Critical Interpretations

What are Critical Interpretations?

From the exam board: "As part of their study of their selected Shakespeare play, students should engage with different interpretations."

How should Critical Interpretations be used?

• Grasp the interpretation being presented regarding the literary text(s).
• Contrast the critic's viewpoint with your reading of the text (or that of another critic or classmate). Note any similarities or differences.
• Agree with the critic's point and find further evidence in Shakespeare's text to support and expand it.
• Disagree with the critic's stance and identify evidence in Shakespeare's text that might bolster your counterargument.
• Adjust the critic's position by finding one aspect you can endorse and another that you wish to refine and clarify with evidence from the text.
• Choose specific quotations that either support or challenge your interpretation of the text to enhance your discussion or literary essay.
• Make sure to reference critical quotations in your essay by using quotation marks and writing down the critic's last name!

Critical Interpretations with Analysis

David Scott Kastan - Shakespearean Tragedy

For Shakespeare, anyhow, the uncertainty is the point. Characters may commit themselves to a confident sense of the tragic world they inhabit; but the plays inevitably render that preliminary understanding inadequate, and the characters struggle unsuccessfully to reconstruct a coherent worldview from the ruins of the old."

(Page 7, Essay: Shakespearean Tragedy)

• Kastan argues that Shakespeare's tragedies are marked by an inherent uncertainty.
• Characters often try to understand their world but find their efforts inadequate.
• This struggle to understand amidst chaos is central to the tragic experience in Shakespeare's works.

Supporting Evidence

"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." (Act 3, Scene 1)

• Hamlet's soliloquy reflects his deep existential uncertainty and his struggle to find meaning.

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will." (Act 5, Scene 2)

• This acknowledges a higher power controlling fate, highlighting the uncertainty of human efforts.

Opposing Evidence

"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!" (Act 1, Scene 5)

• Here, Hamlet expresses a clear understanding of his purpose, which suggests a moment of certainty about his role.

A. D. Nuttall - The Pleasure of Tragedy

"In the tragic theatre suffering and death are perceived as matter for grief and fear, after which it seems that grief and fear become in their turn matter for enjoyment."

(Page 9, Essay: The Pleasure of Tragedy)

• Nuttall discusses the paradox of enjoying tragedy despite its painful content.
• The emotions evoked by tragedy, such as grief and fear, transform into a source of pleasure for the audience.
• This highlights the complex emotional experience of engaging with tragic drama.

Supporting Evidence

"Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart." (Act 3, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's admiration for self-control contrasts with the play's overall emotional turmoil, which captivates the audience.

"The rest is silence." (Act 5, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's final words evoke a profound emotional response, blending grief with a contemplative acceptance.

Opposing Evidence

"O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!" (Act 1, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's intense despair here might be seen as purely distressing, without the transformative pleasure Nuttall describes.

A. C. Bradley - The Shakespearean Tragic Hero

"The story, next, leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero. On the one hand (whatever may be true of tragedy elsewhere), no play at the end of which the hero remains alive is, in the full Shakespearean sense, a tragedy."

(Page 11, Essay: The Shakespearean Tragic Hero)

• Bradley asserts that the death of the hero is essential to Shakespearean tragedy.
• The hero's demise is necessary to complete the tragic arc and evoke the full emotional impact.
• This idea underscores the inevitability of death and suffering in Shakespeare's tragic narratives.

Supporting Evidence

"The king, the king's to blame." (Act 5, Scene 2)

• Laertes' dying confession reveals the tragic culmination of the play's events, leading to Hamlet's death.

"Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" (Act 5, Scene 2)

• Horatio's farewell to Hamlet marks the hero's tragic end, fulfilling Bradley's criteria for a Shakespearean tragedy.

Opposing Evidence

"How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge!" (Act 4, Scene 4)

• Hamlet's realization of his purpose suggests a focus on action rather than inevitable death, challenging Bradley's emphasis on the hero's demise.

