Shakespearean Criticism: A Comprehensive Analysis
Unit 1: Critical Approaches to Shakespeare
1. Neoclassical Criticism (17th Century)
Key Critics: Ben Jonson, John Dryden, Thomas Rymer
Key Ideas:
- Emphasis on Aristotelian rules (unities of time, action, and place)
- Focus on decorum, order, and moral instruction in drama
- Shakespeare criticized for mixing tragedy and comedy
Jonson:
- Praised Shakespeare’s natural talent but noted his lack of classical discipline
- His poem To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr. William Shakespeare emphasized Shakespeare’s enduring genius
Dryden:
- Admired Shakespeare’s depiction of nature but criticized his lack of polish and adherence to classical rules
- Adapted Shakespearean plays to align with neoclassical ideals
Rymer:
- Criticized Shakespeare’s deviations from classical structure and decorum
- Argued that Shakespeare’s tragedies lacked proper moral instruction
2. Editorial Criticism (18th Century)
Major Editors: Nicholas Rowe, Alexander Pope, Lewis Theobald, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Malone
Key Contributions:
- Organized and corrected Shakespeare’s texts
- Introduced act and scene divisions
- Attempted to determine Shakespeare’s original wording
Rowe:
- First modern editor of Shakespeare’s works
- Added stage directions and explanations to clarify the texts for readers
Pope:
- Applied neoclassical principles to his editorial work
- Altered lines to make them conform to 18th-century poetic sensibilities
Theobald:
- Criticized Pope’s arbitrary alterations and restored original readings
- His edition is considered the first scholarly attempt at textual accuracy
Johnson:
- Praised Shakespeare’s realism and psychological depth
- Criticized Shakespeare’s neglect of moral purpose and tendency for wordplay
- Defended Shakespeare’s blending of comedy and tragedy
Malone:
- Emphasized historical context in textual editing
- Dated Shakespeare’s plays and researched original performances
3. Romantic Criticism (Early 19th Century)
Key Critics: A.W. Schlegel, William Hazlitt, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Key Ideas:
- Emphasis on character analysis and psychological depth
- Shakespeare’s works seen as organic, rather than following rigid classical forms
Schlegel:
- Described Shakespeare as the greatest dramatic poet
- Argued that Shakespeare’s plays had a natural unity beyond classical rules
Hazlitt:
- Focused on Shakespeare’s deep understanding of human nature
- Celebrated Shakespeare’s ability to depict a wide range of emotions and characters
Coleridge:
- Viewed Hamlet as a psychological study of thought vs. action
- Considered Shakespeare’s imagination and poetic genius unparalleled
4. Victorian Criticism (Late 19th Century)
Key Critics: Edward Dowden, A.C. Bradley
Key Ideas:
- Focus on Shakespeare’s character development and moral depth
- Tragedy viewed as a struggle between good and evil
Dowden:
- Explored Shakespeare’s personal development through his plays
- Divided Shakespeare’s career into creative phases
Bradley:
- Analyzed Shakespearean tragedy in depth, defining the tragic hero’s psychological complexity
- Viewed Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear as his four greatest tragedies
Unit 2: The Early 20th Century and Beyond
1. Structuralism
Key Critics: Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, Claude Lévi-Strauss
Key Ideas:
- Language and meaning derive from structures rather than individual expressions
- Shakespeare’s works can be analyzed as systems of signs and binary oppositions
- Characters and plots follow recurring patterns that reflect deeper linguistic and mythological structures
Saussure:
- Developed structural linguistics, emphasizing the relationship between signs, which influenced the study of Shakespeare’s language patterns
Barthes:
- Applied structuralist analysis to literature, suggesting that Shakespeare’s plays derive meaning through recurring symbols and motifs
Lévi-Strauss:
- Analyzed Shakespeare’s plays as mythological structures, identifying oppositional forces such as nature vs. civilization in The Tempest
2. Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction
Key Critics: Jacques Derrida, Jonathan Dollimore, Terry Eagleton
Key Ideas:
- Meaning in Shakespeare’s works is fluid and unstable
- Deconstruction questions hierarchical oppositions, such as reason/emotion or male/female
- Shakespeare’s texts reveal contradictions that challenge fixed interpretations
