QUESTIONS ON HAMLET DULL REVENGE

• What claim does Girard develop in this essay?

• What is Girard’s explanation for why Hamlet fails to take revenge swiftly? What does he argue is the link between this behavior and revenge theater?

• Review the lines spoken by Hamlet that Girard cites. Do these lines effectively support his perspective on Hamlet’s state of mind? Explain.

• Trace the reasoning that Girard uses to support his overall claim, showing the relationships among the central ideas.

ANSWERS

4. Girard's tone toward Shakespeare and his play is critical. He questions the authenticity of Shakespeare's portrayal of desire and suggests that Shakespeare's genius lies in depicting mimetic desire rather than genuine individual motivations. His language reveals a skeptical and dismissive attitude toward Shakespeare's work, referring to it as an outlandish hypothesis and comparing it to Scientology.

5. Girard provides three examples of models that he claims Hamlet needs to develop a taste for vengeance: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon. These examples are presented as historical figures who have embodied the desire for power and revenge. However, their presentation within the argument does not necessarily strengthen Girard's claims, as it relies on the assumption that Hamlet's motivations are purely mimetic and that these historical figures serve as models for him.