Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

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Physical and Metaphorical Settings in Hamlet

Shakespeare uses setting to create a tense and unsettling atmosphere from the outset.

Mystery in the first line

The first line of the play is a question (“Who’s there?”) asked by the sentry, Barnardo. He is unable to see in the darkness and he is on edge because of rumours of military manoeuvres and the threat of foreign invasion.
The atmosphere of disquiet and mistrust is reinforced by Francisco’s refusal to reveal his identity first and his demand that Barnardo show himself instead.

Theme of identity

The question, “Who’s there?”, also introduces the theme of identity into the play.
The ‘true’ identity of characters is often unclear. Hamlet is tormented by the uncertainty over whether the Ghost of his father is a “spirit of health” or a “goblin damned” and even questions his own identity (“Am I a coward?”).
The Hamlet who returns from his voyage to England is much more confident in his identity as his father’s son and thus rightful heir to the throne, asserting to the King, Queen and Laertes that “This is I, Hamlet the Dane.”

Biblical connotations of murder

Shakespeare uses settings to amplify other key themes in the play.
The setting for the crime at the heart of Hamlet is an orchard. This recalls the Garden of Eden from the Book of Genesis where Eve eats a forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
Shakespeare exploits these biblical connotations further by having the Ghost describe Claudius as a “serpent” – the devil in animal form – to emphasise the magnitude of the crime and the extent of Claudius’ villainy.

Typical settings: graveyard

Shakespeare uses locations like the graveyard where Ophelia is buried to explore the theme of death.
Hamlet accepts the inevitability of death after holding the skull of Yorick and musing on the certainty that he, like Alexander the Great and Caesar before him, will turn to dust in the grave. This prepares Hamlet for whatever may befall him in the final scene. He now sees “special providence in the fall of a sparrow”, directly alluding to the Christian belief in God directing earthly affairs and concludes that “The readiness is all”.

Bedroom setting for A3S4

Some productions of the play use a bedroom setting for Hamlet’s meeting with Gertrude in Act 3, Scene 4.
This helps to amplify a Freudian (or psychoanalytical) reading of the play which argues that Hamlet’s delay in killing the King stems from his deep psychological impulses to kill his father and sleep with his mother.

Metaphorical settings

Settings can also function on a metaphorical level.
- E.g. the images of sickness and decay in Hamlet (“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”) symbolise the corruption that lies at the heart of the Danish court.
The imagery links to the metaphor of the “unweeded garden / That grows to seed” and becomes overgrown with “things rank and gross”. For Hamlet, deeply affected by grief, all living things become corrupt.

Historical Setting of Hamlet

Although the story originates in early medieval Denmark, Elizabethan audiences in England would have recognised the world of the play as being very familiar to them.

Issue of succession in England

When Shakespeare wrote the play sometime between 1599 and 1600, the issue of royal succession was becoming urgent.
Queen Elizabeth I was coming to the end of her life (she would die in 1603) and had no natural heir.
In an England which had been torn apart only decades earlier by the accession to the throne of Mary I (nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’ because of her attempt to violently enforce a return to Catholicism), there was considerable anxiety about who would succeed Elizabeth and how this should be decided.

Parallel: Earl of Essex march

There are also parallels between the march of Fortinbras’ army and the campaign in Ireland led by the Earl of Essex in 1599 which ended in failure and was the cause of much controversy in England.

1Introduction

1.1Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet

1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story

1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet

1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised

2Plot Summary

2.1Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 1

2.1.2Act 1, Scene 2

2.1.3Act 1, Scene 3

2.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5

2.2Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 1

2.2.2Act 2, Scene 2

2.3Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events

2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas

2.3.3Act 3, Scene 2

2.3.4Act 3, Scene 3

2.3.5Act 3, Scene 4

2.4Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 1

2.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-3

2.4.3Act 4, Scene 4

2.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events

2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas

2.4.6Act 4, Scene 6

2.4.7Act 4, Scene 7

2.5Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events

2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events

2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas

3Character Profiles

3.1Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind

3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status

3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind

3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking

3.2Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime

3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius

3.3Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude

3.3.2Gertrude's Character

3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet

3.4Ophelia

3.4.1Ophelia

3.5Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia

3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death

3.6Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia

3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits

4Key Themes

4.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.2Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet

4.3Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet

4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet

4.4Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

5Writing Techniques

5.1Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet

5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure

5.1.3Play-Acting Motif

5.2Form

5.2.1Soliloquy

5.2.2Comedy

5.3Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay

5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume

5.4Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys

5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions

6Context

6.1Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession

6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy

6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism

6.1.4Regicide

6.1.5The Reformation

6.2Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy

6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy

6.3Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet

6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet

7Critical Debates

7.118-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates

7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet

7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet

7.220th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet

7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.3Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism

7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia

7.4Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms

7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

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