Hamlet context help. (1 Viewer)

[ezzy85]

I have to do an essay about contexts of Hamlet and RAGAD. What can I say about the context of the "To be or not to be" speech in terms of the Elizabethan audience. For example, how they would view the after life etc... Does anyone have any resources/sites about this? I think it would also be important to write about the revenge tragedy hero and how the audience would have seen Hamlet back then. Anyway, if someone has any good resources they can send, that would be great.
Thanks

 

[Minai]

Well I got notes on this from school and from the Advanced english texts study guide thing (the purple book)

Anyway, in elizabethan times, they believed in an afterlife, and within the context of that 'to be or not to be' speech, Hamelt was tossing up whether he should simply kill himself as the easy way out, but suffer a terrible afterlife etc. I think these religious ideals should be compared with the modern context, where the afterlife is not generally accepted anymore, and that has been brought into RAGAD, where the end for R and G is simply the absolute end (they have many quotes in which they make reference to death being the absolute end, but I cant remember them)

 

[ezzy85]

cool, thanks for that.

 

[Frigid]

ezzy, by any chance, are u from SBHS?

Coz that sounds dreadfully similar to my assessment task for Hamlet...

Haha, small world.

 

[ezzy85]

and the context stoppard looks at is post ww2 and even todays war on iraq?

 

[Constip8edSkunk]

yep, war on iraq can be considered in the context of reading the text today, just like the WW2, korean and the budding vietnam wars would have a great effect on its reading in the context of its first production.

 

[inasero]

i appreciate that John has cool ideas...but he's phrased them in a very bullshit way so as to confuse himself, and you in the process....

 

[bobo123]

who are you talking to inasero?

 

[ezzy85]

he didnt confuse me. (im guessing hes talking about constipatedskunk)

 

[+:: $i[Q]u3 ::+]

sorry ezzy... i'm not sure why you'd mention the war on iraq?

you really have to concentrate on the context of the Shakespearean audience as compared to the 1960s audience.
Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' speech is slightly Existential in its philosophy, yet most of his other actions are meaningful and contribute to the ordered structure of the revenge tragedy. This is in contrast to Ros and Guild; the decline of religious values and Satre's development of Existential philosophies led to a meaninglessness in society, represented through the way Ros and Guild debases the "to be or not to be" speech with Absurdist comments; "eating toffee apples?". Also, the language of 2b or not 2b is rich in figurative devices; Elizabethans appreciated the oral tradition of storytelling and would have relished the use of elaborate language. The comical reduction of the corresponding speech in R&G is indicative of the Satire Boom of the 1960s, and also the increasing awareness of the ambiguity of language (eg in war propaganda)...


brr... too cold to continue... must... find.. warmth... away.. from.. computer....

sorri if uve already handed ur assessment in... >.<

btw enjoy ya textbook =)

 

[ezzy85]

hehe, thanks for that and the textbook (my last hope of not failing physics). i dont really agree with the iraq thing but our teacher keeps on telling us that thats where you get your marks, which didnt seem to be true. thanks for clearing the 60s context part up and making it overall clearer, it should help in future assesments and my general understanding of this module.

 

[+:: $i[Q]u3 ::+]

no probs =)

 

[CHUDYMASTER]

I agree, CERTAINLY don't talk about anything happening nowadays but at the same time, be careful NOT to talk about WW2 and the Holocaust as being DIRECT influences on Stoppard's way of thinking.

As for your To be or Not to be thing, (this is probably too late, but for others), the speech mainly addresses the notion of certainty about the afterlife through the absolute rigidity of the era. They believed in a Divine Order ordaned by God and that they were living in a God-centered universe. As a result, Hamlet calls the afterlife "the undiscovered country from whose bourn no man returns" to show that it DEFINITELY exists BUT the NATURE of it is uncertain.

You must remember that Shakespeare wrote to REINFORCE the ideas of his time because they were so rigid. To go against such beliefs would land Shakespeare in GAOL!

Ok, I should really stop using capitalization every which way. Hope it helps people anyways...

 

[ezzy85]

Originally posted by CHUDYMASTER
I agree, CERTAINLY don't talk about anything happening nowadays but at the same time, be careful NOT to talk about WW2 and the Holocaust as being DIRECT influences on Stoppard's way of thinking.

As for your To be or Not to be thing, (this is probably too late, but for others), the speech mainly addresses the notion of certainty about the afterlife through the absolute rigidity of the era.

thanks for that. for everyone out there who wants to post but thinks its too late, please post anyway. Its never too late (until weve finished school)