Hamlet e seus dois textos fonte: estudo comparativo das obras Amleth, de Saxo Grammaticus, The Hystorie of Hamblet, de François de Belleforest, e A Tragédia de Hamlet, príncipe da Dinamarca, de William Shakespeare

Abstract

When we understand that literature rewrites itself, we realise that writing fiction equates with reinventing, sewing a vast mosaic of fabrics derived from previous texts. Taking into consideration that identifying the dialogical instances between texts is essential to carry out comparative and intertextual studies, the present study aimed at analysing – through a bibliographical research work – three texts: Amleth, by Saxo Grammaticus, The Hystorie of Hamblet, by François de Belleforest, and The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare. Therefore, this thesis presents four sections: firstly, a theoretical study was carried out on intertextuality and palimpsests, based primarily on the studies of Julia Kristeva, Gérard Genette, and Tiphaine Samoyault. Subsequently, the concepts of classical tragedy and revenge tragedy are elucidated for the reader, with the purpose of outlining the particularities of William Shakespeare’s work. Then, in the third section, paramount to this research work, adaptations and versions are defined and analysed. In this section, we present the genealogy of the writing by Shakespeare of The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, examining a possible play that preceded Hamlet, as well as two previous publications before the “ultimate text” was published on 1623. Finally, in our fourth section, the three literary texts from Saxo Grammaticus, François de Belleforest, and William Shakespeare are compared, the comparative analysis being validated by the intertextual studies.