Hamlet (16-20)

Question 1

George Bernard Shaw

Answer 1

“he was half a dozen characters rolled into one”

Question 2

Thomas Rymer

Answer 2

Shakespeare “lacks meaning [and] expression.”

Question 3

What did John Evelyn say about the play?

Answer 3

He criticised the violent scenes, saying they “disgust this refined age”.

Question 4

What did psychoanalytical critics inspire?

Answer 4

Laurence Olivier’s 1948 film and the voice-over soliloquy.

Question 5

What did Freud argue?

Answer 5

That Hamlet’s hesitation comes from his repressed desire for his mother, and that he sees a part of himself in his uncle.