Shakespearean Tragedy Hamlet

A. C. Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy, first published in 1904, ranks as one of the greatest works of Shakespearean criticism of all time. In his ten lectures he has provided an analytical study of the four great tragedies - Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth - which reveal a deep understanding of Shakespearean thought and art. This edition contains the unabridged Lectures and Notes for Hamlet. It is ideal for students, teachers, actors,...
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A. C. Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy, first published in 1904, ranks as one of the greatest works of Shakespearean criticism of all time. In his ten lectures he has provided an analytical study of the four great tragedies - Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth - which reveal a deep understanding of Shakespearean thought and art.

This edition contains the unabridged Lectures and Notes for Hamlet.

It is ideal for students, teachers, actors, directors, and lovers of the play who want to deepen their own understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's masterpiece.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Lecture I.
The Substance of Shakespearean Tragedy

Lecture II.
Construction in Shakespeare's Tragedies

Lecture III.
Shakespeare's Tragic Period--Hamlet

Suppose you were to describe the plot of Hamlet to a person quite ignorant of the play, and suppose you were careful to tell your hearer nothing about Hamlet's character, what impression would your sketch make on him? Would he not exclaim: 'What a sensational story! Why, here are some eight violent deaths, not to speak of adultery, a ghost, a mad woman, and a fight in a grave! If I did not know that the play was Shakespeare's, I should have thought it must have been one of those early tragedies of blood and horror from which he is said to have redeemed the stage'? And would he not then go on to ask: 'But why in the world did not Hamlet obey the Ghost at once, and so save seven of those eight lives?'
This exclamation and this question both show the same thing, that the whole story turns upon the peculiar character of the hero. For without this character the story would appear sensational and horrible; and yet the actual Hamlet is very far from being so, and even has a less terrible effect than Othello, King Lear or Macbeth. And again, if we had no knowledge of this character, the story would hardly be intelligible; it would at any rate at once suggest that wondering question about the conduct of the hero; while the story of any of the other three tragedies would sound plain enough and would raise no such question. It is further very probable that the main change made by Shakespeare in the story as already represented on the stage, lay in a new conception of Hamlet's character and so of the cause of his delay. And, lastly, when we examine the tragedy, we observe two things which illustrate the same point. First, we find by the side of the hero no other figure of tragic proportions, no one like Lady Macbeth or Iago, no one even like Cordelia or Desdemona; so that, in Hamlet's absence, the remaining characters could not yield a Shakespearean tragedy at all. And, secondly, we find among them two, Laertes and Fortinbras, who are evidently designed to throw the character of the hero into relief. And with this parallelism in situation there is a strong contrast in character; for both Fortinbras and Laertes possess in abundance the very quality which the hero seems to lack, so that, as we read, we are tempted to exclaim that either of them would have accomplished Hamlet's task in a day. Naturally, then, the tragedy of Hamlet with Hamlet left out has become the symbol of extreme absurdity; while the character itself has probably exerted a greater fascination, and certainly has been the subject of more discussion, than any other in the whole literature of the world.

Lecture IV.
Hamlet

Note A. Events before the opening of the action in Hamlet
Note B. Where was Hamlet at the time of his father's death?
Note C. Hamlet's age
Note D. 'My tables--meet it is I set it down'
Note E. The Ghost in the cellarage
Note F. The Player's speech in Hamlet
Note G. Hamlet's apology to Laertes
Note H. The exchange of rapiers