hamlet critic quotes

We need history to explain our individuality

Catherine Belsey on individuality

Shakespeare constructs Gertrude through the eyes of Hamlet, who sees her new relationship as one of lust, not strategy

Clare Gunns on gertrude

the presence of Polonius indicates Claudius’ own mistrust of Gerturde

Clare Gunns on claudius and gertrude

The idea of human existence is relevant forever

A.R Whybrow

unbridled imagination shows ways of breaking through unbearable social restraints

Maurice Chaney

the character’s madness disguises their true meaning

mack on madness

Hamlet doesn’t seek revenge, he only wants to remember his father

Kerngan

hamlet struggles to kill Claudius because he identifies with him too muc

ernest jones

while Ophelia is objectified she is still central though this is only because she is eternally linked with hamlet- which is in itself further objectification

Lacan

Hamlet is the mona lisa of literature

t.s eliot

the play is a continuing pattern of revenge and death

alexander (18th century)

death or a sinister ideal

Von Goethe on the ghost

malign

proser on the ghost

from the beginning, Hamlet is obsessed with suicide

paul carter

hamlet is a play about death. or rather it is a play about the survival of the individual in the face of death, death is the picture, not the frame

fintan o’toole

polonius trained his daughter to be obedient and chaste and is able to use her as a piece of bait for spying

rebecca smith

revenge is wild justice

francis bacon

hamlet is more of a thinker than a doer

coleridge

instincts are towards undoing rather than doing

emma smith

all duties seem holy for hamlet

von goethe on hamlet

hamlet is a prince who finds himself an outcast in his own land

billington

his whole mind is poisoned

a.c bradley

hamlet’s failure to act is seen as femenine

catherine belsey on hamlet’s action

modern audiences are suspicious of the use of violence and do not care for paternal loyalty

catherine belsey on the audience

hamlet has morality without action, the king has action without morality

d.j snider

we can imagine hamlet’s story without ophelia but ophelia literally has no story without hamlet

lee edwards

claudius is merely a product of the barbaric era

wilson knight on claudius

hamlet is rather an instrument than an agent

samuel johnson

hamlet’s hesitation is right, the concept of blood revenge was the only thing

r.n watson

hamlet alternates between lethargy and rage

gail kern pastor

the nature of a tragedy is uncompensated suffering

david scott kastan

piece of bait named ophelia

lacan

indescribable charm

henry mackenzie (1780)

hamlet is a figure of nihilism and death and has been poisoned by death

wilson knight on hamlet

excellent diplomatist and king

wilson knight on claudius as a leader

revenge…is an act of injustice on behalf of justice

catherine belsey on revenge and injustice

revenge is always in excess of justice

catherine belsey on revenge

soft, obedient, dependent, unimaginative women who is caught miserably

a.c bradley on ophelia

romanticised symbol of fragility and madness

John Everrett Millais painting 1851

protested against picture of ‘insipid little creature’

1914 anonymous actress

in giving away her wild flowers…is symbolically deflowering herself

bridget lyons

analytical knight

joe sutcliffe

claudius is intelligent and well spoken…manipulative and dangerous

nicholas bonnet

primarily a bitterly eloquent and princely avenger

john jump (early critic)

truly suffering from a mental breakdown

henry levin

women…two and only two choices: virgin and whore

kay stanton

to possess her body is to possess the state

leonard tennenhouse

many 19th and 20th century critics have neglected the political dimension of the play in favour of a personal one

thompson and taylor on critics

feigned madness is a politically motivated in earlier iterations of the story

thompson and taylor on madness

hamlets own misogyny remains an issue

thompson and taylor on hamlet

part woman

Von Goethe on hamlet’s femininity

ophelia complex - women, water and death

gaston bachelard

critics and readers of hamlet have readily accepted hamlet’s view of Gertrude without question

carolyn heilbrun

rosencrantz and guildenstern sacrifice the bond of human friendship

john french

by examining horatio’s relationship with hamlet, we learn a lot about hamlet’s character

henry guilles

hatred overwhelms any other emotion, it is impossible to display love

amelia woodford

love is ever present it just needs one characters commitment

anne holland

the personal is political

carol hanish

unquiet walks of devil

thomas brown

illusions of the mind unhinged by melancholy or devils masquerading as spirits to lure the person they address to damnation

campbell and quinn

the ghost is the supreme reality, representative of the hidden ultimate power

maynard mack on ghost

trivial and unspiritual and vulgar

d.h lawrence

buffoonish statesman

thomas cranmer 1736

questioned hamlet’s admirable qualities, feminist, focused on the treatment of poor ophelia

anna jameson 1800

hamlet is characterised by failure

hegel 19th c.