylock seeks lends itself to multiple interpretations: it emerges most
as a metaphor for two of the play’s closest relationships, but also calls attention to Shylock’s
inflexible adherence to the law. The fact that Bassanio’s debt is to be paid with Antonio’s flesh
is significant, showing how their friendship is so binding it has made them almost one.
Shylock’s determination is strengthened by Jessica’s departure, as if he were seeking
recompense for the loss of his own flesh and blood by collecting it from his enemy. Lastly, the
pound of flesh is a constant reminder of the rigidity of Shylock’s world, where numerical
calculations are used to evaluate even the most serious of situations. Shylock never explicitly
demands that Antonio die, but asks instead, in his numerical mind, for a pound in exchange for
his three thousand ducats. Where the other characters measure their emotions with long
metaphors and words, Shylock measures everything in far more prosaic and numerical
quantities.

iii. Leah’s Ring

The ring given to Shylock in his bachelor days by a woman named Leah, who is most likely
Shylock’s wife and Jessica’s mother, gets only a brief mention in the play, but is still an object
of great importance. When told that Jessica has stolen it and traded it for a monkey, Shylock
very poignantly laments its loss: “I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys”
(III.i.101–102). The lost ring allows us to see Shylock in an uncharacteristically vulnerable
position and to view him as a human being capable of feeling something more than anger.
Although Shylock and Tubal discuss the ring for no more than five lines, the ring stands as an
important symbol of Shylock’s humanity, his ability to love, and his ability to grieve.

10. GENRE

The Merchant of Venice is a typical example of a Shakespearean comedy in that its central
conflict finds resolution before real harm comes to anyone. As in many comedies, the conflict
at the heart of Merchant has the potential to end tragically. After Antonio forfeits his deadly
bond, Shylock demands the pound of flesh he’s been promised, and he almost succeeds in
claiming it after making his argument in court. However, Shylock’s plan falls apart when Portia
shows up in court disguised as a young male “doctor of the law.” (Incidentally, this instance of
cross-dressing disguise constitutes another common feature of Shakespeare’s comedies.) Not
only does Portia twist Shylock’s argument against him, but she also cites a law declaring that

38
Shylock, an “alien” Jew, must suffer punishment for having undertaken to forfeit the life of a
Venetian citizen. Despite an initial suggestion that he should be hanged for his attempt to forfeit
Antonio’s life, Shylock ends up with a less serious sentence: he loses half of his fortune and
has to convert to Christianity. This resolution is certainly devastating for Shylock, but
nevertheless, the lack of fatalities marks the play’s ending as an appropriately “comic.”

Although Merchant shares the basic structure of Shakespeare’s other comedies, they play also
makes subtle deviations from typical comedic form. Take, for instance, the play’s treatment of
lovers. Like other comedies, Merchant features lovers who are initially kept apart by
circumstance and family interference, but who all unite in marriage before the play ends. What
is unusual, however, is the fact that the lovers overcome their obstacles and marry each other
midway through the play, before the main conflict has been resolved in Act IV. In other words,
the lovers occupy a much less significant position in the play’s plot than do lovers in
Shakespeare’s other comedies. Furthermore, only two pairs of lovers—Portia and Bassanio as
well as Jessica and Lorenzo—have any meaningful obstacles to overcome. The third pair—
Nerissa and Gratiano—get married at the spur of the moment, inspired by Portia and Bassiano’s
successful union. This third marriage only has significance insofar as it makes it possible for
Portia and Nerissa to play a parallel trick on their new husbands in the final act.

Another twist on the typical comedy has to do with Shakespeare’s complex and ambiguous
treatment of Shylock. Shylock is clearly the play’s villain, as indicated by his unrelenting
insistence on taking his pound of flesh. And yet, despite the dehumanizing way other characters
treat him, Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a complex and sympathetic figure. Shylock’s
famous speech in Act III, when he asks, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?,” offers a powerful
rebuttal to the anti-Semitism rampant in the world of the play. Modern audiences often
sympathize with Shylock, who ends up alone, destitute, alienated from his daughter, and forced
to abandon the faith of his “tribe.” Some critics have even suggested that Shakespeare depicted
Shylock so sympathetically in order to make a plea for greater tolerance of Jews in his own
day. Critics who advocate this reading point to Portia’s illegitimate courtroom performance as
evidence that the verdict against Shylock is unjust. Such a miscarriage of justice is no small
problem, particularly given the play’s emphasis on the sanctity of Venetian law. On this
reading, Shylock’s sad end makes the play’s final act and the lovers’ quarrel at its center seem
frivolous.

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 11. STYLE

As a play about financial risk, it seems fitting that The Merchant of Venice should feature the
language of economics. Some form of money talk arises in virtually every scene, suggesting
that matters of exchange, value, debt, and risk permeate every aspect of Venetian society. The
opening scene showcases how money serves as the go-to explanation for everything. When
Antonio announces that he feels sad but doesn’t know why, Salarino posits that his thoughts
must be bound up with merchant ships he’s recently invested in:

“Your mind id tossing in the ocean.

There where your argosies with portly sail…
Do overpeer the petty traffickers
That curtsy to them, do them reverence
As they fly by them with their woven rings. (I.i. 1. 8 -14)
Significantly, money talk also comes up in matters of love. Portia, for instance, refers to her
casket game as “the lott’ry of my destiny” (II.i.15), wherein suitors can “try [for] my fortune”
(II.i.24). Later on she uses the merchant’s language of weights and measures as she addresses
herself in an aside: “In measure rein thy joy. Scant this excess. / I feel too much thy blessing.
Make it less, / For fear I surfeit” ([Link].112–14). No subject in Merchant escapes the language
of money.

Although money talk represents a defining characteristic of the play’s style, the language
in Merchant also features a great deal of wordplay. For the most part the wordplay has a
comedic effect, as with Gratiano’s use of double entendres. A significant example appears in
the play’s closing lines: “Well, while I live I’ll fear no other thing / so sore as keeping safe
Nerissa’s ring” (V.i.306–7). Gratiano refers to the wedding ring that Nerissa bid him promise
never to take off. Another scene where wordplay has delightfully comedic effect comes in Act
I, where Portia snarks to Nerissa about her unwanted suitors:

‘I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reason-able,

for there is not one among them

but I dote on his very absence, and I pray God grant them a fair departure.’ ([Link].101–4)

Portia cleverly reverses the lover’s typical use of dote, so that instead of lavishing attention on
her suitors directly, she “dote[s] on” their disappearance. But not all instances of wordplay
in Merchant are comedic. A more serious instance occurs in Act I, when Shylock, referring to

40
Antonio’s interest-free bond, says: “This is kind I offer.” Shylock underscores the generosity
of his offer. But kind here can also mean “of the same quality as that received,” indicating that
he’s paying Antonio’s mistreatment back in kind.

This last example of Shylock’s dark wordplay indicates another stylistic aspect of Merchant.
Despite being a comedy, the play’s most famous passages are very serious indeed, featuring
powerful rhetoric and heightened emotions. In Act III, for instance, Shylock delivers his
affecting speech about the Jew’s humanity:

‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not

a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections,
passions? . . . If you prick us, do we not
bleed?’ (III.i.51–57)

Shylock’s series of rhetorical questions encourages identification with the speaker and conjures
sympathy for him. But these questions also serve logically to set up Shylock’s ultimate
conclusion: if the Jew is similar to the Christian in all these ways, then he must also be similar
in his desire for revenge. Aside from Shylock’s speech, the other most famous passage
in Merchant appears during the courtroom scene, when Portia, disguised as a lawyer, addresses
the subject of mercy:

‘The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes’. (IV.i.182–85)

Portia’s style goes beyond legal language of the court and instead recalls the biblical rhetoric
of a sermon. In essence, she bids Shylock, a Jew, to act more like the merciful Christian God
of the New Testament: “earthly power doth then show likest God’s / When mercy seasons
justice” (III.i.194–95). Portia’s biblical language foreshadows the sentence eventually given to
Shylock, who, in addition to losing half his fortune, must also convert to Christianity.

Prose Vs. Verse

The different uses of poetry and prose in The Merchant of Venice generally follow a division
between social classes. Often in Shakespeare’s plays, uneducated members of the working
class tend to speak in prose, whereas educated members of the merchant class and the nobility
tend to speak in verse. Shakespeare rarely upholds this division in any strict way, but the
general tendency certainly appears in Merchant. Take, for instance, the servant Launcelot. He
41
first appears in Act II, scene ii, where he delivers a long and rambling prose monologue as he
tries to decide whether or not to leave Shylock’s service. The humor of Launcelot’s monologue
is amplified in the ensuing exchange he has with his blind father, Gobbo, also in prose. In the
short scene that follows, Launcelot addresses Shylock’s educated daughter, Jessica. Whereas
Launcelot makes his tearful exit in prose, Jessica responds in refined verse: “I am sorry thou
wilt leave my father so. / Our house is Hell, and thou, a merry devil, / Didst rob it of some taste
of tediousness” ([Link].1–3).

In addition to the split between the lower and upper classes, the prose/poetry split also typically
works along a divide between mundane matters of business and more heightened matters of
emotion. For instance, the merchants typically use prose in their financial dealings. This use of
prose is on display at the beginning of Act I, scene iii, where Bassanio approaches Shylock
with his proposal for a loan. However, the use of prose gets interrupted when Shylock expresses
his profound hatred of Antonio in an aside:

‘I hate him for he is a Christian,

But more for that in low simplicity
He lends out money gratis and brings down
The rate of usance here with us in Venice’. ([Link].38–41)

After these lines, the men continue to speak in verse, which signals that the loan under
discussion has become a matter more serious than just a financial exchange. Indeed, the scene
ends up with the infamous deal entitling Shylock to a pound of Antonio’s flesh should he forfeit
his bond. Another example of the prose/poetry divide appears with regard to matters of love.
Here, too, emotional intensity dictates form. In Act I, scene ii, Portia speaks in prose as she
bemoans her miserable fortunes in love. This scene takes place in private with Nerissa.
However, as soon as discourse on love becomes public, as when her suitors—especially
Bassiano—play the casket game, more formal verse prevails.

