Dover Castle Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England. This site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD43. This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of
The Castle of Otranto "Hamlet". The violent question of bloodlines and succession is one that serves as a key element in many of Shakespeare's plays, spanning from "Hamlet" to "Richard II" and "Macbeth", and it is one that is clearly one of the major concerns of "Otranto". The link to "Hamlet" is strengthened even more because of the matter of incest that is also at play in "Otranto". "In "Otranto", the castle and its labyrinths become grounds for incest that signal the dissolution of familial bonds", which is also a major point of issue in "Hamlet" since Hamlet's mother (Gertrude) and his uncle (Claudius)