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
... speeches ; the role has a higher proportion of its play's words ( nearly 40 percent ) than any other in Shakespeare . Hamlet's favorite intellectual move is to make an action that he witnesses a player weeping , a skull tossed from an ...
... speeches ; the role has a higher proportion of its play's words ( nearly 40 percent ) than any other in Shakespeare . Hamlet's favorite intellectual move is to make an action that he witnesses a player weeping , a skull tossed from an ...
Page viii
... speech about Pyrrhus , son of Achilles , furiously seeking atonement for his father's loss by slaughtering old King Priam . But this might be con- strued as a negative example : Priam himself is an “ unnervèd father " and his slaughter ...
... speech about Pyrrhus , son of Achilles , furiously seeking atonement for his father's loss by slaughtering old King Priam . But this might be con- strued as a negative example : Priam himself is an “ unnervèd father " and his slaughter ...
Page x
... mentioned " whole Hamlets I should say handfuls of tragical speeches . " Scholars therefore suppose that Shakespeare's play was written in about 1600 , but that it was a reworking of an older , X INTRODUCTION Revenge.
... mentioned " whole Hamlets I should say handfuls of tragical speeches . " Scholars therefore suppose that Shakespeare's play was written in about 1600 , but that it was a reworking of an older , X INTRODUCTION Revenge.
Page xi
... speeches , which are all much longer and more introspective . It is from them that we derive our image of the charac- ter of Hamlet . In the first act , he is so disgusted by his mother's hasty remarriage that he wishes he were dead ...
... speeches , which are all much longer and more introspective . It is from them that we derive our image of the charac- ter of Hamlet . In the first act , he is so disgusted by his mother's hasty remarriage that he wishes he were dead ...
Page xiii
... speech giving his reasons for not plunging his sword into his praying uncle implies that the act of penitence can instantly purge sin away and allow even a man who has committed the most terrible crime immediate access to heaven on his ...
... speech giving his reasons for not plunging his sword into his praying uncle implies that the act of penitence can instantly purge sin away and allow even a man who has committed the most terrible crime immediate access to heaven on his ...
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