Hamlet

Probably should have read this in high school but I was in AP so I didn't have to. Luckily at work I am paired with a student in her English class so I get to experience senior year again.

I've been reading this with the class so I have been getting to really dive into this play and dissect it. It has been a great play. I loved all the symbolism of the flowers (Nice touch Will!) and really embraced the way it was written.

Suspense, drama, symbolism and death.

I've realized that I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare's plays. I think they're way to long and quite frankly could be reduced to 5 scenes total. I didn't like the characters in this play the only ones I could appreciate were Hamlet, Ophelia, and at times King Claudius. The ending was kind of a let down. The fact that I'm forced to read this could contribute to my opinion but I feel like if I read it on my own it wouldn't be much higher regardless.

How do you review Shakespeare? Reviewing the tools of rhetoric gave me motivation to revisit some of Shakespeare's actual text. I found it much easier to follow than I did when I was younger. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays for a reason. It has some of his most iconic scenes and he was at the top of his game when he wrote his poetry. I found it highly enjoyable.

It was really hard to get into the play. I think it was because of the narrators in the version of the audiobook that I was listening to. I may have to actually read this play to be able to adequately review it.

I've seen quite a few Shakespeare productions and have read several other works. Surprisingly, in all my years, Hamlet has escaped me. Don't ask me how—despite never missing a day of high school, and attaining a degree in English and a Master's in writing, and being alive—I have never read or seen a production of Hamlet. I decided to remedy that.

No surprises here. It's typical Shakespeare. Betrayal, mistaken identities, honor, incest, duels, poison, death, death, and death. The story itself didn't make much of an impact on me, but what did was the language. Of all of Shakespeare I am familiar with, this one stood out as having the most memorable lines. Sure, I knew the whole “To be or not to be” monologue was present, but there are so many others that were not only familiar, but memorable with reason. An obvious classic despite being very run-of-the-mill in terms of Shakespeare's work.

This was a read for a college lit class. I'm not a Shakespeare fan, can't stand decoding his language. The story itself is interesting but on my own I would not read this. I had to have a modern English translation from no fear Shakespeare as help.

My favorite parts of this play.

Act III, Scene 1Hamlet:
To be or not to be - that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die - to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; ‘tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die - to sleep -
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
the pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a wear life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

Act V, Scene 1Hamlet:
I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum.

In my opinion, is the best book Hamlet of Shakespeare. Combines suspense and plays with real and imaginary, besides its language is exquisite and unique.

(Fourth reading - 01.07.12 - to capture the atmosphere of Kosintsev's masterpiece.)

By far my favorite Shakespearean play alongside Othello and A Midsummers Night Dream. Finally something that didn't make me want to throw the book against a wall or directly at Shakespeare's face, cursing him for writing hot garbage in difficult language (like the Merchant of Venice). Hamlet is the hero that everyone wants to believe in. He is the epitome of the lost and confused souls, the psychologically tortured and the prime example of society's loss of youth. Through this book, we learn more about what types of responsibilities are right for certain types of people. We learn what betrayal does to people and how revenge is contemplated in all aspects of the individuals society. Hamlet can relate to so many different characters, which makes him more likable and more eager to try to understand. I now understand why this book is something that all teachers eventually teach their students, because of such complexities that paved ways for other authors and protagonists /antagonists to follow.