The different uses of prose and poetry based on class and emotional intensity set up an implicit
hierarchy that privileges verse. But Shakespeare also uses sudden shifts in register to invert
that hierarchy. One key example appears early in the play, when Bassiano speaks for the first
time. Gratiano has just given a long speech attempting to alleviate Antonio’s depression.
Though delivered in verse and featuring numerous poetic turns of phrase, the speech is
somewhat rambling. When Gratiano leaves, ‘Bassiano switches to prose and says to Antonio:

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Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than
any man in all Venice. His reasons are as two grains
of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all
day ere you find them, and once you have them they
are not worth the search’. (I.i.114–18)

The change in register underscores Bassiano’s humorous, ironic tone. But this register shift
also echoes an important thematic undercurrent in the play, one that works against the
characters’ investment in monetary value and instead emphasizes the greater value of that
which is humble. The test Portia administers for her suitors represents a similar example. The
test presents suitors with a choice between caskets made of gold, silver, and lead. Ultimately,
it is the casket made from the humblest material that contains her portrait and the promise of
marriage. Bassiano encapsulates this theme when he chooses the lead casket: “So may the
outward shows be least themselves. / The world is still deceived with ornament” ([Link].73–74).

12. POINT OF VIEW

In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare uses location and gender to frame point of view,
creating a split between male-dominated Venice and woman-controlled Belmont. Venice
represents a place where matters of business and law predominate. Belmont, by contrast,
represents a place where matters of love and marriage take center stage. The play’s first three
acts oscillate between the two locations, alternating between the risky business ventures in
Venice and the marriage trials in Belmont. Act IV’s long courtroom scene brings the Venetian
plot to a crisis point. The conflict between Shylock and Antonio comes to its head in this scene,
and resolution arrives with the judge ultimately deciding in Antonio’s favor. The Belmont-
framed plot has a more complicated structure. In one sense, this plot resolves at the end of Act
III, when Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia’s hand. In another sense, however,
this plot develops a new complication in Act V, when Bassanio breaks his promise never to
relinquish Portia’s ring. The eventual resolution of this secondary complication allows the play
to end with a qualified celebration of love in which women hold the ultimate power.

In addition to location and gender, religion also plays an important role in framing point of
view. Merchant stages a conflict between Christian and Jewish outlooks. Considering that
Shylock and his daughter Jessica represent the only Jewish characters, the play’s religious
conflict is out of balance. It seems inevitable, then, when the Christian point of view wins out.
Not only does Jessica steal away from her father to marry Lorenzo, a Christian, but Shylock

43
himself is also ultimately ordered to convert to Christianity. Both Jewish characters disappear
from the play before the final act. This is significant, because it means that the Jewish point of
view effectively vanishes from the play, ensuring Christianity its dominant position. And yet,
the events of Act V trouble the dominance of the Christian point of view, and the paradigm of
Christian marriage in particular. Both Bassanio and Gratiano break their first vows to their new
wives. Although neither man engages in anything so damning as adultery, their shared failure
to be true to their wives’ demands undermines the sanctity of these new marriages and the
Christian paradigm such marriages are meant to uphold.

13. TONE

The overall tone of The Merchant of Venice is ambiguous, split between despair and
celebration, seriousness and playfulness. Although many of Shakespeare’s comedies feature
negative emotions at some point, it is rare for a comedy to have as its defining moments such
powerful rhetoric as that which appears in Shylock’s “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech.
The emotional resonance of Shylock’s speech makes it difficult to discern whether he’s a
villain or a victim. It is also rare to find negative and positive emotions woven together as
tightly as they are in Merchant. Take, for instance, the play’s second scene, which begins with
Portia despairing because her late father used his will to dictate the terms of his daughter’s
future marriage. Portia feels trapped, not to mention overwhelmed by the number of suitors
hoping to win her hand. But her despairing tone quickly transforms into a playful sassiness, as
she and her attendant, Nerissa, proceed to make fun of the suitors visiting her residence in
Belmont. She speaks with a quick-witted but cutting snarkiness, and though hilarious, her harsh
words also clearly mask her anxiety about the possibility of being forced to marry someone she
doesn’t love.

The ambiguous tone of the play carries important thematic weight, insofar as characters’
emotional lives remain closely bound up with the sudden reversals of fortune that accompany
risk-laden financial dealings. Antonio makes this connection between emotions and finance
evident when he opens the play with an expression of melancholy: “In sooth I know not why I
am so sad” (I.i.1). Salarino suggests that Antonio must just be anxious because his thoughts are
with the fleet of merchant vessels he recently invested in. Although Antonio denies Salarino’s
theory, it later becomes clear that his friend was right. Antonio’s emotions therefore rise and
fall anxiously in parallel with the ships that ride the ocean’s turbulent swells. Tellingly,
Antonio’s melancholy clears once he and Bassanio strike a deal with Shylock, allowing for
renewed anticipation. As he assures Bassanio at the end of Act I: “In this there can be no

44
dismay. / My ships come home a month before the day” ([Link].175–76). By Act III, though,
Antonio once again finds himself in dire straits. His ships have not returned, and Shylock
demands his fatal bond.

Due to the play’s ambiguous tone, which seems darker than befits a comedy, scholars
sometimes consider The Merchant of Venice among Shakespeare’s so-called “problem plays.”
These plays earned their name for a couple of reasons. For one thing, they pose a problem
related to genre classification, since traditional features of both tragedy and comedy coexist
uneasily within a single play. Such an uneasy coexistence of the tragic and the comic may leave
the audience with mixed feelings, rather than the clearer-cut feelings of catharsis or resolution
that typically accompany tragic and comic endings, respectively. Problem plays are also so
named because they tend to address contemporary social problems. In the case of Merchant,
Shakespeare addresses the problem of usury—that is, the practice of lending money at high
rates of interest. Some scholars have argued that Shakespeare also specifically addresses the
problem of anti-Semitism, though it remains unclear whether he intended to demonize Shylock
or defend him. Jews in Shakespeare’s time were often stereotyped as usurers, and Shylock
clearly participates in the practice. If the play stigmatizes usury, does that mean that it also
stigmatizes Shylock and the Jews?

14. FORESHADOWING

Shakespeare’s use of foreshadowing in The Merchant of Venice frequently appears in

wordplay, meaning that the playwright embeds references to future events in words and phrases
that only appear portentous after the fact. This particular foreshadowing technique tends to be
rather subtle and hence difficult to notice in an initial viewing or reading of the play. As such,
the use of foreshadowing in Merchant tends not to be as central to the plot as it is in many of
Shakespeare’s other plays. It does not, for example, create the sense of a world ordered by
something like fate, as is the case in a play like Romeo and Juliet, where the “star-crossed
lovers” are clearly destined for tragic death. Instead, the world of Merchant gets its structure
from secular, human-created institutions such as finance and law. With less emphasis on a
sacred or divine order, the technique of foreshadowing takes on a less obvious or symbolic
role. Nevertheless, a couple of key examples of foreshadowing do stick out, particularly with
regard to the fates of Antonio and Shylock.

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Antonio’s Financial Collapse

Shakespeare foreshadows Antonio’s grim future in the first scene, when it becomes clear that
he has made the excessively risky decision to invest all of his money in a single fleet of
merchant ships. Antonio knows this was a poor decision, which explains why he feels the need
to lie to Salarino and Solanio: “My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, / Nor to one place,
nor is my whole estate / Upon the fortune of this present year” (I.i.42–44). Later in the same
scene, however, Antonio openly admits to Bassanio that “all my fortunes are at sea,” and he
explains further: “Neither have I money nor commodity / To raise a present sum” (I.i.177–79).
Not only has Antonio irresponsibly invested all of his fortunes, but he has also run out of
collateral to raise more funds. Furthermore, Antonio has also stretched his credit “to the
uttermost” (I.i.181), making it yet more difficult for him to acquire the cash Bassanio needs to
pursue marriage with Portia. The fact that Antonio would persist with securing a new loan
given his already dire financial situation strongly suggests that he’s headed for more trouble.

The Terms of Shylock’s Loan

In addition to foreshadowing Antonio’s financial collapse, the play’s first scene also portends
the gruesome terms of Shylock’s loan. When Bassanio initially broaches the subject of money,
Antonio immediately pledges himself at his friend’s service and tells Bassanio: “be assured
[that] / My purse, my person, my extremest means / Lie all unlocked to your occasions”
(I.i.137–39). Although Antonio simply expresses a general willingness to help, the offer of his
“[his] person, [his] extremest means” also takes on a grim second meaning in the play’s third
scene, when Shylock requires a pound of Antonio’s flesh in the event that he fails to repay a
loan. Shylock himself hints at this peculiar loan term when he explains to Bassanio, “My
meaning in saying he is a good / man is to have you understand me that he is sufficient”
([Link].13–14). By “sufficient” Shylock means that Antonio possesses enough wealth to
guarantee a loan, but his wording turns ominous when he repeats it shortly thereafter: “The
man is, notwithstanding, sufficient” ([Link].23). Shylock subtly introduces the possibility that
Antonio’s physical person—the man himself—will serve as collateral, and not his reputation.

Shylock’s Forced Conversion

Woven into the personal conflict between Antonio and Shylock is the religious conflict
between Christianity and Judaism. In the world of the play, Christianity holds the primary
position of power. From the outset, then, Shylock the Jew already occupies a subordinate social
position, which suggests that things aren’t likely to work out for him. Yet in spite of this

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imbalance, power shifts in Shylock’s favor when Antonio comes to seek a loan from him.
Shylock uses the opportunity to explain why he charges interest on loans, a much-hated practice
stereotypically associated with Jewish moneylenders. Shylock cites the story of Jacob from the
book of Genesis as a biblical justification for the practice. After citing scripture, however,
Shylock explains that he will not charge Antonio interest on his loan. Surprised by this
Christian-like act of kindness, Antonio refers to Shylock as a “gentle Jew”—
where gentle means “benevolent” but also puns on gentile, which means “Christian.” After
Shylock leaves, Antonio insists that, given his display of mercy, “The Hebrew will turn
Christian” ([Link].173). Antonio’s words prove unexpectedly prescient when Shylock loses the
court case in Act IV and is forced to convert to Christianity.

