Hamlet is the story of young Prince Hamlet’s struggle to take revenge on his father’s murderer. It is Shakespeare’s longest play and among the most powerful and most influential tragedies in English literature.
Many readers have found Hamlet a puzzling, even exasperating play. They find it difficult to understand why Hamlet delays so long in taking revenge on Claudius or why he begins behaving so erratically. But Hamlet is not simply a puzzle to be solved; it’s also a work of art that makes demands on us as readers. We can’t really understand what happens in the play until we understand how its characters are caught up in a struggle between right and wrong, where both options seem equally problematic. That struggle begins when Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost, which tells him that Claudius murdered him by pouring poison into his ear. Hamlet vows vengeance, but he cannot act until he has proof of Claudius’ guilt—proof that will come only when the king reveals his feelings by reacting to a play.
Hamlet devises a plan to stage this drama within the larger drama of the play itself: he asks some traveling actors to perform a short play about regicide for Claudius and
For many years, the thought of taking a drama class terrified me. I was afraid of looking stupid in front of my peers, and I doubted I had any acting talent. However, after taking an introductory level course on the subject, I not only found that it is a lot easier than I expected but also discovered that it is immensely beneficial for both your academic and social life.
Most people enroll in drama courses to gain a better understanding of literature. Actors and actresses must interpret the meaning behind their character’s lines when they perform Shakespeare’s plays. Therefore, in order to memorize a monologue or dialogue from Hamlet, you must understand what it means. In addition to helping you interpret Shakespeare’s words, drama classes will also improve your public speaking skills. You will learn how to project your voice so that members in the back can hear clearly and how to speak with confidence. You will also be required to memorize lines quickly and accurately. These skills are useful not only for other classes at school but also for giving speeches later in your career.
If you enjoy having fun and meeting new people, then drama classes are perfect for you. Students tend to be very friendly as they support each other during performances and help one another out when
The high school drama teacher who inspired me to become an actor is retiring after almost 40 years. She has no idea how many people she has influenced and affected, but I am one of them.
Last night I went to see her final high school show, a production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” It seemed like a fitting tribute to my mentor. I was one of the last people she ever cast as a high school student, playing the title role in “Hamlet” when I was a senior. She helped me get my first professional acting job, and I credit the self-esteem and confidence she gave me for allowing me to pursue an acting career.
The students were terrific — after all these years it seems that her passion for her craft hasn’t waned. For me, this was a chance to be in the audience again after spending much of my career onstage or behind it. It reminded me why I love theater so much as well as why it can be so frustrating at times.
Hamlet is a play, or at least it’s supposed to be. It has characters and dialogue and a plot and all sorts of other things that make it more like a reality TV show than real life.
Except, I think we all know what Hamlet is really about: the drama club.
The play is about a guy who gets involved in his school’s drama club (where he meets his girlfriend), and then there are some fights with other drama clubs, and finally a big performance at the end where all the drama clubs come together.
I mean, how else could Hamlet have been so popular for 400 years? It’s not about murder or revenge or betrayal or any of that Book Club stuff. It’s about what every teenager wants to think about: drama class.
The hero of Hamlet is Horatio, the guy who plays Hamlet in the performance at the end of the play. The villain is Polonius, who comes up with the idea for the performance and gets everyone else involved.
Hamlet himself isn’t exactly evil; he just doesn’t care enough to stop his friend from turning into an evil monster, even though he knows it will eventually lead to tragedy.
Hamlet: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother to Ophelia. Laertes seeks revenge for the death of Polonius.
Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius and sister to Laertes. As a lover of Hamlet, she is torn between her love for him and her obedience to her father.
Claudius: Claudius kills his brother (Hamlet’s father) and takes the throne of Denmark by marrying Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother.
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet. She has married Claudius after her husband’s death.
Polonius: Chief counselor to King Claudius. Polonius is the father of Ophelia and Laertes.
Horatio: Horatio is Hamlet’s closest friend, who studied with the prince at the university in Wittenberg. He is loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play after Hamlet rescues him from drowning in Act I Scene I.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: Two former classmates of Hamlets’ who
The first time I read Shakespeare, I was 14. My father had been dead for two years, and I was in the midst of a very difficult adolescence, full of grief and anger at the world.
When I read Hamlet that summer, something changed for me. It was as if I’d been handed a key to my own mind and heart. For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could be driven to take extreme actions by forces within his or her own soul.
I don’t think it’s an accident that Hamlet is the most famous play about a young person in the history of theater. The play is so rich with meaning that it can be interpreted on many levels: religious, political, psychological. But the part that resonates the most with young people is a simple story of grief and revenge.
The play begins with a funeral. Hamlet’s father has just died and everyone at Elsinore castle is miserable; they walk around in black clothes while this heavy music plays in the background all day long. Hamlet — who loves his father — is also grieving, but he doesn’t have time to mourn because he’s too busy dealing with his mother’s weird new marriage to his uncle Claudius, who is now king!
It’s a common refrain: “I’m an introvert. I hate public speaking.” But it’s not true. Introverts are capable of great performances. They just need to work with their strengths.
In my pre-Silicon Valley life, I was an actor. Like most actors, I worked primarily in the theater. And like most theater actors, I was an introvert. In fact, it might be impossible to be a theater actor and not be an introvert.
Somehow it’s become widely accepted that you have to be an extrovert to do well at public speaking. In fact, the opposite is true: introverts are more likely than extroverts to enjoy acting and public speaking. And they tend to do better because they’re so well-practiced at it.
For an introvert – and for anyone who wants to improve their performance skills – there’s no better training than drama classes and theater productions. But few people outside the theater world realize that these lessons apply far beyond the stage. With just a little re-framing, you can use this knowledge to shine in presentations, interviews, parties – any situation where you want to make a good impression on others or want to persuade or inspire them.
