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49 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Shakespeare |
- born in Stratford upon Avon, England on April 23rd, 1564 - career based in London - married Anne Hathaway - had three children; Susanna & twins Judith/Hamnet - wrote up to 40 plays, 154 sonnets, a few narrative poems - died April 23rd, 1616 = birthday - buried in the holy trinity church |
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Renaissance England |
- Elizabeth I reigned 1558 to 1603 - defeated Spanish Armada - exploration of Americas - religious conflict between Catholic, Anglican, Puritan & Calvinists - beheaded Queen Mary of Scotts predestination: comes from small group of people chosen by God to be with him in Heaven |
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Acting Metaphor |
"I know not 'seems" - Hamlet - becoming revenge hero |
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Interlacing of Revenge & Suicide |
"If I kill someone I am going to die" - Hamlet is thinking about suicide from the beginning |
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Soliloquy |
speech in which a character divulges his/her inner thoughts while alone on stage |
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Mise en Abyme |
scene that stands for or symbolizes the whole play; a play within a play "the play's the thing" - Hamlet makes actors reenact his father's death to see Claudius' reaction |
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Anagorisis |
critical discovery or recognition |
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Meta |
being self referential; referring to the conventions of a drama (in creative work) "oh what a rogue & peasant slave I am" - Hamlet refers to himself as an actor faking his emotions |
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Republic |
governed by representatives of the people |
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Machiavelli's Virtu |
- military strength, audacity, manliness, cruelty to achieve goals - dependent on violence, chaos & disorder - prince should seek extreme situations to advance greatness |
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Realpolitik |
politics or political doctrine based on practical considerations rather than moral or ideological; political realism "holding the mirror up to nature.." - how you actually live & how you should live are two different things |
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Principality |
governed by a prince |
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Hereditary Principality |
authority handed down by generation |
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Acquired Principality |
authority acquired through good fortune/luck or by conquering a state |
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Humanism |
study of classical world; especially Roman - focus on reason & the individual |
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Deus ex Machina |
unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation ex. Hamlet saved by pirates |
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Peripetia |
sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstance |
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Providence |
the foreknowing & protective care of God or nature, divine direction, control or guidance used as excuse: "there's a divinity that shapes our ends" - God will put us back on track no matter how often we screw up used as acceptance: "the readiness is all, let be" - Hamlet accepts an early death |
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King Hamlet |
- King of Denmark - father to Prince Hamlet - married to Gertrude - killed by his brother Claudius with poison - returns to Hamlet as ghost |
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Gertrude |
- mother of Hamlet - remarries to Claudius when King Hamlet dies - Queen of Denmark - allows Polonius to spy on her talk with Hamlet during closet scene - believes Hamlet is mad when he sees the ghost of his father - drinks poison meant for Hamlet & dies |
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Prince Hamlet |
- wants revenge on Claudius for killing his father after seeing his ghost - revenge hero but delays revenge - accidentally kills Polonius during closet scene - exiled by King Claudius to England - saved by pirates and brought back to Denmark - pretends to be mad (use of indirection) - commits to killing Claudius on his terms - in love with Ophelia but uses her - kills Claudius with poisoned wine |
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Claudius |
- Hamlet's uncle - kills his brother King Hamlet & marries Gertrude = wife & crown - exiles Hamlet after death of Polonius - unites with Laertes against Hamlet - manipulates most characters - worried about what the people of Denmark think... "appearing to be good" |
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Polonius |
- father of Ophelia and Laertes - courtier = noble at court / king's advisor - conniving - ruthless politician > devoted father - uses Ophelia - sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes - accidentally killed by Hamlet |
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Laertes |
- son of Polonius - parallel and friend to Hamlet; grew up together - opposite actions to Hamlet - turns on Hamlet when he kills his father - unites with Claudius to plot against Hamlet - killed during fight with Hamlet from poisoned sword |
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Ophelia |
- daughter of Polonius / sister of Laertes - sweet and innocent; obeys father - agrees to spy on Hamlet for Polonius - tricked by Hamlet's "madness" into reporting it to her father - goes mad when Polonius dies = no master - sings about flowers - drowns (suicide) in river with flowers |
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Horatio |
- Hamlet's friend & confidant - tells Hamlet's story after his death |
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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern |
- Hamlet's bumbling friends - help Claudius attempt to kill Hamlet by sending him to England - die when Hamlet is saved by the pirates |
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Plot |
"by indirections find directions out" - manipulation leads to finding the truth ex. Hamlet fakes madness = ACTING |
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Machiavellian Moves |
Claudius: "be careful with punishment, don't anger the people" - having Hamlet killed in England Hamlet: doesn't kill Claudius while he is praying; wants to do it on his own terms Polonius: helps spy on Hamlet and plots to kill him with Claudius |
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Gertrude's Closet Scene |
Gertrude allows Polonius to secretly listen to her conversation with Hamlet - leads to accidental murder of Polonius Implications: Hamlet sent to England, Laertes' turn on Hamlet, Ophelia goes mad |
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Ophelia's Madness |
without a puppet master, Ophelia devolves to madness when her father dies |
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Teleology of Revenge |
end driven plot, but episodic manifestation = tension "revenge never satisfies, but leaves many dead" |
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Machiavelli |
- prince should seek extreme situations to promote his own greatness - fear to control people > love - usefulness of cruelty - avoidance of hatred = breeds instability best prince is an actor: "appearing to be good" |
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"Get thee to a nunnery" |
spoken by Hamlet nunnery: world apart from men who abused Ophelia; also slang for brothel does Hamlet want to save her or send her for more abuse? |
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"I know a hawk from a handsaw" |
spoken by Hamlet - pretending to be mad |
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"Holding the mirror up to nature" |
spoken by Hamlet - pretending leads to discovery; how you actually live / how you should live are different things |
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"The conscience does make cowards of us all" |
spoken by Hamlet - one is resolved to act until one thinks about it ex. Hamlet always thinking about implications |
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"You cannot, sir, take anything from me that I will willingly part with..." |
spoken by Hamlet - daring the court to try to kill him |
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"The play's the thing" |
spoken by Hamlet - actors inspire Hamlet to put on a play of his father's death in order to see Claudius' reaction |
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"Oh what a rogue..." |
spoken by Hamlet - soliloquy in which he refers to himself as a mean and lonely actor who is faking his emotions |
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"To be or not to be..." |
spoken by Hamlet - meditation on living, being, suffering, death & the afterlife ex. Hamlet has to make the choice, not just about living or dying, but whether to become revenge hero |
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"How all occasions do inform against me" |
spoken by Hamlet - Hamlet compares his inaction to the action to the action of Norway's Prince Fortinbras - fighting over strip of land that has no prize to be won = no benefit |
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"I must be cruel only to be kind" |
spoken by Hamlet - acts irrationally during his meeting with his mother - impulsively murders Polonius |
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"By indirections find directions out" |
spoken by Polonius - manipulation leads to finding the truth |
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"Though this be madness, yet there is method in it" |
spoken by Polonius - stating that there is a method to Hamlet's madness |
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"To thine own self be true" |
spoken by Polonius - tells Laertes to be true to himself, then he won't be false to anyone else |
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"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below" |
spoken by Claudius - Claudius prays in order to go to heaven |
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"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" |
spoken by Marcellus - referring to Claudius murdering his brother King Hamlet |
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"Oh what a noble mind is here overthrown" |
spoken by Ophelia - highly empathetic of Hamlet - feels bad that Hamlet used to be noble but has now lost his mind |