Shakspere and Montaigne / An Endeavour to Explain the Tendency of 'Hamlet' from Allusions in Contemporary Works

The author traces philosophical and political strands in Hamlet by comparing allusions found in contemporary English dramas and in Florio's translation of Montaigne's Essays. After surveying the rise of the English stage and its function as a forum for political and religious controversy, he outlines Shakespeare's probable political creed and probes Montaigne's conflicting humanist and Catholic impulses. Close readings of key passages are juxtaposed with responses and disputes among playwrights, notably the quarrel involving Ben Jonson, and with examples from Volpone, Eastward Hoe, and The Malcontent. The study contends that these intertextual echoes clarify the tragedy's moral ambivalence and its engagement with sixteenth-century ideas.