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Loading... Hamlet (Ignatius Critical Series)by William Shakespeare
   None No current Talk conversations about this book. 1   ZZMike | Apr 19, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Arguably Shakespeare's finest and most important play, Hamlet is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature. To be or not to be, may be the question, but the answer has eluded many generations of critics. What does it mean to be? And is everything as it seems to be? These are the questions that are asked and answered in the introduction by Joseph Pearce, author of The Quest for Shakespeare, and in the tradition-oriented critical essays by leading Shakespeare scholars that can be found in this groundbreaking edition of Shakespeare's masterpiece. To see or not to see, that is the question. The Ignatius Critical Edition of Hamlet will help many people truly see the play and its deepest meaning in a new and surprising light. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)822.3Literature English & Old English literatures English drama Elizabethan 1558-1625LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.5)
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Wikipedia in English
1
We should be reviewing this edition - the Ignatius Critical Edition.
What sets this apart are the Introduction by Joseph Pearce, and the seven critical essays. They shed a lot of light on the play. One of the highlights I remember is about the "To be or not to be" speech, where the first essay points out that the accent is on "is": ".... that IS the question" (page 185). That emphases the existential nature of his question.
This book takes a Catholic look at "Hamlet". Pearce notes these lines:
Act 4, Scene 3, 8th speech (lines 19 - 23):
King: Now Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Hamlet: At supper.
King: At supper! Where?
Hamlet: Not where he eats, but where 'a is eaten: a
certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at
him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet,
....
A clear reference to the Diet of Worms (1521, where Luther defended his "95 Theses"). And in Act 1, Scene 2, the King and Queen try to persuade Hamlet not to go back to Wittenberg - that's the university where Luther posted those 95 Theses.
The other essays look at the psychology, the religious background, and other aspects of the play.
In all, it's a good resource for anyone who wants to get beyond the surface of the play.