Derrida:
- Argued that Shakespeare’s language deconstructs itself, showing contradictions in texts like Hamlet, where words fail to establish certainty
Dollimore:
- Studied how Shakespeare’s tragedies subvert conventional power structures, such as how King Lear dismantles ideas of kingship and legitimacy
Eagleton:
- Examined how Shakespeare’s plays expose the instability of ideology, such as the shifting political discourse in Richard III
3. New Historicism and Cultural Materialism
Key Critics: Stephen Greenblatt, Jonathan Dollimore, Alan Sinfield
Key Ideas:
- Literature must be analyzed within its historical and cultural context
- Shakespeare’s plays both reflect and shape the power structures of their time
- Interrogates the relationship between text, power, and ideology
Greenblatt:
- Developed the concept of “self-fashioning,” analyzing how Shakespeare’s characters construct identity based on Renaissance ideals, such as Prince Hal in Henry IV
Dollimore & Sinfield:
- Examined how Othello reflects anxieties about race and power in Elizabethan England
- Studied how state control and censorship influenced the themes of rebellion in Coriolanus
4. Gender Studies
4.1. Feminist Criticism
Key Critics: Lisa Jardine, Juliet Dusinberre, Elaine Showalter
Key Ideas:
- Examines Shakespeare’s treatment of gender and female characters
- Investigates patriarchal oppression and women’s limited agency in his works
Jardine:
- Argued that Portia in The Merchant of Venice represents a woman’s intelligence constrained by societal expectations
Dusinberre:
- Suggested that Shakespeare’s heroines reflect Renaissance debates on female education, citing Rosalind in As You Like It
Showalter:
- Traced changing interpretations of Ophelia’s madness, showing how different eras have viewed her as either victimized or empowered
4.1.1. Feminism and Shakespeare
- Investigates how Desdemona in Othello asserts agency through defiance of her father, but ultimately falls victim to male control
- Examines Lady Macbeth’s ambition as an inversion of traditional female passivity, showing how she transgresses gender roles before succumbing to guilt
- Analyzes Viola in Twelfth Night, who disrupts gender norms through cross-dressing, highlighting the fluidity of gender identity
4.1.2. Feminism and Psychoanalysis
Freud:
- Suggested that Ophelia’s madness in Hamlet represents hysteria caused by repression of desire
Lacan:
- Interpreted Ophelia’s loss of speech and reason as symbolic of the way women are denied agency in patriarchal society
Cixous:
- Argued that Lady Macbeth embodies the concept of the “monstrous-feminine,” disrupting masculine power structures before being destroyed by them
4.2. Gay Studies
Key Critics: Alan Sinfield, Bruce R. Smith
Key Ideas:
- Examines themes of homoeroticism and gender fluidity in Shakespeare’s plays
- Analyzes relationships between male characters, such as Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice
Sinfield:
- Proposed that the intense male friendships in Shakespeare’s plays, such as Mercutio and Romeo, suggest suppressed homoerotic desire
Smith:
- Studied historical records of same-sex intimacy in the Renaissance to understand subtext in plays like Twelfth Night
5. Post-Colonialism
Key Critics: Edward Said, Ania Loomba
Key Ideas:
- Investigates Shakespeare’s depiction of race, empire, and colonial power
- Examines The Tempest and Othello as texts engaging with colonial discourse
Said:
- Argued that Caliban in The Tempest reflects European perceptions of colonized subjects as uncivilized and subhuman
Loomba:
- Suggested that Othello reveals anxieties about racial and cultural difference, as Othello is both admired and mistrusted as a Moor
Unit 3: The Shakespearean Stage – Hamlet
1. Historical and Literary Context
- Written around 1601, influenced by political and social turmoil during the Elizabethan era.
- Reflects anxieties about monarchical legitimacy, treason, and divine right.
- Inspired by Saxo Grammaticus’s “Amleth” and Belleforest’s Histoires Tragiques.
- Ur-Hamlet (possibly by Thomas Kyd) may have influenced Shakespeare.
- Reflects on Elizabethan theatrical debates, including the war of the theatres.
2. Textual History
- Q1 (1603): “Bad” quarto, likely pirated or abridged version.
- Q2 (1604-05): Longer, more complete, possibly from Shakespeare’s manuscript.
- First Folio (1623): Shorter than Q2, possibly altered for stage performance.
