Hamlet Group

Question:


rpg
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What was political situation at the time the play was written? which made Denmark the setting. Is that related to play having so much "uncertainty"

I have to explain the quote "who's there" very first quote in the play. Have to prove it by making a connection between the content of the play, act 1 and 2. To the situation at that time.

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Posted by rpg on Monday March 30, 2009 at 8:42 AM and tagged with hamlet, hamlet play whos there explained.

Answers:


  1. maldoror Student
    College - Senior

    I'm not sure if I follow your question.  Are you asking about what the political situation was when Shakespeare "wrote" Hamlet, or what the political situation was in the play itself.

    Part of the problem with the date of the play's composition is tied to several different factors.  If you ask twelve different Hamlet scholars about who actually wrote the works of Shakespeare you might just get twelve different answers.  There are several scholars who believe that Hamlet was actually a re-working of an earlier play referred to as the "Ur-Hamlet."  It has been theorized that several of Shakespeare's plays were set in "foreign climes" because Shakespeare did not want to set the action in England.  The theory continues that he did not want to be accused to inferring any parallels with what was going on in the court at the time, because the Crown could be notoriously hard on persons accused of writing "seditious" plays.

    The political situation in the actual play itself is as follows.

    Young Fortinbras is planning on invading Denmark.  He was to reclaim lands that Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, won in battle.  Claudius is attempting to curb the invasion by sending a message to the King of Norway, who is Young Fortinbras' Uncle.  I believe that on the night when Hamlet finally sees his father's ghost, the guards have already seen the ghost three previous times.

    Hope any of this helps.

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    Posted by maldoror on Friday May 8, 2009 at 7:53 PM