"Hamlet" and Marginality

This research aims to explore the place of marginality (or that which is not the immediate focus of narrative) in the context of the play and through the examination of the characters of Fortinbras and Horatio, in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The intended outcome is to encourage diversified perspectives and approaches to the play by focusing on the marginal themes and/or characters. The chapters address the characters of Fortinbras and Horatio; the first inverts the protagonist/foil relationship by reading Hamlet as a foil to Fortinbras, while the second uses Freud’s “The Uncanny” as a way to understand Horatio’s role in the play, as its uncanniest phenomena. Both are marginal to the text, but both are significant to the understanding of the text. Essentially, the objective is to encourage readings of the play, and of narratives, that appreciate the complexity of marginality, in order to broaden the language for future research.