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'Obsession and detachment are contributing factors to
the downfall of the Elizabethan protagonist' discuss this
statement in relation to Shakespeare's Hamlet and
Ford's Tis pity she's a Whore
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This was normally viewed through a protagonist being led to his
death via his obsession to get revenge on another character, the antagonist
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Giovanni from 'tis pity she's a whore' displays his obsession as love for
Annabella and denial that there will be any harm in their relationship
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Both the characters find themselves detached from the
supporting characters in the play, they also display obsessive behaviour and
certainty of action
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An
Elizabethan audience may have seen this as possession by the devil as both
have acquired sacrilegious knowledge by attending a university
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A
modern day audience would also see that the protagonist does not desire
power, but only what they consider fair
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This shows the audience that there is a tense relationship between
Hamlet and his uncle, the king
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Be that as it may, he is still disrespecting the
king
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He shows little love for his
uncle, but respects the queen, his mother
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This is supported by the fact that
Giovanni does not even speak to his father until act 2 scene 6, this shows
Giovanni's detachment from his family as he does not speak directly to his
father much in the play
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In an
Elizabethan audience, this would be seen as very disrespectful as Giovanni
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and Hamlet are both heavily detached from the parents mentioned in the
plays
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The patricide mentioned in the plays continues to have its
effect on a modern day audience, but the fact that Hamlet and Giovanni are
detached from their parents produces a feeling of tension rather than
disrespect
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He uses very negative language to describe nature and the 'uses of the world'
are seen as 'stale', 'flat and unprofitable'
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His obsession, due to his mother's hasty marriage, has
determined his now bleak point of view
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Hamlet shows that he
respects the power of God at this point in the play as she is asking to be
'(resolved) into a dew', showing that he is respectful towards God as he is
willing to cleanse himself
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He also tries to sway the Friar's view as
he saw a 'change of pity and compassion', showing that he does not respect
the power of God and tries to reassure himself by getting others to reassure
him
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Whereas, this to a modern day audience would be the
first point in which Hamlet's detachment is really picked up on as he not only
talks about nature in a disgusting light, but also tries to say as little as
possible to his 'uncle-father'
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Hamlet is obsessed with his moth remarrying with 'wicked speed' after the
death of his father
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This shows that
Hamlet feels himself insignificant to his mother now and obsesses over how
much he dislikes he remarriage
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Shakespeare uses hyphens and
incomplete sentences to add an effect of inability to even use a euphemism to
highlight the disgust that Hamlet is feeling
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This is shown to contrast from
Giovanni's views in Tis pity she's a whore as he does not believe that his
'joys' should be 'banished from (Annabella's) bed' and is not disgusted with
incest
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This obsession with lechery is seen too in Tis pity she's a whore, via
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Giovanni's advances to Annabella
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Hamlet, in the play, has attended Wittenberg university, showing his
intelligence
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This is supported by Giovanni from 'tis pity
she's a whore as he also went to university and came back with a desire for
Annabella
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This, to
an audience, would be presented as dramatic irony as the audience, whether
Elizabethan or modern day, can tell what the protagonist is thinking, but the
other characters are oblivious until the final scenes leading up to their deaths
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Hamlet's obsession with action and inaction can be viewed in his second
soliloquy in the play
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His obsession with doing what he knows necessary
is shown to the audience as he quickly devises a plan of action as he will
'have these players play something like the murder of (his) father before (his)
uncle'
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He
refers to his 'devil' which is the main source of his action and appears to be
an influence into his decisions
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His father told him that the 'serpent that did string thy father's life now
wears his crown'
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The ghost is
displayed to have a problem with the 'ascension of an incestuous murderer to
the throne' [1] just like Hamlet
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The action and inaction argument can be viewed through Giovanni's hasty
advances towards Annabella
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He contemplates what it would be like if he was 'not to
be'
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He presents life as being quite violent as
'flesh is heir to' a 'thousand natural shocks'
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He makes references to the 'undiscovered country', this is what
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Hamlet believes people 'dread' after death and how 'no traveller returns' from
this place
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Hamlet
contemplates how suicide is a better option than bearing the 'whips and
scorns of time' and thinks on suicide as a 'dream' or 'sleep'
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C
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2nd ed
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as a 'mortal coil' and contemplates what happens when you 'shuffle' from it
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This
is very similar to the way in which Giovanni speaks to Annabella at their first
meeting in the play
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He also gives her an
ultimatum as he tells her to 'love (him) or kill (him)'
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The obsession with death is a
massive contributing factor to the demise of the protagonist
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Hamlet cannot understand how the gravedigger uses
wordplay to his advantage
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He replies with 'tis mine
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Hamlet, as the audience can see
at this point, has never met another person who can produce this kind of
wordplay and use his wit so well
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Also,
Hamlet's obsession is viewed by the audience through Hamlet's advances
into Ophelia's grave, even though he seems to apologise to Laertes
afterwards 'we are mistaken when we suppose that Hamlet is apologising'[2]
as Hamlet does end up killing Laertes
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Hamlet's obsession with his
mother's new marriage and his Oedipus Complex is also shown in act 3,
scene 4 of the play
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He states in act 3 scene 4
that he is trying to save her from the man who is 'like a mildewed ear'
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This shows that he
has an Oedipus Complex as he is concentrating heavily on his mother's
sexual activities with his uncle
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Still concentrating on his mother's
'enseamèd bed' he asks her to refuse the 'bloat king's' temptations and not to
let him touch her with his 'damned fingers', Hamlet uses this negative
language to describe the king in attempt to make his mother realise her
marriage was a mistake, this results into Hamlet treating her more like a lover
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instead of his mother and warning her about the troubles that are ahead if she
does not take his advice
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Giovanni does not have an Oedipus Complex but at the beginning
of the play he mentions that even though Annabella is his sister, his 'joys'
should not be 'banished from her bed'
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As Hamlet does not like the king, he calls the
king a 'thing' and this is 'of nothing', which shows Hamlet does not respect the
king as a king, but instead respects him as if he were 'of nothing'
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C
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2nd ed
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In act 3 scene 4 Hamlet talks of 'worms' and how Polonius is 'at supper'
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This contrasts to Giovanni in Tis Pity she's a
whore, as he does not use a lot of wordplay to express an opinion, but just
tells Annabella that she must 'love (him) or kill (him)'
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An Elizabethan audience may have seen Hamlet's obsessions a result of
intelligence or possession by the devil
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Whereas Hamlet would
have been shown as uncertain until he says he will 'catch the conscience of
the king' as from then on, Hamlet has planned the death of his uncle
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These inconsistencies could contribute to the
detachment of Hamlet as others may be apprehensive to approach him as
the outlook, depending on the time in the play, may be different according to
Hamlet
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As Hamlet's
tragic flaw is procrastination, once could say that he is not fully aware of what
he is doing as he has seen a 'spirit' that 'may be the devil', which shows that
Hamlet procrastinates as he afraid of the result, but ends up performing the
deed in fear of what may come if he does not act
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[3] Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lectures and Notes on Shakspere and Other English Poets (London : George
Bell and Sons, 1904), pp
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