1. Historical background

At the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the United Kingdom was in a period of transition from the feudal system to the capitalist system. This period was a great turning point in the history of Britain. Hamlet is a reflection of the British social reality in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time, the United Kingdom, as mentioned earlier, was a "reverse era of chaos", and "Hamlet" was "the epitome of this era". The fight between Hamlet and Claudius in the play symbolized the struggle between the new bourgeois humanists and the reactionary feudal monarchy. Through this struggle, the work reflects the contradiction between the ideal of humanism and the feudal reality of British darkness; exposes the feud between the feudal aristocratic landlord class and the new bourgeoisie in order to compete for power, and criticizes the evil of kingship and feudalism. The Renaissance movement brought Europe into the era of "human" awakening, and people's belief in God began to shake. Under the banner of “liberation of individuality”, “doing whatever they wanted” was a fashion of the time. This aspect is a great liberation of ideas, which has promoted the great development of social civilization. On the other hand, especially in the late stage of the Renaissance, it has resulted in the proliferation of lusts and social chaos. Faced with such an enthusiasm and chaos, Shakespeare, who is a middle-aged man, has not indulged in the optimism and romance brought about by the ideals of humanism as early, but has shown deeper insights into the hidden dangers behind his ideals and progress. Thinking, "Hamlet" is his aesthetic view of a hidden and chaotic society.

2. About the author

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) is the most outstanding dramatist in the history of English literature. He is also the most important and greatest writer in European Renaissance, and one of the most outstanding writers in the world. Shakespeare grew up in Stratford. Shakespeare had a successful career in London from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century. He was not only an actor, a playwright, but also a partner in the Palace of the Chancellor Theatre Company. Around 1613, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died three years later. From 1590 to 1600 was the golden age of Shakespeare. His early plays were primarily comedy and historical dramas, reaching a deep and artistic peak in the late 16th century. In the following 1601 to 1608, he mainly wrote tragedies. Shakespeare advocated noble sentiments and often described sacrifices and revenge. These include Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth. They are considered to be the best examples of English as a language. In the final stages of his life, he began to write tragicomedy, also known as the legendary play. Works handed down by Shakespeare include 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems. His plays have been translated to various major languages and performed far more often than any other dramatist.

3. The author’s focus and writing style

The division of time reveals the evolution of Shakespeare’s writing in terms of ideological content and writing style. The changes of Shakespeare’s thoughts were closely related to the development of British society and literary circles back then. In other words, it is the development of the British society that has caused Shakespeare’s ideas to change, which has led to changes in his creation. However, Shakespeare has always been focus on humanism. He boldly criticized the cruel darkness of the feudal system and its imprisonment of human nature. Shakespeare's writing has the dualism of realism and romanticism. As for characters shaping, the depth of the characters is revealed through the description of the inner conflicts of the characters. He is good at using his inner monologue to display the character, and uses contrastive techniques to shape it as well.

4. Synopsis of Hamlet

Hamlet, the Danish prince, returned from Germany to attend his father's funeral. Seeing his mother and his uncle, the new king Claudius, quickly got married, he was in great pain. The ghost of his father appeared and told his son that he had been murdered by Claudius. Knowing the fact, Hamlet feigned madness and sought opportunity to revenge. Then a company of actor arrived, Hamlet rehearsed a play demonstrating the murder that Claudius committed to prove his suspicions. And Claudius did broke down during the performance. In the mother's bedroom, he killed Polonius who eavesdropped by mistake. Claudius considered Hamlet as a danger, so he sent Hamlet to the United Kingdom and planned to get him killed. But Hamlet found out the scheme and managed to return to Denmark. When he was back, his lover, Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, died. Laertes, Polonius's son, who lost her father and sister, brought a fencing match against Hamlet in which Laertes would use an illegally sharp and poisoned sword backed up by a poisoned drink. At the end, Although Hamlet was wounded by a poisoned sword, he still stabbed the king and died with his enemies.

5. Reading guide

This part of monologue selected is the most classic part in Hamlet. It revealed the character of Hamlet and the theme of this play. “ To be, or not to be” is not simply a question towards life and death, but a deep reflection of the society: the evil prevails, is there a way out for good? That the real question that Hamlet is taking into deep thought.

6. Notes on the text

(1) To be, or not to be: to continue to live, or to die.

(2) to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: to be passive and let the cruel fortune inflict whatever injuries on me. “Slings” are instruments for throwing stones or other missiles.

(3) Or to take arms against a sea of troubles / And by opposing end them: Or like a warrior to take up arms and fight against numerous troubles and dies in the fighting and thus ends all the troubles in this life.

