HAMLET critics

• Thomas Hamner

  'Hamlet is unworthy of a hero
• Goethe

  'Hamlet is a morally sensitive soul crushed by the barbarous task of murder
• Sir Herbert Tree

  'The key comic element of the play is madness
• Susan Synder

  'Comedy can be seen as the grounds from which tragedy develops
• Diana Bronstein

  'Women are often given the same advice as servants... chastity, piety, and obedience
• Jaqueline Rose

  'His violence towards his mother is the effect of his desire for her
• Mabillard

  'Claudius is morally weak'
• Mabillard

  'Horatio loves Hamlet deeply'
• Pope

  'Horatio is a fine character of friendship'
• Siddall

  'R and G are manipulators and agents'
• French

  'R and G sacrifice the bond of friendship to a social propriety'
• McKellen

  'The whole play was set with mirrors'
• Crawford

  'Hamlet deliberately feigns madness in order to disconcert the king'
• Rose

  'Women are symbolic of scapegoats in the play'
• Edwards

  'Ophelia literally has no story without Hamlet'
• Dusinberre

  'Ophelia has no chance to develop an independent conscience, she is so stifled by the authority of a male world'
• Pragati

  'Hamlet develops a deep seated hatred for women from seeing his mothers second marriage'
• Mongomery

  'Gertrudes death, life and overall importance have been minimised drastically'
• Harold Bloom

  'Hamlet is scarcely the revenge tragedy it pretends to be'
• Saccio

  'Hamlet refines himself from speaking daggers rather than using them'
• AC Bradley

  'Hamlet is on the verge of despair, wishing for death and fearing it'
• Johnston

  'Hamlet is an instrument rather than an agent'
• Woods

  'Hamlet is deeply concerned with performance'