References: Thank you to these sources!
1. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
MLA citation: Shakespeare, W., Mowat, B. A., Werstine, P., & Folger Shakespeare Library. (2012). The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Simon & Schuster paperback ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
MLA citation: Shakespeare, W., Mowat, B. A., Werstine, P., & Folger Shakespeare Library. (2012). The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Simon & Schuster paperback ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
2. Stage Directions in Hamlet: New Essays and New Directions by Hardin L. Aasand
As many of the pieces already used, this book also offered a breakdown and explanation of the soliloquies in Hamlet. This book offers information on how the play is, was, and should be acted out. This book is more about Hamlet as a theatre piece and less a book. Again, it is important to see how different people interpret these soliloquies and how they feel they should be acted out.
I chose this piece as a comparison to some of the other references that I used in order to get a grasp on the stage aspect of Hamlet. While trying to break down the soliloquies it was important to look at different views other than just the perspective of a reader. How does a director see them? How does the actor see them? How does the audience see them? This book helped to feel the emotions that are depicted by the words.
MLA citation: Asand, H. L. (2003). Stage Directions in Hamlet: New Essays and New Directions. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
3. Shakespeare's Soliloquies by Wolfgang Clemen
This book offers an introduction to the soliloquies in Shakespeare’s plays and breaks down their complexity. It provides detailed commentary in an attempt to convey what Shakespeare is trying to accomplish with each speech. It takes a look at soliloquies from a bunch of different plays, not just Hamlet.
I decided to use this book as it took a broader approach Shakespeare’s works. It didn’t just look at Hamlet, it looked at Shakespeare’s works as a whole and described how soliloquies were used. Again, I used this to help make my own interpretation of the three soliloquies that were picked for this project.
MLA citation: Clemen, W. (2004). Shakespeare's Soliloquies. Psychology Press.
4. Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies by James E. Hirsh
Hirsh does an excellent job of breaking down soliloquies that appear in many Shakespeare pieces. He goes into great detail explaining what Hamlet means with each delivery of a soliloquy. He describes the settings and how the reader can visualize the play as they read.
I chose this piece because it helped me to understand each soliloquy and then subsequently form my own interpretation of the works. I felt that it clearly explained the intentions behind the soliloquies and why they were placed where they were placed. This book gave more of an understanding of Shakespeare as a writer, not just the play, Hamlet.
MLA citation: Hirsh, J. E. (2003). Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
5. Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies by Mary Zenet Maher
This piece is about actors who have played Hamlet and how they have brought his character to life. Maher explains how anguish is the chief emotion we feel in Hamlet’s first soliloquy. She explains how it is important to note the transition that Hamlet makes from talking with other characters to then delivering a soliloquy. It is explained as a mask being removed, we get to see Hamlet, as he is. There is no acting for those who surround him, it is just Hamlet and his true feelings.
I felt that reading up on how Hamlet has been interpreted by actors was important to understand the true depth of his character. The description of the mask coming off as Hamlet begins a soliloquy felt like such a great way to describe it. It’s as if Hamlet lets his guard down for us to see him. This piece helped to understand the magnitude of the soliloquies and in turn, I used this reference to help understand what they were saying.
MLA citation: Maher, M. Z. (1992). Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies. University of Iowa Press.
6. The Soliloquies in Hamlet: The Structural Design by Alex Newell
Newell explains how Shakespeare uses soliloquies to provide visuals for the reader. These are plays, so the soliloquies displaying imagery help the actors decipher how to deliver the material. Newell explains “since Hamlet’s superior mind is of major importance in Shakespeare’s conception of the prince, the hypercerebration caused by melancholy serves to draw attention to it, making Shakespeare’s use of the malady of special interest as an ingenious technique in rendering the brilliance of the character.” Through Hamlet’s soliloquies we get to see what is actually going on in his mind, we are not left guessing what the character is thinking.
