About Hamlet
Hamlet is a Shakespearean play, written between 1599 and 1601. It is a story of treachery and betrayal, family bonds are broken and blood turns against blood. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is visited by the ghost of his father and told that his uncle Claudius, who is now King, was responsible for his murder. Hamlet is torn about trying to avenge him, and ends up pretending to be insane. He hires actors to do a play about a man who kills his brother to become king to see Claudius' reaction. Hamlet confirms that Claudius was responsible, ends up being abusive to his mother Gertrude for being in a relationship with the murderer of his father, and murders his lover Ophelia's dad thinking that it's Claudius. Ophelia goes insane from having her lover kill her dad and dies. Her brother Laertes is furious and is convinced by Claudius to kill Hamlet. The two duel, and both are fatally injured. Gertrude accidentally drinks the poison that Claudius had prepared for Hamlet and dies. Hamlet manages to kill Claudius before finally dying.
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Scientific Context
During Shakespeare's time, science was very primitive compared to today's advancement. Most people had very poor scientific knowledge, and science did not play a major role in everyday life, as the influence of the church and the monarch were very strong at the time. Because of the ideas of the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, most in Shakespeare’s time believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and stood still while all other celestial objects rotated around it. Also borrowing from the Greeks, the universe was thought to be made up of four basic “roots” or elements (earth, air, fire, water) and dominated by either the forces of harmony (order) or the forces that caused discord (chaos). At the time, medicine was not scientific; it was often believed that astrological and supernatural forces were the cause of plagues, famine and other health-related issues. For example, Saturn influenced longevity, the conjunction of Mars and Saturn were believed to have caused the plagues that hit England, and Mars was believed to cause tertian fever.Also, Diseases were believed to be caused by devils, spirits, demons, gods, etc. were to be challenged by charms, white magic, prayers and other such means. This had a major influence in the text Hamlet, causing relationships between madness and ghosts, as Hamlet's insanity may be seen as a direct link to the manifestation of supernatural entities such as his fathers ghost.
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Religious Context
During the time of Shakespeare, religion played a major role in everyone's lives. It was much more influential than it is today, and there was a lot of religious conflict at the time. The people believed that the monarch were chosen by god to rule over them, and this heavily affected the social structure. There was great religious turmoil. Conflicts arose between the protestants and the Catholics. Catholicism and Protestantism battled for a prime place as the nation's major religion. The monarch’s religion determined the nations religion; schools toughed the decreed religion by the reigning king or queen and failure to adhere to the major religion could result in punishment, torture or execution. Queen Mary, Elizabeth’s sister, was a devout catholic, and thus, during her reign the major religion was Catholicism. She severely tortured protestants and burnt them alive (hence the name, bloody Mary). Queen Elizabeth succeeded her sister and Protestantism became the nation’s religion. It was noted however that Elizabeth did believe that Catholics had the right to practice their religion without fear. Religion therefore also has a role in the text Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet's father could have been seen as devilish while at the same time a sign from god for Hamlet to seek revenge. Hamlet's actions are also influenced throughout the text by religion, for example, at one stage he had a perfect chance to kill his treacherous uncle and get revenge, however, he hesitates and does not kill him when he sees him pray, in fear that he may be forgiven and end up in heaven if he is in a spiritual condition.
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Philosophical Context
Philosophy was a major element in the context during the time of Shakespeare, and the writing of hamlet. Hamlet was written during the Renaissance period, this was a time of major philosophical reform, bringing major changes in the thinking around society. The Renaissance was a time of intense, all-encompassing, and, in many ways, distinctive philosophical activity. With many different philosophical thinking such as Aristotelianism, Humanism, and Platonism. Stimulated by newly available texts, one of the most important hallmarks of Renaissance philosophy is the increased interest in primary sources of Greek and Roman thought, which were previously unknown or little read. This complex philosophical thinking can be seen in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, through the complicated protagonist, Hamlet. Hamlet is considered to be one of most complex characters ever created. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and Hamlet the character has more lines than any other character in any of Shakespeare's plays. The fact that this play is so long and that Hamlet is given so much to say leads to the thought that Shakespeare was trying to say something very important. In particular, two important and related issues he addresses are the problem of death, and the problem of change. Hamlet is surrounded by death, but he is the only character in the play who confronts it philosophically. For example, one of the key events in Hamlet, is when he picks up a skull and looks into the eye sockets. his particular action, looking into the empty eye sockets is something to take note of because Shakespeare gave almost no stage direction in any of his plays; yet here he does and instructs the actor to pick up the skull. In that moment, Hamlet is looking into the eyes of death itself. This action is philosophically significant because, historically, metaphors to vision have direct reference to knowledge and understanding. To look into the eyes of someone is to know them. To see through the eyes of someone is to understand the world as they do. This is an indication of Hamlets complex philosophical thinking, and his peculiar way of thinking creates a lot of confusion throughout the play, as no one truly understands what is going through his brain. The new philosophical thinking at the time was not common to the Elizabethan crowd, and many people would have seen this as further indication of madness, rather than deep philosophical thinking.
Economic Context
England, during William Shakespeare's time was much different then it is today. There were no commercial buildings, cars, busses, offices, and factories back then. The economy was a lot different back then, the majority of the people lived in poverty, earning barely enough to survive. The nation that Elizabeth had inherited was experiencing a steady increase in population. The ongoing growth in population put stains on the economy, which was made worse by severe harvest failures in every decade of Elizabeth’s reign. Costs for food and clothing skyrocketed in what became known as the Great Inflation. The 1590s were the worst years of the century, marked by starvation, widespread disease, and roaming band of vagrants looking for work. During Elizabeth’s reign, England increased trade overseas and the merchant community grew. Private shipbuilding boomed and navigational improvements long sea trips a lot safer. England’s main article of trade was woolen, traded mostly at the Dutch port of Antwerp for finished goods such as French wines. During her reign, London eventually claimed the title of the centre of trade in Europe. There were many causes for the poverty at that time, such as bad harvests, inflation, lack of jobs and a rise in population. While all these people were living in poverty, there was a small percentage of the population, which included big land owners, wealthy peasants and prosperous townsmen, who were able to make some money and become prosperous. Shakespeare sometimes, like in Hamlet, criticized the Monarchy, but in a way that would not be obvious or outwardly treasonous. In this way he spoke his mind, but also paid lip service to keep money coming from his patron. He would change the setting into another monarchy such as that of Denmark, and make subtle criticism.