Shakespeare s Life and Plays The tragedy of Hamlet

Shakespeare’s Life and Plays The tragedy of Hamlet

Teaching Seriousness Competence Method Explain Reward Care Stronger / Weaker classes or groups in a class

Not mass but individualised teaching addressed to varied competences sensitiveness motivation

Unit plan Multimedia Presentation Power Point - Textbook – Webpages - CD Audio - video DVD Reading : Hamlet’s monologue What a piece of work is man Listening : The Bard of Avon ( A radio programme on CD audio) Video 1990 Zeffirelli’s film Amleto ( the complete Italian version ) Hamlet ( passages from the English version : : “To be or not to be” monologue “ What a piece of work is man” ) Language Grammar : modals in the past ( may –might ) Vocabulary : crime – revenge - doubt – mystery – acting etc. Functions : hypothesis in the past

Warming up Set the background information l Reading of chapters /passages / quotations from two books : I segreti di Londra , by Corrado Augias Storia della letteratura Inglese , l by G. T. di Lampedusa Homework research task by surfing the Internet on given websites : www. shakespeare-globe. org www. williamshakespeares. com www. sparknotes. com

Biography William Shakespeare : The Bard of Avon A mysterious life Listening Listen to the radio programme The Bard of Avon about Shakespeare’s biography and fill in the missing information. You are required to write a short sentence in each box. You will hear the recording twice. Use the first listening to fill in the easiest sentences and the second to complete the task. Language ( Vocabulary – Grammar ) Now read the completed text and underline all the words / phrases /sentences expressing uncertainty and mystery.

Plays First Folio – The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays - 1623 Mr W. Shakespeare’s Comedies Histories § Tragedies, Published according to the true Original Copies , edited by Heminges and Condell • • 38 plays no chronological order but classification into three genres : - comedies - historical plays - tragedies First Folio displayed in Hong Kong

Dating of the plays Approximate dates have subsequently been given to the 38 plays based on : Internal evidence ( references to contemporary events in the play ) External evidence ( references to the play on official contemporary documents ) Stylistic evidence ( quality of style, plot, characterization and metre used in the play ) - Malone ( 1821 ) – Furnivall ( 1877 ) - E. K. Chambers ( 1930 ) The most authoritative attempts at dating Shakespeare’s plays

The Four Periods The division into four periods is usually based on Chamber’s table Years Histories Comedies/Romances Tragedies 1590 Apprenticeship Richard III 1595 1596 History plays / Love comedies 1599 Richard II King John Henry IV Romeo and Juliet A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Merchant of Venice Much Ado about Nothing 1600 Great Tragedies and Dark comedies Julius Caesar The Merry Wives of Windsor Troilus and Cressida All’s Well that Ends Well Measure for Measure 1608 1609 The romances 1613 The Winter’s Tale The Tempest Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra

Hamlet Prince of Denmark 1601 Shakespeare’s most celebrated play The Popularity of this tragedy concerning the miserable, young prince of Denmark has been constant throughout the centuries and its success has been renewed in a great number of film versions

Hamlet Characters A couple of young lovers and their families •

Hamlet Family Ties and Political Hierarchy Hamlet Prince of Denmark The ghost of the dead father Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother The Queen Claudius. Humlet’s uncle The present king Ophelia Polonius, Ophelia’s father the king’s councellor Laertes, Ophelia’s brother

Hamlet Plot The story of the Prince of Denmark whose father, the lawful king, was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who quickly marries the Queen in order to take throne. Prompted by the ghost of his father , Hamlet embarks on the task of avenging the murder. He pretends to be mad in order to carry out his plans more freely. Soon the protagonist’s inability to act clashes with the demands of restoring a lawful succession to the throne.

Hamlet The Five Acts ACT I - Qeen Gertrude and her brother-in-law Claudius marry after the king’s death - The Ghost of the dead king appears and tells Hamlet he has been murdered - He asks Hamlet to take revenge ACT II - Hamlet pretends to be mad and rejects Ophelia’s love - He asks a troupe of actors to perform “ The Murder of Gonzago “ ACT III - The play is presented. The king rises and rushes away ACT IV - ACT V - The duel follows - Hamlet kills Polonius - The king decides to get rid of Hamlet and sends him to England - Ophelia goes mad and drowns herself Hamlet returns from England The king drives Laertes to a duel with Hamlet - Hamlet is urged to drink poisoned wine but he does not - The queen drinks it and dies - Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned tip of his sword. . . . -. . . . Everybody dies - Fortinbras takes possession of the kingdom after giving military honours to Hamlet

Hamlet, the angry young man Angriness – restlessness – generational clashes – doubt Hamlet embodies the spirit of restlessness of an age of transition. On the one hand he seems to threaten the certainties upon which the Elisabethan age was built, but on the other is unable to provide any new context of reference. Accordingly, Hamlet’s character is both scornful and nostalgic of the values that nourished the old world order.

Hamlet Unforgettable lines

Hamlet l l l l l Universal themes Life and death Thirst for power Corruption Misogyny Youth Appearance vs Reality (Dis)Loyal Friendship Parental relationships Revenge Superstition vs Intellect

Mel Gibson as Hamlet in Zeffirelli’s film Showing the film - 150 min ( Italian Version ) Starring: Mel Gibson Glenn Close Alan Bates Helena Bonan-Carter as Hamlet as Gertrude as Claudius as Ophelia

Hamlet’s Memorable Speeches From the English version of the film “ To Be, or not to Be “ About 10 min “ What a piece of work is man “ about 10 min

To Be , or not to Be Reading - Translation – Paraphrasis Analysis of Language and Imagery ENGLISH Statement of alternative To be, or not to be, that is the question : Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind ………. . ………………………. Or to take arms against a sea of troubles Death as a solution ………………. . To die , to sleep No more ; and by a sleep to say we end …………… A turn in Hamlet’s thoughts To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub : Reasons for bearing adversity For , in that sleep of death what dreams may come ……………………………. . ITALIAN

What a piece of work is man A Freudian description of Depression HAMLET : I have of late - but wherefore I know not – lost all my mirth , foregone all custom of exercise ; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory ; this most excellent canopy, the air , look you , this brave o’erhanging firmament , this majestical fretted with golden fire, why, it appeareth no other thing to me that a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty ; in form and moving how expressand admirable ; in action how like an angel ; in apprehension how like a god ! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals ! And yet , to me , what is this quintessence of dust ? Man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so. ROSENCRANTZ : My lord, there was no such stuff in my thoughts. HAMLET : Why did you laugh then when I said “man delights not me” ?

Test Literary competence Literary analysis Language Text l PART 1 - Multiple choice ( Shakespeare’s life and plays ) l PART 2 - Cloze text ( plot of Hamlet ) l PART 3 - Open questions / Short essay on - Hamlet’s monologue - Hamlet’s vision of life - Hamlet’s character