The Tragedy of Macbeth

this feels hotly blasphemous, but i must confess i didn't appreciate hamlet at all. i think the conditions in which it was read, the course, the teacher, certainly soured me on it, and perhaps i'll revisit it in a decade and find a new appreciation, but for the moment i found it particularly disappointing. hamlet and ophelia were fascinating figures, but there was something about the structure of the play i found supremely lacking, and which perturbed me the whole way through. i didn't particularly like the book, but i like my rating even less.

You cannot give Hamlet, as written, a bad review. Starting out as a simple revenge tragedy, it just stretches out to a study of our attitude to life itself. The characters are well drawn, and while the conflict is clear, "Is Hamlet going to exact revenge for his father's death? And on Whom?" We readers soon are drawn to examining our own conflicts, and the solutions we have, or will have tried for them. At the end, after " ...carnal,Bloody and unnatural acts, of accidental judgements,casual slaughters,of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause...and purposes mistook fall'n on the inventor's heads"...the stage is filled with corpses, and only a messager character Horatio is left to explain to the eventual heir of the country what happened. As with almost all of the plays, you will find yourself reading aloud. The play was presented to the Lord Chamberlain in 1602. I seem to have read it nine times.

This was an OK production. An all American cast that at times feels like they are uncomfortably reading the lines. Some of the actors/actresses do very good jobs, others make the listening to and the flow of the story choppy and tough. Good enough for fans of the Bard, but I wouldn't use this for a classroom or early students of Shakespeare. Probably would turn them away...

I've read it about 3 times. Great play. Love the language.

On rereading classic plays - I found Hamlet to be, well Hamlet. As in any book that gives extra information, much of it is useful, a lot of it repetitious. I found the information about the folio's vs the quarto's and the difference between the two fascinating. For example, some of the editions were put together from actor's memories well after the last performance. So parts are added, removed, and expanded on. Putting this all together in the way Shakespeare intended it is always a lot of guessing and arguing.

More of the action seemed to happen off-stage than on! Excellent notes, and again many familiar lines I have seen referenced another literature and in everyday speech. Most of the cast dead by the end...

Hamlet, perhaps the best known of Shakespeare's tragedies, follows the title character as he seeks revenge upon his father's assassin--an uncle. The number of well-known lines from this work attests to its enduring influence. I chose to listen to the fully dramatized audio book produced from a performance of the Folger Theatre. It was well-done, but I do recommend either reading the book along with it or watching the recorded production to help sort cast members when you lack the name cues of the written format.

I feel I would have got more from this if I'd read it as a physical book instead on on my iPad, as there were a few times when I would haved liked to check back on things or make notes in the margins (I like to annotate books) so I will probably read this again at some point.

I like reading plays. They go to show that a story still works when all you have is dialogue. Writers of huge novels with reams and reams of unnecessary discription should take note.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Hamlet. It was full of interesting characters and events and I don't really think the story could have ended any other way! And the way Shakespeare wrote his plays was superb.

It will be one of life's mysteries, I think, how Hamlet can be likeable.

Well, what can you say about this book that has not already been said.

it was good :3

Few stories are likely better known to most fans of literature or the theater than that of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s legendarily morose Danish prince. As the play begins, Hamlet’s scheming and duplicitous uncle has killed his father to assume the throne and, adding insult to injury, has also married the widowed mother. Hamlet is then visited by his father’s ghost, who demands revenge for his murder. This sets in motion a complicated series of events in which Hamlet wrestles with the morality of the request and the responsibility he feels to his father. Of course, nothing ends well for almost anyone connected to the main plot—this is one of the Immortal Bard’s tragedies, after all. Along the way to the fatal ending, though, the reader is treated to some of most memorable scenes in fiction, including those involving spectral visitations, sword duels, deceitful alliances, philosophical introspection, the quest for revenge, unrequited love, a descent into madness, and the loyalty of friends.

