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Hamlet criticism a history
Criticism and analysis of hamlet
The criticism of Hamlet
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Shakespeare’s longest play has a lengthy production history. Through waves of different Hamlet productions, John Caird’s 2000 production of Hamlet stands out especially because of its lead actor. This National Theatre show, staged at the Littleton Theatre, featured Simon Russell Beale as the titular character. In The Guardian, Lyn Gardner writes that Russell Beale had wanted to be in a production of Hamlet for twenty years and when he got his chance, he didn’t “blow it.” John Caird’s elaborate three and a half hour production gave a great big nod to the religious aspect of the play, especially with its use of the set. Though Russell Beale’s performance was universally acclaimed, the effectiveness of playing Hamlet as a gentle soul and the consequences of this choice were debated.
John Caird’s vision for his production of Hamlet was to give it a “suffocatingly religious” atmosphere where “the set was part cathedral, part castle, part graveyard, part attic” (Bate 202). With the help of set designer Tim Hatley, this goal was accomplished. Amy Gamerman of the Wall Street Journal characterized the set as “dismal” and “vacant-looking.” The set was comprised of luggage, suitcases and old trunks that were stacked, torn down and restacked again in different ways to make different scenes. Presumably this element of the set served the purpose of reinforcing the idea of Hamlet’s journey of transitioning from a life free of pain to a life fraught with the truth of his father’s death (Vivier 323). Unfortunately, Kate Levin in Shakespeare Quarterly says that this thematically driven set choice simply didn’t “jive” with the irregular lighting choices and the monotonous Latin chanting meant to play up the religious aspect of the play (11...
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...ucson Weekly. 10 May 2001. Tucson Weekly. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Google.
Rocamora, Carol. “A Prince Among Men: Rediscovering Hamlet.” The Nation. 1 Feb. 2001. The Nation. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Google.
Rogoff, Gordon. “Auden Country and the Search for the Perfect Play.” Theater 32.1 (2002): 48-61. Print. Project Muse.
Vivier, Judylee. “Comparison Review of Two Productions of Hamlet produced by the Brooklyn Academy of Music.” Voice and Speech Review 3.1 (2003): 322-324. Web. Google Scholar.
Wolf, Matt. “Two Hamlets Explore New Paths in an Old Terrain.” New York Times. 8 Apr. 2001. The New York Times Company. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Google.
Wolf, Matt. “Review of Hamlet.” Variety 380.4 (11 Sept. 2000): 32. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 92. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. Literature Resource Center.
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Madden, Frank. Exploring Literature. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print 539-663
The motif of acting is a central literary device of Hamlet – the audience witnesses Hamlet, as well as the other characters of the play, adopt ‘roles’ as no one is truly who they ‘seem’. This is first addressed by Hamlet in the beginning of the play when he responds to his mothers’ request to “cast thy nightly colour off”, and not to forever mourn his father as “all that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity”. He expresses that his “shows of grief” can ‘seem’ as “they are actions a man might play”. This is the first instance the play directly addresses the motif of theatrical performance, as it insinuates that Hamlet is the only one who truly mourned his fathers loss – this is especially stressed during his first monologue, in which he expresses moral struggle with his mothers marriage to Claudius, and his suggestion she never mourned her husband: “Within a month?/Ere yet the sa...
On Hamlet. 2nd ed. of the book. London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1964. p. 14-16.
Hazlitt, William. "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays: Hamlet." Essays in Criticism. Second ed. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. New York: Norton, 1992. 164-169.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. Print. Literature in Context.
William Shakespeare: Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston: St. Martin's, 256-282.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most produced plays of all time. Written during the height of Shakespeare’s fame—1600—Hamlet has been read, produced, and researched by more individuals now than during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. It is has very few stage directions, because Shakespeare served as the director, even though no such official position existed at the time. Throughout its over 400 years of production history, Hamlet has seen several changes. Several textual cuts have been made, in addition to the liberties taken through each production. In recent years, Hamlet has seen character changes, plot changes, gender role reversals, alternate endings, time period shifts, and thematic alternations, to name only a few creative liberties modern productions of Hamlet have taken.
Goldman, Michael. "Hamlet and Our Problems." Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ed. David Scott Kaston. New York City: Prentice Hall International. 1995. 43-55
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.
Within Hamlet, there are numerous uses of theatrical metaphors and imagery (Lois Potter 129). The text is filled with words such as, applaud, prologue, act, prompted, perform, globe, and play. For instance, Hamlet responds to his father’s Ghost after being begged to remember him, “Remember thee? / Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat / In this distracted globe” (Ham. 1.5.95-7). Moreover, Gertrude reflects, “To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is, / Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss” (Ham. 4.5.17-18). These metaphors are examples of a more subtle form of meta-theatricality—and are more integrated into the fabric of the text—but assist in forming a continuous theatrical context.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.
...World of Hamlet.” Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.