Is Shylock a Villain?

In early productions of The Merchant of Venice, actors played Shylock as either a monster or
an evil clown, enforcing the idea that he is the villain of the play. In many ways he certainly
seems to be the antagonist of the story: one of his primary functions is as the obstacle standing
between Portia and Bassanio’s wedded bliss. He is described by other characters as obsessed
with money, and a cruel father to his daughter, Jessica. Antonio and the other Christians of
Venice routinely abuse Shylock, spitting on him and calling him a “cutthroat dog.” Shylock
himself seems to relish his role as antagonist, saying about Antonio “I hate him for he is a
Christian/… If I can catch him once upon the hip/ I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.”
([Link].) When Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock is vindictive, claiming he wants Antonio’s
flesh for no practical reason other than spite: “if it will feed nothing else/It will feed my
revenge.” Because the play aligns its audience and readers with Portia and Bassanio, it’s
difficult to feel sympathy for Shylock when his desires threaten theirs.

However, when we take into account circumstances that took place before the play, as well as
what happens over the course of the plot, Shylock begins to seem a like a victim as well as a
villain, and his fate seems excessively harsh. In addition to the abuse Antonio and other
Christians routinely subject him to, Shylock lost his beloved wife, Leah. His daughter, Jessica,
runs away from home with money and jewels she’s stolen from him, including a ring Leah
gave him before she died. Although Solanio reports that Shylock’s was equally upset by the
loss of his money as his daughter (“My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!” (II. Viii.), we
must remember that we are getting a second-hand view through the eyes of an anti-Semitic
character who compares Shylock to the devil. As we learn from Shylock himself, the Christians
of Venice are happy to borrow money from him, but refuse to accept him as part of Venetian

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society because they equate his religion with Satan. Shylock has been treated as less than
human his whole life, because he is not a Christian. Yet when he tries to collect on a loan, the
other characters insist that he act like a Christian and forgive the debt.

Evolving ideas about whether or not Shylock is sympathetic can be traced through the history
of the performance itself. While early depictions focused on his obsession with money,
nineteenth and twentieth century performances have portrayed the character as a victim of his
circumstances and his times. One significant exception was a 1943 Nazi-sponsored production
of the play which emphasized Shylock’s villainy to propagate anti-Semitism. But most post-
Holocaust stagings of the play have portrayed Shylock as a human, if not entirely sympathetic,
character. Writing about a 2010 production of the play starring Al Pacino as Shylock, critic
Ben Brantley claimed Shylock “is neither merely the victim nor the villain of this piece; he is
instead the very soul of the money-drunk society he serves and despises.” This interpretation
suggests the play can be read neither as an indictment of Judaism or anti-Semitism, but rather
an exploration of the corrupting effects of money on all the characters, Jewish and Christian
alike.

Anti-Semitism in Renaissance England

When Shylock refers to his “ancient grudge” with Antonio, he alludes to not just the
longstanding personal animosity between the two men, but to the long history of anti-Semitic
stories and attitudes that shaped the world of the play. The gruesomeness of Shylock’s
demand for “a pound of flesh” might shock a modern audience, but tales of bloodthirsty Jews
harming Christian bodies were common in medieval and renaissance Europe. Shakespeare
and his Elizabethan audiences probably would have known the story of Little Saint Hugh of
Lincoln, a child whose death was falsely attributed to a Jewish community as “ritual murder”
in the thirteenth century, and similar myths of Jewish sacrifices of Christian children.
Likewise, the abuse that Shylock endures because of his profession is consistent with
longstanding European attitudes toward Jewish moneylenders. In medieval and renaissance
Europe, moneylending was one of the few professions available to Jews, who were barred
from practicing many other trades. But the fact that they charged interest on their loans
caused them to be further reviled by Christians who believed usury, or moneylending with
interest, was sinful.

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In addition to believing derogatory myths about the Jewish religion, most members of
Shakespeare’s audience would have never met a Jew in real life. Elizabethan England was a
homogenous society; in 1290, King Edward I had expelled all Jews from England or forced
them to convert. Additionally, the 1594 trial and execution of Roderigo Lopez, Queen
Elizabeth I’s royal physician, led to a surge of anti-Semitism in England in the late sixteenth
century. Lopez, a convert to the Church of England of Jewish descent, was accused of
conspiring to poison the queen, convicted of high treason, hanged, drawn and quartered.
Scholars estimate that Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice between 1596 and 1599, so
we can assume that this event would still have been a part of the collective social
consciousness when Shakespeare wrote the play. Furthermore, in Christopher Marlowe’s
1589 play The Jew of Malta, which critics consider a significant source for The Merchant of
Venice, the Jewish character of Barabas is a murderous villain who poisons every character
who stands in his way.
In the centuries since Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice, the way different
productions have handled the text’s problematic attitude toward Jewish people tells the story
of their own society’s grappling with anti-Semitism. In the first productions of the play,
comedians portrayed Shylock as either a clown or a monster, but in the nineteenth century,
Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean won great acclaim for playing Shylock sympathetically.
Henry Irving’s 1879 production of the play omitted some of the most anti-Semitic lines and
added a scene at the end where Shylock finds his house deserted, emphasizing the tragedy in
the comedy. A 2004 film establishes Shylock as a representative of a suffering race by
opening with shots of Venice’s Jewish ghetto and descriptions of the abuse of Jews in
Venice. Today, the play’s controversial history stands as part of its value; like all good
literature, it serves as lens through which we can understand our past and a mirror in which
we can examine our own, imperfect present.

Is Portia the hero of the play The Merchant of Venice?

Portia is the hero of the The Merchant of Venice. Men create or get themselves into
predicaments, but Portia steers them through them successfully.

Her greatest triumph comes when she disguises herself as a male lawyer and is able to
save Antonio's life. Antonio has, out of his love for Bassanio, too rashly signed loan papers
saying he will give up a pound of his own flesh if he does not repay Shylock's loan within the

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three-month time limit. When Antonio fails to pay, it is Portia's humane and quick-witted
arguments that save him from what most likely would have been a death sentence, given the
probable inability of Renaissance medicine to heal his wounds.

Portia also functions as the moral center of the play, as illustrated in her line "the quality of
mercy is not strain'd." By this, she means mercy is not overused or overworked in our world,
and thus expresses a point of view that says we ought to be more compassionate and merciful
towards each other.

She is a strong woman who can think for herself, successfully impersonate a man, and argue
persuasively in court. She also has a sense of humor and a well-developed moral center. Her
competence is the glue that brings the play to a successful comic ending, rather than a tragic
one.

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 Hamlet
Key Facts

Full title - The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Author -William Shakespeare
Type of work - Play
Genre -Tragedy, revenge tragedy
Language - English
Time and place written - London, England, early 17th century (probably 1600–1602)
Date of first publication - 1603, in a pirated quarto edition titled The Tragicall Historie of
Hamlet; 1604 in a superior quarto edition
Protagonist - Hamlet
Major conflict - Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle
Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and thus well protected. Moreover, Hamlet struggles
with his doubts about whether he can trust the ghost and whether killing Claudius is the
appropriate thing to do.
Rising action · The ghost appears to Hamlet and tells Hamlet to revenge his murder; Hamlet
feigns madness to his intentions; Hamlet stages the mousetrap play; Hamlet passes up the
opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying.
Climax · When Hamlet stabs Polonius through the arras in Act III, scene iv, he commits
himself to overtly violent action and brings himself into unavoidable conflict with the king.
Another possible climax comes at the end of Act IV, scene iv, when Hamlet resolves to commit
himself fully to violent revenge.
Falling action · Hamlet is sent to England to be killed; Hamlet returns to Denmark and
confronts Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral; the fencing match; the deaths of the royal family.
Setting (time) · The late medieval period, though the play’s chronological setting is
notoriously imprecise
Settings (place) · Denmark
Foreshadowing · The ghost, which is taken to foreshadow an ominous future for Denmark
Tone · Dark, ironic, melancholy, passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent
Themes · The impossibility of certainty; the complexity of action; the mystery of death; the
nation as a diseased body

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Motifs · Incest and incestuous desire; ears and hearing; death and suicide; darkness and the
supernatural; misogyny
symbols · The ghost (the spiritual consequences of death); Yorick’s skull (the physical
consequences of death)

Introduction

Written during the first part of the seventeenth century (probably in 1600 or 1601), Hamlet was
probably first performed in July 1602. It was first published in printed form in 1603 and
appeared in an enlarged edition in 1604.
The raw material that Shakespeare appropriated in writing Hamlet is the story of a Danish
prince whose uncle murders the prince’s father, marries his mother, and claims the throne. The
prince pretends to be feeble-minded to throw his uncle off guard, and then manages to kill his
uncle in revenge. Shakespeare changed the emphasis of this story entirely, making his Hamlet
a philosophically minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s
crime is so uncertain.

Hamlet is faced with the difficult task of correcting an injustice that he can never have sufficient
knowledge of—a dilemma that is by no means unique, or even uncommon. And while Hamlet
is fond of pointing out questions that cannot be answered because they concern supernatural
and metaphysical matters, the play as a whole chiefly demonstrates the difficulty of knowing
the truth about other people—their guilt or innocence, their motivations, their feelings, their
relative states of sanity or insanity. The world of other people is a world of appearances,
and Hamlet is, fundamentally, a play about the difficulty of living in that world.

Plot Overview

On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered
first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles the recently
deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne and married the king’s
widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of
Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is
indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering

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Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost
disappears with the dawn.

Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death, but, because he is contemplative
and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy and even apparent
madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the prince’s erratic behavior and attempt to
discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to
watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad
with love for his daughter, Ophelia, Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the
girl. But though Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her
to enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.

A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncle’s
guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which
Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty, he will
surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theatre, Claudius leaps up and
leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill
Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would
send Claudius’s soul to heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and
decides to wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own safety,
orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once.

Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind a
tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding there. He
draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately
dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudius’s plan for
Hamlet includes more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed
orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death.

In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in the river.
Polonius’s son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to Denmark in a rage. Claudius
convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s and sister’s deaths. When Horatio and
the king receive letters from Hamlet indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark after
pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes’ desire

53
for revenge to secure Hamlet’s death. Laertes will fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but
Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup
plan, the king decides to poison a goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet
score the first or second hits of the match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as
Ophelia’s funeral is taking place. Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he
had in fact always loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one must
be prepared to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish courtier named Osric arrives
on Claudius’s orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.

The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from the king’s
proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly killed by the poison.
Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the poison immediately.
First, Laertes is cut by his own sword’s blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius is
responsible for the queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius
through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the poisoned wine.
Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately after achieving his revenge.

At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to Denmark and
attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from England, who report that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned by the gruesome sight of the
entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He moves to take power of the kingdom.
Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last request, tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that
Hamlet be carried away in a manner befitting a fallen.

STYLE

The Shakespearean style used in this tragic play is unique as Hamlet tries to avenge the death
of his father, the late king of Denmark who was murdered by his uncle, Claudius. The aftermath
or consequences of this venture plunge the entire state into a state of cataclysm. The style and
dramatic techniques adopted therein are as follows:

PLOT/ STRUCTURE

The play has a linear and casual plot. It is presented in a five-act structure. The action follows
a chronological, logical sequence from the beginning to the end except for the interruption for

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the “Mousetrap”. Each action leads to the other and they all contribute to the progress of the
entire play. However, there are sub-plots but they are equally essential to the play. All of them
depend casually upon each other with their climax coming together to re-inforce each other
and their denouement (resolution) is interdependent. The play is hinged on conflicts. These are
the struggles or conflicts between Claudius and Hamlet, between Hamlet, Polonius and Leartes,
and between Claudius’s regime and Fortinbras’. The interesting and unique thing is that they
are tightly woven together casually and logically from the beginning to the end.

SUSPENCE:

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s best constructed plays. It begins at the Castle of Elsinore in
Denmark and its exposition carries one of the greatest suspense in dramatic history. It reveals
the present, takes us back to the past (flashback) and also foreshadows the future. The suspense
is steady till the end of the play. Hamlet knows that his father’s spirit is not happy, but feels
that probably he died in sin. This fact leads to his indecision which sustains the suspense
throughout the play and also to the anti-climax of the play when he dies eventually.

SOLILOQUY AND ASIDE

Soliloquy is employed to reveal the inner workings of the minds of characters in this play,
Shakespeare uses it in its finest form especially in the character of Hamlet. The audience,
through this technique, shares in Hamlet’s psychological disturbances and the innermost
aspects of his character. It helps to reveal Hamlet’s character and also serves as a form of
significant commentary on the events. The first soliloquy, for instance, reveals Hamlet’s
predicament.- to be or not to be, to kill or not to kill the king- this is a weighty issue that burden
him.

Soliloquy is a very important technique used in this play. Although Hamlet’s soliloquies do not
represent the greater part of the play, but the main action which is the revenge plot, depends to
a great extent on the working out of Hamlet’s private mental processes. Almost everything he
does or does not do, is the result of one soliloquy or the cause of another. You will notice that
when Hamlet stops soliloquizing, when he turns from private thought to definite public action,
the play comes quickly to an end.

Aside is a dramatic convention that enables a character speak to himself or make a comment
on the action or speech of another character. That other character is not expected to hear it but
others could. Sometimes, an aside is directed to a particular character on another character’s

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speech or action. In the example below, Polonius, in an aside, calls the king’s attention to what
Hamlet said:

Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me.

Ham. No, good mother, here’s metal more attractive.

Pol. [aside to the king] O ho! Do you mark that?

Ham. [lying at Ophelia’s feet] Lady, shall I lie in your lap?( Act 111, Scene11)

FORESHADOWING

The appearance of the ghost and the directive it gives to Hamlet foreshadows the tragic
catastrophe at the end of the play. Its subsequent appearances help to propel Hamlet to action.

LANGUAGE

The play is written in verse and not in prose. It is written in blank verse which “…has no end
rhyme; its rhythm is particularly suited to drama because it so closely resembles the rhythm of
normal English speech” (Introduction to Hamlet by A. L. Rowse, p xvii).

SETTING

The playwright captures the beauty of the environment. It is however a turbulent and fearful
environment which symbolically reflects the turbulent state of Hamlet’s mind. You see that
just as the kingdom of Denmark is about to collapse, Hamlet’s consciousness is also on the
brink of collapse. The play is set in Denmark. The actions take place mainly in the Castle of
Elisnore. It is not easy to locate the historical setting as the play is based on the legend of
Hamlet which is found in the folk literature of Iceland and Denmark.

CHARACTERIZATION

The characters are round/realistic/multi-dimentional. Hamlet, for instance, grows from

innocence and indecision to maturity and takes a definite decision to revenge his father’s death.
It is difficult to predict his actions. The perfection of character development in this play is
reflected in a pattern of events as the characters take over the plot and change as it progresses.

Hamlet - The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. About thirty years
old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and
the nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of

56
hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and
thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often
indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts.

Claudius - The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and the play’s antagonist. The villain of
the play, Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his
lust for power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling—his love for
Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.

Gertrude - The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married to Claudius. Gertrude
loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more
urgently than moral rectitude or truth.

Polonius - The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man.
Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia.

Horatio - Hamlet’s close friend, who studied with the prince at the university in Wittenberg.
Horatio is loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play. After Hamlet’s death, Horatio
remains alive to tell Hamlet’s story.

Ophelia - Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young woman with whom Hamlet has been in love.
Ophelia is a sweet and innocent young girl, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes.
Dependent on men to tell her how to behave, she gives in to Polonius’s schemes to spy on
Hamlet. Even in her lapse into madness and death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about
flowers and finally drowning in the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered.

Laertes - Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, a young man who spends much of the play in
France. Passionate and quick to action, Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet.

Fortinbras - The young Prince of Norway, whose father the king (also named Fortinbras) was
killed by Hamlet’s father (also named Hamlet). Now Fortinbras wishes to attack Denmark to
avenge his father’s honor, making him another foil for Prince Hamlet.

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The Ghost - The specter of Hamlet’s recently deceased father. The ghost, who claims to have
been murdered by Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge him. However, it is not entirely
certain whether the ghost is what it appears to be, or whether it is something else. Hamlet
speculates that the ghost might be a devil sent to deceive him and tempt him into murder, and
the question of what the ghost is or where it comes from is never definitively resolved.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Two slightly bumbling courtiers, former friends of Hamlet
from Wittenberg, who are summoned by Claudius and Gertrude to discover the cause of
Hamlet’s strange behavior.

Osric - The foolish courtier who summons Hamlet to his duel with Laertes.

Voltimand and Cornelius - Courtiers whom Claudius sends to Norway to persuade the king
to prevent Fortinbras from attacking.

Marcellus and Bernardo - The officers who first see the ghost walking the ramparts of
Elsinore and who summon Horatio to witness it. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first
encounters the ghost.

Francisco - A soldier and guardsman at Elsinore.

Reynaldo - Polonius’s servant, who is sent to France by Polonius to check up on and spy on
Laertes.

Analysis of Major Characters

Hamlet

Hamlet has fascinated audiences and readers for centuries, and the first thing to point out about
him is that he is enigmatic. There is always more to him than the other characters in the play
can figure out; even the most careful and clever readers come away with the sense that they
don’t know everything there is to know about this character. Hamlet actually tells other
characters that there is more to him than meets the eye—notably, his mother, and Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern—but his fascination involves much more than this. When he speaks, he
sounds as if there’s something important he’s not saying, maybe something even he is not

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aware of. The ability to write soliloquies and dialogues that create this effect is one of
Shakespeare’s most impressive achievements.

A university student whose studies are interrupted by his father’s death, Hamlet is extremely
philosophical and contemplative. He is particularly drawn to difficult questions or questions
that cannot be answered with any certainty. Faced with evidence that his uncle murdered his
father, evidence that any other character in a play would believe, Hamlet becomes obsessed
with proving his uncle’s guilt before trying to act. The standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt”
is simply unacceptable to him. He is equally plagued with questions about the afterlife, about
the wisdom of suicide, about what happens to bodies after they die—the list is extensive.

But even though he is thoughtful to the point of obsession, Hamlet also behaves rashly and
impulsively. When he does act, it is with surprising swiftness and little or no premeditation, as
when he stabs Polonius through a curtain without even checking to see who he is. He seems to
step very easily into the role of a madman, behaving erratically and upsetting the other
characters with his wild speech and pointed innuendos.

It is also important to note that Hamlet is extremely melancholy and discontented with the state
of affairs in Denmark and in his own family—indeed, in the world at large. He is extremely
disappointed with his mother for marrying his uncle so quickly, and he repudiates Ophelia, a
woman he once claimed to love, in the harshest terms. His words often indicate his disgust with
and distrust of women in general. At a number of points in the play, he contemplates his own
death and even the option of suicide.

But, despite all of the things with which Hamlet professes dissatisfaction, it is remarkable that
the prince and heir apparent of Denmark should think about these problems only in personal
and philosophical terms. He spends relatively little time thinking about the threats to
Denmark’s national security from without or the threats to its stability from within (some of
which he helps to create through his own carelessness).

