I’ll definitely try to do more literature pieces because this was insanely fun to write, but I probably wouldn’t count on Othello anytime soon 😭 Hamlet already took me into the psychic sewer and I’m still climbing out.
Whoa, I never saw this play. Is it the to be or not to be one? Going to tell you, your views on it are now my gold standard of the plays intention and action.
A malingerer?? Weird another play I never saw was (la ronde/reigen/ hands around) the cross over of something going around seems to be pretty similar. Do you also comment on viennese plays?
Yes, that’s the one 😭 the “to be or not to be” play. Which is part of my frustration honestly, because the actual play is so much stranger and darker and messier than the one speech people remember.
And I have to be honest, Viennese plays are not really my strongest area
Hamlet doth protest too much. Great read. I like to believe that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the Tom Stoppard version of this myth. They were always my favorite characters because at least they got to escape the madness and what you aptly call rot.
Interesting take. You’ve left out Horatio (poor Horatio) and undervalued Laertes and Fortinbras, the other two sons with dead fathers. The to be or not to be speech is commonly mistaken as a contemplation on suicide rather than a contemplation on Action or rather the lack of it.
I think we both agree that Shakespeare is riffing on the ever popular revenge tragedy form, but we disagree as to the value of that riff. I still enjoyed the take. From my POV, this is a play about mirrors and reflection. Madness is part of that mirroring and reflection as is sex, love, violence, hate, fear…you know…all the juicy human stuff that’s very messy. Like the play itself. It’s also about acting and theatre, but that’s another comment for another day. It also has some of the most brilliant thinking, wordplay, and depth of feeling I’ve ever come across, and all of that changes as you age and grow. Just my two cents.
> He is what happens when a man cannot tolerate the existence of his mother’s sex life and turns the entire kingdom of Denmark into the staging ground for his refusal to deal with it.
Well, there was the little matter of his uncle murdering his father who is now married to his mother. So maybe there's more than just intolerence of his mother's sex life.
Hamlet
Stanley J Sharpless
----------
Prince Hamlet thought Uncle a traitor
For having it off with his Mater;
Revenge Dad or not?
That’s the gist of the plot,
And he did – nine soliloquies later
"Revenge Dad or not?" is the most honest plot summary I've ever read.
WOW Fantastic analysis!!!!
A Creative genius you are.
“Like” isn’t really adequate for this piece. When are you going to do Othello? Write about him, I mean. Not the other thing.
I’ll definitely try to do more literature pieces because this was insanely fun to write, but I probably wouldn’t count on Othello anytime soon 😭 Hamlet already took me into the psychic sewer and I’m still climbing out.
Whoa, I never saw this play. Is it the to be or not to be one? Going to tell you, your views on it are now my gold standard of the plays intention and action.
A malingerer?? Weird another play I never saw was (la ronde/reigen/ hands around) the cross over of something going around seems to be pretty similar. Do you also comment on viennese plays?
Yes, that’s the one 😭 the “to be or not to be” play. Which is part of my frustration honestly, because the actual play is so much stranger and darker and messier than the one speech people remember.
And I have to be honest, Viennese plays are not really my strongest area
Hott girls should have shows explaining Shakespeare, I would guest host and offer my various conspiracies.
“to be” is spelled Ω in Greek, and that little horseshoe sure causes a lot of controversy
Hamlet doth protest too much. Great read. I like to believe that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the Tom Stoppard version of this myth. They were always my favorite characters because at least they got to escape the madness and what you aptly call rot.
Interesting take. You’ve left out Horatio (poor Horatio) and undervalued Laertes and Fortinbras, the other two sons with dead fathers. The to be or not to be speech is commonly mistaken as a contemplation on suicide rather than a contemplation on Action or rather the lack of it.
I think we both agree that Shakespeare is riffing on the ever popular revenge tragedy form, but we disagree as to the value of that riff. I still enjoyed the take. From my POV, this is a play about mirrors and reflection. Madness is part of that mirroring and reflection as is sex, love, violence, hate, fear…you know…all the juicy human stuff that’s very messy. Like the play itself. It’s also about acting and theatre, but that’s another comment for another day. It also has some of the most brilliant thinking, wordplay, and depth of feeling I’ve ever come across, and all of that changes as you age and grow. Just my two cents.
Appreciate you reading, George. Mirrors is a beautiful frame. I went the dirtier route.
Brilliant write up as always, Emma. I explained my similar interpretation in English class way back when : my teacher was NOT amused.
thank you! the "NOT amused" English teacher is the single most important character in the reception history of this play.
Great article!
> He is what happens when a man cannot tolerate the existence of his mother’s sex life and turns the entire kingdom of Denmark into the staging ground for his refusal to deal with it.
Well, there was the little matter of his uncle murdering his father who is now married to his mother. So maybe there's more than just intolerence of his mother's sex life.
👏 This is a well sound take. Biggie up.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays are not properly understood and have been sanitized for the same sake of decency
Great assessment, however isn't Elsinore the brewery in "Strange Brew"? 🤣