How is the idea of Disorder shown in the play Hamlet ?

1. How is the idea of Disorder shown in the play Hamlet? Mrs R Restieaux

2. A narrative of accelerating Disorder is the means by which Shakespeare examines the nature of political power as a secretive process, cut off from the understanding of the people and in its very claustrophobic, self-sustaining state, something that becomes increasingly ‘stale’, stagnant and diseased. Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi! Mrs R Restieaux

3. Act 1 The Supernatural as a personification of a state in disorder • regicide – only Hamlet is given this information – the remainder of the characters are defined by their lack of information • transition between Kings • feverish preparation for battle • lack of information – the play begins by giving the audience a glimpse of a populace who can only gossip about the machinations of the inner court Mrs R Restieaux

4. Act 2 An angry Prince within a claustrophobic court – the play now zooms in on the reality of the Danish court • Hamlet’s mad disruptive behavior –a major succession issue! • a police state! – Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Claudius Mrs R Restieaux

5. Act 3 Individuals in deep conflict–the play is now marked by an increasingly uncomfortable examination of the nature of political power • Claudius – sinner • Hamlet enraged at a court defined by disloyalty, duplicity and secrecy – Ophelia /Gertrude Mrs R Restieaux

6. Act 4 A Court in deep disarraythe scope of the action becomes unbearably dysfunctional and desperate • a mad aristocrat (poor Ophelia) • an invader on the way • a King resorting to ever more desperate measures to ensure control • Laertes – Coup ! then becoming terribly corrupted Mrs R Restieaux

7. Act 5 The quieting of the storm ?? • Hamlet’s rage subsides – a new calm • Ophelia given funeral rites • Hamlet expresses the need for forgiveness • but still, by this time, the play’s narrative seems marked by a sense of tragic waste • Resolution arrives in the audience understanding of a protagonist reconciled to his fate and marked by a new nobility of spirit and intent that makes him, ironically, most fit to rule. Mrs R Restieaux

8. But – Fortinbras becomes the new King - is the nature of political power one that repeatedly resorts to corrupt and violent measures in a bid to retain that power? Mrs R Restieaux