Hamlet By William Shakespeare Hamlet Prince of Denmark

Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare's longest play @4 hours, 3000 lines Written in 1599 Based on Norse legend of 1200 s, which told the tale of the great Danes (people, not the dogs)

Motifs Garden of Eden: Hamlet Senior was poisoned by a snake (or a serpent) in his garden; Gertrude could represent the temptress

Motifs Garden of Eden: Ophelia also spends some time in the garden (as you will see), and the gravedigger likens his graveyard to a garden and himself to Adam (Act 5). Hamlet in Act I, says the world is an "unweeded garden / That grows to seed" another reference to the garden of Eden.

Death, Decay, and Ghosts • "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" Act I • Hamlet is obsessed with death. His father has just died, and his mother has married his uncle. (To be or not to be). • Then, his father shows up to the castle as a ghost and commands him to avenge his death. • There are multiple references to rotting, mildewing, rankness, and other nasty details.

Metadrama • Shakespeare takes a close look at the art of drama through his play within a play or "the mousetrap, " a play acting out Hamlet Senior's death in the garden. Hamlet wanted to watch his uncle and mother's reaction to this play. If Claudius did not react, he knew that he was imagining the ghost. • "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King"

HAMLET’S MOUSETRAP A PLAY WITHIN A PLAY

Madness, Real or Pretense? • Hamlet pretends to be mad so he can go about his business, but is it all pretend or is it real? He doubts his sanity throughout the play. • Meanwhile, his girlfriend Ophelia really does go crazy. • The question remains, how thin is the line between sanity and madness?

Pop Culture Adaptations of Hamlet • While there are many films that mimic or try to duplicate this story, the one that you might be most familiar with is. . .

And now. . . On with the play!