Adapted from http://www.enotes.com/topics/hamlet/teacher-resources

Hamlet is a psychological drama developed through the protagonist’s intense introspection. Furthermore, Hamlet is the first truly introspective character in English literature. By focusing on Hamlet’s inner conflict rather than plot action, Shakespeare created a character that has endured through the ages.

Hamlet is an emotionally complex young prince, educated in philosophy and theology. Upon his father’s death, he returns home where he finds reason to believe his father, the King of Denmark, was murdered by his brother Claudius, who has assumed the throne. The responsibility of avenging his father’s death by killing his uncle falls to Hamlet; complicating his charge is that Hamlet’s mother has married Claudius. Although Hamlet vows to avenge his father’s murder, he delays. Much of the play centres on Hamlet’s prolonged inaction and, most importantly, on the psychological torment of his emotional dilemma. He wants to act, but for reasons even he does not fully understand, he does not. Plagued by uncertainty, Hamlet grows increasingly volatile and troubled; he is ultimately killed, his death the result of a devious scheme orchestrated by the illegitimate king he should have murdered in revenge. Although Hamlet eventually kills Claudius, his action proves to be irrelevant by the time it occurs. Hamlet dies as the result of his own inner turmoil, and there is no sense of redemption in the play’s conclusion.

Although modern readers may not relate to Hamlet’s life as a prince or to the precise dilemma he faces, his essential conflicts are universal: the challenge of doing the right thing, especially when the right thing is not clearly defined; the inner conflict between passion and reason; the emotional turmoil of family drama; the trauma of betrayal; and the complex issues of deception, trust, loyalty, and honour. Although few readers would opt to feign madness, as Hamlet does, adopting a certain persona or emotional disguise when faced with a difficult new situation is not unusual human behaviour in any age. Hamlet has been adapted to the screen more than twenty-five times, proving that these themes still resonate with readers today.

Hamlet is a play of uncertainty. Shakespeare does not answer the questions raised by his characters and their actions; readers will have their own interpretations of what the playwright intended. There is much room for doubt about different characters’ motivations and Hamlet’s true emotional and mental state. Some readers will sympathize with Hamlet’s desire to do the right thing, while others will regard his increasingly volatile behaviour with ambivalence, at best. Hamlet’s complexity and unpredictability are precisely what give Shakespeare’s play its depth and humanity. At times honourable, rash, deceptive, moralizing, cruel, mocking, insightful, and kind, Hamlet is endlessly fascinating. He may be a Danish prince from a distant century, but in his struggles to find his place in the world and behave honourably, Hamlet endures as an intriguing figure in world literature, as relevant to readers today as he was to Shakespeare’s audience.

1. Define and describe Hamlet’s moral dilemma. 2. Determine what makes Hamlet such a timeless and popular work. 3. Explain Hamlet’s feelings about passion vs. reason.

Adapted from http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xHamlet.html#Hamlet

The Meaning of "To be, or not to be"

...... Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be" soliloquy (3. 1. 66) is probably the most famous passage in English drama—and may well be the most quoted. Its fame lies partly in the attention it receives from the endless debates it has generated about what it means. It is currently fashionable to oppose the traditional view that the passage is a deliberation in which Hamlet is trying to decide whether to commit suicide. Anti-suicide champions argue that Hamlet is really deliberating what course of action to take—or not to take...... Which view is right? Probably the traditional view. However, because Shakespeare carried ambiguity to the extreme in this passage instead of speaking his mind plainly, there is plenty of room to argue otherwise. Leading his readers through the maze in Hamlet’s brain, Shakespeare bewilders his audience. Admittedly, though, it is jolly good fun to try to solve the passage.