Claudius

Hamlet’s major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful, conniving king who contrasts sharply with the
other male characters in the play. Whereas most of the other important men in Hamlet are
preoccupied with ideas of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon

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maintaining his own power. The old King Hamlet was apparently a stern warrior, but Claudius
is a corrupt politician whose main weapon is his ability to manipulate others through his skilful
use of language. Claudius’s speech is compared to poison being poured in the ear—the method
he used to murder Hamlet’s father. Claudius’s love for Gertrude may be sincere, but it also
seems likely that he married her as a strategic move, to help him win the throne away from
Hamlet after the death of the king. As the play progresses, Claudius’s mounting fear of
Hamlet’s insanity leads him to ever greater self-preoccupation; when Gertrude tells him that
Hamlet has killed Polonius, Claudius does not remark that Gertrude might have been in danger,
but only that he would have been in danger had he been in the room. He tells Laertes the same
thing as he attempts to soothe the young man’s anger after his father’s death. Claudius is
ultimately too crafty for his own good. In Act V, scene ii, rather than allowing Laertes only
two methods of killing Hamlet, the sharpened sword and the poison on the blade, Claudius
insists on a third, the poisoned goblet. When Gertrude inadvertently drinks the poison and dies,
Hamlet is at last able to bring himself to kill Claudius, and the king is felled by his own
cowardly machination.

Gertrude

Few Shakespearean characters have caused as much uncertainty as Gertrude, the beautiful
Queen of Denmark. The play seems to raise more questions about Gertrude than it answers,
including: Was she involved with Claudius before the death of her husband? Did she love her
husband? Did she know about Claudius’s plan to commit the murder? Did she love Claudius,
or did she marry him simply to keep her high station in Denmark? Does she believe Hamlet
when he insists that he is not mad, or does she pretend to believe him simply to protect herself?
Does she intentionally betray Hamlet to Claudius, or does she believe that she is protecting her
son’s secret?

These questions can be answered in numerous ways, depending upon one’s reading of the play.
The Gertrude who does emerge clearly in Hamlet is a woman defined by her desire for station
and affection, as well as by her tendency to use men to fulfill her instinct for self-preservation—
which, of course, makes her extremely dependent upon the men in her life. Hamlet’s most
famous comment about Gertrude is his furious condemnation of women in general: “Frailty,
thy name is woman!” ([Link].146). This comment is as much indicative of Hamlet’s agonized state
of mind as of anything else, but to a great extent Gertrude does seem morally frail. She never

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exhibits the ability to think critically about her situation, but seems merely to move instinctively
toward seemingly safe choices, as when she immediately runs to Claudius after her
confrontation with Hamlet. She is at her best in social situations ([Link] and [Link]), when her natural
grace and charm seem to indicate a rich, rounded personality. At times it seems that her grace
and charm are her only characteristics, and her reliance on men appears to be her sole way of
capitalizing on her abilities.

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

a. Themes

THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF CERTAINTY

What separates Hamlet from other revenge plays (and maybe from every play written before
it) is that the action we expect to see, particularly from Hamlet himself, is continually
postponed while Hamlet tries to obtain more certain knowledge about what he is doing. This
play poses many questions that other plays would simply take for granted. Can we have certain
knowledge about ghosts? Is the ghost what it appears to be, or is it really a misleading fiend?
Does the ghost have reliable knowledge about its own death, or is the ghost itself deluded?
Moving to more earthly matters: How can we know for certain the facts about a crime that has
no witnesses? Can Hamlet know the state of Claudius’s soul by watching his behavior? If so,
can he know the facts of what Claudius did by observing the state of his soul? Can Claudius
(or the audience) know the state of Hamlet’s mind by observing his behavior and listening to
his speech? Can we know whether our actions will have the consequences we want them to
have? Can we know anything about the afterlife?
Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about indecisiveness, and thus about Hamlet’s failure
to act appropriately. It might be more interesting to consider that the play shows us how many
uncertainties our lives are built upon, how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when
people act or when they evaluate one another’s actions.

THE COMPLEXITY OF ACTION

Directly related to the theme of certainty is the theme of action. How is it possible to take
reasonable, effective, purposeful action? In Hamlet, the question of how to act is affected not

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only by rational considerations, such as the need for certainty, but also by emotional, ethical,
and psychological factors. Hamlet himself appears to distrust the idea that it’s even possible to
act in a controlled, purposeful way. When he does act, he prefers to do it blindly, recklessly,
and violently. The other characters obviously think much less about “action” in the abstract
than Hamlet does, and are therefore less troubled about the possibility of acting effectively.
They simply act as they feel is appropriate. But in some sense they prove that Hamlet is right,
because all of their actions miscarry. Claudius possesses himself of queen and crown through
bold action, but his conscience torments him, and he is beset by threats to his authority (and,
of course, he dies). Laertes resolves that nothing will distract him from acting out his revenge,
but he is easily influenced and manipulated into serving Claudius’s ends, and his poisoned
rapier is turned back upon himself.

THE MYSTERY OF DEATH

In the aftermath of his father’s murder, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and over the
course of the play he considers death from a great many perspectives. He ponders both the
spiritual aftermath of death, embodied in the ghost, and the physical remainders of the dead,
such as by Yorick’s skull and the decaying corpses in the cemetery. Throughout, the idea of
death is closely tied to the themes of spirituality, truth, and uncertainty in that death may bring
the answers to Hamlet’s deepest questions, ending once and for all the problem of trying to
determine truth in an ambiguous world. And, since death is both the cause and the consequence
of revenge, it is intimately tied to the theme of revenge and justice—Claudius’s murder of King
Hamlet initiates Hamlet’s quest for revenge, and Claudius’s death is the end of that quest.

The question of his own death plagues Hamlet as well, as he repeatedly contemplates whether
or not suicide is a morally legitimate action in an unbearably painful world. Hamlet’s grief and
misery is such that he frequently longs for death to end his suffering, but he fears that if he
commits suicide, he will be consigned to eternal suffering in hell because of the Christian
religion’s prohibition of suicide. In his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy (III.i), Hamlet
philosophically concludes that no one would choose to endure the pain of life if he or she were
not afraid of what will come after death, and that it is this fear which causes complex moral
considerations to interfere with the capacity for action.

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THE NATION AS A DISEASED BODY

Everything is connected in Hamlet, including the welfare of the royal family and the health of
the state as a whole. The play’s early scenes explore the sense of anxiety and dread that
surrounds the transfer of power from one ruler to the next. Throughout the play, characters
draw explicit connections between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the nation.
Denmark is frequently described as a physical body made ill by the moral corruption of
Claudius and Gertrude, and many observers interpret the presence of the ghost as a supernatural
omen indicating that “[s]omething is rotten in the state of Denmark” ([Link].67). The dead King
Hamlet is portrayed as a strong, forthright ruler under whose guard the state was in good health,
while Claudius, a wicked politician, has corrupted and compromised Denmark to satisfy his
own appetites. At the end of the play, the rise to power of the upright Fortinbras suggests that
Denmark will be strengthened once again.

b. Motifs

INCEST AND INCESTUOUS DESIRE

The motif of incest runs throughout the play and is frequently alluded to by Hamlet and the
ghost, most obviously in conversations about Gertrude and Claudius, the former brother-in-law
and sister-in-law who are now married. A subtle motif of incestuous desire can be found in the
relationship of Laertes and Ophelia, as Laertes sometimes speaks to his sister in suggestively
sexual terms and, at her funeral, leaps into her grave to hold her in his arms. However, the
strongest overtones of incestuous desire arise in the relationship of Hamlet and Gertrude, in
Hamlet’s fixation on Gertrude’s sex life with Claudius and his preoccupation with her in
general.

MISOGYNY

Shattered by his mother’s decision to marry Claudius so soon after her husband’s death, Hamlet
becomes cynical about women in general, showing a particular obsession with what he
perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption. This motif of
misogyny, or hatred of women, occurs sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important
inhibiting factor in Hamlet’s relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude. He urges Ophelia to go

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to a nunnery rather than experience the corruptions of sexuality and exclaims of Gertrude,
“Frailty, thy name is woman” ([Link].146).

EARS AND HEARING

One facet of Hamlet’s exploration of the difficulty of attaining true knowledge is slipperiness
of language. Words are used to communicate ideas, but they can also be used to distort the
truth, manipulate other people, and serve as tools in corrupt quests for power. Claudius, the
shrewd politician, is the most obvious example of a man who manipulates words to enhance
his own power. The sinister uses of words are represented by images of ears and hearing, from
Claudius’s murder of the king by pouring poison into his ear to Hamlet’s claim to Horatio that
“I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb” ([Link].21). The poison poured in the
king’s ear by Claudius is used by the ghost to symbolize the corrosive effect of Claudius’s
dishonesty on the health of Denmark. Declaring that the story that he was killed by a snake is
a lie, he says that “the whole ear of Denmark” is “Rankly abused. . . .” (I.v.36–38).

c. Symbols

YORICK’S SKULL

In Hamlet, physical objects are rarely used to represent thematic ideas. One important
exception is Yorick’s skull, which Hamlet discovers in the graveyard in the first scene of Act
V. As Hamlet speaks to the skull and about the skull of the king’s former jester, he fixates on
death’s inevitability and the disintegration of the body. He urges the skull to “get you to my
lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come”—no one
can avoid death (V.i.178–179). He traces the skull’s mouth and says, “Here hung those lips
that I have kissed I know not how oft,” indicating his fascination with the physical
consequences of death (V.i.174–175). This latter idea is an important motif throughout the
play, as Hamlet frequently makes comments referring to every human body’s eventual decay,
noting that Polonius will be eaten by worms, that even kings are eaten by worms, and that dust
from the decayed body of Alexander the Great might be used to stop a hole in a beer.

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Important Quotations:

"That it should come to this!" (Act I, Scene II)

What does it mean? Just after speaking to his mother Gertrude and uncle (and step-father)
King Claudius, Hamlet has his first of five soliloquies. When Hamlet exclaims, "[t]hat it should
come to this," he'd just finished describing how the world has gone to fodder. Then Hamlet
goes on to say how he cannot believe his mother would marry his father's brother (i.e., Hamlet's
uncle). This quote shows Hamlet's fury and shock at his mother's remarriage

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" (Act I, Scene II)

What does it mean? Hamlet is still speaking in his first of five soliloquies. The "woman" he
specifically refers to is his mother. Hamlet felt she was weak, or not strong enough to mourn
his father longer. Hamlet goes on further to say that not even an animal or beast, who has no
reasoning skills, would have abandoned the mourning so quickly. All in all, this shows how
angry and confused Hamlet is by his mother's remarriage.

