SOURCE: “Hamlet and the Scottish Succession,” in Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, Vol. 34, No. 2, Spring, 1994, pp. 279-300.

In the essay below, Kurland argues that Hamlet portrays the controversy surrounding James's succession to Queen Elizabeth's throne. The political world of Hamlet, explains Kurland, is informed by England's uncertainty generated by James's threats to secure the English throne through military action.

Surveying earlier topical interpretations of Tudor drama, David Bevington observed in 1968 that “Hamlet offers a rich field for topicality … and reveals perhaps most clearly the basic error of the lockpicking sleuth.” Among the theories that were no longer “given serious attention” was Lilian Winstanley's, in “Hamlet” and the Scottish Succession, published in 1921. Winstanley maintained that Hamlet employed “historical analogues” that were “important, numerous, detailed and undeniable” in an effort “to excite as much sympathy as possible for the Essex conspirators, and for the Scottish succession.” Indeed, Winstanley explicitly identified...