Fortinbras & redating Hamlet to 1603
Fortinbras & redating Hamlet to 1603
In Jan. 2017, news sites noted that (some) scholars re-dated Shakespeare’s Hamlet to 1603, not 1601. Many mention Fortinbras, a prince from the north to whom Hamlet gives his dying voice to be the next king of Denmark, and how Fortinbras is like James, a king from the north who becomes the next king of England after Elizabeth’s death and the end of the House of Tudor.
This is gratifying, not for any certainty about new dating of the play,
but because for years I’d been telling literature students that Hamlet
(who idolizes his father through much of the play)
is like Elizabeth (who idolized her father and called herself a prince),
and that giving Denmark to Fortinbras is like giving England to James.
(More details in comments below.)
A greater mystery: How most published editions for centuries failed to state this explicitly as the historical background to the writing of a play that touches on many Tudor-era royal scandals. They prefer theme-abstractions to historical context.
Some Shakespeare scholars would say this is too topical an approach, not focused enough on universal/philosophical themes. A-hem.
Perhaps the genius of the play is that it achieves universal themes by first being faithful to, carefully observant and insightful about, what seems to some merely topical?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 8/5/17 on LinkedIn]
In Jan. 2017, news sites noted that (some) scholars re-dated Shakespeare’s Hamlet to 1603, not 1601. Many mention Fortinbras, a prince from the north to whom Hamlet gives his dying voice to be the next king of Denmark, and how Fortinbras is like James, a king from the north who becomes the next king of England after Elizabeth’s death and the end of the House of Tudor.
This is gratifying, not for any certainty about new dating of the play,
but because for years I’d been telling literature students that Hamlet
(who idolizes his father through much of the play)
is like Elizabeth (who idolized her father and called herself a prince),
and that giving Denmark to Fortinbras is like giving England to James.
(More details in comments below.)
A greater mystery: How most published editions for centuries failed to state this explicitly as the historical background to the writing of a play that touches on many Tudor-era royal scandals. They prefer theme-abstractions to historical context.
Some Shakespeare scholars would say this is too topical an approach, not focused enough on universal/philosophical themes. A-hem.
Perhaps the genius of the play is that it achieves universal themes by first being faithful to, carefully observant and insightful about, what seems to some merely topical?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 8/5/17 on LinkedIn]
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