Reviews of Hamlet Signet Classic Shakespeare

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  Mariam Badawi

  (8 years, 10 months ago)

  To read or not to read, that is the question. My answer is definitely to read! For three reasons: first, to know what all the “to be or not to be” fiasco is about; second, because you are too late, you should have read it a long time ago; third, because it is brilliant! Just in case you haven’t figured that out by now, Hamlet is written by the incomparable classic playwright, William Shakespeare. It is about a Denmark Prince who was receiving his education like any normal kid at a boarding school and suddenly found himself in a middle of a bottomless mess: his father was killed by his uncle who married his mother. Too overwhelming, right? Imagine what he had been through. Such a crisis was enough to paralyze his mind and put him in a great dilemma. He had several options which none of them was easy to say the least, but he could not weigh all his options and see which action was better, since they all had unfortunate consequences. Besides, his father’s ghost was even pushing him to avenge his murder and causing Hamlet to be even more confused and overwhelmed. What is keeping him sane is his love for Ophelia who is very smart; throughout the play, she tries to pacify him and guide him to the right path. Wait, forget that! He even lost his sanity! Or was he feigning madness? It is up to the reader to decide. This play has all the possible elements that define a tragedy: murder, incest, revenge, tragic love, more murder, plotting, madness, hesitance, more plotting, and even more murder (don’t try to count the dead bodies, especially in the last scene). It might be tragic to the characters involved, but you will enjoy reading it nonetheless. Shakespeare’s language and writing style make anything he writes worth reading. The Tragedy of Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark is one of the most famous and most read plays by Shakespeare. It has even inspired countless adaptations and responses (for example, other plays based on it). If you have not read it by now, you are missing on a lot!