I decided to use this source as it helped explain how soliloquies are defined, what they are made of, and their importance. In order to breakdown the three soliloquies, it was important to understand how they came to be and the mechanics behind them. This piece offered significant information on how Hamlet’s soliloquies were crafted and why they were placed where they were.
MLA citation: Newell, A. (1991). The Soliloquies in Hamlet: The Structural Design. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
7. Perfect Idealism In Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet by Tabassum Javed
This journal article talks about Hamlets character and how it changes depending on what is going on in Hamlet’s life. Tabassum Javed talks about how Hamlet began grief stricken by the untimely death of his father and as his mother married his uncle he was deprived of the throne. However, according to the article, Hamlet was less upset losing his crown and more upset that his mother married so quickly. Javed talks about that Hamlet was in danger and that there was an imitate threat to his life when Claudius took the throne because Hamlet knew Claudius would have to ‘get rid’ of the rightful heir, Hamlet, in order to maintain the throne. This was Hamlet’s first thought on killing Claudius, not because of revenge but out of self-defense. The article also discusses how Hamlet’s mother was so obsessed with being the Queen of Denmark that she married quickly and Hamlet then put his resentment for her into “violent jealousy towards his uncle’s possession of Gertrude”. This allowed Hamlet to be open to suggestions by the Ghost on killing Claudius.
Javed also states that Hamlet must have had thoughts of killing Claudius and that Claudius was evil in his head before the ghost, but the ghost just ‘confirmed’ these ideas when Hamlet was at his worst emotional state. The article says that Hamlet’s skepticism of the ghost did not come first, but his inability to act quickly lead him to continuously question the ghost’s intentions. This lead Hamlet to use the play not to prove to Claudius that he knew, but essentially to reassure himself that the ghost is in fact good and not the devil attempting to turn Hamlet bad. Seeing Claudius’ guilt, lead Hamlet to be very angry and want to kill him sooner, however, Hamlet did not kill Claudius when he had the chance because he wanted to “plunge Claudius in death; death absolute and eternal which is hell. Only then will Hamlet's revenge be commensurate with the hell he himself endures.” So by killing Claudius easily, Claudius would not be dammed to hell and that was not good enough for Hamlet; this is why it took Hamlet so long to actually kill Claudius. The article also goes on later to say that Hamlet also kept Claudius alive because Hamlet needed him at his mercy and the he needed Claudius alive to feed his own obsession of hatred which had become his whole reason for existence.
Similarly, this hesitation shows that Hamlet is “not free to face his own personal problem and solve it on his own account. His life is one to be lived under the imposition of a great task, an imperious demand from outside.” This article states that Hamlet is not a leader but a follower and although he acts like a leader, he cannot act on his own accord, he needs someone to tell him what to do and when to do it, he is essentially a pawn who is used throughout the play. “The idealist refuses leadership because he is tousled with accepting the role of the exploiting father.” The article states that the `To be or not to be' speech shows the true question, is Hamlet acting on his own aggression or an imposed aggression. Javed shows that Hamlet struggles because to him, the only way out of his depressed state is suicide but that must not be done until he serves his purpose, and “in the end, he accomplishes the task at the cost of his own life. Nature ruins Hamlet's life in the cause of his father's death.”
MLA citation: Javed, Tabassum. “Perfect Idealism In Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet.” Dialogue (1819-6462) 8.3 (2013): 327-333. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 June 2015
8. Recognising Hamlet by Sandra Young
This article talks about how common the storyline of Hamlet is, and how most people have heard of it before. This previous knowledge of the story leads most people to look at Hamlet as a character the same way, “a tragic hero [with an] internal conflict between filial duty and inner yearnings”. However, Sandra Young feels that although the character may seem obvious to the audience, there may be another way to look at it. Young feels that looking at Hamlet’s character through the decades considering “how philosophers and theater practitioners have contributed to the formation of Hamlet” we may be able to see all the possible interpretations for his character and have a better understanding of Hamlet altogether.