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, and
borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry." (Act I, Scene III)
What does it mean? Here Polonius is giving his son, Laertes, sound advice before Laertes
returns to Paris. Polonius is really saying loaning money to other people is dangerous. Often,
people don't pay you back and you use a friend because of the failed transaction. On the flip
side, it is distasteful to borrow money because it is impolite and usually indicates you are living
outside of your means.

"This above all: to thine own self be true." (Act I, Scene III)
What does it mean? Again, Polonius is doling out sage advice to his son, Laertes. Simply put,
Polonius is telling his son "be yourself." In the context of the play, Polonius is also telling
Laertes to be a gentleman and not "false to any man" (line 80). Overall, Polonius's advice helps
reveals a theme of irony that threads throughout the play. Neither Polonius nor Laertes heeds
the advice that Polonius gives in this scene, and both perish due to their lack of adherence.

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"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." (Act I, Scene IV)
What does it mean? At the end of Scene IV, a guard, Marcellus, says these famous words
to Horatio. After Hamlet follows the ghost, Marcellus and Horatio know they have to follow
as well, because Hamlet is acting so impulsively. Marcellus's words are remarking on how
something evil and vile is afoot. This moment could be interpreted as foreshadowing of the
impending deaths of most of the principle characters.

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." (Act II, Scene II)
What does it mean? At this point of the play, Hamlet and Polonius are interacting onstage,
but this quote is technically spoken by Polonius to the audience, in an aside. What Polonius is
saying is that, even though Hamlet is talking crazy, it actually makes sense, or it has a "method."
Polonius's assertion is ironic because he is right and wrong. Polonius believes Hamlet is acting
"mad" because Hamlet's love of Ophelia has driven him to such. While Polonius is correct to
think that there is reason behind Hamlet's actions, he is incorrect as to the cause. Hamlet is
purposefully acting mad to disguise his true mission to avenge his father's murder.

"To be, or not to be: that is the question." (Act III, Scene I)
What does it mean? As one of Shakespeare's all-time famous quotes, Hamlet's words have
stood the test of time and are often quoted even today in both academia and pop culture. In the
beginning of his fourth, and best known, soliloquy Hamlet muses about the conundrum of
suicide. He wonders if one route is "nobler" than the next. At this point in the play, Hamlet has
been unable to act upon his motives for personal revenge, and this frustrates him. Which is
better, suffering as he has been or ending it all? The tone of Hamlet's soliloquy is more
meditative than angry, but he does seriously consider suicide. He relates his personal struggle
to the struggles that all of mankind shares. Given that you don't know what happens after you
die, Hamlet realizes that death wouldn't be the ideal escape he craves.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." (Act III, Scene II)
What does it mean? Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude, says this famous line while
watching The Mousetrap. Gertrude is talking about the queen in the play. She feels that the
play-queen seems insincere because she repeats so dramatically that she'll never remarry due
to her undying love of her husband. The play-queen, in fact, does remarry. It is unclear whether
Gertrude recognizes the parallel between herself and the play-queen; Hamlet certainly feels
that way. This moment has an irony that is shown throughout the play.

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SOLILOQUIES IN HAMLET

Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 1. Scene II

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month--
Let me not think on't—Frailty, thy name is woman!—
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears:—why she, even she—
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer—married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

Analysis of Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 1. Scene II

This soliloquy begins with Hamlet desiring death, saying, 'this too solid flesh would melt', but
this desire comes coupled with the fear that God does not condone 'self-slaughter'. This reveals
that Hamlet is feeling melancholic. It's possible that he is suffering from depression. Apart
from desiring suicide, he also states that he is finding the world 'weary, stale, flat and
unprofitable'. This is more proof that Hamlet is depressed. However, depression does not come
absent other emotions.

As we read further, we find that Hamlet's depression leads to bitterness and disgust. This is
most apparent when Hamlet describes the world as 'rank', 'gross', and 'unweeded'.

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Hamlet's growing sense of melancholy and disgust is a result of two horrific events. First, his
father, the king, died less than two months prior to Hamlet's soliloquy. Hamlet is grieving for
his father, whom he honoured and loved, comparing him to 'Hyperion'.

Second, his mother, who should be sharing his grief, has betrayed his needs and his father's
memory. She has celebrated a hasty and unseemly marriage to the old king's brother, Claudius.
Hamlet's distress and disgust are illustrated in his comment, 'a beast that wants of reason would
have mourned longer'. Here, we see that Hamlet feels as though his mother has sullied his
father's memory saying, 'Frailty, thy name is woman'. The matter torments him so much that
he can hardly bear to consider it. 'Must I remember?' he asks in desperation, then he says, 'Let
me not think on't'.

He is not only shocked and upset by the haste with which his mother has decided to remarry,
but he is also disgusted by the husband she has chosen. Because she marries her dead husband's
brother, Claudius, Hamlet believes that she is committing incest. Hamlet dislikes Claudius,
whom he compares to a 'satyr'. Hamlet despises being called Claudius's 'son'. While he agrees
to 'obey' his mother's wishes, he mocks Claudius's irritating comments. It is obvious that
Hamlet cannot stomach seeing Claudius in such a high position of power.

It is likely that he may also feel that his own place has been usurped. He has not inherited his
father's crown, but rather, it is now worn by Claudius. This renders Hamlet powerless. Hamlet
is convinced that this unfortunate situation 'cannot come to good', but feels impotent. How can
Hamlet lead his country and honor his father's death when such a malicious buffoon sits on the
throne?

He feels depressed, suicidal, fearful, regretful, grief-stricken, angry, disgusted, betrayed,

frustrated, confused and impotent. His thoughts are of death and decay. This speech indicates
the level of negativity to which Hamlet has fallen. He is haunted by his father's death, tormented
by his mother's marriage to Claudius, and infuriated by his inability to change either event.

Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 2. Scene II

Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
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With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Ha!
'Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
Fie upon't! foh! About, my brain! I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds

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More relative than this: the play 's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

Analysis of Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 2. Scene II

This soliloquy illustrates Hamlet's continued inability to do anything of consequence. He lacks
the knowledge of how to remedy the pain caused by his present circumstances, so he wonders
how an actor would portray him, saying, '[he would] drown the stage with tears'. One has to
assume that this is what Hamlet wants to do, and what he feels his father's death deserves, yet
he is unable to respond in this way. He wonders if he is a coward, since he does not 'cleave the
general ear with horrid speech' or 'make mad the guilty and appal the free'. He asks, 'who calls
me villain?', but the only person speaking is himself. At this point, he is accusing himself of
villainy for not speaking on behalf of his dear, recently-deceased, father.
He believes that he must be a 'pigeon-liver'd' coward, lacking 'gall', because he does not do
anything about the 'bloody, bawdy villain', Claudius. He wants revenge on his 'remorseless,
treacherous, lecherous, kindless', uncle, but he can only complain to himself and accomplish
nothing. He criticises his own inaction, calling himself 'scullion', 'whore', and 'drab' for not
doing more in respect of his father's death; for saying nothing about a king, 'upon whose
property and most dear life a damned defeat was made’; for not killing Claudius and ‘feeding
his innards to the kites’.
However, his feelings settle some when Hamlet remembers that a play, reflecting the murder
of Old Hamlet, by Claudius, might cause the latter to react in such a way as to prove his guilt.
He needs this evidence because he worries that the ghost that he has spoken with could turn
out to be 'a devil', luring him, in his weak and melancholy state, to commit a sin against his
possibly innocent uncle. The play, which he plans with the acting troupe, will give him the
answers that he requires.
Hamlet still feels grief-stricken, frustrated and angry, but his impotent and confused cowardice
is being overcome by a belief that he can do something about his situation.

Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 3. Scene I

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;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns

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That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

Analysis of Hamlet's Soliloquy, Act 3. Scene I

Hamlet's third soliloquy is the famous 'to be, or not to be' speech. Once again Hamlet is
confused and contemplating death. He is wondering whether life or death is preferable; whether
it is better to allow himself to be tormented by all the wrongs that he considers 'outrageous
fortune' bestowed on him, or to arm himself and fight against them, bringing them to an end.
If he were to die, he feels that his troubles, his 'heart-ache', would end. Death is still something
that he finds appealing, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished'. Yet, even death troubles
him, as to die might mean to dream and he worries about the dreams he might have to endure,
'in that sleep of death what dreams may come'.

He is still contemplating suicide and considers how, by taking one's own life, with 'a bare
bodkin', or dagger, one might avoid 'whips and scorns' and other hard-to-bear wrongs.
However, he refers to death as 'the dread of something' in the 'undiscover'd country', and this
shows that he worried about how his soul might be treated in the afterlife.

He decides that fears concerning the puzzling and 'dreadful' afterlife, together with the
conscience, cause people to bear the wrongs inflicted during their life on earth, rather than
commit suicide and risk offending God. The fear of arriving somewhere unknown and
frightening—possibly the torments of hell—is proof that 'conscience does make cowards of us
all'. People, he concludes, tend to think things over, lack resolve and do nothing.

When Hamlet is remarking on such people, he is actually talking about himself. He believes
that his uncle is wicked and deserves to die. He believes that it is he who should end his uncle's
life. But he is afraid of going to purgatory, as the spirit claiming to be his father has done. He
is afraid of risking hell by committing suicide. He is afraid of doing the wrong thing, and is

71
inactive, partly because of his conscience. He is afraid of the potential consequences that his
religious upbringing—an upbringing that would have been the norm—claim would come if he
commits suicide.

Hamlet continues to feel frustrated and angry in his grief, and his feelings of impotence have
returned. Although Claudius's response to the play indicated guilt, Hamlet still does not know
what the right thing to do is—right in the eyes of God, that is.

