Gertrude and Claudius | Literary Precedents
Throughout this discussion it has been necessary to associate Updike's novel with Shakespeare's play as well as Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a play that depends on the audience's knowledge of Hamlet for much of its effect. While Shakespeare's tragedy is one of the most important works in the western literary tradition, it is not in itself an original narrative. Upon examination of the known and surmised sources Shakespeare drew upon to craft his great play, we may infer that Updike has staked out a position similar to that which Shakespeare took in the...
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