Chapter - 6 Synopsis
■HAMLET*
OTHELLO
•KING LEARt
•MACBETH•
through trial*
world of passion)•
Gardners
Shakespearean Tragedy
but the spirit he breathed into them was that of new huma
Juliet waking just a minute too late from her trance, Edmund1 a
2i0
of such laws* Man nay bend against fate but ho must rebel
the hero does not have any say in what happens* He cannot
world*
an impotent actor*
of inner life. But Kyd has a very crude moral basis not
and is hanged.
the death of the hero and then totalled up good and bad
perishes.
death*
death, and hence death in tragedy does not mean mere death*
remarks!
unawares to her*
lunatic fits are marked by his blind trust and self ignorance*
character*
•Give me a taper
Tragic Protagonist
hero. His flaw is the cause of his own fall. At the centre
tion.
the villain lead to the death of the hero, but they also
dualism.
•to be* but to be means not only to think and to feel but
lament his fall and he knows why. "I myself find in myself
no pity to myself”. (V, iii, 203-204)* Macbeth is aware
lighted*
not so fortunate*
makes his peace with those he has wronged# They hold true
constancy. Not only have great and good men faced death
reported by Malcolm.
thick cloud and rain that I may say. The Gods themselves
do weep”. (V, ii, 301-302)• Similarly Horatio seizes the
Roman than a Dane” (V, ii, 355)* The feelings of grief are
survivors*
(V, ii, 361) show their feelings of admiration for the dead
Hamlet
death*
Oedepus it is so destined*
faith in the two; of the two who seemed good to him, his
left in life.
274
(I, ii, 137)* ..... "She married* 01 most wicked speed,to post
(I, U, 89-94)
(It v, 138-189)
for his foul and most unnatural murder* but the same
Ghost commands!
(I, v, 85-86)
shock that Hamlet receives kills in him the Zest for life
at it as
(I, v, 102-104)
"Now to my word)
It is, 'Adieu, adieu! remember me*'
I have sworn't."
(I, v, 111-112).
"Hold, hid,
My heart!
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up!"
(I, v, 93-95)
281
for him* Hamlet sees not life, bat death, "Death in the
tion of the ghost and with his breaking away from Ophelia,
Hamlet loses his contact with life* "He must walk alone
283
the ghost, who had returned from the land of the dead,
disillusioned anarchist*
tives for his choice are the old values of the University
The former are academic values, the latter are the world
is at supper*
"Mot where he eats* hut where he is eateni
a certain convocation of politic worms are
e* en at him* Your worn is your only emperor
for diet* we fat all creatures else to fat
us and we fat ourselves for maggots* your fat
king and your lean beggar is but variable
service; two dishes but to one tables that's
the end*" •*..*
"A man may fisa with the worm that hath eat
of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed
of that worm"*
death, not life, is the only reality and man is food for
divides the mother end the son. He seo3 the gh03t though
3he sees "nothing at all” (III, iv, 130) and understands
flowers*
(V, i, 202-210)
(V, i, 235-236)
observation*
The truth dawns on him, too late, at her death* Her death
proves her innocence and makes her lover realize her inno
nifies death*
(V, i, 249-253)
(V, i, 257-259)
him:
(V, i, 260-263)
306
has all sympathy for 'sweet' Ophelia and nothing but resent
universal human.
his love for Ophelia. Hamlet had never admitted his love
308
(V, i, 266-268)
Eaglet’s death*
»ine and ay fathers death com. not upon the./ Nor thin,
Laertes confesses his own share in the guilt but the criminal
312
to her son.
»0 my
dear Hamlet!•
The drink, the drink, I am poison'd"
a true mother*
with her love for her son. Likewise her affection for
dying Queen and the wounded Laertes reveal the loathe some
life; hs pays for the greater wrong that has made Hamlet's
life in death*
received the fatal wound* Hamlet fulfils his duty only when
to be defeated; but
full * "
pangs of death*
«V\
His wounded na£e can be healed when truth is stated by
and hateful crimes, hie noble heart cracks. But Hamlet does
peace* With his last breath, Hamlet gives his dying voice
in the loss of all that the ghost had cherished when alive,
evil* Even so he has been King for a few minutes and yet
a perfect bliss*
Hamlets
3 22
(V, ii, 352). "01 I die Horatio" (V* ii, 366). The following
”.... Good-night,
Sweet prince*
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
among Christians*
burial*
(I, 1, 157-164}
Hell).
possibility
justice rules, no man can fly from God; the murderer will be
(Ill, i, 79-80)
destroy."106
Ghost is
328
from the tomb, the Ghost comes with the tale of crime and
tensions thereof#
(Ill, i, 60-64)
Hamlet weighs all the pros and cons - ’To be* means for him
to take revenge while ’not to be* means to give up the
struggle. 'To be* is to be the avenger - he has no choice
but to work vengeance. He ponders, what is nobler — endu
rance or action.
other hand death or what may come after death is even more
is unknown.
