Some Necessary Questions of the Play: A Stage-centered Analysis of Shakespeare's HamletIn "For the Purposes of Defense," historian Gene A. Smith examines the politics and ideology of the fleet of small shallow-draft vessels commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson that dominated the United States Navy during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. Designed to maneuver and fight in coastal waters, the vessels had limited ability on the open seas. They were considered defensive rather than offensive craft and have become the focus of the white-water (coastal) - blue-water (seagoing) controversy as well as the navalist-antinavalist debate of the period. When examining the fleet, scholars have charged that Jefferson opposed the navy. He did not, although his most famous quote refers to "the ruinous folly of a navy." Instead, Jefferson was an economy-minded, astute politician who viewed the gunboats as part of a political-military policy rather than a naval program in itself. Gunboats were an economic and political alternative to the exorbitant costs of a blue-water navy. Their perceived initial costs would be small, and when not in use they could be hauled up and protected under cover, eliminating costly maintenance. Staffing them by a naval militia would further lessen their costs. Additionally, they were a defensive weapon that provided few opportunities for incidents at sea that might provoke war. They were also useful in revenue enforcement, suppressing piracy along the coastal frontier, checking the illegal slave trade and smuggling, as well as other nontraditional uses. Moreover, gunboat construction provided a unique political opportunity for the Jefferson administration. Gunboats could be built throughout the country, allowing the distribution of contracts beyond the regular centers of naval activity and to those areas supporting Republican politics. |
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Page 17
... Hamlet perceives things differently . This line of inquiry suggests an abstract theatrical context for Hamlet . Why then this abstract context rather than one specifically Elizabethan , to reflect the play's originating culture , or ...
... Hamlet perceives things differently . This line of inquiry suggests an abstract theatrical context for Hamlet . Why then this abstract context rather than one specifically Elizabethan , to reflect the play's originating culture , or ...
Page 18
... Hamlet's wit assaults language at the level of the word . His soliloquies attack language less directly : they exhaust its modes of discourse without moving toward resolution . Wit disrupts dialogue by denying its logic . Soliloquy ...
... Hamlet's wit assaults language at the level of the word . His soliloquies attack language less directly : they exhaust its modes of discourse without moving toward resolution . Wit disrupts dialogue by denying its logic . Soliloquy ...
Page 19
... Hamlet's subjectivity . On the other hand , controversial interpretive issues of considerable magnitude may have comparatively minor effects on the dynamics of performance . The Freudian interpretation of Hamlet , which views Hamlet as ...
... Hamlet's subjectivity . On the other hand , controversial interpretive issues of considerable magnitude may have comparatively minor effects on the dynamics of performance . The Freudian interpretation of Hamlet , which views Hamlet as ...
Page 20
... Hamlet was in no position to dominate the space with the power of his wit . Indeed , in the resulting power vacuum ... Hamlet's transition to strength in Act V , and to convey the search for strength in soliloquy . I am not suggesting ...
... Hamlet was in no position to dominate the space with the power of his wit . Indeed , in the resulting power vacuum ... Hamlet's transition to strength in Act V , and to convey the search for strength in soliloquy . I am not suggesting ...
Page 21
... Hamlet's perception of time in either medium . What is important is keeping our perception of time attuned to Hamlet's subjectivity , rather than objectifying the play's references to time as if they could be considered independently ...
... Hamlet's perception of time in either medium . What is important is keeping our perception of time attuned to Hamlet's subjectivity , rather than objectifying the play's references to time as if they could be considered independently ...
Contents
13 | |
Space and Time | 25 |
Space and Scrutiny in Hamlet | 27 |
Taking Up the Past Hamlet and Time | 47 |
Theatrical Text | 67 |
Put Your Discourse into Some Frame Hamlet and the Uses of Wit | 69 |
About My Brains Hamlets Soliloquies | 91 |
Theatrical Expectations | 109 |
Body Actor and Character in Hamlet | 111 |
Issues of Culture and Genre | 131 |
Notes | 151 |
163 | |
169 | |
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action actor Amleth antic disposition Atheist's Tragedy audience avenger awareness becomes behavior bodily body Bucknell University Calderwood character Claudius Claudius's closet scene comedy concern conscience consciousness contemplation context crime critical cultural death of Polonius defined Denmark dialogue discourse disruption distance dramatic text dreams Elam Elizabethan Elsinore emotional evoke examines expectations experience father feeling Fortinbras genre Geoffrey Hartman Gertrude Gertrude's gesture ghost graveyard Hamlet Hamlet's soliloquies Hamlet's wit Horatio human humor joke King King's Laertes language laughter madness means Merleau-Ponty Metadrama metaphor metatheatrical mimesis mother Mousetrap play murder myth mythic narrative norms observation Ophelia past perceived performance Phenomenology of Perception philosophical play's players plot Polonius presence Princeton protagonist psychological relationship Renaissance representation response revenge tragedy rhetorical role Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Ruth Thompson seems Semiotics sense sexual Shakespeare significant soliloquy speech stage space suggests textual theater theatrical theory tion University Press verbal words