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the 1990 movie
starring Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates and Helena Bonham-Carter by
Franco Zeffirelli--it is not completely accurate but both exciting and
moving |
In this, the most famous of Shakespeare's
tragedies, young Hamlet is told by the ghost of his recently deceased
father that he was murdered by his brother, who, shortly after his death,
married Hamlet's mother. He is begged to take revenge and to never
forget, and Hamlet sets off to do so. However, he cannot be sure of
the ghost's truths, and tries to verify them by pretending to be mad and
tricking King Claudius into giving something away. When he does,
Hamlet's tragic flaw, his indecision, will not allow him to kill his
uncle. Throughout the play, he muses on the meaning of life, whether
there is an afterlife, and whether or not he should be the one to create
justice. All themes are prevalent in the novel, and are perhaps
epitomized during his famous "To be or not to be" speech.
Surprisingly, perhaps the largest amount of Shakespearean quotes used
today are from this play, and the context in which they are used is both
an interesting story and an outlet for further learning. This is one
of the major Shakespearean works that every person, no matter their
occupation or interests, should read.
"What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in
faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable;
in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of
the world, the paragon of animals--and yet, to me,
what is this
quintessence of dust?" |
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