Beyond its merits as a great stand-alone story, Hamlet is notable for the profound impact it has had on the creative arts over the past few centuries. There have been countless adaptations and retellings of this tale, both in literature and in film, which is certainly a mark of how enduring the play’s themes and central message are. Also, the text is packed with phrases and quotations that have become staples in the common lexicon, such as ‘to thine own self be true’, ‘neither a borrower or a lender be’, ‘to the manner born’, ‘something is rotten is the state of Denmark’, ‘brevity is the soul of wit’, ‘though this be madness, yet there is method in’t’, ‘the lady doth protest too much, methinks’, and, of course, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’. (In fact, Shakespeare must rival the Bible for providing aphorisms to the English-speaking world!) In short, this is altogether great stuff that really is essential reading for any lover of the written word.

Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!

I was expecting Hamlet to be more like the Lion King, but Hamlet ended up being one of the most enjoyable Shakespeare plays I've read. He really is a pun master.

I find it much easier to listen to Shakespeare than to read it.

Love listening to Classical!!!

Harold Pinter Theatre, London. Glorious, an electric production.

This is a re-read, in anticipation of seeing Hamlet live on the stage later this week in Stratford, ON. Reading the play it is easier to savor and appreciate the phrasing that goes by all too quickly on the stage. And In my mind, I could see Kenneth Branagh as the lead, though I have not seen his film version.

The only Shakespeare plays I had read before this were Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, Macbeth being my favorite. Having now read Hamlet, I can honestly say that Macbeth is still my favorite.

Let's discuss.

So, Hamlet himself is an emo icon, and also a misogynist, who basically goes crazy, murders someone, and essentially ruins everything.

The ending came a little too quickly for me, tbh. There wasn't enough time to really develop any other characters. It was pretty quotable, though. Really, it gave me more Romeo and Juliet feels than Macbeth feels.

It amazes me how many people like Hamlet, no exception here, when it's really hard to relate to, but yet it's just one of those plays once you get into it, you come to love it. I read it for the first time in 12th grade and everyone would talk about it even when they didn't have to. The characters in Hamlet are amazingly complex and it doesn't just state how they are, you learn it through their actions and what they say. It's just so unique, I know everytime I read it I get a different opinion of the characters and the overall play.

Almost intriguing play, and not the easiest work to read. The tale of a young prince trying to come to terms with his father’s death is probably the best known of Shakespeare’s tragedies. There’s something for everyone here: high drama, low comedy, intriguing characters.
I’d advise watching a video or move, or perhaps listening to an audio presentation either before or while reading this one. No matter how good your reading skills are, the enjoyment and understanding of any play is enhanced Psy seeing it performed. This time out I watched an old stage production starring Richard Burton. The highlight of that one is Hume Cronyn’s marvelously humorous take on Polonius.
Highest recommendation possible.

My favorite, of all the histories and tragedies. I've seen it in performance at least 5 times--with Kevin Kline and Ralph Fiennes two of the most memorable.

Forcing myself into reading Shakespeare as an adult, I started here. I'm not sorry. Excellent poetry. "What a piece of work is man" is one of my favorite bits of writing period, not just within Shakespeare's works. I believe this is also the longest of his plays? Partly my reason for tackling it first. If you only read one of his works, read Hamlet.

My favorite of Shakespeare's plays. It just gets better with every reading, and this time I started with Marjorie Garber's excellent chapter on the play (in her Shakespeare After All), which helped me appreciate the themes of “playing” – of dramas within dramas, “staged” events, audiences being observed, etc. – and of borders...

”In suggesting that these three worlds – the world of Hamlet's mind and the imagination; the physical, political, and “historical” world of Denmark; and the world of dramatic fiction and play – are parallel to and superimposed upon one another, I am suggesting, also, that the play is about the whole question of boundaries, thresholds, and liminality or border crossing; boundary disputes between Norway and Denmark, boundaries between youth and age, boundaries between reality and imagination, between audience and actor. And these boundaries seem to be constantly shifting.”

