Hamlet Group at eNotes

In reply to #9: From what I've read of it so far it seems to be a good...

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 09:34:34 PST

In reply to #9: From what I've read of it so far it seems to be a good play but also quite ambiguous as you mentioned. Thanks for your tip and help! :)

So, you are stating that the fork in the road is his choice of whether...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 20:54:00 PST

So, you are stating that the fork in the road is his choice of whether to live or commit suicide. Does that mean you don't believe he was acting? If Shakespeare's original intention was for the soliloquy to be acted, than there would be no fork in the road. I do agree that act three is a cruicial scene, and that there is an apex along its path; however, I believe that the apex may be a little further down the road. Act three scene three is the...

"Hamlet" is a play of questions and few answers. When I teach it, I...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 18:37:59 PST

"Hamlet" is a play of questions and few answers. When I teach it, I try to get my students to think about some of the questions and draw their own conclusions based on our interpretation. I've had several students tell me they really enjoyed "Hamlet". If you are looking for an easily accessible side-by-side translation, you might try the "No Fear Shakespeare" series. Good luck with your study of my favorite Shakespearean play.

In reply to #7: Hi. Thanks for the post. Well, I searched enotes and I...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 12:14:09 PST

In reply to #7: Hi. Thanks for the post. Well, I searched enotes and I think I've found the page that your reading at the moment. (The url is: http://www.enotes.com/hamlet-text/act-i-scene-i) It's a clever idea, and it definetely helps. Thanks so much! :)

hippychix, I'm not #2, but this might help. I'm looking at a parallel...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 08:23:48 PST

hippychix, I'm not #2, but this might help. I'm looking at a parallel text version of Hamlet, Shakespeare on the left page, modern English on the right page. It may be just what you are looking for. It is published by Perfection Learning Corp. of Logan, Iowa, as part of the Shakespeare Parallel Text Series, Third Edition. Copyright 2004. It also includes some excellent supplementary material as well. Perfection Learning phone number...

In reply to #2: Hi, thanks for your post! Do you know where I can get a...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 06:27:53 PST

In reply to #2: Hi, thanks for your post! Do you know where I can get a translation of Hamlet into modern English? I can understand it for the most part but the particularly long chunks of passages (especially in the middle of Act 1- Scene 1) are not really my thing, lol! :)

I always introduced the play by telling my students a story about a...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:00:11 PST

I always introduced the play by telling my students a story about a young man who goes away to school, leaving his mother and father at home. While he's away at school, he finds out that his father is dead and his mother has suddenly married his father's brother! (By this time, I had their attention.) So he leaves school and goes home immediately. He has barely had time to deal with these blows when he finds out that not only is his father...

Hamlet is a somewhat difficult story for most students to contend with....

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:07:16 PST

Hamlet is a somewhat difficult story for most students to contend with. Generally for the most part, since it is his longest play, students tell me that many parts are boring, and some of the language is just too difficult to comprehend even with notes. I tend to stick with shorter plays, unless there is a request for the play in class.

The fact that the speech is in Act 3 highlights the importance of it not...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:03:33 PST

The fact that the speech is in Act 3 highlights the importance of it not just merely being a soliloquy but being a dramatic device of an apex nature. The fact that it is almost in the middle of the play makes the play almost come to a fork in the road in which way to go.

I believe you are right in your statement that he was never truely...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:53:41 PST

I believe you are right in your statement that he was never truely suicidal. However, I believe that the correct interpretation of this soliloquy is one of a Hamlet putting on an antic disposition. If the interpretation of this soliloquy would be one of purely self-reflection, then, I would have to say it is apparent that Hamlet is still contemplating on whether he wants to commit suicide or not. We only truly see the answer to this question...

My apologies on the misquote, that was a typo on my part. I must add...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:52:01 PST

My apologies on the misquote, that was a typo on my part. I must add that your interpretation of those two lines ("The undiscovered country..." and "Thus conscience...") are skewed due to the mere fact that you skipped the four lines after the former. He states that the "undiscovered country" "puzzles the will" because it contains things that he "know[s] not of." Considering this soliloquy is meant to be spoken to oneself, regardless of...

Hamlet is a riveting story about REVENGE with a suspense. The plot...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:54:26 PST

Hamlet is a riveting story about REVENGE with a suspense. The plot twists and turns like a country road. :) I taugh AP English IV this semester, and we studies Macbeth; however, I allowed my students to watch the movie Hamlet for a comparison/contrast of a Shakespearian tradgedy. I can tell you that my students were more enthrolled with Hamlet than Macbeth. They were almost literally at the edge of their seats, and in spawned a lot of...

It has been years since I have read the play, but I have read it a...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:05:48 PST

It has been years since I have read the play, but I have read it a number of times, so I am certainly up for any questions or discussion ideas you may have!

Students studying Hamlet?

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:59:01 PST

Hi!

I'm new here and I'm just wondering if there any of you out there who, like me, are studying Hamlet at school at the moment. I'd like to hear what your opinions are. Thanks! :)

Yes, a bit only. She had an affair with her father before so she was...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 07:41:44 PST

Yes, a bit only. She had an affair with her father before so she was indirectly involved in the incident.

At the end of the play, with Hamlet’s corpse on stage, the character...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 03:59:17 PST

At the end of the play, with Hamlet’s corpse on stage, the character of Fortinbras, the heroic young prince of Norway, appears for the first time. He instructs his men, ‘‘Let four captains / Bear Hamlet, like a soldier to the stage; / For he was likely, had he been put on, / To have prov’d most royally….’’ (V.ii.395-98). Hamlet is given a full state funeral with ‘‘soldier’s music’’ and ‘‘rites of war’’...

In Act V, scene ii, Shakespeare introduces a minor character...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 03:53:02 PST

In Act V, scene ii, Shakespeare introduces a minor character into Hamlet in the person of Osric. Osric’s instrumental function in the play is extremely limited; he brings word to Hamlet that the King has requested the prince to engage in fencing match with Laertes. This transfer of information could have been handled by an anonymous messenger and need not have been dramatized at all. Because the narrative part that Osric performs is so...

He is one of the most famous names in English drama belongs to a...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 03:51:37 PST

He is one of the most famous names in English drama belongs to a character who never appears on stage and is, in fact, long dead before the play’s action begins. In the graveyard scene of Act V, Hamlet comes across a skull and acknowledges it with the words, ‘‘Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio: / A fellow of infinite jest’’ (V.i.184). In short order, Hamlet tells us that Yorick was once the court fool (it is interesting to note...

Plainly, Hamlet is disturbed by Gertrude’s welcoming Claudius into her...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 03:47:39 PST

Plainly, Hamlet is disturbed by Gertrude’s welcoming Claudius into her "incestuous sheets,’’ and he is even more upset when he learns that his mother was having an affair with his uncle before his father, ur-Hamlet, is murdered. Hamlet berates his mother in Act III, scene iv, but no worse than he maligns Polonius and inexplicably denigrates Ophelia. Although the Ghost explicitly instructs Hamlet not to seek revenge upon Gertrude, but to...

The supernatural appearance of the ghost on a chilling, misty night...

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 03:44:07 PST

The supernatural appearance of the ghost on a chilling, misty night outside Elsinore Castle indicates immediately that something is wrong in Denmark. The ghost serves to enlarge the shadow King Hamlet casts across Denmark, indicating that something about his death has upset the balance of nature. The appearance of the ghost also gives physical form to the fearful anxiety that surrounds the transfer of power after the king’s death, seeming to...