Hamlet (1)

"To be, or not to be."

Edwin Booth as Hamlet, 1870.
(Library of Congress)

Hamlet has emerged as the most influential character in world literature and legend. Beckoning the leading actors around the world for four centuries, he remains an enticing challenge for readers, theatre-goers, psychologists, and critics. The following books will introduce you to Hamlet, who said these famous words in Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet (Act III, scene i).

To order a book or film, or for more information, follow title links to Amazon.com, then return home to browse other characters.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (New Folger Shakespeare Library). New York: Washington Square Press, 1992.
- An authoritative edition in a handy paperback. Explanatory notes keyed to line numbers face each page of the text.
The Riverside Shakespeare. Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
- An excellent edition of the complete works.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1996) [DVD]. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal. Warner Home Video, 2007.
- Stars brilliant actor/director Branagh in this riveting uncut version of the Bard's masterpiece.
Hamlet - Criterion Collection (1948) [DVD]. Starring Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons. Criterion, 2000.
- Laurence Olivier's beautifully directed film and his own unsurpassed performance earned Best Picture and Best Actor Oscars.
NEW! Hamlet (2009) [DVD]. Starring David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Penny Downie, and Mariah Gale. BBC Warner, 2010.
- David Tennant. lately of Dr. Who fame, surprises and delights with a stunning, masterful interpretation of Shakespeare's ever-renewable character. In this modern-dress performance, Tennant combines crystalline delivery and smart line pacing with quicksilver movements and moods to match his feigned (or real?) madness. In the "Behind the Scenes" PBS interview, Tennant remarked, "I wish everyone could have a go at Hamlet, because it's really a life-changing thing to do." Life-changing to watch, too.

Jones, Ernest. Hamlet and Oedipus. New York: Norton, 1976.
- This noted psychoanalyst elaborated Freud's view of Hamlet's Oedipal conflicts. A fascinating theory which has colored most performances of Hamlet ever since, bringing out the sexual tension with his mother and the sexual malice toward his uncle, the new king.
Cantor, Paul A. Shakespeare, Hamlet (Landmarks of World Literature Series). Cambridge University Press, 1989.
- Excellent general introduction to interpreting the play, including some amusing anecdotes from its varied performance history.
Bloom, Harold. The Western Canon. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994.
- Argues for Shakespeare's preeminent influence in Western literature. Bloom conveys his insight with originality and verve.
Cohn, Ruby. Modern Shakespeare Offshoots. Princeton University Press, 1976.
- Shows how writers as varied as James Joyce and Goethe incorporated Hamlet into their works.
Ueno, Yoshiko (Ed.). Hamlet and Japan. New York: AMS Press, 1995.
- Hamlet, and indeed most of Shakespeare, has traveled well internationally, especially to Japan. For example, in one year (1990), 17 productions or adaptations of Hamlet played in Tokyo.
Senelick, Laurence. Gordon Craig's Moscow Hamlet. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
- Landmark production in 1912 headed by Stanislavsky, famous for "method" acting, and Gordon Craig, who designed spare, modernist sets that highlighted Hamlet's psychological isolation.

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