HAMLET'S MADNESS.
Hamlet may already be going mad when the play begins, and his later decision to fake madness
is just a cover for real insanity. The first line addressed to Hamlet is: “How is it that the clouds
still hang on you?” ([Link].): Claudius thinks it’s strange and unhealthy that Hamlet is still grieving
for his father. In the same scene Hamlet tells us that he is wearing “solemn black” and a
“dejected ‘havior” ([Link].), which audiences in Shakespeare’s time would have recognised as
signs of “melancholy,” a condition which Renaissance doctors believed could lead to madness.
Although several characters see the Ghost during Act One, only Hamlet hears it speak, which
opens the possibility that the Ghost’s speech is a hallucination of Hamlet’s. Later Hamlet
wonders the same thing, asking whether the Ghost’s story was a trick played on him by the
Devil, “Out of my weakness and my melancholy,/As he is very potent with such spirits” ([Link].).
The possibility that Hamlet is mad when the play begins forces us to question the truth of
everything he says, making his character even more mysterious.

Hamlet’s misogynistic behavior toward Gertrude and Ophelia can be seen as evidence that
Hamlet really is going mad, because these scenes have little to do with is quest for justice, and
yet they seem to provoke his strongest feelings. We see little evidence in the play that either
Gertrude or Ophelia is guilty of any wrongdoing, and they both appear to feel genuine affection
and concern for Hamlet. Yet he treats them both with paranoia, suspicion, and cruelty,
suggesting he has lost the ability to accurately interpret other people’s motivations. Hamlet
describes Gertrude’s marriage as “incestuous” ([Link].), but no one else in the play agrees with his
opinion. Even though the Ghost instructs Hamlet not to “contrive against thy mother aught”
(I.v), Hamlet’s disgust with his mother’s sex life mounts as the play continues: when he finally
confronts Gertrude he paints a picture of her “honeying and making love over the nasty sty”
([Link]). Hamlet demonstrates a similar attitude to Ophelia’s sexuality, telling her “Get thee to

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a nunnery” rather than become “a breeder of sinners” (III.i). After giving Ophelia a long list of
what he sees as women’s faults, Hamlet confesses: “It hath made me mad” (III.i). The fact that
Hamlet’s biggest emotional outbursts are directed against the sexual feelings of the women in
his life suggests that his mad behavior is not just a ploy to disguise his revenge plans.

Despite the evidence that Hamlet is actually mad, we also see substantial evidence that he is
just pretending. The most obvious evidence is that Hamlet himself says he is going to pretend
to be mad, suggesting he is at least sane enough to be able to tell the difference between
disordered and rational behavior. Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus that he plans to “put an
antic disposition on” (I.v). His “mad” remarks to Polonius—“you are a fishmonger” ([Link])—
are too silly and sometimes too clever to be genuinely mad: even Polonius notes “How pregnant
sometimes his replies are” ([Link].). Hamlet’s most mad-seeming outburst, against Ophelia, may
be explained by the fact that Claudius and Polonius are spying on the conversation: if Hamlet
suspects that he’s being spied on, he may be acting more deranged than he really is for the
benefit of his listeners. If Hamlet does know that Claudius and Polonius are listening, the fact
that he can instantly adjust his behavior points toward the idea that he has a firm grip on reality
and his own mind. Similarly, when Hamlet is sent to England, he acts skilfully and ruthlessly
to escape, which suggests that even at this late stage in the play he is capable of perfectly sane
behavior. For every piece of evidence that Hamlet is mad, we can also point to evidence that
he’s sane, which contributes to the mystery of Hamlet’s character.

By making the audience constantly question whether Hamlet is really mad or just
pretending, Hamlet asks us whether the line between reality and acting is as clear-cut as it
seems. Hamlet tells us that he believes the purpose of acting is “to hold, as ’twere, the mirror
up to Nature” ([Link]), that is, to be as close to reality as possible. The First Player cries as he
delivers a sad speech, and Hamlet asks whether the Player’s pretended feelings are stronger
than his own real feelings, since Hamlet’s feelings are not strong enough to make him cry.
Hamlet seems to believe that acting can be as real, or realer, than real-life emotion, which raises
the possibility that by pretending to be mad, Hamlet has actually caused his own mental
breakdown. Another interpretation could be that Hamlet acts mad as a way to express the
strong, troubling emotions he can’t allow himself to feel when he’s sane, just as the actor can

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cry easily when playing a role. Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles to determine which role
he should play—thoughtful, reticent scholar, or revenge-minded, decisive heir to the throne—
and by acting both parts, Hamlet explores what his true role should be. Hamlet forces us to
question what the truth is: how can we tell between reality and pretense?

CONFLICT IN HAMLET

Hamlet is a tragic story dealing with Denmark’s royalty. Throughout Hamlet the reader sees
many examples of conflict; conflict is essential to any drama. From the time Hamlet sees the
ghost to when Hamlet takes his last breath, outward and internal conflicts have arisen many
times.

One of the most obvious conflicts in Hamlet is the conflict between Hamlet and King
Claudius. The conflict between Hamlet and King Claudius is internal and external. There is
tension in the air whenever Hamlet and King Claudius are in the same scene or room. Early
in the book, the reader learns that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father. Claudius killed King
Hamlet so Claudius could be king, and Claudius’s plan succeeded so Claudius became the
king of Denmark. A ghost appears to Hamlet in act one, scene five. The ghost is King
Claudius, and King Claudius says,

“A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark

Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown.” (Shakespeare)

Now that Hamlet knows that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet seeks to avenge his
father’s death. This starts the conflict between Hamlet and King Claudius. Not only did
Claudius kill Hamlet’s father, but Claudius also married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. It is
more difficult for Hamlet to kill King Claudius because his mother is married to Claudius. It
might cause Gertrude grief because she would lose two husbands. Hamlet has internal
conflict towards killing Claudius because he doesn’t want to cause Gertrude more pain over
losing a husband, but Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death (Hamlet).

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 Throughout the book, Hamlet is seen with a woman named Ophelia. Hamlet’s attitude
towards Ophelia changes constantly. It is hard to tell if Hamlet loves Ophelia or if she is the
cover for Hamlet’s madness. Hamlet is internally conflicted regarding his feelings for
Ophelia. Hamlet will rebuke Ophelia and be cruel to her, but in later scenes he will say that
he loves her (Delaney). In act three, scene one Hamlet tells Ophelia,

“I did love you once.”

Ophelia replies,
“Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.”
A few lives down, Hamlet tells Ophelia,
“I loved you not.” (Shakespeare)

This excerpt from Hamlet shows Hamlet’s internal conflict dealing with his love for
Ophelia. There are also external conflicts between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet tells Ophelia
to go to a nunnery which is cruel to Ophelia (Smith).

Hamlet acts like a mad man so Claudius does not suspect that Hamlet knows about the
murder. Hamlet is internally conflicted as to when he should try to kill King Claudius so he
acts mad until he has a plan. Polonius tries to convince King Claudius that Hamlet is mad
with his love for Ophelia. Claudius believes for a short time that Hamlet is mad for Ophelia,
but after Hamlet’s play, Claudius realizes the real reason for Hamlet’s madness
(Shakespeare).

“To be, or not to be” are the famous words of Hamlet. In this scene, Hamlet is
contemplating suicide. This is internal conflict because Hamlet is deciding whether to kill
himself of not. He was working up the courage to commit suicide but his mind was not fully
committed to the idea (Shakespeare).

Hamlet tries to kill Claudius in act three, scene four to end their conflict. Hamlet goes to
speak with his mother and believes King Claudius is hiding behind a tapestry. Hamlet stabs
Polonius on accident because he thought it was the King. This is an example of an external
conflict between Hamlet and Polonius. Hamlet is then internally conflicted because he does
not immediately know what to do with Polonius’s body (Evans).

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 Hamlet is putting on a play for the King and Queen that mimics the murder of King
Hamlet, Hamlet’s father. Hamlet hopes to get a reaction out of King Claudius. If Claudius
reacts strongly to the play, the ghost was right about Claudius killing King Hamlet. Hamlet’s
play made King Claudius have to get up and leave during the play. Hamlet then knew that the
ghost was telling the truth, and Claudius did kill King Hamlet. The conflicts of Claudius and
Hamlet intersect when they both realize what the other knows. Hamlet is satisfied to know
Claudius is guilty of killing King Hamlet. Hamlet decides to kill Claudius to get revenge, but
Hamlet finds Claudius praying in the church. Claudius praying in the church makes his
murder more obvious because innocent people do not storm out of a play to go pray. Hamlet
has internal conflict on whether or not to kill Claudius or wait till a later time. He believes
that if you kill someone while they are praying, they will go to heaven. Hamlet does not want
Claudius to go to heaven so he waits to kill Claudius at a different time. This is very cruel of
Hamlet. Hamlet has a serious internal conflict; he either wants to kill Claudius in the church
or kill Claudius later so Claudius will go to hell. Claudius and Hamlet have a major external
conflict because Claudius is trying to escape Hamlet, and Hamlet is trying to kill Claudius
(Shakespeare).

Claudius protects himself by sending Hamlet to England, but Hamlet finds his way back
to Denmark. Hamlet is walking past a graveyard when he realized Ophelia is being prepared
to be buried. Hamlet is internally conflicted because he loved Ophelia, but she is now dead.
Laertes and Hamlet struggle in Ophelia’s grave which shows external conflict. Laertes is mad
because his sister is dead, and Hamlet is mad because his love is died. Claudius concocts a
new plan with Laertes. Laertes is mad at Hamlet now because he lost his father and sister
from Hamlet’s actions. Laertes agrees with King Claudius to fence Hamlet with a poisoned
sword. If Laertes does not scratch Hamlet with his poisoned sword, King Claudius will have
poisoned Hamlet’s refreshing drink. Their actions are all external conflict plans
(Shakespeare).

The whole fight scene at the end of Hamlet is external conflict. During Hamlet’s and
Laertes’s duel, Hamlet hits Laertes first. King Claudius offers Hamlet a drink break, but
Hamlet refuses to take a break. The drink that was ready for Hamlet’s drink break was
poisoned. Gertrude drinks it instead and is poisoned. Hamlet realizes what is happening, and
he gets stabbed by Laertes’s poisoned sword. After Hamlet is stabbed, Laertes gets cut by his
own poisoned sword. Laertes has internal conflict because he gets stabbed by his own sword.