3. Critical Interpretations of Hamlet
- A.C. Bradley: Hamlet’s delay is due to melancholy, not morality.
- Coleridge: Hamlet’s paralysis is caused by overthinking.
- Johnson: Hamlet is passive, his madness unnecessary.
- Greenblatt: Hamlet reflects Elizabethan political anxieties.
- T.S. Eliot: Hamlet is an artistic failure due to lack of an objective correlative.
- Freud: Hamlet’s hesitation is linked to an Oedipal complex.
- Wilson Knight: Claudius is a stabilizing force, Hamlet is the real danger.
- Showalter: Ophelia’s madness is a product of gender roles.
4. Thematic and Structural Analysis
Themes
- Revenge and Justice: Central to Hamlet’s conflict.
- Madness (Real vs. Feigned): Hamlet vs. Ophelia’s insanity.
- Corruption & Decay: Denmark as a “diseased body” metaphor.
- Existentialism & Fate vs. Free Will: “To be or not to be?
- Appearance vs. Reality: Characters hide true intentions.
- Political Intrigue: Denmark’s instability.
Structure
- Five-act tragedy following the Aristotelian model.
- Use of Soliloquies: Hamlet’s internal struggles.
- Metatheatre: The Mousetrap play within the play.
- Doubling of Characters: Hamlet/Laertes, Claudius/Old Hamlet.
5. Characterization
- Hamlet: Overthinking, melancholic, obsessed with death and corruption.
- Claudius: Political manipulator, morally corrupt but competent.
- Gertrude: Ambiguous motives, torn between Hamlet and Claudius
- Ophelia: Victim of patriarchal oppression, madness as resistance.
- Laertes: Foil to Hamlet—decisive and action-driven.
- Horatio: Hamlet’s rational, loyal friend, sole survivor.
6. Symbols in Hamlet
- Flowers (Ophelia’s scene):
- Rosemary: Remembrance.
- Pansies: Thought.
- Columbines: Adultery.
- Rue: Guilt and repentance.
- Daisy: Forsaken love.
- Disease & Decay: Denmark as a corrupt, “unweeded garden”.
- Ears & Poison: Deception, corruption of state.
- Yorick’s Skull: Memento mori, inevitability of death.
- The Ghost: Disrupted natural order, political instability.
7. Stylistic Devices in Hamlet
- Dramatic Irony – The audience knows Claudius is guilty before Hamlet confirms it.
- Wordplay & Puns –Hamlet calls Claudius “a little more than kin and less than kind.” “A play upon words” when Hamlet feigns madness.
- Allusions –References to Julius Caesar and classical mythology.
- Foreshadowing –The Ghost’s warning about corruption in Denmark.
- Imagery –
- Decay & Disease: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
- Madness: Ophelia’s flower scene.
- Death & Violence: The graveyard scene with Yorick’s skull.
- Parallelism & Doubling –Hamlet & Laertes (both seeking revenge). Old Hamlet & Claudius (opposing images of kingship).
8. Summary of Hamlet
- Act 1
- Ghost of King Hamlet reveals murder by Claudius.
- Hamlet decides to feign madness.
- Act 2
- Polonius thinks Hamlet is mad due to Ophelia.
- Hamlet plans The Mousetrap play.
- Act 3
- The Mousetrap confirms Claudius’s guilt.
- Hamlet kills Polonius by mistake.
- Act 4
- Hamlet is sent to England.
- Ophelia goes mad and drowns.
- Laertes returns seeking revenge.
- Act 5
- Hamlet and Laertes duel.
- Gertrude drinks poison.
- Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet die.
- Fortinbras claims the throne.
Unit 4: The Shakespearean Stage – Macbeth
1. Historical and Literary Context
- Written around 1606, reflecting political anxieties and King James I’s rule.
- Inspired by Holinshed’s Chronicles and contemporary witchcraft beliefs.
- Alludes to James I by referencing Banquo’s lineage, the “two-fold balls and treble sceptres” symbolizing James’s dual kingship.
- The play’s supernatural elements (witches, prophecies) reflect James I’s fascination with witchcraft and demonology.
- Draws from historical sources but modifies Banquo’s role to avoid offending King James.
2. Textual History
- First Folio (1623): Only authoritative source.
- No quarto versions, unlike Hamlet.
- Heavily adapted in performance, with alterations to the witches’ scenes and Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking.
