Episode 44 - Hamlet

Hamlet is arguably the first of Shakespeare's "Big Plays" -- the magnificent tragedies, the ones that everyone studies in their English classes, that hold a special place in the canon because of their thematic and dramatic importance. Oh, sure, we've covered Richard III and Romeo & Juliet and The Merchant of Venice already; no one is denying the importance and vibrancy of these and other earlier plays. But you have to admit that Hamlet (along with King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello) represents some of the grandest of Shakespeare's writing and thinking.

In today's episode, we've once again attempted to break down the play into the biggest umbrella themes. We ask a lot of questions, about the imp[act of grief on a person's mental state, the treatment of gender and sexuality, what does it mean to revenge your murdered father -- typical stuff. We make no pretenses that we have any of the answers to the questions we're raising, and we won't come to any novel understanding of the play or the themes found within (this is, after all, one of the most written about works of drama in the entirety of the English literary canon). But we hope that we are able to ignite a bit of curiosity

Ancient Bickerings: 

Is Hamlet truly mad? 

Notes:

• Hammersmith, James P. “Hamlet and the Myth of Memory.” ELH, vol. 45, no. 4, 1978, pp. 597–605. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2872579. Accessed 27 Dec. 2020.
• Also: "Bunghole" is definitely used in the play. Act 5, scene 1. Look it up. We'll wait.
• Yes, Virginia, David Tennant did play Hamlet in a 2009 film. We are not able to find a copy of the film to double check the Gertrude-sees-the-Ghost-too bit, though -- if you know if this version does hint that the Ghost is visible to Hamlet's mother (or, if not, if you know where that scene happens) let us know!