Question

Read each statement about Hamlet, and identify the critical lens the reader used to view the text.


The motif of blood in the play highlights the destructive nature of revenge.


Because Queen Elizabeth did not have an heir, audiences in Shakespeare’s time would likely have been interested in Hamlet’s focus on succession.


Gertrude does what Claudius tells her to do because she has little power as a woman living in a male-dominated society.

Answer 1

1) "The motif of blood in the play highlights the destructive nature of revenge." — Formalist / New Criticism (close-reading of imagery and motif to derive theme).

2) "Because Queen Elizabeth did not have an heir, audiences in Shakespeare’s time would likely have been interested in Hamlet’s focus on succession." — Historical criticism / New Historicism (reading the play in light of its Elizabethan political and cultural context).

3) "Gertrude does what Claudius tells her to do because she has little power as a woman living in a male-dominated society." — Feminist / Gender criticism (analyzing characters and actions through power relations and gender roles).