Hamlet (Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare) - Softcover

William Shakespeare

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1411498739 ISBN 13: 9781411498730

Publisher: SparkNotes, 2008

Synopsis

No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels is a series based on the translated texts of the plays found in No Fear Shakespeare. The original No Fear series made Shakespeares plays much easier to read, but these dynamic visual adaptations are impossible to put down. Each of the titles is illustrated in its own unique style, but all are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky, and appealing. Each book features an illustrated cast of characters, helpful plot summary, line-by-line translations of the play and illustrations that will enhance your understanding of the story and characters.

About this title

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

"[This] entry in the No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels line makes the Bard even more accessible.The language has been further simplified, but not dumbed down, and the story stays true to the arc of the play, with the monologues and interiors nearly intact. Babra's artwork..is no mere window dressing, its clear, black-and-white scenes often shifting into a stark, expressionistic mode that heightens the drama. Along with a nicely digestible version of the play, this will give readers a feel for Shakespeare's language and wordplay...With all that going for it, this admirable effort is likely to succeed..."--Booklist

Edition details

• Publisher: SparkNotes
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1411498739
• ISBN 13: 9781411498730
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: SparkNotes
• Illustrator: Neil Babra