Young notes that Freudian analysis has taken a part in developing our currently known character for Hamlet as well as the Oedipal complex from Sir Laurence Olivier who was an actor playing Hamlet in one of its first well known productions in 1937. Along with Olivier, Young points to other major performances to help explain how Hamlet’s character through performance has changed the audience’s view on Hamlet’s character. Young also points to the academic side of Hamlet’s character research to show why Hamlet has been so widely discussed. Not only has hamlet been researched the most, but Hamlet has the most lines spoken in any of Shakespeare’s plays; “more than one third of the play’s lines are spoken by him”. Young points to not only the facts, but the actual words. Young feels that it is not necessarily the amount of words, but the brooding quality of words as well as the attention Hamlet draws towards each word. Young feels that the different views of his character can come from both the theatrical side as well as the academic side.
“It is not just Hamlet, then, that finds himself shaped by history.”
MLA Citation: Young, Sandra. “Recognising Hamlet.” Shakespeare In Southern Africa (2014): 13 Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 June 2015
9. Dilemma and Desire in Hamlet by Kawsar Uddin Md., M.A. in English
This article discusses Hamlet’s character from a psychoanalytical view as well as a view on Hamlets procrastination in killing his uncle. Kawsar Uddin looks to Freud and Lacan to help better explain Hamlet’s struggle to kill his uncle as well as Hamlet’s state of mind during the tribulation that takes place towards the end of the play.
Uddin notes Freud’s look at the oedipal complex as well as the unconscious mind and its effects on the conscious actions. Freud also discusses the association between the writer and his main character, stating that Hamlet is representative of Shakespeare in the fact that the unconscious desires of Hamlet are actually stimulated by events in Shakespeare’s own life. Similar to Freud, Lacan looks towards another person, or character in this case, to explain Hamlet’s ‘state of mind’, his mother, Gertrude. Lacan feels that Hamlet’s subjectivity towards his mother to explain his character because of the ‘loss’ Hamlet experienced when ‘losing’ his mother to his uncle.
MLA Citation: Uddin, Kawsar. “Dilemma and desire in Hamlet.” Language In India 2014: 694. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 June 2015
As many of the pieces already used, this book also offered a breakdown and explanation of the soliloquies in Hamlet. This book offers information on how the play is, was, and should be acted out. This book is more about Hamlet as a theatre piece and less a book. Again, it is important to see how different people interpret these soliloquies and how they feel they should be acted out.
I chose this piece as a comparison to some of the other references that I used in order to get a grasp on the stage aspect of Hamlet. While trying to break down the soliloquies it was important to look at different views other than just the perspective of a reader. How does a director see them? How does the actor see them? How does the audience see them? This book helped to feel the emotions that are depicted by the words.
MLA citation: Asand, H. L. (2003). Stage Directions in Hamlet: New Essays and New Directions. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
3. Shakespeare's Soliloquies by Wolfgang Clemen
This book offers an introduction to the soliloquies in Shakespeare’s plays and breaks down their complexity. It provides detailed commentary in an attempt to convey what Shakespeare is trying to accomplish with each speech. It takes a look at soliloquies from a bunch of different plays, not just Hamlet.
I decided to use this book as it took a broader approach Shakespeare’s works. It didn’t just look at Hamlet, it looked at Shakespeare’s works as a whole and described how soliloquies were used. Again, I used this to help make my own interpretation of the three soliloquies that were picked for this project.
MLA citation: Clemen, W. (2004). Shakespeare's Soliloquies. Psychology Press.
4. Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies by James E. Hirsh
Hirsh does an excellent job of breaking down soliloquies that appear in many Shakespeare pieces. He goes into great detail explaining what Hamlet means with each delivery of a soliloquy. He describes the settings and how the reader can visualize the play as they read.
I chose this piece because it helped me to understand each soliloquy and then subsequently form my own interpretation of the works. I felt that it clearly explained the intentions behind the soliloquies and why they were placed where they were placed. This book gave more of an understanding of Shakespeare as a writer, not just the play, Hamlet.
