Scan barcode
A review by foxholebookcourt
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
4.0
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
TW: Death, suicide ideation, mentions of incest
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
I usually don’t really write reviews for things I read for university courses, but I really had to write one for Hamlet, due to how much I got invested in the story without expecting it, and how much of an analysis I did myself, outside of what I was asked to do for my course.
I went into it, not having the slightest idea about what this play was about. Admittedly, sometimes the play felt more like a comedy rather than a tragedy. There were things I couldn’t take seriously. But even then, I still very much enjoyed the story and the underlined messages of the era that Shakespeare passed to the audience; the place of women (even powerful ones), how ‘mad’ people were treated, issues of morality and issues of life and death, and remembrance. I found all those themes very appealing and delivered well within the play.
We saw most of it through the eyes of Hamlet, a protagonist that I can’t tell if I like yet or not. On the one hand, he was clever, manipulative, witty and quick with his remarks, honourable on some aspects and fair in the end. On the other hand, sometimes his attitude was getting annoying. Not to mention the misogynistic attitude, drawn from that Oedipus complex. Like, man, go get that checked out. Though, even that was interesting to read about. How he suddenly hated all women because he felt betrayed by his mother but, ultimately, he didn’t die for the revenge he was seeking but he died to avenge her. Also, his famous speech starting with “To be or not to be...” touched on subjects that, personally, really occupy me, perhaps on daily basis. Which also made it ironic how, in the end, he wanted to live, despite having fantasised about suicide, death and what comes after it.
So even though I do believe the story lost its flare of a tragedy to me – maybe because I am not seeing it on stage but actually reading it on page – I still very much enjoyed it, more than I had expected, and it got me intrigued to read more of Shakespeare’s works.
"For in that sleep of death what dreams may com"
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
TW: Death, suicide ideation, mentions of incest
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
I usually don’t really write reviews for things I read for university courses, but I really had to write one for Hamlet, due to how much I got invested in the story without expecting it, and how much of an analysis I did myself, outside of what I was asked to do for my course.
I went into it, not having the slightest idea about what this play was about. Admittedly, sometimes the play felt more like a comedy rather than a tragedy. There were things I couldn’t take seriously. But even then, I still very much enjoyed the story and the underlined messages of the era that Shakespeare passed to the audience; the place of women (even powerful ones), how ‘mad’ people were treated, issues of morality and issues of life and death, and remembrance. I found all those themes very appealing and delivered well within the play.
We saw most of it through the eyes of Hamlet, a protagonist that I can’t tell if I like yet or not. On the one hand, he was clever, manipulative, witty and quick with his remarks, honourable on some aspects and fair in the end. On the other hand, sometimes his attitude was getting annoying. Not to mention the misogynistic attitude, drawn from that Oedipus complex. Like, man, go get that checked out. Though, even that was interesting to read about. How he suddenly hated all women because he felt betrayed by his mother but, ultimately, he didn’t die for the revenge he was seeking but he died to avenge her. Also, his famous speech starting with “To be or not to be...” touched on subjects that, personally, really occupy me, perhaps on daily basis. Which also made it ironic how, in the end, he wanted to live, despite having fantasised about suicide, death and what comes after it.
So even though I do believe the story lost its flare of a tragedy to me – maybe because I am not seeing it on stage but actually reading it on page – I still very much enjoyed it, more than I had expected, and it got me intrigued to read more of Shakespeare’s works.
"For in that sleep of death what dreams may com"