HAMLET

HAMLET

1. AUTHOR

   • William Shakespeare
     • PLAYWRITER
       • Macbeth
       • Romeo and Juliet
       • Hamlet
       • Henry IV - part 1
     • POET
       • Venus and Adonis
       • The Rape of Lucrece
     • PERSONAL LIFE
       • Birth
         • April, 1564
       • Death
         • April, 1616
       • Wife
         • Anne Hathaway
     • TIME PERIOD
       • 15th Century
       • Queen Elizabeth 1
       • Elizabethan Era

2. CHARACTERS

   • MALE
     • Hamlet
     • Claudius
     • Fortinbras
     • Guilenstern
     • Laertes
     • Horatio
     • Rosencratz
     • Ghost of King Hamlet
     • Polonius
     • Marcellus
     • Gravediggers
   • FEMALE
     • Ophelia
     • Gertrude

3. MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS

   • iNCEST
     • Gertrude and Claudius
       • Sister-in-law and brother-in-law now married
     • Laertes and Ophelia
       • Laertes speaks to her in a sexual way
   • EARS
     • Murder of King Hamlet
     • Gertrude doesn't hear the ghost
   • Yorick's Skull
     • No one can avoid death
   • Poison
     • Betrayal
     • Death
     • Revenge
   • Flowers
     • Innocence

4. THEME

   • Revenge
   • Death
   • Religion
   • Corruption
   • The Complexity of Action
   • Madness
   • Mortality
   • Art and Culture
   • Lies and Deceit
   • Sex
   • Gender
   • Family
   • Honor

5. SETTING

   • Elsinore, Denmark
   • Royal Palace
   • France
   • Norway
   • Poland
   • England

6. HISTORICAL TIME

   • Renaissance
     • 15th century
   • play was written in 1600/1601
   • play was first performed in 1602
   • the play was spread across and heavily influenced Europe
   • Events in England at the time the play was written
     • Protestants versus Catholics
     • Queen Elizabeth ruled England
     • War of the roses/ Civil War