What Does Hamlet Symbolize?

Sometimes when I’m looking for content, I troll for homework questions. Today, I got this one: What does Hamlet symbolize?

I find questions like that odd. And, really, unanswerable.  I think Shakespeare wrote primarily to entertain.  I think that his stuff entertains more than the other guy because his stuff really digs in and gets at what it means to be a human, and he puts that out there on the stage. I don’t think Hamlet symbolizes indecision or consequences or thought versus action, I think that Shakespeare tells the story of what happens to a man who embodies those characteristics.

Does that make sense?  When I hear “symbolize” I think, “The author wants me to discover a deeper meaning here, something that I must interpret for myself because he’s not going to come out and tell me.”  I can’t imagine the groundlings doing their English homework and debating the symbolism.

Am I way off base?  Maybe the English teachers in the crowd can chime in.  What is the expected answer for a question like that?  Do we really think it’s what Shakespeare meant from the beginning, or are we really just asking for an answer that is mutually agreed upon by later generations? 

15 Greatest Shakespearean Excuses for All Occasions

Late for work? Forgot to pass in your assignment?  Blew off plans you had with friends?  Now and as always, Shakespeare’s got you covered…

Shakespearean Excuses for All Occasions

  • Flying back to Elsinore for my dad’s funeral, and my mom’s wedding. Don’t ask. Back in a few days.
  • Going to live in the forest dressed as a boy for a little while. Back when evil Duke Frederick has a ridiculously unlikely change of heart.
  • Got married last night! Didn’t tell my parents. Will explain everything when Romeo gets here.
  • My Dogberry ate my homework.
  • Had to disguise myself as a boy, it’s compl…what do you mean Rosalind already used that excuse?
  • I am so exhausted, I have gotten like zero sleep since my husband and I killed the king the other day.
  • Got in huge fight with my dad. Moving to France.  Getting married! Everything’s gonna work out ok. 
  • Shipwrecked on the way back from my cousin’s wedding. Enslaved by evil wizard. Totally met someone, though, so it’s all good.
  • Had to flee assassins that got my dad. Will return to Scotland in a few generations to reclaim the crown.
  • Need to go give a speech at Caesar’s funeral. Blah blah, good man, will be missed… these things always go the same way.
  • Off to England! It’s whole big accidentally-killed-my-girlfriends-father-thought-he-was-the-king thing. Long story.
  • Listen, so, I meet this girl at a party, right? Long story short, I kill her cousin, now I’m banished.
  • Weird rumor going around that I’m out to kill my father. Only one thing to do, go live in a hovel and pretend to be insane.
  • Spent the night in jail because the lady I work for didn’t like the color of my socks. I know, right?
  • Bit of a disagreement with my husband. My friend’s got this plan where I go into hiding for 16 years, convince him I’m a statue, and then yell “Boo!”. I think it sounds hysterical.

Top Seven Shakespeare Halloween Costumes

[ From the archives. Originally posted Oct 26, 2010 – way too late last year to actually use any of the ideas, so I’m recycling the post for this year! ]

Twelfth Night

You’re a girl? Dress up like a boy. You’re a boy? Dress up like a girl dressing up like a boy. Twelfth Night’s
main character spends the whole play in costume. We discovered, a few
months back, that she’s not even called by her real name until the very
end of the play!

Julius Caesar

Why just be
any ghost, when you can be Great Caesar’s Ghost(*)? Don’t skimp on the
knife wounds, or the blood. Lots and lots of blood. Or if you really
want to wear a toga and don’t want to get blood all over it, dip your
arms in the red stuff up to your elbows, then go as Brutus.

(*)
Bonus points if you can actually convince somebody to dress up like J
Jonah Jameson from the Spiderman movies, and then spend the night
pointing at you and shouting that.

