Poison, Play, and Duel: A Study in Hamlet PDF
Preview Poison, Play, and Duel: A Study in Hamlet
Routledge Revivals Poison, Play, and Duel First published in 1971, Poison, Play, and Duel explores the dominant sym- bols of the language and action of Hamlet. The Ghost first reveals that Claudius murdered his brother by poison, and this act of poisoning is then dramatically presented before the King. The ultimate consequence of the ‘poison in jest’ performed by the actors is the poisoned ‘play’ with rapiers between Laertes and Hamlet. This representation of violence, and the ven- geful response to violence, creates the moral and the psychological problems of Hamlet. Critics naturally question, and disagree about, the way that Hamlet plays his role in this play because the role of Hamlet is a theatrical device designed to bring all human actions into debate and question. It is hardly surprising that audiences have seen mirrored in Hamlet their own most fundamental and inescapable problems. Nigel Alexander shows how Shakespeare, like Raphael, Titian, and other Renaissance artists, developed and adapted the imagery inherited from the Christian and classical past. The battle within the soul, the choice of life, the hunt of passion, the triple face of prudence and the dance of the graces are given dramatic habitation in Hamlet’s soliloquies, in the inner-play and in the savage contrast of sexuality between Gertrude and Ophelia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, drama, psychology, and philoso- phy. Poison, Play, and Duel A Study in Hamlet Nigel Alexander Firstpublishedin1971 ByRoutledge&KeganPaul Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2022byRoutledge 4ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN andbyRoutledge 605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©NigelAlexander,1971 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedin any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers. Publisher’sNote Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbutpoints outthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletocontact. ALibraryofCongressrecordexistsunderISBN:0710069847 ISBN:978-1-032-35920-5(hbk) ISBN:978-1-003-32937-4(ebk) ISBN:978-1-032-35924-3(pbk) BookDOI10.4324/9781003329374 Nigel Alexander POISON, PLAY, AND DUEL A Study in Hamlet London Routledge & Kegan Paul First published in 1971 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd Broadway House, Carter Lane, London EC4V 5EL Printed in Great Britain by Alden & Mowbray Ltd at the Alden Press, Oxford © Nigel Alexander, 1971 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism SBN o 7100 6984 7 CONTENTS page PREFACE ix 1. POISON, PLAY, AND DUEL i 2. HAMLET AND THE ART OF MEMORY 30 3. THE CENTRE OF CONSCIOUSNESS 58 4. POISON IN JEST: the Play Scene 91 5. THE POWER OF BEAUTY: Hamlet and Ophelia 119 6. THE KING'S JESTER: the Graveyard 153 7. POISON IN PLAY: the Duel Scene 173 BIBLIOGRAPHY 202 INDEX 207
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