Rating: 
Summary: Chasing Shakespeare, finding Hamlet
Review: The sheer magnitude and dramatic measure of Shakespeare is never to be missed -- but it can be a challenge tackling the linguistics of sixteenth century English, especially text from the original Folio published by Applause. For those (like me) who need a leg up, the Durband (Editor) additions of Shakespeare's work are an invaluable help. For the ambitious reader, an additional resource in cracking the code of 16th century grammar comes in the form of Adamson, Hunter, Magnusson, Thomposon, & Wales's "Reading Shakespeare's Dramatic Language, A guide." Finally, an invaluable guild to understanding not only Shakespeare but also any dramatic structure comes from David Ball's "Backwards and Forwards, A Technical Manual for Reading Plays." With all these resources firmly in hand, I chased Shakespeare, and managed, in some sense, to tackle "Hamlet," the first Shakespeare play I had ever read . . . So what's the play about -- other than ~3-4 hours of live performance? This question actually decomposes (like Polonius: "if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby", 4.3 (Act 4, Scene 3) into 3 questions: what's does the play "mean," what's its "theme," and what's the play "about?" I've actually no idea what it means, and I'm not sure I understand what is meant by 'what does it mean?' so I'll let that go . . .
What are it's themes? That's easy: revenge, parental fealty, trust. Most helpful is the last question: what's the play about? I've read that constraints on the answer to this question are: it should be short, 1-2 sentences, and if you were telling it to someone who knows little about the play, it should 'draw the person in: make them want to know more,' so here goes: Hamlet is a play about a son who pretends to lose his mind while attempting to avenge the perfect murder of his father, and he loses his own life in the process. This isn't particularly poetic, but it does capture the basic main plot line, and it's underscores the tragic nature of Hamlet. The murder of Hamlet's father is perfect: it's takes a supernatural event to uncover the murder, i.e., the ghost of his father has to come back and tell Hamlet what happened. These are the two main events that drive the plot: the murder is perfect, and Hamlet chooses to take up the task of avenging his father with absolutely not one shred, not one bit, of evidence that Claudius killed King Hamlet. And this is just how the play reads, how it looks to the audience: If you didn't know the story, the earliest point you might believe that the ghost really was telling the truth is Claudius' line #59, 3.1: "How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!" And what exactly is he feeling so guilty about anyway? It is unclear, not explicitly stated (e.g., it could be guilt for marrying Hamlet's mother so quickly, which is what Hamlet is initially bummed out and angry about, and justifying the quick marriage is in part what Claudius' initial speech is all about in 1.2.) And up until 3.2, Hamlet's not even sure about the veracity of the ghost -- so he sets a 'mouse trap' ("the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king"). Up until 3.2 (at the earliest), the audience doesn't really know if Claudius murdered the king, and they only know this with certainty during Claudius's confession of the murder in 3.3. And if the audience (and Hamlet) are not absolutely sure about Claudius until Act 3, Scene 3, what about the other characters in the play? They never know. All the way through the play, to them, Hamlet looks just like the guy he's pretending to be: someone who's coming unglued. Take out Claudius's confession in 3.3, and I don't think the audience would believe Hamlet or the ghost. To them, Hamlet would be seen as he is seen through the eyes of all the characters (except Horatio): they'd think Hamlet is crazy, and to his mother (3.4), he's ranting and raving about a murder, and yes, there is a murder, but not of King Hamlet -- it's of Polonius, and yes, there is a murderer, but not Claudius -- it's Hamlet! Killing Polonius was a BIG mistake: Claudius sends Hamlet away to England, to be killed. Hamlet, far from being a man incapable of action, is "acting" every moment, struggling with one (huge) obstacle after another . . . Hamlet's a brilliant play, a masterpiece, though I'm not convinced it's Shakespeare's best, plot-wise -- but certainty character-wise: as Bloom so aptly puts it: it is "The Invention of the Human." Shakespeare dramatizes a man that's *almost* (not totally) paralyzed with fear and uncertainty until most of the way through Act 4 (these are his first obstacles), and one main action he takes up to the end of act 4 is trying to satisfy for himself that Claudius really did kill his father, and avoid detection that that's what he's trying to do -- by acting crazy. A great play, and a full measure of the genius of Shakespeare.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Performance.....
Review: This review refers to the Caedmon Audio/Full Cast Recording edition(HarperCollins) of "Hamlet".... The first thing I need to clarify is exactly which audio edition this is. If you are on the product page with a light purple box pictured, this is the 1963, full cast recording, complete play in 5 acts, starring Paul Scofield as "Hamlet.It is not, as the audio file editorial states the one with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. And if the Scofield performance is what you'd like to hear, you are in for a real treat.(You can enlarge the product picture to see a better view of the box) The entire cast including Diana Wynyard as Gertrude,Roland Culver as Claudius, Donald Houston as Laertes and Zena Walker as Ophelia turn in powerful performances and will captivate your imagination no matter how many versions of this brilliant play you have heard, or seen. Paul Scofield("A Man For All Seasons") is masterful as the complex Hamlet, wanting revenge for his father's death, yet torn by his own conscience. There are so many different versions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet", and on this taped set you will find a performance worthy of his genius.It is one you will want to listen to many times and well worth the price. After listening to it at home, I now bring it with me in my car to keep me company in traffic and on long trips. This three tape set(6 sides) has the entire play, Ronsencrantz and Guildenstern included,in five acts. The entire play runs about 3 1/2 hours, each side of the tapes running between 30 to 45 minutes. The scenes are nicely seperated by music and the sound quality remastered(1995) in Dolby B is excellent.Although the tapes are not enclosed in their own cassette cases, there are individual cardboard holders inside the box for each. A brilliant performance that you will remember, and one we are fortunate to have on these fabulous recordings. Enjoy...Laurie
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