Hamlet (Harcourt Brace Casebook S.) - Softcover

Kirszner, Laurie G.

4.02

950,520 ratings by Goodreads

9780155054806: Hamlet (Harcourt Brace Casebook S.)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0155054805 ISBN 13: 9780155054806

Publisher: Harcourt College Publishers,U.S., 1998

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Part of The Wadsworth Casebooks for Reading, Research, and Writing Series, this new title provides all the materials a student needs to complete a literary research assignment in one convenient location.

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Review:

Undoubtedly the most famous of all of Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet remains one of the most enduring but also enigmatic pieces of western literature. The story of Hamlet, the young Prince of Denmark, his tortured relationship with his mother, and his quest to avenge his father's murder at the hand of his brother Claudius has fascinated writers and audiences ever since it was written around 1600.

For many years interest focused on both Hamlet's inability to avenge his father's death, claiming that "the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought", and, according to none other than Freud, his oedipal fixation with his mother. However, more recently critics have turned their attention to Hamlet's bold theatrical self-reflexivity (most famously reflected in the performance of "The Mousetrap"), its fascination with issues of theology and Renaissance humanism, and its dense, complex poetic language. What is so remarkable about the play is the way in which it tends to uncannily reflect the concerns of different epochs. As a result, Hamlet has been at different moments defined as a romantic rebel, an angst-ridden existentialist, a paralysed intellectual and an ambivalent New Man. Whatever subsequent generations make of Hamlet, they are unlikely to exhaust the possibilities of this most extraordinary play. --Jerry Brotton

Review:

- The Annotated Shakespeare General Editor: Burton Raffel

"This timely edition glosses Shakespeare's words which regularly stump students but which their overly optimistic teachers never notice. This is an edition for the students we actually teach, students for whom Early Modern English is a foreign language. Extremely useful and welcome."--D.E. Richardson, The University of the South (Sewanee) "If any work deserves a student's closest attention, it is Hamlet. Burton Raffel's fully annotated edition is a teacher's and student's dream: the words are fully explained, and they get a wonderful essay by Harold Bloom as well."--George Soule, Carleton College

"In a market glutted with editions of Shakespeare, this one stands out. The notes are helpful but not overwhelming, making it a great choice for classroom instructors and independent readers alike."--Kathryn Levesque, Choate Rosemary Hall

"This edition is an invaluable resource for teachers and students who want to do justice to the complexity of the play's language."--Tanya Pollard, Assistant Professor of English, Montclair State University

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