Hamlet (Vol. 44) | Andrew Gurr (essay date 1978)
Andrew Gurr (essay date 1978)
SOURCE: "The Claudian Globe," in Hamlet and the Distracted Globe, Sussex University Press, 1978, pp. 26-41.
[In the following essay, Gurr examines Claudius's role in the play, stating that Claudius initiates every action in the play, except for the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia. In terms of Hamlet's political plot, Gurr argues that it is Claudius's story, "the narrative of his struggle to maintain order and security in the state. . . . "]
Based on an ostensible realism as the play is, the first subject to study, the framework of the action, is the Claudian world, the official, public world where appearances belie reality, and from which consequently Hamlet feels alienated. We begin with the court at Elsinore.
Shakespeare was always careful with his anachronisms. In the political background to his Elsinore story he carefully specifies the historical details and makes it clear that he is...
[The entire page is 6061 words long]
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