Maynard Mack - Tragedy and Madness

"Madness, when actually exhibited, was dramatically useful, as Kyd had shown. It was arresting in itself, and it allowed the combination in a single figure of tragic hero and buffoon, to whom could be accorded the licence of the allowed fool in speech and action."

(Page 13, Essay: Tragedy and Madness)

• Mack explores the role of madness in Shakespeare's tragedies, noting its dramatic utility.
• Madness serves to highlight the hero's inner turmoil and provides a space for truth-telling that might otherwise be censored.
• This duality of the tragic hero as both a sufferer and a commentator enriches the complexity of the character.

Supporting Evidence

"I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw." (Act 2, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's declaration of feigned madness demonstrates his awareness and manipulation of his perceived insanity.

"Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him." (Act 4, Scene 3)

• Hamlet's morbid humour while discussing Polonius's body shows the freedom his madness grants him in speech.

Opposing Evidence

"O, what a noble mind is here overthrown!" (Act 3, Scene 1)

• Ophelia's lament for Hamlet's lost sanity suggests a genuine descent into madness, countering the idea of it being solely a dramatic device.

John Kerrigan - Memory and Remembrance in Hamlet

"Hamlet never promises to revenge, only to remember."

(Page 20, Essay: Memory and Remembrance in Hamlet)

• Kerrigan highlights Hamlet's preoccupation with memory rather than action.
• This interpretation suggests that Hamlet's primary motivation is to preserve the past and the memory of his father.
• The focus on remembrance over revenge complicates the traditional view of the play as a straightforward revenge tragedy.

Supporting Evidence

"Remember thee! Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee!" (Act 1, Scene 5)

• Hamlet's vow to remember his father's ghost shows his commitment to memory.

"My father—methinks I see my father." (Act 1, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's fixation on his father's memory underscores the theme of remembrance.

Opposing Evidence

"O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (Act 4, Scene 4)

• This indicates Hamlet's shift towards a resolve for action and revenge, challenging the idea that he is solely focused on remembrance.

Janet Adelman - Hamlet: Avenging his Father or Saving his Mother?

"Hamlet's principal concern is not revenge for his father, but complex feelings towards his mother."

(Page 22, Essay: Hamlet: Avenging his Father or Saving his Mother?)

• Adelman argues that Hamlet's actions are driven more by his relationship with his mother, Gertrude, than by a desire to avenge his father's death.
• Hamlet's delay in seeking revenge is due to his preoccupation with his mother's perceived moral failings and his desire to purify her.
• This view shifts the focus from Hamlet's revenge to his psychological struggle with his mother's sexuality and power.

Supporting Evidence

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" (Act 1, Scene 2)

• Hamlet's condemnation of his mother's quick remarriage reflects his deep-seated concerns about her sexuality and loyalty.

"Go not to my uncle's bed." (Act 3, Scene 4)

• Hamlet's plea to his mother to abstain from her marital bed underscores his preoccupation with her sexual conduct.

Opposing Evidence

"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." (Act 2, Scene 2)

• This shows that Hamlet is indeed focused on confirming Claudius's guilt and seeking revenge, countering the idea that his primary concern is his mother.

William Hazlitt - The Complexity of Hamlet

"The character of Hamlet stands quite by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment."

(Page 24, Essay: The Complexity of Hamlet)

• Hazlitt views Hamlet as a character defined by intellectual depth and introspection rather than decisive action.
• Hamlet is portrayed as a thinker and philosopher, whose actions are driven by his reflective nature.
• This interpretation emphasizes Hamlet's complexity and his struggle with indecision and thoughtfulness.

Supporting Evidence

"To be, or not to be: that is the question." (Act 3, Scene 1)

• Hamlet's soliloquy exemplifies his introspective nature and his inclination to contemplate life's profound questions rather than act decisively.

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." (Act 3, Scene 1)

• Hamlet's acknowledgement that overthinking leads to inaction supports the view of him as a contemplative character.

Opposing Evidence

• "How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge!" (Act 4, Scene 4)
• This shows Hamlet's awareness of his failure to act and his self-reproach for not taking decisive steps toward avenging his father.