Hamlet Introduction to the play Genre 1 Tragedy

Hamlet Introduction to the play

Genre 1. Tragedy • a play in which the protagonist, » usually a man of importance and outstanding personal qualities » falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he cannot deal -- especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.

Genre, cont’d 2. Revenge plot 1. Hero, usually informed by a ghost of an injury or crime that needs to be revenged 2. The hero accepting the challenge to revenge and beginning to plot it. 3. The hero confronting the villain and overcoming obstacles standing in the way of revenge 4. The revenge finally being achieved in a bloody and horrifying manner

The Composition • Written between 1599 -1601 • 3 early version of the play have survived, so the actually date is arguable. • Longest play and the most influential in the English language

Setting • Castle in Denmark in the city of Elsinore • Late middle ages, 14 th – 15 th centuries (1300 -1499) • Despite this setting, keep watch for ANACHRONISMS: where an author includes something not of the time period. • There are several allusions to the Protestant Reformation, which didn’t occur until 1519. • Hamlet conveys many Protestant beliefs, for example the ghost that claims to be in Purgatory which Protestants saw as simply superstition. • HOWEVER, At the time Shakespeare wrote, Denmark was a Protestant nation.

Where we begin: the Plot Line