MLA citation: Hirsh, J. E. (2003). Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
5. Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies by Mary Zenet Maher
This piece is about actors who have played Hamlet and how they have brought his character to life. Maher explains how anguish is the chief emotion we feel in Hamlet’s first soliloquy. She explains how it is important to note the transition that Hamlet makes from talking with other characters to then delivering a soliloquy. It is explained as a mask being removed, we get to see Hamlet, as he is. There is no acting for those who surround him, it is just Hamlet and his true feelings.
I felt that reading up on how Hamlet has been interpreted by actors was important to understand the true depth of his character. The description of the mask coming off as Hamlet begins a soliloquy felt like such a great way to describe it. It’s as if Hamlet lets his guard down for us to see him. This piece helped to understand the magnitude of the soliloquies and in turn, I used this reference to help understand what they were saying.
MLA citation: Maher, M. Z. (1992). Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies. University of Iowa Press.
6. The Soliloquies in Hamlet: The Structural Design by Alex Newell
Newell explains how Shakespeare uses soliloquies to provide visuals for the reader. These are plays, so the soliloquies displaying imagery help the actors decipher how to deliver the material. Newell explains “since Hamlet’s superior mind is of major importance in Shakespeare’s conception of the prince, the hypercerebration caused by melancholy serves to draw attention to it, making Shakespeare’s use of the malady of special interest as an ingenious technique in rendering the brilliance of the character.” Through Hamlet’s soliloquies we get to see what is actually going on in his mind, we are not left guessing what the character is thinking.
I decided to use this source as it helped explain how soliloquies are defined, what they are made of, and their importance. In order to breakdown the three soliloquies, it was important to understand how they came to be and the mechanics behind them. This piece offered significant information on how Hamlet’s soliloquies were crafted and why they were placed where they were.
MLA citation: Newell, A. (1991). The Soliloquies in Hamlet: The Structural Design. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.
7. Perfect Idealism In Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet by Tabassum Javed
This journal article talks about Hamlets character and how it changes depending on what is going on in Hamlet’s life. Tabassum Javed talks about how Hamlet began grief stricken by the untimely death of his father and as his mother married his uncle he was deprived of the throne. However, according to the article, Hamlet was less upset losing his crown and more upset that his mother married so quickly. Javed talks about that Hamlet was in danger and that there was an imitate threat to his life when Claudius took the throne because Hamlet knew Claudius would have to ‘get rid’ of the rightful heir, Hamlet, in order to maintain the throne. This was Hamlet’s first thought on killing Claudius, not because of revenge but out of self-defense. The article also discusses how Hamlet’s mother was so obsessed with being the Queen of Denmark that she married quickly and Hamlet then put his resentment for her into “violent jealousy towards his uncle’s possession of Gertrude”. This allowed Hamlet to be open to suggestions by the Ghost on killing Claudius.
Javed also states that Hamlet must have had thoughts of killing Claudius and that Claudius was evil in his head before the ghost, but the ghost just ‘confirmed’ these ideas when Hamlet was at his worst emotional state. The article says that Hamlet’s skepticism of the ghost did not come first, but his inability to act quickly lead him to continuously question the ghost’s intentions. This lead Hamlet to use the play not to prove to Claudius that he knew, but essentially to reassure himself that the ghost is in fact good and not the devil attempting to turn Hamlet bad. Seeing Claudius’ guilt, lead Hamlet to be very angry and want to kill him sooner, however, Hamlet did not kill Claudius when he had the chance because he wanted to “plunge Claudius in death; death absolute and eternal which is hell. Only then will Hamlet's revenge be commensurate with the hell he himself endures.” So by killing Claudius easily, Claudius would not be dammed to hell and that was not good enough for Hamlet; this is why it took Hamlet so long to actually kill Claudius. The article also goes on later to say that Hamlet also kept Claudius alive because Hamlet needed him at his mercy and the he needed Claudius alive to feed his own obsession of hatred which had become his whole reason for existence.
