Instructions for Using a Short Course on Hamlet
The section called Course Contents
contains the complete (but not edited) text of Hamlet; I do not recommend reading this version
rather than the Signet edition of the play. However, the brief discussion which precedes the text of each scene
provides a useful introduction to that scene. There are also questions about each act, sample
answers to the questions, and short discussions in Documents of topics like Hamlet as Villain or Hamlet as Failure.
Another section called the Forum may be of interest to you in studying the play.
Using Course Contents:
1. First, read the assigned act in your textbook.
2. Read the brief discussion which appears at the beginning of each scene in "A Short Course on Hamlet".
3. Once you have read the discussion of one scene, click on [Next], which appears at the
top of the screen, to go on to the next scene.
4. After you have read the brief discussion for every scene in an act, click on [Questions];
a brief summary of the act just discussed and a list of questions about that act appear.
5. Read the questions and think about your answers.
6. Click on [Answers] for a discussion of the questions raised. Think about whether
you agree or disagree with the discussion or to what extent you agree or disagree. Why do you agaree or disagree, wholely or partly?
7. After you have read the entire play, look at some of the topics in Documents.
The Documents that I particularly recommend are Hamlet as Villain,
Hamlet as Failure, Hamlet and Oedipus, and
Of Revenge.
The Forum:
The Forum is a discussion of various topics, e.g., Hamlet's dislike of
his parents. Click on Enter to join the discussion. The Forum lists only the most recent discussion; however,
you can search for specific topics.
Shakespeare Websites
Mr. William
Shakespeare and the Internet
Links to scholarly materials on the Internet about Shakespeare; a search
engine; a Shakespeare timeline.
Shakespeare Web
Although the Shakespeare Queries and Replies has been suspended,
back discussion is available. If you like to write poetry, try the Poetry
Machine. Today in Shakespeare History discusses briefly events during
Shakespeare's lifetime (reverse chronology).
Shakespeare Oxford
Society Home Page
A theory about who really wrote
Shakespeare's plays--Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Other theories suggest Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon as the authors of Shakespeare's plays.
This site will probably appeal to conspiracy-buffs and potential Shakespeare scholars.
The
Shakespeare Authorship Page: Dedicated to the Proposition that
Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare
The name says it all.
Hamlet Websites
A Short Course on Hamlet.
The section called Course provides an
introduction, asks questions about each scene, provides sample
answers to the questions, and includes some critical essays. The
Forum is a discussion of various topics, e.g., Hamlet's dislike of
his parents.
Discussion of Hamlet
Students at MIT and elsewhere discuss the play.
You can just read or send in your own comments and questions.
Hamlet. Site of Alexander Pogrebinsky, Jr.
The topics covered include criticism, theater, film, play, and Shakespeare. It has a forum and a search facility.
Hamlet
and His Problems
An essay by T.S. Eliot, one of the foremost poets and literary critics of the twentieth century.
Heavy
Seneca: His Influence on Shakespeare's Tragedies
You may want to skim this essay till you come to
the section discussing the influence of the Roman philosopher Seneca (died 65 A.D.) on
Hamlet. Of interest especially to students who like philosophy.
The Hamlet
Homepage
Topics briefly discussed: Hamlet's madness,
imagery, practical meaning of Hamlet, climax of the play.
The Discussion Pages include Ophelia, Claudius, and minor
characters.
The Serpent Now Wears the Crown: A Typological Reading of
Hamlet
This essay uses a typlogical interpretation,
which "demonstrates how Old Testament personages and events were
designed providentially to point beyond themselves to fulfillment
in Jesus Christ." The writer Peter Leithart suggests that Christ
is "not just the fulfillment of the hopes of Israel, but the hopes
of mankind....the meaning of the world is revealed in relation to
Christ." The introduction discusses a modern novel. Click on I to
go to a discussion of typology; click on II for the discussion of
Hamlet using this approach. This essay has a limited appeal.
The
Shakespeare Essays of Professor Sir Walter Murdoch
Four essays on Hamlet.
'Too
Much in the (Black) Sun': Hamlet's First Soliloquy: A Kristevan
View
An essay applying the theories of the feminist
critic Kristeva to Hamlet. Reading her essays is heavy going.
William Shakespeare Discussion Ports
This site includes a discussion board
with student comments and questions about Hamlet.
You might prefer a chat room on
Hamlet.
SYLLABUS
| F, Sept. 8 |
Shakespeare, Online
overview
Hamlet, Act I
Caucus
To register
To read and to send postings
**Supplemental Reading**
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet, I
Tragedy
The Tragic Vision
The Great Chain of Being
The Great Chain of Being and Love
|
| M, Sept. 11 |
Hamlet, Act II
**Supplemental Reading**
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet, II |
| W, Sept. 13 |
Hamlet, Act III
**Supplemental Reading**
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet, III |
| F, Sept. 15 |
Hamlet, Act III (continued)
Caucus: To read and to send postings
|
| M, Sept. 18 |
Hamlet, Act IV
**Supplemental Reading**
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet, IV |
| W, Sept. 20 |
Hamlet, Act V,
**Supplemental Reading**
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet, V |
| F, Sept. 22 |
Hamlet, Act V (continued)
Caucus: To read and to send postings |
Syllabus for the Course || Core Studies 6 Page ||
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