Hamlet's Character and motives as revealed in
             Particular in the major soliloquies
             There are many differences between audiences of today and Elizabethan audiences that influence the context within which the play is appreciated. In Elizabethan times there was no scenery, the audience had to imagine what was happening. Audiences today have to use less imagination because we have electronics to help us. The Elizabethans had to put more into watching a play, so play watching was far more interactive. Today we can even go to the cinema to see a version of a play.
             The seating in Elizabethan times was slightly different from seating today. For one penny a person could get a space in the yard, these people were called "groundlings", for two pennies a person could sit in the galleries (on hard wooden chairs), this would usually consist of middle class people. Rich families would pay three pennies for seats in the galleries where they had cushions to sit on. Today there are different seats of luxurious standard and there are different prices for them but no one is left standing in the yard. Theatres in the Elizabethan era were usually theatres in the round. This meant that there was room for people to stand around the stage. Today the audience is sat in front of the stage it so they can only see from one angle and the actors of today only have to face one direction.
             In the seventeenth century people believed in the Greek philosophy of humours. Four elements were in every human's body, these four elements represent Earth (cold and dry), Fire (hot and dry), Air (hot and wet) and Water (cold and wet). Each of these affect personality traits and it was believed that the balancing of humors dictated a person's character. This theory would have been in a seventeenth century's audience's mind whilst watching the play. Today an audience would be able to deduce a personality without thinking abou...