9 Hamlet and succession
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Richard Dutton
Abstract
Shakespeare’s chief addition to the sources of the Hamlet story was the figure of Fortinbras. With this, what had earlier been a tale mainly of revenge became also one of succession, giving it immediate relevance to late Elizabethan England. When we examine the role of Fortibras as it is developed in the three versions of Shakespeare’s play (and in the 1676 Davenant/Betterton Players’ Hamlet) we can see that relevance being addressed with various nuances. Most particularly, Fortinbras’s acquisition of the Danish throne – in addition to the Norwegian one which he will inherit when his uncle dies – mirrors the twin thrones James VI and I achieved in 1603 when the Second Quarto version apparently came into being.
Abstract
Shakespeare’s chief addition to the sources of the Hamlet story was the figure of Fortinbras. With this, what had earlier been a tale mainly of revenge became also one of succession, giving it immediate relevance to late Elizabethan England. When we examine the role of Fortibras as it is developed in the three versions of Shakespeare’s play (and in the 1676 Davenant/Betterton Players’ Hamlet) we can see that relevance being addressed with various nuances. Most particularly, Fortinbras’s acquisition of the Danish throne – in addition to the Norwegian one which he will inherit when his uncle dies – mirrors the twin thrones James VI and I achieved in 1603 when the Second Quarto version apparently came into being.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I v
- Dedication vi
- Contents vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xii
- Abbreviations and conventions xiii
- Genealogical charts xiv
-
Part I Contexts and approaches
- 1 Introduction 3
- 2 The earlier Elizabethan succession question revisited 20
-
Part II Religion and politics
- 3 The Puritan, the Jesuit and the Jacobean succession 47
- 4 Taking it to the street? 71
- 5 Bishop Richard Bancroft and the succession 92
-
Part III The court
- 6 Essex and the ‘popish plot’ 115
- 7 The Scottish King and the English court 134
-
Part IV Imaginative writings and the wider public world
- 8 The succession in sermons, news and rumour 155
- 9 Hamlet and succession 173
- 10 The poetics of succession, 1587–1605 192
-
Part V Britain and beyond
- 11 Polemic and prejudice 215
- 12 Brinkmanship and bad luck 236
- 13 A view from abroad 257
- 14 States, monarchs and dynastic transitions 276
- Afterword 295
- Select bibliography 304
- Index 314
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I v
- Dedication vi
- Contents vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xii
- Abbreviations and conventions xiii
- Genealogical charts xiv
-
Part I Contexts and approaches
- 1 Introduction 3
- 2 The earlier Elizabethan succession question revisited 20
-
Part II Religion and politics
- 3 The Puritan, the Jesuit and the Jacobean succession 47
- 4 Taking it to the street? 71
- 5 Bishop Richard Bancroft and the succession 92
-
Part III The court
- 6 Essex and the ‘popish plot’ 115
- 7 The Scottish King and the English court 134
-
Part IV Imaginative writings and the wider public world
- 8 The succession in sermons, news and rumour 155
- 9 Hamlet and succession 173
- 10 The poetics of succession, 1587–1605 192
-
Part V Britain and beyond
- 11 Polemic and prejudice 215
- 12 Brinkmanship and bad luck 236
- 13 A view from abroad 257
- 14 States, monarchs and dynastic transitions 276
- Afterword 295
- Select bibliography 304
- Index 314
