Shakespeare and the English Renaissance

Lis Angélica Quevedo Blandón

July 10th, 2019
Bogotá Colombia

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETH THEATER

FIRST SEMESTER 2019

DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA

What Structural Elements of the Elizabethan Theater can be recognized in Hamlet?

The tragedy of Hamlet was written by Shakespeare between 1599 and 1602. It focuses on the
sources of revenge, death, and morality. Hamlet, the main character, learns that his father was
murdered by his uncle and seeks revenge, and himself ending up dead because of his actions.
During the play, he also debates about the nature of death, whether it is right to kill others in
revenge, and whether humans are destined to be terrible. [1]
Some of the sources of this play are the Ur-Hamlet (1589) and the legend of Amleth. [1] At this
moment Shakespeare reflected the contemporary skepticism promoted by Michel de Montaigne
a French Renaissance humanist about his tendency to digress into anecdotes and personal
ruminations, human's descriptions, and especially himself, with utter frankness. Montaigne finds
the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features is linked. Montaigne
is seen as an influencer of Shakespeare for example in some soliloquies that Hamlet says: 2]
“Tis a consummation,
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there is the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off his mortal coil,
Must give us pause”

Hamlet is organized in 5 acts and 20 scenes as most of the plays in the Elizabethan plays, and
in fact, it was conventional for this period, however, there are some suspicious around this. It is
thinking that traditionally, editors of Shakespeare's plays have divided in acts his plays. None of
the early texts by Shakespeare were arranged this way. Another argument about this hypothesis
is that the play's division into acts and scenes derives from 1676 how Thompson, A. Neil Taylor,
explained. [3] Hamlet is also considered the longest play by Shakespeare with 3728 lines total,
being act II scene II the longest scene, and act III with 895 lines the longest of all the plays. [4]
There are three plots in Hamlet: the main revenge plot and two subplots about the romance
between Hamlet and Ophelia, and the war with Norway. These elements are intertwining in the
dialogues of the actors, for example, when Claudius decides to send Cornelius and Voltimand
with a letter to the king of Norway, or in scenes in where Hamlet and Ophelia are talking to each
other private. And then their relationships are affected by the revenge that Hamlet must take in
his hands. [4]
Shakespeare and the English Renaissance
Lis Angélica Quevedo Blandón
July 10th, 2019
Bogotá Colombia

On the other hand, the Elizabethan theater, for this time had an unsavory reputation. London
authorities refused to allow plays within the city, so theatres opened outside the authority of the
city administration. However, the Elizabethan plays and theatres were as popular as the movies
and cinemas of the early 20th century. These theatres could hold several thousand people up to
3000 people, most standing before the stage, though rich nobles could watch the play from a
chair set on the side of the stage itself. Theatre performances were held in the afternoon, because,
there was no artificial lighting. Women attended plays, though often the prosperous woman would
wear a mask to disguise her identity. Further, no women performed in the plays. Female roles
were generally performed by young boys. [5] Elizabethan theatres were also used for bear-baiting,
gambling and for immoral purposes, although, while More and more theatres grew up around
London it eventually attracted Shakespeare [6]
Some specific theatrical elements in Hamlet can be identified as Forker C. explained in terms like:
argument, prologue, stage, pageant, scene, player, act, actor, etc. Which were used by
Shakespeare and evoke dramatic connotations occur thought his play. Also, the theme of revenge
and how deadly it can be, it has a bigger meaning than focusing just on the plot. However, the
plot encloses a lot of emotions like tension, restlessness, anger, hatred, confusion, despair,
frustration and others. His dramatic vocabulary suggests how Shakespeare link the theater and
real life. Also, in that segments in which the climax is reached when arrival the players to the plot
or the stage. In hamlet also appear the symbol of real and unreal, when appearing in the stage
the ghost and the public must distinguish the roles of the actors, like in Act I scene V when Hamlet
says to his death father: [7]

“Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat

In this distracted globe”

Or

“The spirit that I have seen

Maybe a devil; and the devil hath power
T´ assume a pleasing shape”

The public is always to the expectation that will happen in the next scene.
There are some parallel actions when Hamlet play the dual role of actor and audience, in front of
the play he was preparing to show to his mother and Claudius and the others, at the same time
Hamlet is carefully looking the player’s performance and the reaction of Claudius, which is the
play within the play, these parallel actions also appear when someone is hiding as Polonius does,
when is spying on Hamlet and Ophelia, or when Polonius is behind the arras to watch Gertrude
and the Ghost appear in the scene. [7]

Finally, if compare the Elizabethan theater and Neoclassical theater is necessary to clarify that
Neoclassicism was the dominant form of theatre in the 18th century and Elizabethan was
prevalent between 1562 and 1642. The first one, is characterized by its grandiosity, the costumes
and scenery were intricate and elaborate, the acting is characterized by large gestures and
melodrama and present most politically satirical comedies, as mentioned before Elizabethan
theater doesn´t care about the costume, on the other hand the actor leaves the audience know
which status they have because of their clothes, the scenery was simple, and the play was very
Shakespeare and the English Renaissance
Lis Angélica Quevedo Blandón
July 10th, 2019
Bogotá Colombia

they were carefully chosen by the owner of the theater so as not to offend the kingdom or religion.
[8]

REFERENCES.

[1] Jenkins, H. (1982). Introduction. Hamlet. Arden ed.

[2] OLIVIER, T. (1980). SHAKESPEARE AND MONTAIGNE: A TENDENCY OF
THOUGHT. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, (54), 43-59. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41801656
[3] Thompson, A. Neil Taylor, eds. 2006 Hamlet (Arden3). London: Thomson.
[4] Shakespeare’s Hamlet by the Numbers. work-specic: Holland, Peter, ed. 1999. Much Ado
About Nothing, Shakespeare, William. New York: Penguin. by comparison: assorted plays,
Shakespeare, William. New York: Penguin. https://thebillshakespeareproject.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/by-the-numbers_Hamlet_TALL.pdf
[5] Elizabethan Theatre. David Ross. Retrieved from:
https://www.britainexpress.com/History/elizabethan-theatre.htm
[6] Elizabethan Theatre. English History. Retrieved from:
https://englishhistory.net/shakespeare/elizabethan-theatre/
[7] Forker, C. (1963). Shakespeare's Theatrical Symbolism and Its Function in
Hamlet. Shakespeare Quarterly, 14(3), 215-229. doi:10.2307/2867805
[8] Overview – Neoclassical Theatre. Lecture compiled by Justin Eick - Theatrical Education
Group. Retrieved from:
http://sburesch.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/64453025/Neoclassical%20Theater.pdf