Hamlet's dull revenge
by: rené girard

1. identify the claim and the central idea in lines 1-24.
2. what central idea is the author supporting in lines 25-44.
3. what is the reason that neither shakespeare nor hamlet can give up revenge? what evidence does the author present in lines 51-70?
4. what is the value in quoting directly from the play (lines 86-104) instead of merely summarizing the dialogue? why does the author present these examples in this order?
5. read lines 98-122. why is fortinbras' army a "catchy example for hamlet"? what central idea can be inferred from this example?
6. read lines 134-136. how is laertes like the actor that played hecuba? what does this similarity suggest?
7. how does the section from lines 137-148 relate to the authors argument?
8. read lines 166-180. gertrude refers to hamlets outburst as both "madness" and "towering passion". what central idea does girard infer from these differe

1.     The main argument in this essay is that if the audience does not accept the villain the poet (specifically Shakespeare here) writes, then Shakespeare will become the villain of his own play.

2.     In lines 25-44 the author is supporting the fact that the poet is completely at the mercy of his audience. Sometimes the reception by the audience has nothing to do with the play itself, it might be differences from audience to audience based on who is there and how they are feeling on that particular night.

3. Shakespeare cannot give up revenge because it is what the audience wants. The author says that “tragedy is revenge”. If he gives up revenge, he is giving up his audience and therefore his entire basis of work.

4. The author presents this information directly from the text because the structure of the lines is as important as what they are saying. Hamlet presents the images of his father and his uncle next to each other, and the meter of the lines represents that back and forth of comparison by mirroring each other. “This was your husband/Here is your husband”. The repetition with slight changes in description show the contrast better than a summary could.  

5. The author says this is a “catchy example” because Hamlet needs to adopt the same sense of grand military action towards Claudius for his revenge as Fortinbras does for what seems like nothing. Hamlet needs, like Fortinbras, to be willing to throw away everything for “an eggshell”.

6. Laertes is like the actor that played Hecuba because he is able to turn on his tears and emotions even if it contradicts what he is feeling inside. This similarity suggests that Laertes cares more about the show of things, in the same way he seems to care more about the ceremony surrounding Ophelia’s burial than her death itself, than the things themselves. It shows that he is all for show rather than sincerity.

7. These lines relate to the author’s argument because it reinforces the idea that the audience is actually in control of the play. It shows examples of lines that represent the height of the trauma and tragedy, so that the audience knows the ending is near.

8. Gertrude refers to Hamlet’s outburst as “madness” and he refers to his own outburst as “towering passion.” The differences here are in who the audience chooses to believe. If the audience follows Gertrude’s lead by thinking he is mad, they will receive the ending differently than if they trust Hamlet himself that his outbursts are an outpouring of passion.

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