Hamlet

I knew Hamlet
would make a good costume when my 4yr old spotted the idea on one of
his cartoon shows. After random channel flipping he comes running into
my office to tell me “Daddy, somebody on tv is dressed like
Shakespeare!” Along comes the 6 and 8yr olds to tell me “Well, not
Shakespeare – he’s dressed like Hamlet. He’s holding a skull and talking
to it.” Of course you could also go with Ophelia, although taking a
quick jump in the pool before going out trick or treating might cause
you to catch your death (ha!). Then again why not go as Hamlet’s
father’s ghost? I’ll leave it up to reader imagination to depict how
exactly you’d walk around wearing your beaver up.

The Tempest

A
witch (although, granted, she doesn’t really make much of an
appearance), a wizard, a sea monster, an airy spirit. Plenty of
opportunity here to take a traditional Halloween costume and really run
with it. If you want to get really creative, grab a partner and dress up
as Stefano and Trinculo. I always described them as pirates to my kids,
although “court jester” is probably more accurate.

Titus Andronicus

How
can you not have fun dressing up like Titus? Put on a chef’s hat and
bloody apron, carry a cleaver and a big stew pot. Throw a prop head in
it, maybe a prop hand while you’re at it. Shakespeare’s goriest tragedy
is often compared to a modern slasher movie, so why not just go
completely over the top with it? Bring along your daughter. Don’t let
her talk.

Macbeth

Ghosts make plenty of appearances in Shakespeare’s work, The Tempest and Midsummer
are both loaded with magical goings on … but really, is there any
play scarier than Macbeth? Dress up like a weird sister, dress up like
Banquo’s ghost. Or maybe a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, covered in blood?
For the really inside reference, go as Macduff – carry around Macbeth’s
head.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Fairies
are timeless, in more ways than one. If you need a couple’s idea, why
not Titania and Oberon? I love the idea of an entire family dressing up
as Midsummer, with the kids playing the roles of Cobweb, Mustardseed and
the others. Or go in a completely different direction and make an ass
of yourself, literally.

Have I forgotten any? You can always
throw on your monk’s outfit and go as Friar Laurence (carry around a
pickaxe, crowbar or some other tomb-opening implement for extra credit),
or really grab any random “Elizabethan” or “Renaissance” costume from
the local store and say that you’re the lead in As You Like It, Much
Ado, or any of the other romantic comedies. What else? Who’s got the
creative ideas?

BONUS!  Halloween 2011, I went as Yorick! Complete with Hamlet borne upon my back.

Purrchance to Dream

It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, I’m sure, but that’s not stopping these folks from trying to produce a legit, bound, complete set of Shakespeare’s works, in LOLspeak.

I don’t know if it’ll succeed, and it seems to really push the boundaries of what Kickstarter is for.  More than half the budget is for editing ($100 each for 38 works) and the rest is admittedly for “Kickstarter’s percentage, as well as the rewards.”  So if you contribute, a significant portion of the proceeds will go to nothing more than supporting the project being on KS in the first place.  I don’t think that’s really what it’s meant for.

I Think We Already Invented This

So check out this article on a new “glimpse into digital humanities”, the Mobile Shakespeare Scripts project:

Their project, “Mobile Shakespeare Scripts” (or “MyShx”), offers actors
and directors a mobile app for customizing scripts to include
commentary, production history, or other digital enhancements. MyShx
will initially be produced for iPads, and it will be used for the first
time in the production of one of American Shakespeare Theater’s
2012-2013 shows.

Interesting.

In March of this year, when the iPad 2 came out, I wrote about how you could use an iPad to revolutionize digital Shakespeare.

But even more closely, go check out this discussion on Shakespeare in the public domain, from June 2011.  In particular note Ed’s comment (#3) about creating his own textbooks for the kids, with ample room to do all their own note taking right in the margins and such, and the conversation that follows. I suggest that this is custom made for a software solution, and Alexi offers up the suggestion to make it so that directors could use it to cut their own scripts.

Of course, they’re well-funded PhDs, and we’re just a bunch of enthusiasts hanging out on a blog.  What do we know.