(Ill, i, 78-80)
(Ill, i, 64-65)
The image of death as sleep is also found in
F. Fletcher.
334
But what comes in his way is the fear of the unknown, the
politician.
joy and whan life loses joy, it also loses meaning. For
suicide
physical mind*
for Heaven but was tempted and fell# All the wisdom he
has found, is that ‘Denmark’s a prison*, (XI, ii, 253),
(II, ii, 313) and man ’quintessence of dust* (II, ii, 329)*
from then on we are never far away from death. His soli
deatlx.
snatches the poison cup from his friend and saves his life.
He also clarifies the issue of succession by giving his
345
dying voice for Fortinbraa and thus saves his country.
death.
all matter."^23
of Hamlets
patriot*
has added
evil attacks and overthrows the good and the bad alike*
him*
356
which states that the soul leaves behind the old body
in Desdomona's virtue.
363
love.
(II, i, 197-198)
shows how far he has fallen from his faith in love* His
”confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ” (III, iii,324-325)
handkerchief*
368
She seeks help and the bypoorit Iago pretends to help her.
"All things shall be well" (IV, ii, 171). According to
own death.
sings her own death song with all grace and submission.
sacrifice.
innocence and her tears of pity for Casaio turn the calm
light*
with the cosmic images — the Sun, the Moon, the start
and love.
his obsession
the Gods by utterly wiping out the sin that has tainted
seeing anything.
3S1
Desdemona*
the changed Othello| and then her last utterance when she
herself*
and affirms her love with dying breath, she dies as she
lady.
deeds.
wife for »if.."l83 She bravee death and diee with the song
could be put out} but the light of her love could not be
put out.
c
Truth is re-asserted by Emilia who badly faces
swept away all caution, from Emilia* When Iago orders her
doom for the sake of her mistress* She does not even
for death#
She knows the price she will have to pay for it, and
yet for the honour of her dead mistress, she puts truth
aloof.
remembrance, he soars
He surveys
says in defencet
national destiny*
for the same reason* He surveys his own life, judges it and
But the lips that had pardoned him in this life, will pardon
observest
everlasting Bliss.
final scenei
saves him*
sense of sacrifice*
shaking phenomena*
as Othello exclaimst
Neo-Platonic principles*
"The Neo-Platonic conceit that the lover*s
heart and soul have their dwelling in the
person of the belqgrd, ia used by Othello
in a poignantly literal sense* *2q&
ruins hi«t
well as destroying*
406
anthropy.
valuation*
change
425
•the grest rage,
ion see, is kill'd la nit*. «
< If, vii, 7m
( 1, 11» 806.806)
( V, ill, 31*38)
X Ul» 846.246)
430
( f9 iU» 841.84
( ?t iii* 838.888)
( ft Hit **9L361)
Goddard atatea t
One boa gained hie txae oblldf the other baa loot
the txoo ohll4 boor dioa pointing oat "Do pea see
thia f book on her% (7# Uit 818)
Lear depiotS}
"thoengh his life and deathf a
universe in which even those who
458
haro tally rop«ntod9 dona nmi
•at rlssa to tho tondor rogard of
Sainthood ooa bo bon tod toon, drivoa
lnaano, oat klllod by tho aoot agonising
axtronoo of poooloiu«gag
To John hiRfi
"Xho pool tiro thono is no loss than tho
doath of tho aalf and tho birth of
divine lava,
"Bo wo9ll 11 ro
And pray and ting, and toll eld tales, and
laugh
At glided butterflies, •
( f9 1U9 11-1*>
Wehster states i
“Every character makes some reference to
"Mon aunt
safer*
Ihoir going hence, ovsa as tholr ooalag hithort
Riponssa is all**
(XT, U, 48U50)
is himself killed.
