"Hamlet". William Shakespeare.

The day of William Shakespeare is coming on :)

The next play for discussion is "Hamlet".

 

What separates "Hamlet" from other revenge plays (and maybe from every play written before it) is that the action we expect to see, particularly from Hamlet himself, is continually postponed while Hamlet tries to obtain more certain knowledge about what he is doing. This play poses many questions that other plays would simply take for granted. Can we have certain knowledge about ghosts? Is the ghost what it appears to be, or is it really a misleading fiend? Does the ghost have reliable knowledge about its own death, or is the ghost itself deluded? Moving to more earthly matters: How can we know for certain the facts about a crime that has no witnesses? Can Hamlet know the state of Claudius’s soul by watching his behavior? If so, can he know the facts of what Claudius did by observing the state of his soul? Can Claudius (or the audience) know the state of Hamlet’s mind by observing his behavior and listening to his speech? Can we know whether our actions will have the consequences we want them to have? Can we know anything about the afterlife?

 

So, the essential plot of the play fascinating, complicated and tragic. It deals with the story of Prince Hamlet, whose revenge exacts on his uncle Claudio for murdering the King, Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Hamlet's mother. By virtue of setting we can understand that the play occurs in and around Elsinore Castle, located in Denmark  during the late medieval period.

The protagonist and author's mouthpiece is, without a doubt, Prince Hamlet. He is melancholy, bitter and fully of hatred for his uncle's craftiness. On the other hand, he is reflective and thoughtful man, who is also intelligent. The hero is often indecisive and hesitant, but at the other time prone to rash and impulsive acts.

"Hamlet" has fascinated audiences and readers for centuries, and one of the most important thing to point out of him is that he is enigmatic. There is always more to him than the other characters in play can figure out; even the most careful and clever readers come away with the sense that they do not know everything there is to know about this character.

 

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about indecisiveness, and thus about Hamlet’s failure to act appropriately. It might be more interesting to consider that the play shows us how many uncertainties our lives are built upon, how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another’s actions

As for me, I was interested about the play. I like it, because of the enigmatic and philosophical atmosphere of the play. The play shows us, that the justice always triumphs. It gives much food for thought and, in my opinion, it is worth reading.