Review (PDF) Hamlet (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)
This self-contained, free-standing volume gives readers the Second Quarto text. In his illustrated introduction to the play’s historical, cultural, and performance contexts, Neil Taylor presents a thorough survey of critical approaches to the play. He addresses the challenges faced in reading, editing, or acting a play with the depth of content and tradition that Hamlet possesses. He also establishes the historical and cultural context in which the play was written and explains the arguments about the merits and deficiencies of the First and Second Quarto and the First Folio. Taylor points to the many novelists, both men and women, whose work refers to or bears commonalities with Hamlet, to suggest an ongoing to need to resolve "the continuing mystery of Hamlet" in print and on stage. An appendix contains the additional passages found only in the 1623 text, and other appendices on the editorial process, the traditions regarding the act division at 3.4/4.1, casting, and music are also included. Table of ContentsList of illustrationsGeneral editors’ prefacePrefaceINTRODUCTION The challenges of Hamlet The challenge of acting Hamlet The challenge of editing Hamlet The challenge to the greatness of Hamlet: Hamlet versus Lear Hamlet in our time The soliloquies and the modernity of Hamlet Hamlet and Freud Reading against the Hamlet traditionHamlet in Shakespeare’s time Hamlet at the turn of the century The challenge of dating Hamlet Was there an earlier Hamlet play? Are there any early references to Shakespeare’s play? Can we date Hamlet in relation to other contemporary plays? Hamlet’s first performancesThe story of Hamlet Murder most foul An antic disposition ‘Sentences’, speeches and thoughtsThe composition of Hamlet The quartos and the Folio The quartos The First Folio The relationship of Q2 to Q1 The relationship of F to Q2 What, then, of Q1? Editorial practice Why a three-text edition?Hamlet on stage and screen Hamlet and his points Enter the director Hamlet and politicsNovel Hamlets Hamlet meets Fielding, Goethe, Dickens and others Hamlet and women novelists Prequels and sequelsThe continuing mystery of HamletTHE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK (The Second Quarto, 1604-5)APPENDICESAppendix 1: Folio-only passagesAppendix 2: Textual discussionAppendix 3: Editorial conventions, sample edited passages and a comparison of scenes across the three textsAppendix 4: The act division at 3.4/4.1Appendix 5: CastingAppendix 6: MusicAbbreviations and references Abbreviations used in notes Works by and partly by Shakespeare Editions of Shakespeare collated Other works citedIndex
Paperback: 613 pages
Publisher: Arden Shakespeare; 3rd edition (March 20, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1904271332
ISBN-13: 978-1904271338
Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (710 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #45,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #28 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Shakespeare > Literary Criticism #69 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Shakespeare > Works #228 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory
I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet.I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education.My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been.I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know.Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes.
I find this very interesting, at least one of the reviewers who gave such a low review not only reviewed this book, but every other book in this Ignatius Critical Series edit by Joseph Peace. In each one, he gives only one star, basially saying the book is a waste of time and money.Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!Why would someone, keep on reading all the books in this series, and then say that reading them is a waste of time? It just does not make sense! Not only that, but the majority of the book is giving nothing but the text of Hamlet. How can any true fan of Shakespeare give that one star. Just the text of Hamlet alone would make it at least 2 stars.So it seems to me that there are some here who have a hidden agenda of not wanting me to read this book - not because of its allegedly poor literary value. So the more they protested, the more I was intrigued.So I got the book, and I am so glad I did! For the first time, Hamlet came alive to me. The footnotes were enough to hep be understand the arachaic phrases, but I was not overwhelmed with them. The editor wanted Shakespear to speak for himself. None of the footnotes tried to persuade you to their interpretations. That was left to the commentaries after you read the Hamlet story.The commentaries were extremely insightful, looking at Hamlet from a Catholic perspective. And why not? Other commentaries look at Hamlet from a modernist or a feminist perspective. Why not from a Catholic perspective? Again, I do not understand these one-star critics. If they were really fans of Shakespeare, they would be happy to see a book like this that would broaden Shakespeare's audience.
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