Hamlet: A Guide to the Play (Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare)

Often regarded as Shakespeares most complex and difficult play Hamlet is also one of his most popular. It has been performed countless times on the stage and has been produced in many film and television versions. Even those who have never read the complete play or seen a performance know a few lines of To be or not to be and the image of a young man contemplating the skull of his dead friend Yorick. The play continues to attract the attention of high school students and scholars alike and has generated a tremendous amount of criticism. Because Hamlet exists as text performance and cultural icon only through a study of the play in these three different dimensions can Shakespeares complex work be appreciated.The purpose of this reference book is to introduce students and others first approaching Hamlet to the traditions of scholarship criticism and performance that it has inspired in four centuries. The volume gives close attention to the textual history of the play and to the historical cultural and intellectual contexts in which it emerged. Special attention is given to the religious philosophical and psychological aspects of the text. The book also treats Shakespeares language imagery themes and dramatic art and it offers a summary of the plays critical reception. Throughout an attempt is made to visualize the play in performance and constant reference is made to the conventions of staging in Shakespeares Globe Theatre.