Performing under Surveillance: Performance, Observation and Identity in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Abstract

This paper examines how observation, power, and identity are depicted in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet using Michel Foucault and Judith Butler’s theories of performance, surveillance, and identity. Much of Shakespearean criticism has addressed issues around identity and performance but there has been less exploration of how observation, as a form of social control, has shaped the performance of identity in the early modern theatrical worlds. Foucault’s theory of disciplinary surveillance and Judith Butler’s theory of performativity will be used to support the argument that through the actions and words of characters in Hamlet, shared social and political surveillance play a major role in determining the degree of performance, and therefore identity, of the characters. This article will illustrate how the identities of the characters in this text developed through their interactions with the various forms of social surveillance they encountered. For example, Hamlet is forced to perform madness in front of the surveilling agents at court; thus he must create an identity that meets the standards of those persons watching him. By integrating Foucault and Butler with Shakespeare, this article will provide a valuable insight into the relationship between power, observation, and identity in the selected text.