Hamlet

This is one of the hard ones to write about, just like How east of Eden was for me. I enjoyed Hamlet, but it has so many layers to it that I can't possibly write about all of them.

Hamlet was the first Shakespeare play I have read that I was truly sad to see the characters die. (This isn't a spoiler. Everyone knows Shakespeare likes to kill off all of his characters in the last few scenes.). Hamlet' character was ver fascinating to me. He's a really deep thinker. Many people would think his thoughts are really morbid but it's deeper than that. Hamlet's thoughts focus on consqeuences, devotion to religion, nobility, anger, and much more.

For those that don't know (I certainly didn't know anything about Hamlet when I started it!), Hamlet is a play about a young man's anger towards his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is angry because he found out that Claudius killed his father to get the throne. Then, Claudius married Hamlet's mother.

I had to read this play for school, otherwise I wouldn't have read it. This is my fourth Shakespeare (I've also read Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Othello.). I've mastered how to handle Shakespeare so I get the most out of it. I read through the originial language first, usually just a scene at a time. This can be with audio or along with a movie, or on my own. Then, I read the No Fear Shakespeare version of the play. All of Shakepeare's plays are on the internet with the original language and modern langauage side by side. Then, if needed, I will read summaries on the internet. Through reading the play in two formats and class discussions, I have a pretty good understanding of it, so I don't need to read summaries any more.

I'm not sure if I liked Hamlet better than Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet definitely had more depth to it and more intriguing characters and some great philisophical debate, but who doesn't like a good story.

Good thing my goal is to just give it a rating. I'll figure out which one I like better later.

Hamlet gets a B+ in my gradebook.