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Hamlet finally has a chance to kill King Claudius and stabs him with the poisoned sword.
Hamlet also forces Claudius to drink from the poisoned drink. King Claudius died before
Hamlet so Hamlet had his revenge on Claudius. Hamlet has internal conflict because he will
either die in pain or drink the poisoned cup to die faster. Hamlet drinks the poisoned cup and
die after he is successful to fulfill his revenge (Hamlet).

There are many points of external conflict and internal conflict. The external conflicts
outnumber the internal conflicts, but the internal conflicts are more important to the story.
Without the internal conflict, the external conflicts would not make sense. From the time
Hamlet sees the ghost to when Hamlet takes his last breath, outward and internal conflicts are
shown many times.

HAMLET AS A REVENGE TRAGEDY

Audiences watching Hamlet at the time it was first performed would recognize the play as
belonging to a particular genre: they didn’t have a name for it, but modern scholars call it
“revenge tragedy.” In a revenge tragedy the hero has suffered a great wrong, usually the murder
of someone he loves, and the plot is driven by his desire for revenge. At the end of the play,
the hero murders the person who has wronged him, and typically the hero also dies. The first
really popular revenge tragedy was The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd. It was written more
than a decade before Hamlet, and it was still being performed when Hamlet was first staged.
Shakespeare’s audiences would have noticed that Hamlet borrows several features from Kyd’s
play, including a vengeful ghost, a play-within-a-play and a hero who goes mad. But rather
than simply repeating the familiar conventions of the revenge tragedy, Hamlet subverts many
of the tropes to question both the genre of revenge tragedy, as well as the nature of revenge
itself.
Hamlet turns revenge tragedy on its head by taking away the usual obstacles to the hero’s
vengeance. In a typical revenge tragedy like The Spanish Tragedy, the hero faces two obstacles:
to find out who the murderers are, and then to get himself into a position where he can kill
them. In Hamlet, the hero learns the identity of his father’s murderer at the end of Act I, and
he’s in a position to kill Claudius from the very beginning. No character thwarts him in his
desire for revenge, and, living in the same palace as his nemesis, he has many chances to enact

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his plot. Hamlet’s only real obstacle is in his head: he is uncertain what he should believe and
how he should act. By making the obstacles to Hamlet’s revenge internal, Shakespeare
introduces philosophical questions to the revenge tragedy which had not appeared in the genre
before. Can we believe the evidence of our eyes? Is revenge justified? Can we predict the
consequences of our actions? What happens when we die?
While Hamlet, being a tragedy, is generally seen as a very serious play, in some ways it seems
to make fun of the revenge tragedies that came before it. When Hamlet cries “Remorseless,
treacherous, lecherous, kindless Villain! / O, vengeance!” ([Link].) he sounds like a sillier version
of Hieronimo, the hero of The Spanish Tragedy. The play-within-a-play staged in Act III, Scene
2 is a parody of a revenge tragedy: its rhymes would have made it sound absurdly old-fashioned
to an audience in Shakespeare’s time. With the character of Laertes, Shakespeare pokes fun at
the traditional heroes of revenge tragedy. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes is ready to rush to his revenge,
but Claudius is easily able to manipulate him and Laertes ends up begging forgiveness from
the man he wanted to murder. By making traditional revenge tragedies look ridiculous,
Shakespeare shows us that the troubling philosophical doubt of Hamlet is more realistic than
the passion and fury of plays like The Spanish Tragedy.
After Hamlet, the genre of revenge tragedy would never be taken entirely seriously again. Later
revenge tragedies follow Hamlet in using humor, especially humor at the expense of the
revenge tragedy genre itself. The best-known revenge tragedy written after Hamlet is The
Revenger’s Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton, which was first performed in 1606. Despite its
title, The Revenger’s Tragedy is as much a black comedy as a revenge tragedy. Its violence is
deliberately over-the-top and its plot absurdly complicated. Middleton was also influenced
by Hamlet’s philosophical questions. Where Hamlet doubted the morality of seeking revenge,
Middleton’s hero Vindice is openly immoral in pursuing his: by the end of the play Vindice is
more a villain than a hero. Modern action movies also owe a great deal to Hamlet’s comic take
on the revenge plot. Movies like Kill Bill and John Wick share with Hamlet and The Revenger’s
Tragedy amoral heroes and complex revenge plots ending in comically gory action sequences.

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The Play within Play

Hamlet has been entrusted with the duty of avenging his father's death by his father's Ghost.
He learns that his father has been murdered by Claudius. But he hesitates to execute the
command of the Ghost. He has doubts about the genuineness of the Ghost and Claudius's sin.
He wishes to have strong proof before taking revenge and allows time to lapse until the arrival
of the players. Their arrival inspires him with a sudden idea of enacting a play to catch the
conscience of Claudius.
Hamlet receives the players with enthusiasm and plans with them to stage a play called The
Murder of Gonzago with some modification in the speeches. On the day of staging the play
Hamlet prepares the players well in advance to make the play a great success. He advises
them to "suit the action to the word, the word to the action" so that they would not "overstep
the modesty of nature", for the aim of a play is to hold the mirror up to nature. He then seeks
the help of Horatio, to whom he has already revealed the secret of the Ghost's revelation, to
watch the King's feelings while the play is staged. Thus he prepares the players, Horatio and
himself to 'catch the conscience of the King'. The play is to be the mainspring for further
action. The King, the Queen and the courtier are invited to see the play.

The dumb-show is the prelude to the actual staging of the play Hamlet chooses to sit at
Ophelia's feet rather than next to the Queen, partly to encourage the idea that his madness is
caused by disappointed love, but mainly because he could not watch the King's face if he sat
next to the royal pair. Hamlet plays the part of the commentator too. The dumb-show is the
first part of the King's ordeal. The dumb-show itself represents very closely the crime of
Claudius. Yet it is surprising that he does not betray his feelings. Some critics feel that
Claudius, being lost in his conversation with the Queen, missed the dumb-show. Certain other
critics feel that Claudius does see the show, but he hopes that it is only an unlucky
coincidence that The Murder of Gonzago resembles his own crime or he naturally suspects
that the choice of the play is deliberate and knows that Hamlet is watching his reactions. As
the remarks about second marriages, which he has heard, are grossly offensive, he pretends
not to have noticed them. The dramatic importance of staging this dumb-show is that as the
play is stopped before the end, Shakespeare, in order to inform the audience of the full plot,
uses the dumb show for the purpose.

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The dumb-show is followed by the actual play The Murder of Gonzago with its deliberately
artificial style, full of repetitions and indirectness enables us to concentrate on the real drama
which is being enacted, with Hamlet's eyes riveted on his uncle's face with the King trying
hard not to show by his face what he is feeling. Claudius's Guilt is confirmed. After the exit
of the Player Queen, Claudius appears to be frightened. Hamlet's assertion that the play is
titled The Mousetrap is a veiled threat of which the King is perfectly aware, especially as
'mouse' is his term of endearment for Gertrude. When Lucianus enters, Hamlet's comment
that he is 'nephew to the King' is taken as another threat, and Claudius suspects that
Lucianus's lines are written by Hamlet himself Claudius watches for the second time the re-
enactment of his crime and is about to reveal himself, and when Hamlet gives a last twist to
the knife by explaining, 'You shall see anon how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's
wife,' the King rises terror with false fire. The Ghost's story is confirmed.

By enacting the play Hamlet has confirmed the Ghost's story, but at the expense of revealing
his own knowledge to the King. His own fate is sealed unless he follows up his victory. The
victory is imperfect, in any case, because Hamlet's behavior during the performance, as well
as the apparent gross lack of the taste in his choosing a play with such a theme can allow the
King to cover up his guilt with a show of anger. On the other hand, Hamlet is extremely
happy at having discovered the truth. Now he gives more weight to the words of the Ghost.
Thus, the situation leads to the crisis or turning point of the play. Hamlet has to act now. But
when he gets the opportunity to carry out his work, he fails to act as he finds Claudius at
prayer. In his soliloquy he justifies his lack of action by saying that if he kills Claudius, who
is at prayer, his soul would enjoy the pleasures of heaven, instead of suffering the tortures of
hell.

The Murder of Gonzago play puts both Claudius and the Ghost on trial, the former for
'fratricide' and the latter for its 'honesty.' Hamlet's doubts are removed. Still, he hesitates to
act. Hence this play emphasizes Hamlet's procrastinating nature. Hamlet is inspired by the
play with greater desire to act, but it fails to have the effect to make him act. It only shows
him as a 'pigeon-livered' man who shrinks from action on moral grounds. It allows Hamlet
and Claudius to know exactly what the other feels. It is a climax and a crisis, and the pivot of
the action in Hamlet. Now, Hamlet has no excuse for delay, Claudius will set forth his own
machinations to destroy Hamlet, and with the unseen hand of fate, Hamlet will grow to self-
realization.

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This play-within-the-play further helps the dramatist to reveal his own theories of playacting.
Hamlet acts as a mouthpiece of Shakespeare, through whom he expresses his ideas of
playacting and shows his contempt for the contemporary actors. To Shakespeare, the aim of
drama is to hold the mirror up to nature, with the actors not indulging in extravagant passions.
They should "suit the action to the word, the word to the action, and should not "overstep the
modesty of nature". This piece of advice given by Shakespeare through Hamlet shows
Hamlet at his best. He is playing the part of Deputy Providence, plotting, arranging, baiting
the trap, etc. His making fun of Ophelia, his darting sarcasm at his mother and playing the
part of a Chorus, his mocking the King, all shows his versatile genius.

The play-within-the-play serves to emphasize that Hamlet is not the traditional revenge play.
The hero, after the Ghost's words have been confirmed, he yet spares Claudius' life because the
King is praying. The problem is that Hamlet sees himself as one who is to ensure the victim’s
punishment in the next world also. He is overestimating his role, and it is only towards the end
that he will truly understand that man must accept certain conditions and act within them
readily. However, it would be wrong to consider the scene the central act and the crisis of the
play. It is important as far as bringing Claudius and Hamlet to a full awareness of one another's
true nature.

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