Formalist (Hamlet)
Download
Report
Transcript Formalist (Hamlet)
Formalist (Hamlet)
Deen McKinley
David Wilkie
Devon Colquitt
Critical Approaches to Literature
Handout
Analysing the elements of form (style, imagery,
character, plot, tone, etc.) within a text. The literary
work is approached as independent systems with
inter-dependent parts.
What do formalists focus on?
Diction / Tone
Irony
Paradox
Metaphor
Symbol
Plot
Characterization
Setting
Point of View
Formalist Criticism View
Concern on work itself rather than with literary
history
Meaning of literary work discovered through detailed
analysis of formal elements
Do not go outside the work to consider issues
No political / ideological / biographical / psychological
view
Greatest literature is “universal”
Literary work is independent
Tension & Ambiguity
Tension refers to the way elements of a text’s
language reflect conflict and opposition.
Ambiguity refers to the ways texts remain open to
more than a single, unified, definitive interpretation.
Structuralism (complexity in how a work is arranged) /
Deconstruction (relationship between form and
meaning in a work)
Purpose
Realize that all the elements necessary for
understanding the work are contained within the
work itself
Determine how much elements work together with
the work’s content to shape its effects upon readers
A way of viewing different pieces of art
Find the difference between denotation (what a word
really means) and connotation (what a word suggests
or implies)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
Inciting moment, Exposition, Rising Action,
Complication, Climax, Reversal, Falling Action,
Catastrophe, Moment of Suspense, Conclusion
Ghost King Hamlet, murder of King Hamlet
Ghost explains to Hamlet about his murder
Everyone dies but justice is served, Fortinbras to
Denmark
To seek revenge for King Hamlet’s death
Play follows a strict structure, event after event
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
Each incident or decision of the play is a set up for
what’s about to happen next
Each part of Hamlet changes the decision making
process of a character which changes the state of
mind of a character (Death of King Hamlet creates
madness to Hamlet, madness to Hamlet creates death
in Polonius, death to Polonius creates madness in
Ophelia, etc.)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
No narrator (most soliloquies by Hamlet)
Hamlet introduced by ghost of father and revealed by
his own thoughts said aloud
Actions / Decision making process / Stories from other
characters
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
Major
Hamlet (King Hamlet’s son)
Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle, Gertrude’s husband, king)
Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother, Claudius’ wife, queen)
Horatio (Scholar, friend of royalty)
Minor
Francisco (Guard)
Marcellus (Guard)
Gravediggers (Clowns)
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
Written in 1601, Denmark
Kingdom, classification of people, treason, jealousy,
tragedy, revenge
University represents intelligence
Kingdom represents power and wealth
Formalist Perspective and Hamlet
Descriptive, ancient, old, English, lots of imagery,
similes and metaphors
“Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.” Hamlet to
Polonious
To create an image and describe a situation or object
in greater detail
Hamlet is displaying his hatred for Polonius and is
calling him a “pimp” because he does “not
recognize” him
Online Resources
http://www.grossmont.edu/karl.sherlock/English160/R
esources/GlossaryDramaLitTerms.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(literature)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/213786/F
ormalism