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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help
Francis Yates suggests an answer to that in her "Occultism in Elizabethan England." She discusses the Durer print Melancholia in relation to Elizabethan thought. Melancholia was considered the condition most closely related to the creative act. The symbolism of the print shows everything around the angel of melancholy awaiting the outcome of his deep melancholic contemplation. All the tools are ready for him to create, but first he must spend some time in deep, sad contemplation. I think it's possible that Shakespeare used this for a take-off point in his creation of the character Hamlet. Hamlet's deep melancholia leads to the prophetic vision which he is so shaken by and which he must emotionally digest before he can effectually act upon the profound knowledge imparted to him by the father-spirit. I find that this reading of he play leads me to interpret it as an attempt by Shakespeare to depict the situation of the creative spirit and the crisis from which arises acts of creation. In this sense the play might be seen as the one most close to Shakespeare's own heart and soul, which may be why it is so profoundly intriguing.Posted by Mak on April 15, 1997 at 05:24:46
In Reply to "--------HAMLET: IS TRAGEDY DIDACTIC?---------" posted by A C BRADLEY on April 15, 1997 at 04:05:55
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help