Hamlet by William Shakespeare

So, I was watching Ophelia the other day and decided it was time for a re-read of Hamlet. It’s the perfect moody, slightly horror-esque read for a classic’s nerd this time of year.

Now to break up this review, I’m going to start by going over the play itself. I’m personally a theatre nerd, and reading plays comes second nature to me- though it can be an obstacle for those that aren’t used to that reading format. This, often, is the downfall of those who want to read Shakespeare. Really though, just watch the play- it was after all, meant to be preformed. However, I love reading Shakespeare for the simple fact I love the way he does prose. The quote I used above is one of my favourites- though we all probably remember Hamlet better for his “To be or not to be” monologue. I always find his words to be so evocative, and despite the fact that many of his plays have fantastical and ludicrous elements, he writes them in a way that I find grounded in reality. This may be a practical element- I mean stage effects weren’t well developed. But the way they’re written feels as if you could really have heard about this happening from a friend of a friend. Hamlet is a great example.

As many of you may know, the plot of Hamlet can pretty well be summed up as: King of Denmark dies. His wife marries the next king, who basically stole Hamlet’s inheritance. His ghost tells his son to avenge his murder, which was orchestrated by the new king (who happens to be Hamlet’s uncle). Hamlet then pretends to go insane, while debating all of life’s big questions, and plans his revenge. Oh, and Hamlet’s into Ophelia, but that goes disastrously, and she goes mad after he kills her father. I’ll not spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t read it.

Court politics and intrigues have always been stranger than fiction, and this play weaves layers and layers of manipulations, deceit, and betrayal into a story that is both tragic and horrifying in turn. I love the way that the play hinges on human nature in a way that feels accessible even to modern readers. Hamlet’s madness as a self-fulfilling prophecy, pushing Ophelia away, Gertrude’s sense of self-preservation, a jealous brother- tell me this wouldn’t all happen in a tv show today. Not to mention I love a good political thriller, and I love fantasy, so a play where a king’s brother killed him (also who uses poison in the ear? What a weird killing method.), snatched the throne, and his son sees his ghost, gets the lowdown and goes “seems legit, let me just pretend to be nuts while I plan to kill my uncle” is always going to be a winner in my book. The plot is fast paced, dicey, and woven together in a way that probably wouldn’t have worked outside of the context of a court. A court in those days was a tight-knit, claustrophobic place where everyone had several connections to each other. The setting then works in the play’s favour. The play is probably based on several tales that were circulating around the time Shakespeare wrote it, but he brings it to life in a way only the great bard himself could. So, we have a wonderful plot about inter-family politics, a love interest with her own opinions, and a ghost who wants to be avenged. What could go wrong? Well… Everything.

The scenery is so evocative and moody, which I love in the context of this play. It seems to echo the state of affairs, and the state of mind of the main characters. A castle haunted by the ghost of it’s former king, who was murdered by his brother? Check. People hiding behind tapestries in said gloomy castle. Check. Chambers full of people who may be on your side or plotting your downfall? Check. There’s even a graveyard. Honestly, for a play hinging on a revenge plot orchestrated by a ghost, contemplating the meaning of life, revenge, and more, you couldn’t make a more perfect scenescape unless there was fog. Oh wait, there’s that too. The setting in this play is everything, and as I said before, probably wouldn’t work outside it. Trying to capture that same gothic horror on say, a farm, probably would be ruined by the bucolic scenery and relative workaday stakes of who gets the cows in the end.

Now, the characters. Before we get to Hamlet, let’s talk about the rest of the cast. Gertrude has historically been vilified, but as others have pointed out, she is never shown to have known about the murder of her husband. Even if she did suspect- what is she supposed to do about it? I like to use that lens to point out that her character is a wonderful example of what women experienced in those times- you needed a male protector, and that often, a woman’s power was filtered through her husband. Gertrude’s worst crime is that she married the next King- a pragmatic move, as she had a son to protect, whose throne Claudius arguably just snatched, and a widowed queen was vulnerable.

Ophelia too has been widely critiqued, as she goes mad with her father dead, seeming to be an example of hysteria as viewed by men. However, let’s be real and look at the context. Ophelia’s father dies- is murdered in fact. Hamlet, the man she loves and was making advances on her, suddenly goes nuts and starts being untoward, while her father tells her to stay away from him, and tries to send her to a nunnery. She’s being pulled in several different directions, while probably feeling guilt that she wished her father gone so she could be with Hamlet. While yes, this is an overexaggeration, I think I’d be a little insane myself, if my situation were hers. It is entirely possible, in the context of the time that the removal of her father as her protector, her lover and prospects of marriage, and the support her brother provides could have led her to snap. Moreover, can we look at the willpower this girl displays? She follows her own judgement instead of that of the men around her, to whatever extent she can. She still sees Hamlet, despite being warned away. She gets her heart broken as a thank you for that decision but still stands her ground. She points out the hypocritical nature of her brother’s warnings to be chaste. This isn’t a stereotypical retiring damsel.

The men of the play seem to fit into archetypes fairly well- Claudius, the uncle as the scheming, ruthless villain, Polonius, Ophelia’s father as the typical newly made man of the period- conscious of his social standing, Laertes as a doting brother, Horatio as the good friend. This doesn’t make them less compelling. Each are well written, with their own motives, stories, and personalities. (There are obviously several other characters, but these make my next point well.) Shakespeare gives each a twist, a humanity in a way. Claudius believes himself irredeemable, Polonius makes every wrong decision one can, Laertes pursues revenge to his own destruction, and Horatio is left dealing with all the aftermaths.

Now Hamlet. I cannot state how much I love Hamlet as a character. He is moody, emo, brooding, and makes everything harder than it needs to be. His descent into madness is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy- it starts as a pretence to try to keep himself alive while he plots revenge and ends with him questioning everything to the point of true madness. He’s witty and sharp, and his jokes, while often dark, are the highlights of the play. He is occasionally (often) self destructive- but really, we can probably all relate in some capacity. We are constantly confronted with the fact, in my opinion, that he is essentially unknowable. He hides his feelings and motives at every turn. We are given rare glimpses, but what we really see is a young man acting in reaction to events, in a way that’s compelling and leads itself to the mystery of who Hamlet truly is. His love for Ophelia is genuine, and tragic. His relationship with his mother is complicated. Only Horatio is loyal throughout in a way he can rely on and lean into. I love it. I don’t want to overanalyse him, because I think that to do so, may actually ruin some of the magic.

All in all, Hamlet is truly always a five-star read for me. It’s among my favourites of Shakespeare. I may have to make the re-read of this play a yearly October tradition.

And, as always, TLDR: Hamlet is moody, evocative, and worth the read. A story of political intrigue and humanity in layers that shift and turn with every twist, in that classic Shakesperean manner.