The Pelican Shakespeare: Hamlet

by William Shakespeare

Unknown Binding

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Grayson Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread to draw inspiration for an upcoming project of mine, Anglerfish. I really want my characters’ relationships to mirror the tragedy of Hamlet and Ophelia.

I always have and always will be a Shakespeare nerd. I get so hype reading incredible passages.

One of my favourites parts was in Act 1.4 when Horatio is like brooo please don’t follow the ghost, it could lead you to anything! even death! or worse!!!! in a beautifully written & vastly long paragraph.

To which Hamlet responds: “It waves me still. Go on. I’ll follow thee.”

This so simply captures the character’s naivety, selfishness and stubbornness in one simple sentence.

[Jason Wilson]

Stage production at Norwich theatre royal

[Eladio Garro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed better this time.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can someone tell me why people like tragedies? Other than they are deep in grief like Hamlet.

The play Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is a story about the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Hamlet is a Shakespearean tragedy. The story follows Hamlet as he tries to gain revenge for his father, also named Hamlet (but is referred to as the ghost), who was murdered (which Hamlet finds out in Act 1). It has a lot of different characters and lots of words and soliloquies (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: "an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play").

I liked some parts of the book/play and disliked others. I liked how some characters (like the gravediggers) were there to help set the mood or be comic relief (if only for a moment). Another thing that I really liked was how different words mean different things. For example, an ass back then was a donkey, while nowadays it is a swear word (depending on context). Because I read it with my class and we acted it out, it was fun seeing how each person saw each character. I did not like how sad the story was because I do not like angst/sadness/heavy feelings. I also did not like how a bunch of characters got killed off in the last three acts (especially not Ophelia).

Overall, it is a really good story/plot/play. It just isn't within the genre that I usually like to read.
If you are a person who prefers light-hearted and non-tragic stories, then this book is not for you. It is a tragedy for a reason! I would also not recommend this book to someone who is younger than 13 years old.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, King Hamlet of Denmark dies by a mysterious snake bite while alone in his garden. Hamlet, however, is visited by his father's ghost, who told him that he had been murdered by his brother. He is tasked with revenge by the ghost, and uses madness as a tool to fool others and achieve his ends. I enjoyed the plot of the play. It is truly impressive how it maintains a balance between the themes of madness, revenge, and corruption. Hamlet's madness is also characterized in a way that makes one wonder if he is truly mad, and how his madness came to be. However, the intricacies of the story are very hard to pick up on due to the old English used. I think this is the main thing that greatly dampens the accessibility of the play. I rate this play 3 out of 5 stars due to its amazing story, but outdated language.

[Eulalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play by Shakespeare is about the prince of Denmark (Hamlet) finding out that his uncle (Claudius) killed his father (the king who is also named Hamlet). In summary, everyone goes crazy and most everyone dies. I wish that Shakespeare had 1.) chosen better names for the two kings/princes rather than them both having the same names as their sons, and 2.) had a better explanation for why Claudius was chosen to be king over Hamlet who is supposed to be next in line. I also thought that there was too much crude humor that didn't need to be in the play. (I understand that this was written in a different time period, but still.) I did enjoy the general story, though, when it had been translated in modern English. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading plays and is fine with a mediocre play.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play by Shakespeare is about the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who was visited by his father's ghost to avenge him against his murderer, King Claudius. His mother married his uncle, King Claudius, shortly after Hamlet's father's death. I enjoyed the storytelling, action, and plot. It was nice to reread the play, and I understand it better than before. Hamlet's madness and cunning are more understandable, especially when he showed the play that was based on his father's murder to the audience that was invited to the play in the palace. Some of the lines were funny in Hamlet, like when Hamlet said to Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery" Hamlet - 3.1.131. I think that line was funny because he is roasting the woman that he loves, but he had to act mad, which made it funny. Overall, I enjoyed the play and it was fun to act it out in class.

