These are three contexts I’ll need to consider as I offer a covenantal interpretation of Hamlet.
- The Protestant Reformation. The play has clear Protestant elements: the setting in a traditionally Protestant country, Denmark; the school that Hamlet, Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern attend in Wittenburg, the Reformation’s birthplace; and the focus on the individual’s salvation or damnation apart from the representatives of the church (i.e., priests). The play also has clear Catholic elements: the ghost of Hamlet, Sr. appears to be in purgatory; the rites surrounding Ophelia’s burial are Catholic. The central contextual question is this: does the play favor Protestantism or Catholicism? The context matters.
- Political Succession. The play asks how power gets transferred from one ruler to another. Hamlet Sr. should have passed his authority to Hamlet, but Claudius has usurped Hamlet’s place. Fortinbras Jr. rages through the play’s background seeking to avenge his dead father’s losses. In 1601, when Shakespeare’s troupe first performed the play, England was on edge as Elizabeth I grew closer to death without having an heir or a clear successor. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are analogs to contemporary English gentlemen like the Earl of Essex and Earl of Southhampton. They harbored ambition but never fulfilled their quests for more power.
- The Revenge Tragedy. Hamlet is not just a tragedy. It’s a revenge tragedy that was popular in 16th Century England. During the 1590s, the most famous English stage was The Spanish Tragedy, which Hamlet echoes and improves in many ways. Other revenge tragedies are typically set in Catholic countries and contrast the loyalty to family and the state. Another conspicuous feature of this genre is metadrama leading to inset plays.
Experiments in Criticism 