What Happens in HamletJohn Dover Wilson's What Happens in Hamlet is a classic of Shakespeare criticism. First published in 1935, it is still being read throughout the English-speaking world and has been widely translated. Hamlet has excited more curiosity and aroused more debate than any other play ever written. Is Hamlet really mad? Does he really see his father's ghost, or is it an illusion? Is the ghost good or bad? What does it all mean? Dover Wilson brings out the significance of each part of the complex action, against the background. His analysis of the play emphasises Shakespeare's dramatic art and shows how the play must be seen and heard to be understood. This is a readable, entertaining and scholarly book. |
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Page vi
... dumb - show 144 Miching mallecho 153 " Nephew to the King ' 164 The play scene restored 174 VI Hamlet's Make - up 199 The turning - point 200 Sore distraction 205 The heart of the mystery 217 Dramatic emphasis 229 VII Failure and ...
... dumb - show 144 Miching mallecho 153 " Nephew to the King ' 164 The play scene restored 174 VI Hamlet's Make - up 199 The turning - point 200 Sore distraction 205 The heart of the mystery 217 Dramatic emphasis 229 VII Failure and ...
Page ix
... dumb - show , and Hamlet's entry in the Fishmonger scene . His views about the first may perhaps have been modified since he wrote by Mr A. H. J. Knight's discovery2 that , according to the seven- teenth - century stage - tradition ...
... dumb - show , and Hamlet's entry in the Fishmonger scene . His views about the first may perhaps have been modified since he wrote by Mr A. H. J. Knight's discovery2 that , according to the seven- teenth - century stage - tradition ...
Page xiii
... dumb - show , Mr Nicoll writes : On paper , Wilson's defence of this interpretation is con- vincing ; but Hamlet is not a mere collection of words set in lines upon paper sheets - it is a play , and as a play must be construed . So ...
... dumb - show , Mr Nicoll writes : On paper , Wilson's defence of this interpretation is con- vincing ; but Hamlet is not a mere collection of words set in lines upon paper sheets - it is a play , and as a play must be construed . So ...
Page xix
John Dover Wilson. should make it clear beyond doubt that during the Dumb Show they are talking about Hamlet , and that it is Hamlet's latest and most daring exhibition of " idleness " which dis- tracts their attention from a show in ...
John Dover Wilson. should make it clear beyond doubt that during the Dumb Show they are talking about Hamlet , and that it is Hamlet's latest and most daring exhibition of " idleness " which dis- tracts their attention from a show in ...
Page xx
John Dover Wilson. giving the Dumb Show all the attention that it needs . In both productions lines which hitherto had had no precise meaning sprang to life and dramatic purpose ; and in both productions the kaleidoscopic lights of the Dumb ...
John Dover Wilson. giving the Dumb Show all the attention that it needs . In both productions lines which hitherto had had no precise meaning sprang to life and dramatic purpose ; and in both productions the kaleidoscopic lights of the Dumb ...
Contents
THE ROAD TO ELSINORE BEING AN EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO DR W W GREG | 1 |
THE TRAGIC BURDEN | 25 |
The state of Denmark | 26 |
Gertrudes sin | 39 |
The task | 44 |
GHOST OR DEVIL? | 51 |
Modern difficulties | 52 |
Shakespeares realism | 55 |
HAMLETS MAKEUP | 199 |
The turningpoint | 200 |
Sore distraction | 205 |
The heart of the mystery | 217 |
Dramatic emphasis | 229 |
FAILURE AND TRIUMPH | 239 |
Fortunes pipe | 240 |
The bedroom scene | 246 |
Problems of Elizabethan spiritualism | 60 |
The four witnesses | 66 |
Other superstitions | 75 |
The cellarage scene | 78 |
ANTIC DISPOSITION | 87 |
Its origin purpose and character | 88 |
Hamlet and Ophelia | 101 |
Thwarted ambition | 114 |
The nunnery scene | 125 |
THE MULTIPLE MOUSETRAP | 137 |
The parallel subplots | 138 |
The problem of the dumbshow | 144 |
Miching mallecho | 153 |
Nephew to the King | 164 |
The play scene restored | 174 |
Eclipse | 258 |
Hamlet returns | 265 |
The hero at bay | 276 |
APPENDICES | 291 |
A The Adultery of Gertrude | 292 |
B The Funeral of Ophelia | 295 |
C The Identity of the Gonzago troupe | 301 |
D Mr T S Eliots Theory of Hamlet | 305 |
Shakespeares Knowledge of A Treatise of Melancholie by Timothy Bright | 309 |
Hamlet as Cesare Borgia | 321 |
NOTES to The Second Edition | 335 |
343 | |
347 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ยน Vide actor Admiral's men antic disposition apparition appears audience beginning cellarage scene Cesare Borgia Claudius Claudius's critics death Denmark dialogue distemper doubt Dowden Dr Bradley Dr Johnson dramatic dramatist dumb-show Elizabethan Elsinore excitement explain eyes fact father follows Gertrude Ghost give Gonzago Gonzago-play Granville-Barker groundlings Hamlet's character Hamlet's mind hand hero hint Horatio imagination incestuous intended interpretation King Hamlet King's Laertes Lavater lines lord Lucianus madness Marcellus means melancholy modern mother murder nature never notes nunnery scene once Ophelia Osric passage play scene players plot poison Polonius Prince problem prologue Queen question quoted reader reference revenge Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Second Quarto seems seen Shakespeare Shakespearean Tragedy Shakespearian soliloquy soul speak spectators speech spirit stage suggests tells theatre theory thing thou thought tion tragedy Treatise uncle uttered W. W. Greg whole words