An Overview Of Hamlet Studies

Hamlet Studies (1979-2003), an international journal devoted exclusively to one work of art, Hamlet, presented a vast wealth of research on Shakespeare’s play, contributions from well-established critics from across the globe. This book focuses on the critical contribution Hamlet Studies made to the play’s scholarship, bringing together textual criticism, twentieth century critical thought and performance-based contributions. It represents a valuable and comprehensive guide for students and teachers studying Shakespeare in colleges and universities the world over.

Arguably Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet is studied widely at universities internationally. Approaching the play through an analysis of its key characters is particularly useful as there are few plays which have commanded so much critical attention in relation to "character" as Hamlet. The guide includes: an introductory overview of the text, including a brief discussion of the background to the play including its sources, reception and critical tradition; an overview of the narrative structure; chapters discussing in detail the representation of the key characters including Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia as well as the more minor characters; a conclusion reminding students of the links between the characters and the key themes and issues and a guide to further reading.

In this classic 1935 book, John Dover Wilson critiques Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Designed for first year students, this innovative guide builds on the usual knowledge base of students beginning literary study in HE by focusing on the familiar characters but introducing more sophisticated analysis.

An illuminating account of how Shakespeare worked through the tensions of Queen Elizabeth's England in two canon-defining plays Conspiracies and revolts simmered beneath the surface of Queen Elizabeth's reign. England was riven with tensions created by religious conflict and the prospect of dynastic crisis and regime change. In this rich, incisive account, Peter Lake reveals how in Titus Andronicus and Hamlet Shakespeare worked through a range of Tudor anxieties, including concerns about the nature of justice, resistance, and salvation. In both Hamlet and Titus the princes are faced with successions forged under questionable circumstances and they each have a choice: whether or not to resort to political violence. The unfolding action, Lake argues, is best understood in terms of contemporary debates about the legitimacy of resistance and the relation between religion and politics. Relating the plays to their broader political and polemical contexts, Lake sheds light on the nature of revenge, resistance, and religion in post-Reformation England.

The first edition of Hamlet – often called ‘Q1’, shorthand for ‘first quarto’ – was published in 1603, in what we might regard as the early modern equivalent of a cheap paperback. Yet this early version of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy is becoming increasingly canonical, not because there is universal agreement about what it is or what it means, but because more and more Shakespearians agree that it is worth arguing about. The essays in this collected volume explore the ways in which we might approach Q1’s Hamlet, from performance to book history, from Shakespeare’s relationships with his contemporaries to the shape of his whole career.