Early Critics

Early Critics

1. Neoclassicism

   • These critics compared contemporary drama to the classical work
   • The plot was key
   • Characters had to act politely and contribute to the plot's action
   • Language had to be appropriate
   • The play and characters had a moral focus
   • Emphasised the role of poetic justice

2. 17th Century Criticism

   • The Puritans had shut the theatres from 1640-1660. When they reopend production of Hamlet exaggerated violence such as madness and the Ghost.
   • Criticism aimed at Shakespeare himself
   • John Evelyn criticised violent scenes and questioned whether Hamlet had a clear sense of justice
     • "the old plays begin to disgust this refined age"
   • Jeremy Collier challenged the play's immorality and foul language.
     • He condemned Shakespeare for making Ophelia "immodest" when she goes insane
   • George Drake defended there was justice in the play because the murderers are "caught in their toils" and that Ophelia's immodesty was reasonably explained by her desperate state.
   • Thomas D'Urfey defended that critics had found immorality in places where there was none.

3. 18th Century Criticism

   • They continued to criticise the violence and its sexual and religious immorality
   • Voltaire called Hamlet "the fruit of the imagination of a drunken savage"
   • Dr Johnson criticised Hamlet's Soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 3 as "too horrible to be read or to be uttered"
   • Johnson questioned whether Hamlet had to treat Ophelia so cruelly. The play's ending was unrealistic and unsatisfactory
   • However, Hamlet was seen as a tragic decorum that was a strength
   • Horace Walpole defended comic and tragic elements as being more believable than a straight tragedy
   • Aaron Hill praised the contradictions in Hamlet's character, it made him more lifelike.
   • Critics saw the play more as a psychological study than a dramatic work