(X, iii, 97) • But the honour that he won in war changes
The witches prepare the mind for what follows. The |lay
lizes death.
man yet they are outside him* They are powerless over
those who do not meet them half way, hence they fell
out!
of the witches*
<I,vii, 45-46).
no effect on her*
"it is done"*
(II, i, 62}*
490
unnatural*
creation*
(II, i, 36).
(II, i. 38-39)
4.02
(II* 1* 48-49)
He cries in despairs
tone "Is there an evil more cruel than the unrest caused
the moral*
Cawdor
murder will out# ^nd that blood will have blood* Macbeth
Lady Macbeth# as
of Ufa*
Macbeth * s life is the life of nightmare* The
mother and child are proof that mercy and justice have
fled. Meal values are banished or arc perverted In
integrity.
"Sinful Macduff 1
They were ell struck for thee.
Naught that X am.
Not for their own demerits, but for mine.
Pell slaughter on their souls, Heaven rest then
nowl*
victim*
* each new
mom
Now widows howl* new orphans cry, new
sorrows
Strike Heaven on the face."
insufferable nightmare
the crime and «fce suffers for it* She is sunk in her
a purposeless atrocity.
Here
Ales I too late she eees the true nature of the action
open but their sense is shut. She walks and talks in her
exists* Life has ebbed away from ber. She lives Hi*
life of death « of mental and spiritual death*
"Unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles”* (V# i# 78-79)
sleep-walking•
end to her own life, by the sane violent naan a, She, who
bad spilt innocent blood, is tortured by blood obsession
Thare would have been a tine for such a word" (V. v, 17*18}
Sane oritics find pity in every word mid they feel that
that his love for Ivor does not remAin what it was*
dlsslution.
meaningless tomorrows.
(V, v, 22-23)
appearance*
"it is a tale
Told by an idiot* full of sound and fury*
Signifying nothing."
(V* v* 26*28)
meaningless
He thinks that his son has lived a bleased life and now
sleeps will; so he does not grieve. Young Sivard retains
nobility and courage till the last moment and dies, like
a true soldier* Zn Ross* words. Young Biward "has paid
a soldier* a dabt" (V, vii, 68) • The young Sivard wins even
in defeat all that Macbeth has lost* "But like a man he
died." (V, vii, 71) — is the tribute he gains! To that
greater height can a soldier aspire?
(II, iv, 7 )
5,? 7
Shakespeare has dramatised terrible inner conflict
Macbeth's tragedy*
"He has trod the Whole way up and down the grand staircase
explains t
dead will not rise, but the dead do rise# The dead even
chosen, has token him away from all that makes life
worth living. In his attempt 'to jump the life to come*
(V, v, 19-20)
is revealing
23 g°4a2klA|9Hhte84y1?;?i.h,«58ntHjg^n8l
Macbeth is th t he has made both his life
and his death meaningless by severing them
from Mature1® eternal rhythm and time
403
Mac? oth but to lie upon the torture of the mind and to
542
fear but his fear does not die with Banquo/ and after
healtli to Scotland#
(V, v, 51-52)
of Macbeth i
(V, vii, 84) and Malcolm promises that the deeds of Justice
Und that way lies the triumph of life over death. The
Spring myth.
the gate, the storm and the earthquake are part of the
(II, iv 8-10)
Mature has become unnatural after the unnatural deed of
parallel to Mecbethi
n
Zt does not touch the aul, tut remorse and repentance
are the inner influences affecting the soul# For him what
remains of life is no store than a tale# "Todd by an
idiot# full of sound and fury* (V, v# 27) This is a
startling anticipation of the modem philosophy of
the absurd#
irh
temptation leads to fall. Z Macbeth cr^$e efed
punishment are interrelated. Murder rebounds on
the murderer#
"Her a.
4udit* though delayed* answered mustbe"* (Sonnet
and eternity*
McAllndon writes
upon the present until the mom ant arrives when life
its sensation
5fil
(I, v, 57-59)
will grow and which will not." (I. ill, 58). As the
proves fatal, both for him and his partner in the sin, as
also for all who surround him. Both the sinners suffer
Greek Oedlauai
But Macbeth’s acts are his own* they are the outcome
Shakespeare's Macbeth*
Chapter -6 (SIX)
13. G. Wilson Knight i 'The Wheel of Fire* (Methuen & Co. Ltd*.
London 1956) p« 140
1966) P.82
22. K.R. Srlnivas ♦Shakespeare His world and His Art* (Asls
Iyengar
putlidhing House 1964) P. 553
Hamlet ’ ftgaSTOM
43* O.Wilson Knight The Wheel of yjye (Methaen & Co.Ltd. London
1956) P. 42
48* 0. Mil son KAight • ^ie Imperial these (Methuen & Co. Ltd..