3. Critical Interpretations of Macbeth
- A.C. Bradley: Macbeth as a tragic hero, downfall due to ambition.
- Wilson Knight: Macbeth as a play of darkness and disorder, like a nightmare.
- Alan Sinfield: Macbeth critiques absolutism, challenges the idea that the play supports James I.
- Janet Adelman: Lady Macbeth embodies destructive maternal power, suppresses femininity.
- Harold Bloom: Macbeth is a study of the imagination’s destructive power.
- Jonathan Dollimore: Witches represent subversion of power structures.
- E.M.W. Tillyard: Macbeth represents cosmic disorder affecting political and personal realms.
4. Thematic and Structural Analysis
Themes
- Ambition and Power: Macbeth’s fatal flaw, fueled by prophecy.
- Fate vs. Free Will: Witches predict but do not force action.
- Guilt and Psychological Torment: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s mental collapse.
- Tyranny and Disorder: Macbeth’s rule disrupts natural order.
- Supernatural Influence: Witches as agents of chaos.
- Deception and Betrayal: Masks, equivocation,“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”.
Structure
- Five-act structure, Aristotelian tragedy.
- Rapid pace, mirroring Macbeth’s descent into tyranny.
- Prophecies as a driving force, shaping Macbeth’s choices.
- Cyclical nature of violence, as Macbeth mirrors Duncan’s rule.
5. Characterization
- Macbeth: Begins as a noble warrior, succumbs to ambition and paranoia. Guilt manifests in hallucinations (dagger, Banquo’s ghost). Evolves from doubtful to tyrannical and nihilistic . Bradley sees his fall as tragic inevitability; Bloom views him as a victim of his imagination.
- Lady Macbeth: Initially dominant, urges Macbeth to act (“unsex me here”). Suppresses femininity for power, later consumed by guilt (sleepwalking scene). Adelman: She embodies destructive maternal power.
- Banquo: Moral contrast to Macbeth, serves as his foil. Ghost symbolizes Macbeth’s paranoia. Wilson Knight sees Banquo as the play’s moral center.
- Macduff: Justice & vengeance personified, restores order. Stephen Greenblatt: Macduff represents resistance to tyranny.
- The Witches: Speak in riddles, use equivocation (“None of woman born shall harm Macbeth”). Dollimore: Represent subversion of political power.
6. Symbols in Macbeth
- Blood: Guilt, violence, Lady Macbeth’s hand-washing.
- Sleep: Innocence vs. guilt (“Macbeth doth murder sleep”).
- Birds: Death omens (ravens, owls, Lady Macduff’s family as “chickens” before their slaughter).
- Weather: Thunder, lightning accompany supernatural events.
- Clothing: Power and legitimacy.
- Handwashing: Guilt, irreversible actions.
- Equivocation: Deception and double meanings.
- Handwashing & Hands: Lady Macbeth obsessively washes her hands to erase guilt . Macbeth’s bloody hands symbolize murder’s irreversible nature.
- Sight, Vision, and Blindness: – Macbeth’s hallucination before killing Duncan. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, but others do not—symbolizing his descent into madness. Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking, rubbing her hands, shows how guilt manifests physically.
7. Stylistic Devices in Macbeth
- Dramatic Irony – Audience knows Macbeth is doomed from the start.
- Wordplay & Puns . Macbeth misinterprets prophecies, leading to his downfall.
- Foreshadowing – The witches’ apparitions predict Macbeth’s fate.
- Metaphors – Clothing as a symbol of power and legitimacy Sleep as a metaphor for innocence and guilt.
- Metatheatre – Macbeth’s “tomorrow” speech reflects the meaninglessness of life.
8. Summary of Macbeth
- Act 1
- Witches predict Macbeth’s rise to power.
- Lady Macbeth urges him to kill Duncan.
- Act 2
- Macbeth murders Duncan, frames the guards.
- Macduff discovers the murder; Macbeth becomes king.
- Act 3
- Macbeth fears Banquo; orders his murder.
- Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes.
- Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at a banquet.
- Act 4
- Witches show three apparitions, warn of Macduff.
- Macbeth orders Macduff’s family killed.
- Macduff vows revenge.
- Act 5
- Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and dies.
- Macbeth faces Macduff
- Macduff kills Macbeth; Malcolm is crowned king.