The purpose of my thesis was to explore the problem surrounding the sources believed to constitute the Ur-Hamlet from which Shakespeare derived Hamlet. By utilization of close reading, analysis, and archetypical criticism, my thesis confirms Shakespeare’s usage of the “Hero as Fool” archetype present in the Danish legend of Amleth, translated by Saxo Grammaticus and Francois Belleforest, as the Ur-Hamlet. My study is significant because it further develops the notion that the earlier legend served as the originary source for Hamlet, while providing evidence that rejects the validity of other sources of the Ur-Hamlet. The evidence was corroborated by presenting analytical comparisons of the framework both works share. Focusing on the archetypal origins of Shakespeare’s plot, characters and their actions revealed a more complex understanding of the play. These findings indicate and substantiate the claim that the Ur-Hamlet can be no other source but the Danish legend of Amleth.

Adaptation has been an important part of the appreciation and study of Shakespeares plays from the beginning. As was usual for playwrights of his time, Shakespeare adapted the majority of his writings from other literary and/or historical works; and in the centuries since, other writers have used his texts as inspiration for their own. Examining adaptations of literary works in relation to their original source texts, to their performance/printing history, to each other, and to the world(s) of authors and readers allows us to explore the relationships of textual worlds to the actual worlds in which those texts are produced and read/seen/listened to, and the intertextual relationships between the worlds of the original work and an adaptation of that work into a new text. As Shakespeares best-known and most written-about text, indeed one of the worlds most studied texts, Hamlet has inspired countless interpretations and adaptations by artists and writers the world over. These adaptations are worthy of study in their own right, both as transformations of Shakespeares original text and as distinct literary works themselves. At the same time, Hamlet is itself an adaptation, what William F. Hansen describes as a revision of a dramatic treatment...of a retelling...of a literary treatment...of a Scandinavian legend (67). This dissertation examines Shakespeares Hamlet as an adaptation of its historical and literary source texts, alongside a representative sample of texts, in English, French, and Spanish, which use Hamlet as their source texts. The theoretical basis for this study is possible/fictional-worlds theory, as outlined in Lubomr Doleels Heterocosmica, especially the taxonomy of adaptations presented in its closing chapter. A similar taxonomy of adaptations put forth by Douglas Lanier in Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture is also used. The dissertation begins with an overview of possible/fictional-worlds theory and its use in the study of adaptations. It then discusses the source texts of Hamlet and the use Shakespeare made of them in his play. This is followed by a comparison of four translations in French and Spanish, as well as texts which present counterparts of the plot and/or characters of the play.

Most proteins must fold into their native conformations to fulfil their biological functions. Failure of proteins to fold leads to cell pathology and a broad range of human diseases referred to as protein misfolding disease, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and type II diabetes. More than 40 proteins are known to be connected with misfolding diseases. These proteins share no sequence homology but all assemble into cross-b sheet containing insoluble fibrillar aggregates. Despite the pathological conditions that these proteins can induce, living organisms can take advantage of the inherent ability of these proteins to form such structures and to generate novel and diverse biological function, the functional amyloid.  This thesis examines different aspects of cross-b sheet containing aggregates. The first paper describes the humoral response to aggregated structures of insulin and the astrocytical biomarker S100B in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. We show that the patients have an increased immunreactivity towards insulin and S100B in Parkinson’s disease patients compared to a control group.  The second part of this work focuses on a functional amyloid. HAMLET (human a-lactalbumin made lethal for tumour cells) is a complex of a-lactalbumin and oleic acid, which kills tumour cells but not healthy differentiated cells. We wish to expand the concept of HAMLET to a structurally related protein and therefore create and characterize a complex of equine lysozyme and oleic acid (Paper II). We chose equine lysozyme because both proteins (equine lysozyme and a-lactalbumin) share common ancestors and are spatially related. The newly designed complex was named ELOA, for equine lysozyme with oleic acid. ELOA represents a functional oligomer due to its multimeric state and its ability to bind amyloid specific dyes. In the third paper, we investigate the interaction of the cytotoxic ELOA with live cells in real time to find a mechanistic model (Paper III).  It is known that HAMLET is not only tumouricidal but is also toxic towards many bacteria. Therefore in the last part of the thesis, we investigated the effects of ELOA on different bacterial strains and focused on its interplay Streptococcus pneumoniae (Paper IV).  These studies have added significantly to many aspects of protein folding and misfolding from its involvement in Parkinson’s disease to the newly gained functions and structural aspects of de novo produced ELOA.

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Inaug.-diss.--Tübingen. / Lebenslauf. Extracts from the play in English. A revised edition appeared in "Neue Shakespeare-bühne ... VI" under title "Hamlet und Ophelia, eine psychologische studie," with extracts from the play in German. "Benützte werke": p. 84-85.

The study of the question of why Shakespeare's Hamlet delays killing Claudius in revenge for his father's murder is examined in light of the major critical theories from neo-classical to modern scholarship. An expanded treatment of the works of Fredson Bowers, Eleanor Prosser, Bertram Joseph, and Roland Frye, is provided to examine the Elizabethan background of social, political, and religious values. The experience of passionate revenge on the human psyche of the revenger is addressed through an ancillary approach provided through the works of the Freudian analyst Ernest Jones and the psychoanalytic theory of Avi Erlich. The purpose of this study is to review the relevant theories of Hamlet's delay, and to apply the wisdom gleaned from such an examination so as to create a synthesis that may best answer the question of why Hamlet delays. / Graduation date: 1996

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Tübingen--Eberhard Karls Universität, 2007. / Bibliogr. p. 289-319.

Thesis (MFA)--Mary Baldwin College, Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references and abstract.

Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2003. / Thesis advisor: Donald McDonough. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). Also available via the World Wide Web.