This is by far my favorite Shakespeare play (and probably my favorite play of all time). I think why I enjoy this play so much is how mentally ambiguous Hamlet is throughout the play. Is he only faking his crazy to find out who murdered his father, or is he slowly losing his mind in the process? I also enjoy how you interpret the play can be totally in the hands of how it is acted out through its various stage, TV and film interpretations. The first time I dealt with Hamlet was in a high school classroom setting and at first I didn’t understand the themes behind the story, but grew to love this play after analyzing it further in my Shakespeare college course and watching Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 film version.
I am a big fan of any version of Hamlet that takes care for Orphelia’s character and fleshes out her madness as much as it does for Hamlet’s. My favorite scene is his exchange with his beloved Orphelia in Act III Scene I where he goes completely bonkers on her (go thee to a NUNNERY!) simply because of the many ways you can interpret the scene in regards to how much of the exchange and the emotions behind it is fabricated and how much is real. If this scene didn’t make you cry, you need to re-read the scene until you DO CRY!
Anyways, read this and love it as much as I do.
— Kirstin Swartz
Description
Hamlet, tragedia escrita por el dramaturgo ingles William Shakespeare, fue probablemente compuesta entre 1599 y 1601. La tragedia de Hamlet, Principe de Dinamarca (titulo original en ingles: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark), o simplemente Hamlet, es probablemente la pieza teatral mas famosa de la cultura occidental y una de las obras literarias que ha originado mayor numero de comentarios criticos. La obra transcurre en Dinamarca y relata como el principe Hamlet lleva a cabo su venganza sobre su tio Claudio. La venganza se motiva en que Claudio asesino al padre de Hamlet, el rey, y ostenta la corona usurpada asi como el matrimonio con Gertrudis, madre de Hamlet. La obra se traza vividamente alrededor de la locura, tanto real como fingida, y el transcurso del profundo dolor a la desmesurada ira. Ademas, explora los temas de la traicion, la venganza, el incesto y la corrupcion moral. Hamlet es el mas extenso drama de Shakespeare y se encuentra entre las mas influyentes y principales tragedias en lengua inglesa.
