Dramatic Transformation: The Hamlet-Type in Shakespeare's and Chekhov's Versions

Abstract

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet at the very beginning of the seventeenth century, at the height of his creative powers. It is arguably the most popular and famous play ever written, and its hero seems to have exerted a huge fascination over theatre audiences of every age, nation, colour and creed. Shakespeare often borrowed plots and ideas from different sources, but they were transformed by his poetry and his dramatic talents, and this applies largely to Hamlet. He used an early version of Hamlet and rewrote it to suite his own idea and artistic purpose. It seems that he was casting an eye on the throne of Queen Elizabeth I while creating his paly. A lot has been said and written about this subject matter; therefore, some critical and theoretical views were introduced to discuss and consolidate the argument about the transformation of the type and the drama. In the same way Shakespeare anglicized the type of Hamlet and made it a representation of the Renaissance spirit and man. Anton Chekhov, on the other hand, in his full- length plays, russified it and made it a representation of the Russian life and characters of the intellectuals of the last two decades in the nineteenth century. The main point of this work is trying to put forward, critically and comparatively, is how the Hamlet- type was manipulated by two prominent dramatists, Shakespeare and Chekhov, to express their own feelings, intellectual questionings, and artistic concerns.