literary critic created a world that was neither harmonious nor tidy, but which was in a state of chaos due to the fact that a monarch had been killed and the orderly affairs of his kingdom and family had been thrown into complete disarray.
Contained within Dover WilsonÆs analysis is a chapter titled ôHistory and Politics.ö In this chapter, Dover Wilson (1964) takes the position that the character of Hamlet was drawn from ShakespeareÆs observation of a real world character of enormous importance in Elizabethan England. This character was the Earl of Essex, who Dover Wilson (1964, p. 96) describes as ôthe center and focus of national feeling, the darling hope of all who looked to have England a power on the seas and the champion of the Protestant cause in Europe.ö In addition, Essex also acted in such a manner as to convince Queen Elizabeth that he was a threat to her throne. In fact, as Dover Wilson (1964) maintains, Essex did mount an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and was ultimately beheaded for his treason.
Dover Wilson (1964, p. 104) links the Earl of Essex to ShakespeareÆs character Hamlet as follows:
I believe, as many other writers have done, that in the central figure of yet a third play he attempted a really detailed reflection of the inner Essex. I mean Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; and I say 'the inner EssexÆ because Hamlet is not Essex, he is ShakespeareÆs effort to understand Essex, to understand him as a dramatist, not as a psychologist. Shakespeare does not 'explainÆ Hamlet . . . he reveals him.
Linking Hamlet to Essex, Dover Wilson (1964) claims that both men shared remarkable characteristics. As Dover Wilson (1964, p. 105) puts it,
everything is there: his courtesy, his kindness to inferiors, his intellectual virtues, his passion for drama, his interest in spiritualism, his open and free nature, his nobility of bearing, his piety, his bravery, his genius ...