Also, of course, fathers and sons, words and meanings, just so much in this one, which, I suppose, is why I enjoy new things about it each time I read it. And I do love Hamlet. He treats Ophelia terribly, and Laertes at her grave, but his indecision, his anxiety, his sincerity, his hopefulness are all so... relatable! Really, I love it all. The relationships, the humor, the wordplay, the poetry. Happy sigh.

BBC Audiobook performed by Michael Sheen (Hamlet), Kenneth Cranham (Claudius), Juliet Stevenson (Gertrude) and Ellie Beaven (Ophelia), and a full cast

I’ll dispense with the summary for this classic tragedy by William Shakespeare, but as I’ve said before, I really dislike reading plays. I much prefer to see them performed live by talented actors, the medium for which they are written. The next best thing to a live performance, however, must be an audio such as this one, with talented actors taking on the roles and really bringing the play to life for the listener.

There are hundreds of editions of this work, and I recommend that readers get one that is annotated. The text copy I had as an accompaniment to the audio was published by the Oxford University Press, and included several scholarly articles, appendices and footnotes to help the modern-day reader understand Shakespeare’s Elizabethan terms and use of language, as well as historical references. One appendix even includes the music to accompany the songs!

The Play of Plays: "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, Jonathan Bate, Eric Rasmussen Published 2008.

“He helps us understand the human condition. But he cannot do this without a good text of the plays. Without editions there would be no Shakespeare. That is why throughout the last three centuries there has been a major new edition of his complete works.”
(Jonathan Bate)

I studied Shakespeare at Universidade de Letras de Lisboa and have seen many plays in performance since then. We read twelve plays in sixteen weeks: “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Richard II”, “Richard III”, “The First Part of King Henry IV”, and “Twelfth Night” among others. I did not do as well in that class as I would have liked. In fact, I distinctly remember not studying much for the exam because the girl with whom I was studying asked me if I was interested in going out and, since I was attracted to her, I said yes. After my professor returned my exam to me, she asked me if I would visit her during office hours to discuss my poor academic performance. I told her, "I'm not going to lie. Instead of studying, I went out with a girl in our class." Her reply, "I can hardly fault you for acting upon the sort of thing Shakespeare wrote about. I am willing to give you another chance. If you do better on the final exam, I will not weight this exam as heavily."

The rest of this review is available elsewhere.

My fav editions of the Bard.

Prince Hamlet is dejected after the death of his father and the hasty remarriage of his mother to his uncle. Though he is of age, he has been effectively disinherited. But when he meets the ghost of his father, he learns that his uncle murdered the king in order to steal the throne.

Hamlet is throne into a murderous revenge-spiral that ends in gruesome tragedy.

Really enjoyed, and could relate to the performance done on DVD in 1996, and that is what recommended the play to me. Really interesting and moving.... it's hard to review something so integral to the classics, but as with all of shakespeare, it is best read simultaneous (the dreaded, read-and-pause) with a good adaption.

Kenneth Branagh helped me appreciate Hamlet. Despite it's leangth, it is lush and fantastical in the most bearable way. A great play.

READ IN ENGLISH

To be or not to be; that is the question

That's probably one of the best known parts of Western literature.
I never really like Shakespeare (okay, I only read Romeo and Juliet and my school forced me to do so), but things have changed a bit lately after I went to see a theatre production of The Tempest in London's Globe Theatre.
So, why not try and read Hamlet? (The Tempest will be read as well, as soon as I have the time to do so)
Indeed, and I liked the play. It was still a relatively easy read and great for some winter evenings.

To commemorate in my own small way the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death, I decided to read Hamlet for the first time in my life. While one of his greatest plays, I don't enjoy this as much as Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, which I studied at school and have enjoyed also in adulthood. There are some amazing scenes, though, and the flow of phrases which have entered the English language from this play alone comes thick and fast.