'Hamlet' Through the Lens of Cultural Studies

1. 'Hamlet' Through the Lens of
Cultural Studies

2. Academic Details
Name : Rinkal Dangar
Roll no : 18
Enrollment no : 4069206420220007
Paper name : Cultural Studies
Paper no : 205
Paper code: 22410
Topic: 'Hamlet' Through the Lens of Cultural Studies
Submitted to : Smt. S.B.Gardi, department of English M.K.B.U
Dated on : 23/10/2023
E-Mail : dangarrinkal0609@gmail.com

3. Introduction: William Shakespeare
● William Shakespeare, born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-
Avon, England, is a luminary in the world of literature
and theater. His early life and education remain
shrouded in mystery, but he is celebrated for his
exceptional literary contributions .
● His association with the Globe Theatre in London led
to the creation of timeless masterpieces, spanning
various genres, including tragedies like "Hamlet" and
"Macbeth," comedies like "A Midsummer Night's
Dream," and historical dramas like "Henry IV.

4. Introduction: ‘Hamlet’
"Hamlet," a renowned tragedy by William Shakespeare, is a
timeless masterpiece that delves into themes of power, revenge,
madness, and moral ambiguity. The play is set in the royal court
of Denmark and revolves around Prince Hamlet, who is driven to
madness by the revelation of his father's murder and his
mother's hasty remarriage to his uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet's
internal turmoil and his pursuit of justice lead to a series of
dramatic and tragic events, making it one of Shakespeare's most
celebrated and studied works. "Hamlet" explores complex
characters and ethical dilemmas, offering profound insights into
human nature and the consequences of one's actions.

5. Cultural Studies
Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on
the critical examination of culture, its elements, and its role
in society. It emerged as an academic discipline in the mid-
20th century and draws from various fields, including
anthropology, sociology, literary studies, media studies,
history, and more. Cultural studies seeks to understand how
culture influences and is influenced by society, politics, and
power dynamics.
Culture is about Power(Nayar)
Michael Warner phrases new historicism motto as,
"The text is historical, and history is textual".

6. 'Hamlet' Through the Lens of Cultural
Studies
Two Characters in Hamlet:
● The new historicists with dealing with "questions of
politics, power, indeed on all matters that deeply affect
people's practical lives".
● In response to Claudius's plan to send Hamlet to
England, Rosencrantz delivers a speech,How many
readers and viewers of the play would rank this passage
among the best-known lines of the play-with Hamlet's
soliloquies, for instance, or with the king's effort to pray,
or even with the aphorisms addressed by Polonius to his
on Laertes?

7. Continue…
● “Aye, sir, that soaks up the King's countenance,his rewards, his
authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps
them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last
swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing
you and, sponge, you shall be dry again.”(Shakespeare)
● They must sweep my way, and marshal me to knavery.(Shakespeare)
“Why, man, they did make love to this employment. They are not near my
conscience. Their defeat Does by their own insinuation grow. 'Tis dangerous
when the baser nature comes Between the pass and fell incensed points Of
mighty opposites.”(Shakespeare)
● Murray J. Levith, for example, has written that "Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are from the Dutch-German: literally, 'garland of roses' and
'golden star.'

8. Conclusion
● Claudius was aware of power, clearly, when he observed
of Hamlet's apparent madness that "Madness in great
ones must not unwatched go"(Shakespeare). With equal
truth Rosencrantz and Guildenstern might have observed
that power in great ones also must not unwatched
go.(Guerin et al.).
● The essence of marginalization is in ‘Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead’ as archetypal human
beings caught up on a ship-spaceship Earth for the
twentieth or the twenty-first century-that leads
nowhere, except to death,

9. References
Guerin, Wilfred L., et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Oxford
University Press, 2005.
Nayar, Pramod K. An Introduction to Cultural Studies. Viva Books, 2016.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Terence John Bew Spencer, Penguin
Books, 1980.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Acting Edition). Samuel

10. Thank You!