Chamberlain, R. (2011) What’s happiness in Hamlet? Invited Presentation presented to: Shakespeare and Early Modern Emotion, University of Hull, 29 June - 01 July 2011. (Unpublished)
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Invited Presentation) |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | Rephrasing Dover Wilson’s famous question highlights in Hamlet a relationship between event and emotion. This, a play best known for its exploration of melancholy, can also be read as a meditation on the good life, as negative reflection upon utopia. Its account of suffering bears upon the nature of happiness, even if the latter is largely absent. The paper will explore Shakespeare’s use of ‘hap’, ‘perhaps’ and ‘happy’ and argue that the play imagines happiness as serendipity, or the evasion of conventional moral goods and totalising social systems. It will see Hamlet’s study of political repression as part of a broader thesis: that happiness lies in ‘hap’ (suddenness, spontaneity, chance) rather than bureaucratic prescription. The conditions for this kind of utopian freedom, however, are difficult to achieve, and the play’s tragic sting can be read in this light |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Emotion, happiness, utopia |
| Subjects: |
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN45 Theory. Philosophy. Esthetics P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR2199 English Renaissance (1500-1640) |
| Creators: | Chamberlain, Richard |
| Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: |
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing |
| Date: | 30 June 2011 |
| Date Type: | Presentation |
| Event Title: | Shakespeare and Early Modern Emotion |
| Event Dates: | 29 June - 01 July 2011 |
| Event Location: | University of Hull |
| Event Type: | Conference |
| Language: | English |
| Status: | Unpublished |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/4058 |
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