Customer Reviews
To thine own self be true ... - By: Themis-Athena, 02 Nov 2008 
William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is arguably the most famous play ever writtenin the English language; it presents the world with questions & characters that have been the subject of thespian & scholarly debate ever since the Prince of Denmark's first appearance on the stage of London's Globe Theatre. Probably written & first performedin 1601 (estimates vary between 1600 & 1602), the play draws on Saxo Grammaticus's late 12th/early 13th century chronicle "Gesta Danorum," which includes a popular legend with a similar plot centering around a prince named Amleth; as well as several more contemporaneous sources, primarily Francois de Belleforest's "Histoires Tragiques, Extraicts des Oeuvres Italiennes de Bandel" (1559-1580), which expands on the story toldin the "Gesta Danorum," & a lost play known as the "Ur-Hamlet" (i.e., original "Hamlet"), sometimes also attributed to Shakespeare, but equally likely written by a different author a few decades earlier. Another work frequently citedin this context is 16th century playwright Thomas Kyd's "Spanish Tragedie."
Pursuant to Shakespeare's wishes & like all of his works, "Hamlet" was not immediately published, & the original manuscript did not survive. However,in the absence of copyright laws or other forms of protection of what today would be called the playwright's intellectual property rights, first bootleg copies (so-called quartos) based on transcripts made during or after performances began to appearin 1603. Yet, it would not be until 1623 - seven years after Shakespeare's 1616 death - that his former fellow actors John Hemmings & Henry Condell published 36 of his plays (including this one)in a collection known as the First Folio.
As no print version of any of Shakespeare's plays has a bona fide claim to its author's first-hand blessings, ever since the Bard's death the world is left with numerous questions about his characters' motivations & psychological makeup; first & foremost,in this particular case: who is this Prince of Denmark anyway, & what's driving him - is he a reluctant suicide or reluctant avenger? A Renaissance man? Wrecked by Freudian guilt? Genuinely mad, or merely putting on a clever act of deception? Or is he someone else entirely? - Indeed, we're even leftin doubt as to what exactly it was that Shakespeare meant his characters to say, with all attendant interpretative consequences: Does the Prince wish for his "too too sullied" or his "too too solid" flesh to "melt, thaw, & resolve itself into a dew"in his first major soliloquy (Act I, Scene 2)? Does he really contemplate "the stamp of [that] one defect" which may fatally taint the perception of a man's other virtues, "be they as pure as grace," before meeting his father's ghost (I, 4)? Does Polonius, when sending Reynaldo on a spying mission after Laertes, refer to his scheme as "a fetch of wit" or "a fetch of warrant" (II, 1)? Do Hamlet's musingsin "To be, or not to be" (III, 1) concern "enterprises of great pith & moment" or "of great pitch & moment," whose "currents turn awry & lose the name of action" by his doubts? Does or doesn't the sight of the Norwegian army while Hamlet is on his way to England (IV, 4) prompt him, who has so far failed to carry out his purpose, to reflect "How all occasions do inform against me," & conclude his soliloquy with the vow "from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth"?
How you answer any of these questions, & how you consequently view the play's characters, dependsin no small part on the text you read. Like all Folger Shakespeare editions, this one is based on what the editors have deemed the "best early printed version," while allowing the reader a unique direct comparison of the principal reliable versions by including a text essentially combining these versions, with unobtrusive markers characterizing those passages appearing onlyin one particular version. For "Hamlet," the editors eschewed the play's very first (1603) quarto, which was possibly compiled by a journeyman actor & whose inconsistencies with all subsequent versions (textually as well as plot-wise & even regarding character names) have caused it to be generally considered a "bad" quarto,in favor of the 1604 Second Quarto, which some even believe to be based on Shakespeare's own first draft of the play & which,in any event, while more extensive than the 1623 First Folio (in turn, thought to be closest to the version(s) actually produced on the Globe Theatre stage), boasts about as secure a claim of authenticity as the latter. In some instances, the text follows the Second Quarto (Q2) without visually alerting the reader to the differences vis-a-vis the First Folio (F1), thus compelling those more used to the latter version to seek out the extensive end notes to reassure themselves that (in the examples given above) it might indeed be "solid flesh," "warrant," & "pith & moment" (F1) instead of "sullied flesh," "wit," & "pitch & moment" (Q2). In other instances, however, the First Folio's language (clearly marked as such) is given preference over that of the Second Quarto; while crucially, the text also includes all those passages *only* containedin the latter, including the "stamp of one defect" & "bloody thoughts" monologues, whose interpretation has such a direct bearing on many a reader's understanding of Hamlet's character.
The text is amplified by illustrations & annotations for those unfamiliar with 16th century English, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a short biography of Shakespeare, & introductory & concluding essays on this & the Bard's other plays & on Shakespearean theatre, as well as extensive suggestions for further reading, & a key to the play's most famous lines. While it is unlikely that after 400 years of debate any one version, be itin print, on stage or on screen, will be able to generate unanimous acceptance as the "definitive" rendition of this complex play, this is an excellent starting point for an in-depth excursion into the Prince of Denmark's world.
Just an observation - By: Marina L. Blackburn, 05 May 2007 
Has anyone noticed that the cover picture is actually a painting of Romeo & Juliet? It struck me as a bit bizarre really, but otherwise it's a really brilliant edition.
Easy does it - By: B. Chandler, 19 Jul 2005 Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy) places English beside English for those that need a translation from English to English. If this is read or acted out loud the translation would be superfluous. There is nothing wrong with a starting place but reading is not the way.
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This really is "The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark" & not only the Prince but his family. Not only his family but his friends. Not only his friends but all though that came before him & is told to those that came after him.
You can slow down & pick apart many underlying themes & may of the phrases that now challenge Bible sayingsin today's sound bites. But the real fun isin just reading the story & you will find that it is not as foreign as you may have thought.
A quick synopsis is that Old Hamlet conquered Old Fortinbras seizing his land. Now that Old Hamlet is dead, Young Fortinbras wants his land back & is willing to take it by force. Meanwhile backin Dänemark Young Hamlet who is excessively grieving for the loss of his father, gets a now insight from his fathers ghost. Looks like he was a victim of a "murder most foul"; it looks like his mother & uncle werein cahoots on the murder.
The story is about what each person felt & acted or did not act upon the situation.
You will find many movies & perverted imitations of the story but nothing will replace the original that was intended to be watched but reads well.
Shakespeare's Greatest - By: , 26 Nov 2004 After learning that I would study this text at A-Level, I was initially concerned but soon changed my mind. The playin itself has everything that you could ask for; an exciting plot & believable characters, & is easy to understand with this particular edition of the book. I would recommend this to anyone, young or old, as it is one of the most enjoyable books that I have ever read.
From a director's perspective... - By: Joseph S Curdy, 14 Apr 2003 I have just finished using Robert Hapgood's book on Hamlet for a full-scale production with 25 actors. The phenomenal success of our run (sold out all but 1 performance) can be attributed to Hapgood's book which provides a treasure-trove of other famous productions of Hamlet throughout the past four centuries. With so much information provided beyond just the text of the play, this book is an unparalleled gift for casual fans of the play or for the die-hard theatre scholar who wants to know how Olivier, Burton, Guinness, Geilgud, Kemble, Burbage, Kean, Garrick, Irving, Branagh & Rylance have approached the role. A delicious treat to be enjoyed by all. I happened to stumble on itin a Cambridge Library at Gonville & Caius College & I have been the better director for it. Dig in!