London 1961) P. 102
i q,t,£fl.UsaL Jftgjyj
«* *<*»»
Jump (The Macmillan Press Ltd. 1976) P.130
59* G. Mil son Knight t The Wheel of Fire* (Methuen & C., Ltd, Londmi
19761 P.31
83* ibid • P. 71
114.
U4 ibid . P.78
577
115. F. FI etcher i
•
116. D.G.Janes
* *>lorw1 *nd m*mfcw—l * Metaphysical
Uncertainly In Hamlet to Shakerpeare «
Hamlet A Selection I Critical Essays ad.
John Jump Op.Clt. P.79
t e e 1
128 . Ivan Aksyonov Soviet Union (Progress Publishers Mosww
1966) P.53
578
125. ibid i PP
n 53*54
83-54
126* G, Wilson Knight t The Wheel of Pire Op. Cit. P.P. 45*44
Hamlet
139. H.D.F. Kltto •
H—W» Mftti Anne Ridler Op. cit.P.160
msm
149* John Lavlor
(Chatto & Wiidue* London 1060} P-107
154* S.L.Batholl
Tradition. (King and Staples Ltd* A
Stapler Press campus Westminster SW X*
1944) P.133
195* Torence Howkes s * Shakespeare and The Reason* *• 109
171. G. Wilson Knight 2he Wheel of Fire (Methuen 6 Co. Ltd. London
1956) P.118.
186# K*R. Srinivas Iyengars Shakespeare His Werld rod His Art (Apia
rabllahlng House 1964) P*469
P.214.
193* ibid
« P. 213
214* G. Wilson Knight *2119. Wheel of Fire* (Methuen and Co* Ltd*
London 1956) P.269
King boar
..
ftf,.fiTAttail..Mli>, ***<*«« ( A
229# 0„Ko*int»ev
* ElaaJdiig^A ^k^mmjaJa <t»f 4,ffv*4i
Union Op* CAt* P* 244
tetB3UtL3*m.Sato&m P.f •*
John o«r rett (Lancmana 2959) P*103
»* 292
256.PauJL «
.a
gggm&as W** *«** University »**•*
1957) p«ist.
267, G,Wilson Knight King Lear and The Comedy of .The G vote ague
in TagSWft.,£**P*M..of
King Laar i A Collection of Critical
Essays ed, Janet Adelman Op, Clt. p.49
P.132,
5.06
274* M*s( ikimimmti • b ■; s
mSm&K,8h«fcaap«ar« Quarter
Centenary Conm*^K>rat..on Vo1u*bg (Orient
Longmans Ltd. Bntabay* Calcutta* Madras,
Mew Delhi 1965) '*104.
p* 142
279. ibid « p. 36
230* ibid t P* 37
29(1 ibid f P* 36
I
5.97
S93. Aibolnnelni 3t>* Qwt Tradition in arallah UitarBOirm
P.173
At Etea, , A.fiaUftflriltti
of Cvltleal assay* or). Janet Adalman.
Op* Cit. P#*S
f Ju»b< r 2) P. 180
1
5.99
302* aflitfi Sitvttl! « A tfotobook on william Shakespnara op*
Cit* P* l
3o|* J*St«mpf«r t
StoifJl^gjka af Nm,km to Shakonpw
i References.
323* G*Wilson Knight > The Imperial Theme (Methuen & Co* Ltd*,
London 1961) P. 145
336. Martin Luther Con forts for The Weary and Hearv Laden in
Refer Mation writings of Martin Luther
Vol.2 ed. Bertran Lee Woolf Lutterwarth
Press. London 1956) P.36
375, a.c.Bradley t
378. Clean th Brooks t The Naked Babe and The cloak of Manliness
in Twentieth Conturv Interpretations of
Macbeth- , A Coii. atlon of evltical Assays
ed* Terence Hawk s* (Prentice Hall Il'IC
New Jersey 1977) p.51
397. ibid i P. 96
398. ibid t P. 96
Op.Cit. P.26