[Fernando Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

“To be, or not to be” Its easy to see why Hamlet is arguably Shakespeare’s most popular play. This story has it all- existentialism, revenge, political maneuvering, supernatural elements, grief, action, plotting and much more. In my opinion the themes most explored in the play are grief and the cost of revenge. The plot kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next right until the end. Of course Shakespeare’s writing is beautiful but complex and hard to follow at times. My Penguin edition did a great job with the footnotes allowing me to comprehend the story pretty seamlessly. This was my first time reading Shakespeare and I can definitely recommend. I will be continuing with other plays. It feels weird rating “the greatest writer of the English language” only 4 stars, but remember this is completely subjective and solely based on my enjoyment of the reading experience.

[Samuel Rico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading and acting out Hamlet as a class was a great experience. The story was also very entertaining and intriguing. I really enjoyed seeing the characters come to life and understanding their emotions through performance. Hamlet’s struggles with revenge, loyalty, and morality felt more real when we acted out the scenes. The themes of betrayal and grief stood out to me, especially in the scenes with Claudius and Gertrude. This reread helped me notice details I missed before, like Hamlet’s clever use of the play-within-a-play to reveal the truth. Overall, it made the story easier to understand and more engaging.

[Will Kempton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of revenge, madness, and plotting, Shakespeare creates a story of finding revenge. Hamlet's dad dies, and his funeral is a wedding. His mom suddenly remarriage is very suspicious. I liked the logic. When Hamlet tries to find out if his uncle killed his father, it is very smart and has good logic. Some of the stuff that I did not like was the confusion. Some of the wording was very weird, but it gets better. It was some of my first hamlet, so that was a big part of this confusion. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

[Ryan Rowbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hamlet, by the playwright Shakespeare, is a great play. It encompasses human emotion and has many allegories (my favorite being revenge versus justice). I loved reading it and acting it out with some of my classmates. I would recommend this book to just about anyone willing to put in the effort of reading and understanding it. There were a lot of words, phrases, and sentences that won't make sense until you think about them. Back to my favorite part though, the allegory of revenge versus justice is characterized by the character Hamlet. The whole time he could have had a swift revenge, but was in constant thought of whether that revenge would be just. It is a great read.

[Alden Rigby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty decent read. I can definitely see why people consider this a classic. The plot was interesting, but a lot of parts dragged on for a bit. The ending was the perfect example of a tragedy, in my opinion. Shakespeare's sense of humor was pretty good, though; I laughed out loud at a few parts. A lot of parts were hard to understand, so I had to reread it several times. The footnotes definitely helped a lot.

[Jack Tecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, doing some research for an adjacent project so was looking to get some context on the famous monologues and such. This is a second read, it does help to know kinda what’s goin on beforehand.

I didn’t read it near slowly enough to unpack everything but I do appreciate it being a mostly approachable and elegant play!

[Daniel Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read it like a novel ngl and a stand alone story it's like a 3/5 I only really enjoyed acts 4 and 5 and the beginning of act 1, the rest of it was kind of a drag to read through, I also didn't like the ending that much. in its historical context I'd prolly give it a 4/5 but enjoyment matters more to me.

[Jonah Godoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book follows the story of Prince hamlet and his journey through revenge. While trying to acomplish this goal there is death betaril and sadness. I liked the book It is a lot diffrent then what I thought hamlet was like and more entartaing then I assumed it would be it was a diffucult read of coruse being shakespear but It was very good

[Shawn Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look imma be honest, I hated this. Like we're talking I'm doing anything BUT reading this. The story just feels bland. I only am reviewing this cuz my Teacher wanted me to which ok i guess but I don't like the book. I personally wouldn't reccomend this but I also have an opinion others may not. Sorry Hamlet but you were in no way interesting 😄

[Taggart Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies. The story is interesting, and the characters are pretty iconic. That and the setting in a politically unstable Denmark make it a great play. I would recommend it to anyone that is getting into Shakespeare.