Shakespeare's Personal Life and the Writing of Hamlet - Research Paper Example

Shakespeares personal life and the writing of Hamlet William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), the most renowned English poet and playwright, has been recognized as one of the greatest writers and unsurpassed dramatists of the world literature until today. There is no other writer in the world about whom more criticism is written and studied than Shakespeare. Even in the recent times, the personal life and works of Shakespeare catch the attention of several original and fresh studies. In a reflective analysis of the personal life and works of Shakespeare, it becomes lucid that several of his writings bear witness to the experiences and incidents of the writer’s personal life, and his celebrated play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, popularly known as Hamlet, is an obvious illustration of this relationship. Hamlet was written during the period between 1599 and 1601 and the dramatist incorporates several experiences of his personal life in the work. Andrew Cecil Bradley, who carefully investigated the background of Shakespearean tragedies, suggests that “Shakespeare during these years was probably not a happy man, and it is quite likely that he felt at times even an intense melancholy, bitterness, contempt, anger, possibly even loathing and despair. It is quite likely too that he used these experiences of his in writing such plays as Hamlet…” (Bradley, 271) Therefore, it is essential to realize that the most celebrated of the Shakespearean tragedies, Hamlet, offers a credible evidence to comprehend how the dramatist’s personal life influenced his writings. This paper makes an insightful exploration of the tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare in order to realize the relationship between Shakespeare’s personal life and the writing of Hamlet. Written around 1600, Shakespeare’s Hamlet offers one of the most noticeable illustrations of the connection between the author’s personal life and artistic writings. Except for some books in the Bible, there has been no other book has invited such a long-lasting, lively, and scholarly studies as Shakespeare’s celebrated tragedy and this work illustrates how the writer was influenced by some of the personal aspects of his life. A close reading of the play Hamlet indicates that the play offers some reference to the period between 1599 and 1601 in the author’s life when he was greatly disturbed by the death of his son, Hamlet. As aforementioned, Shakespeare was under too much sadness, despondency, melancholy, bitterness, etc. during this period and the tragedy Hamlet can be realized as his twin son’s namesake play. The plays written during this period reflect the dramatist’s sentiments for his twin son. “Finally, in Hamlet, wherein Shakespeare played the father’s ghost, he is able to put aside the longing for the return of his dead son and allow flights of angels to bear him to an eternal rest.” (Knight, 54) Therefore, a careful reading of the drama Hamlet by Shakespeare suggests that there are several instances that reveal the influence of the dramatist’s personal life on his composition. The memory of his dead son haunted the playwright tremendously and he gives several intuitions indicating his personal feelings. In the staging of the play, Shakespeare played the role of the Ghost and the “dramatist, live father plays the dead father in a played named for his son Hamlet. The dead father tells the live son in the play: ‘Remember me! Remember me!’ This is written at the height of ‘the laws delay’ in his case…” (Knight, 54-5) In a careful analysis of the period and theme of the writing of the important tragedies of Shakespeare, it becomes palpable that the personal life of the dramatist bears close resemblance the mood of these plays. Thus, it comes to the notice of careful investigator that, from about 1601 to about 1608, the dramatist came up with tragedy after tragedy, including Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Timon of Athens, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus. “These seven years, accordingly, might, without much risk of misunderstanding, be called Shakespeare’s tragic period… The existence of this distinct tragic period, of a time when dramatist seems to have been occupied almost exclusively with deep and painful problems, has naturally helped to suggest the idea that the ‘man’ also, in these years of middle age, from thirty-seven to forty-four, was heavily burdened in spirit; that Shakespeare turned to tragedy not merely for change, or because he felt it to be the greatest form of drama and felt himself equal to it, but also because the world had come to look dark and terrible to him…” (Bradley, 87) Significantly, the play Hamlet clearly reflects the mood of the dramatist during the period of its composition when he was occupied almost exclusively with deep and painful problems in his personal life. A careful analysis of the relationship between Shakespeare’s personal life and the writing of Hamlet needs to incorporate an investigation of the author and his times, and it comes to our notice that William Shakespeare lived in a time of great changes and excitement in England. In fact, the tragedy Hamlet, or any of his other plays for that matter, cannot be realized outside the background of its writing. Shakespeare’s plays were written during the rules of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625) and they were supposed to please royalty and powerful nobles, educated lawyers and scholars, as well as merchants, workers, and the common people who could not read and write. “To keep so many different kinds of people entertained, he had to write into his plays such elements as clowns who made terrible puns and wisecracks; ghosts and witches; places for the actors to dance and to sing the hit songs of the time; fencing matches and other kinds of fight scenes; and emotional speeches… The stories he told were familiar ones, from popular storybooks or from Roman history. Sometimes they were adapted, as Hamlet was, from earlier plays that had begun to seem old-fashioned.” (Feingold, 1) These factors, along with the personal aspects of the dramatist that are reflected in the play, reveal the relationship between the personal life of Shakespeare and his writing of the plays, particularly Hamlet. A profound investigation of the play Hamlet clearly suggests that it is the greatest play by the dramatist to which (and from which) all roads in Shakespeare lead, and this is the same play which evidently indicates the significant relationship between personal life of the writer and the writing. Although this great playwright of English literature wrote all his great plays before 1600, his greatest plays, among them Hamlet is the prominent, date from this year. It remains (must remain) a matter of speculation what exactly in the personal life of Shakespeare may have brought about the change of tack in the nature and themes of his writing. However, it cannot be disputed that the dramatist produced his most famous tragedy two or three years before the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. “By 1600 the immediate danger of civil war had receded. Yet for some time in Shakespeare’s younger days the specter of political instability, and even total civil break-down, hung menacingly in the air. That relationship between private anguish and a sense of impending political disaster is well expressed in Hamlet.” (Wilcock, 10) Similarly, Shakespeare presents the questions of authority, i.e. the questions such as who rules, how, and why, at the heart of the play and the protagonist of the play finds a power base to face up to these questions. Therefore, the dramatist’s personal agenda and experience get reflected in the play Hamlet and this play clearly reflects the relationship between Shakespeare’s life and his writing. In conclusion, there is a close connection between William Shakespeare’s personal life and the writing of Hamlet which becomes lucid to a careful investigator of the topic. This paper opens up the possibility of further studies on the essential factors from the famous dramatist’s personal life which influenced and got reflected in the tragedy Hamlet. There have been several evidences offered by the scholars and critics on the topic to prove how the dramatist’s personal life influenced his writings. It is fundamental to realize that the most celebrated of the Shakespearean tragedies, i.e. Hamlet, undoubtedly reflects the mood of the dramatist during the period of its composition when he was occupied almost exclusively with deep and painful problems in his personal life. In short, the dramatist’s personal agenda and experience get reflected in the play Hamlet and this play obviously illustrates the relationship between Shakespeare’s life and his writing. Works Cited Bradley, Andrew Cecil. Shakespearean Tragedy. BiblioBazaar, LLC. 2008. Knight, William Nicholas. Autobiography in Shakespeares Plays: Lands So By His Father Lost. New York: Peter Lang, Inc. 2002. P 54. Wilcock, Mike. Hamlet--the Shakespearean director. New York: Peter Lang, Inc. 2002. P 10. Feingold, Michael. William Shakespeares Hamlet. Barron’s Educational Series. 1984. P 1. Read More