(4) No more: Death is nothing more than a sleep.

(5) natural shocks / That flesh is heir to: attacks by nature which all human beings are bound to suffer.

(6) a consummation: a final settlement of everything.

(7) there’s the rub: There is the difficulty. A “rub” is a thing that hinders the course of the bowl in the bowling game.

(8) shuffled off this mortal coil: relived from the trouble of this life that have been wound round us like coils.

(9) give us pause: make us hesitate

(10) the whips and scorns of the time: the blows and contempts we suffer in the world we live in.

(11) the law’s delay: the postponement of the lawsuits.

(12) The insolence of the office: the haughty and insulting behaviors of the officials.

(13) That patient merit of the unworthy takes: (the kicks) that men of merit have patiently to endure at the hands of those who do not deserve respect.

(14) his quietus make: end his own life. “Quietus” is a legal term, meaning “settlement of account”.

(15) With a bare bodkin: with a mere dagger.

(16) The undiscovered country: the unexplored country.

(17) fly to others: fly to other evils.

(18) the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought: Over the natural colour of resolution, which is believed of red colour, is thrown the pale and sickly colour of reflection.

(19) of great pitch and moment: of great importance and consequence. “Pitch” is the highest point reached by a falcon.

(20) their currents turn away: turn aside their currents, deviate from their purpose.

(21) lose the name of action: no longer can be put into action.

7. Historical background and cultural background related to the author

The first period (1590-1600): when Shakespeare began his creation, it was during the reign of Elizabeth with economic prosperity, strong royal power, and national unity. Historical drama is a new type of drama that prevailed at that time. Shakespeare, like many humanists at that time, was optimistic about reality and believed that the ideal of humanism could be achieved even if there were various contradictions in society. Therefore, the first period of Shakespeare was mainly historical drama and comedy. The language appears to be in bright and cheerful tone. The Second Period (1600-1608): in the later years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the reality of Britain has undergone tremendous changes, and social contradictions have intensified. As a result, Shakespeare’s early humanistic ideals were in crisis. He began to calmly face the reality; recognized, thought, and analyzed major social issues. The harsh criticism of reality has replaced the praise of humanistic ideals.Tragedy, this genre is more suitable for exposing sharp social conflicts. Therefore, Shakespeare's creation has changed. He turned to tragicomedy and tragedy. The tone of his creation is full of a dark, gloomy atmosphere. The third period (1608-1612): during the period of James I's reign, exposing and critical tragedies were no longer be allowed to perform on stage. Shakespeare, experienced a period of ideological crisis previously, has restored humanistic beliefs. His creation changed from tragedy to legendary drama.

8. The theme of Hamlet

The greatness of Shakespeare’s tragedy lies in its highly generalized significance. Hamlet is a tragedy of a humanist thinker. His father was killed by his uncle and his mother married his uncle. His father's soul demanded him to take revenge. Such a simple event prompted him to consider the entire society and the times and found that "the entire era was dislocated", and decided to assume the responsibility of "reshaping the universe". However, he himself confronting the dark forces alone was doomed to fail. This play reveals a chaotic society with harsh contradictions, in which people despise wrong desire and crave for rationality, new moral standards and social ideals.

To summarize, the first theme of Hamlet is the conflict of ethic. In this play, the Queen married the brother of his ex-husband. This makes Hamlet look down to his mother and women’s love. The second theme is the contradiction of life. To some degree, the roles in this play seem to have their own way to live or die and all characters’ lives are paradoxical. The question of the death and the fate is the main point of Hamlet.

9. The historical significance of Hamlet

Hamlet is a reflection of the British Society back then. It uncovered the sharp contradictions and represented the stand of the humanists. Hamlet, a character in the play, spoke for Shakespeare in some way. Hamlet thinks about the meaning of life: "Survival or destruction, this is a question worth considering". On the one hand, he has a strong sense of responsibility and a sense of mission. On the other hand, he feels isolated and helpless after awakening. From this we can realize Hamlet is under a lot of pressure. It was an chaotic era and was turned upside down. Unfortunately, he has to take up the responsibility of making things right. He not only regards the killing of the king as his responsibility, but also regards reforming the reality according to the ideal of humanism as his incumbent mission.

10. How Hamlet precipitates Shakespeare’s writing style

Shakespeare writes many monologues of a character to help enrich its personality and feature; to make the character feel flesh. As we can see in Hamlet, the monologues of Hamlet has clearly revealed how the character thinks, why the decision is made, why the end is unavoidable with such a character as the protagonist. The detailed portrayals of characters’ thoughts and dialogues in the play promote the development of the plot.