Similarly, this hesitation shows that Hamlet is “not free to face his own personal problem and solve it on his own account. His life is one to be lived under the imposition of a great task, an imperious demand from outside.” This article states that Hamlet is not a leader but a follower and although he acts like a leader, he cannot act on his own accord, he needs someone to tell him what to do and when to do it, he is essentially a pawn who is used throughout the play. “The idealist refuses leadership because he is tousled with accepting the role of the exploiting father.” The article states that the `To be or not to be' speech shows the true question, is Hamlet acting on his own aggression or an imposed aggression. Javed shows that Hamlet struggles because to him, the only way out of his depressed state is suicide but that must not be done until he serves his purpose, and “in the end, he accomplishes the task at the cost of his own life. Nature ruins Hamlet's life in the cause of his father's death.”
MLA citation: Javed, Tabassum. “Perfect Idealism In Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet.” Dialogue (1819-6462) 8.3 (2013): 327-333. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 June 2015
8. Recognising Hamlet by Sandra Young
This article talks about how common the storyline of Hamlet is, and how most people have heard of it before. This previous knowledge of the story leads most people to look at Hamlet as a character the same way, “a tragic hero [with an] internal conflict between filial duty and inner yearnings”. However, Sandra Young feels that although the character may seem obvious to the audience, there may be another way to look at it. Young feels that looking at Hamlet’s character through the decades considering “how philosophers and theater practitioners have contributed to the formation of Hamlet” we may be able to see all the possible interpretations for his character and have a better understanding of Hamlet altogether.
Young notes that Freudian analysis has taken a part in developing our currently known character for Hamlet as well as the Oedipal complex from Sir Laurence Olivier who was an actor playing Hamlet in one of its first well known productions in 1937. Along with Olivier, Young points to other major performances to help explain how Hamlet’s character through performance has changed the audience’s view on Hamlet’s character. Young also points to the academic side of Hamlet’s character research to show why Hamlet has been so widely discussed. Not only has hamlet been researched the most, but Hamlet has the most lines spoken in any of Shakespeare’s plays; “more than one third of the play’s lines are spoken by him”. Young points to not only the facts, but the actual words. Young feels that it is not necessarily the amount of words, but the brooding quality of words as well as the attention Hamlet draws towards each word. Young feels that the different views of his character can come from both the theatrical side as well as the academic side.
“It is not just Hamlet, then, that finds himself shaped by history.”
MLA Citation: Young, Sandra. “Recognising Hamlet.” Shakespeare In Southern Africa (2014): 13 Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 June 2015
9. Dilemma and Desire in Hamlet by Kawsar Uddin Md., M.A. in English
This article discusses Hamlet’s character from a psychoanalytical view as well as a view on Hamlets procrastination in killing his uncle. Kawsar Uddin looks to Freud and Lacan to help better explain Hamlet’s struggle to kill his uncle as well as Hamlet’s state of mind during the tribulation that takes place towards the end of the play.
Uddin notes Freud’s look at the oedipal complex as well as the unconscious mind and its effects on the conscious actions. Freud also discusses the association between the writer and his main character, stating that Hamlet is representative of Shakespeare in the fact that the unconscious desires of Hamlet are actually stimulated by events in Shakespeare’s own life. Similar to Freud, Lacan looks towards another person, or character in this case, to explain Hamlet’s ‘state of mind’, his mother, Gertrude. Lacan feels that Hamlet’s subjectivity towards his mother to explain his character because of the ‘loss’ Hamlet experienced when ‘losing’ his mother to his uncle.
MLA Citation: Uddin, Kawsar. “Dilemma and desire in Hamlet.” Language In India 2014: 694. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 June 2015
https://sites.psu.edu/morrowrcl/2013/10/04/what-about-me/
http://www.pioneertheatre.org/press-room/season-archives/2010-2011-season/hamlet/