HamletRandom House Publishing Group, 2008 M08 12 - 272 pages One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother’s infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s death and burial, the play within a play, the “closet scene” in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater. Each Edition Includes: • Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English • Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography |
From inside the book
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Page vii
... action that he witnesses a player weeping , a skull tossed from an old grave - into the occasion for speculation : " What's Hecuba to him , or he to Hecuba , / That he should weep for her ?, " " Where be your gibes now , your gambols ...
... action that he witnesses a player weeping , a skull tossed from an old grave - into the occasion for speculation : " What's Hecuba to him , or he to Hecuba , / That he should weep for her ?, " " Where be your gibes now , your gambols ...
Page xi
... action as any other revenger- witness his cruel rejection of Ophelia and his casual lugging of Polo- nius ' guts into the neighboring room . Nor does he delay nearly so much as he tells us he is delaying : he has to establish the ...
... action as any other revenger- witness his cruel rejection of Ophelia and his casual lugging of Polo- nius ' guts into the neighboring room . Nor does he delay nearly so much as he tells us he is delaying : he has to establish the ...
Page xii
... action requires reactions : a crime in one generation demands the meting out of pun- ishment in the next , an eye for an eye . Requital must be exact and complete . The code of revenge requires Hamlet not to kill the king while he is ...
... action requires reactions : a crime in one generation demands the meting out of pun- ishment in the next , an eye for an eye . Requital must be exact and complete . The code of revenge requires Hamlet not to kill the king while he is ...
Page xiii
... action .... In Elizabethan English " conscience " meant not only moral scruple but also " consciousness . " A polyglot dictionary of the period glossed the word as " witness of one's own mind , knowledge , remorse . " It is Hamlet's ...
... action .... In Elizabethan English " conscience " meant not only moral scruple but also " consciousness . " A polyglot dictionary of the period glossed the word as " witness of one's own mind , knowledge , remorse . " It is Hamlet's ...
Page xiv
... action that is demanded of him . Yet when he does come to act , he is decisive and ruthless . He reaches the point of " readiness " when he accepts never easy for an intellectual - that what will be will be . Thereafter , he considers ...
... action that is demanded of him . Yet when he does come to act , he is decisive and ruthless . He reaches the point of " readiness " when he accepts never easy for an intellectual - that what will be will be . Thereafter , he considers ...
Contents
Textual Notes | 137 |
ScenebyScene Analysis | 149 |
The RSC and Beyond | 166 |
Shakespeares Career in the Theater | 217 |
A Chronology | 231 |
Acknowledgments and Picture Credits | 237 |
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Common terms and phrases
ACT 4 SCENE action actor audience BARNARDO blood Boyd Caird character David Warner dead dear death Denmark doth Elsinore Exit eyes father fear Folio Following Fortinbras friends GERTRUDE HAMLET Ghost give grave grief HAMLET Ay HAMLET OPHELIA Hamlet play hast hath hear heart heaven HORATIO HAMLET HORATIO is't Jonathan Bate kill KING HAMLET LAERTES HAMLET LAERTES KING leave Lines look Lord Hamlet madness MARCELLUS Mark Rylance Matthew Warchus Michael Boyd mother murder nature night Norway nunnery Ophelia OPHELIA HAMLET OSRIC passion performance play players Polonius POLONIUS HAMLET pray prince production queen question rapiers revenge REYNALDO role Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Royal Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company SECOND CLOWN sense sexual Sings soliloquy soul speak speech stage sword tell theater theatrical thee There's thing thou thought Toby Stephens Tragedy watch Wittenberg words young