Book 42 - Shakespeare "Hamlet"
May. 20th, 2016 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzy_daveWilliam Shakespeare "Hamlet" (Cambridge U.P)
This is, I believe, my absolute favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies. Primarily because Hamlet is a thinker throughout most of the play. When we first meet him, he is thinking of the inevitability of death and the loss of his father. Then he is tasked to dispatch his uncle when he learns from his father's ghost that Claudius poisoned him for his crown, and he spends the rest of the story considering the logistics of actually doing the deed.
Many of my favorite Shakespeare lines also come from Hamlet, not only the brilliant soliloquies, but also little bits like "sweets for the sweet," and "goodnight, sweet prince." Also, Hamlet provided the inspiration for one of my favorite modern plays, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" by Tom Stoppard.
This particular edition also includes a series of essays on the play and Shakespeare's writing, my favorite of which is an in-depth look at Gertrude by Carolyn Heilbrun in a piece titled "The Character of Hamlet's Mother." It also ends with a look at Hamlet on stage and screen, breaking down the various and varied performances of Hamlet through the years, ending with the Laurence Olivier film version (fitting since that is what inspired me to read the play in the first place and re-read it due to David Tennant's immaculate handling this time around).
This is, I believe, my absolute favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies. Primarily because Hamlet is a thinker throughout most of the play. When we first meet him, he is thinking of the inevitability of death and the loss of his father. Then he is tasked to dispatch his uncle when he learns from his father's ghost that Claudius poisoned him for his crown, and he spends the rest of the story considering the logistics of actually doing the deed.
Many of my favorite Shakespeare lines also come from Hamlet, not only the brilliant soliloquies, but also little bits like "sweets for the sweet," and "goodnight, sweet prince." Also, Hamlet provided the inspiration for one of my favorite modern plays, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" by Tom Stoppard.
This particular edition also includes a series of essays on the play and Shakespeare's writing, my favorite of which is an in-depth look at Gertrude by Carolyn Heilbrun in a piece titled "The Character of Hamlet's Mother." It also ends with a look at Hamlet on stage and screen, breaking down the various and varied performances of Hamlet through the years, ending with the Laurence Olivier film version (fitting since that is what inspired me to read the play in the first place and re-read it due to David Tennant's immaculate handling this time around).
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}