Italy

Abstract

Hamlet arrived in Italy relatively late, compared to Germany, and initially met with resistance, similarly to France or Spain. As long as French Neoclassicism prevailed in Southern Europe, the tragedy was heavily adapted, since the original was deemed to be irregular and vulgar. Even when Romantic sentiments triumphed in Italy, the Shakespearean text was not immediately introduced. Translations, critical essays, and stage productions focused on other plays. Julius Caesar satisfied the interest of critics and spectators in national history, Romeo and Juliet wooed them with images of sweet love, Othello fascinated as a study of passion, whereas Macbeth appealed with representations of witches and ghosts. Hamlet’s capacity to resonate with newly developing notions of national identity or psychological subjectivity, which contributed to the tragedy’s success in Northern and Eastern Europe, was largely neglected in Italy. Since the mid 19th century, however, the leading Italian actors recognized the great performance potential in Hamlet, turning it into a central play on Italian stages.