Luca B
2009-03-06 05:31:45 UTC
Where did the story of Hamlet begin?
There is an old document about the history of Denmark.The name of the writer is Saxo Grammaticus.That was more than four hundred years before Shakespeare.Saxo writes the story of a king and queen of Denmark and their son,Amleth.The king's brother murders him and marries the queen.Amleth wants revenge.He behaves like a fool,so the new king does not think that he is dangerous.He kills a friend of the bd king.Finally, he kills the bad king.In this legend,the prince does not die.He becomes a great soldier and leader.He marries beautiful Scottish queen.The story has a happy ending.This is different from Shakespeare's drama.Even before the time of Saxo Grammaticus,there are some poems from Iceland which tell a similar story.We don't know the date of these.Much later,in 1570,a French author wrote about this story.The writer's name was Francois de Belleforest.
A few years after this, some scholars think that perhaps an English dramatist named Thomas Kyd wrote a play about Hamlet.We are certain,though,that Kyd wrote a play called The Spanish Tragedy in around 1586.This play was an enormous hit at the time.It inspired many other plays.It was what is often called " a revenge tragedy": in other words,the main part of the story is how somebody gets his revenge.Kyd himself,along with Shakespeare and other playwrights of the time,got their inspiration from the violent plays of Seneca.Seneca's plays,too,talk about secret murders,ghosts,revenge and violence.
Shakespeare's avenger,Hamlet,is less direct than Kyd's or Seneca's avengers.He is blocked by something.He thinks.He has doubts.This difference has made Hamlet one of the most fascinating characters in world theatre.
Where is Hamlet's castle?
In Shakespeare's play Hamlet's castle is called Elsinoire.There is a town in Denmark called Helsngor (the Danish version of "Elsinoire") which has an old castle,called Kronborg Slot,but this is not Hamlet's castle.The Amleth of Saxo Grammaticus lived hundreds of years before this castle was built.But the people of Helsingor like their Shakespearean connection,and there are sometimes performances of Hamlet in Kronborg Slot.