Summary
Highlights
John Green introduces Hamlet, a 16th or 17th-century play by William Shakespeare, considered by many to be his best work. He addresses the common perception of Hamlet as a long play about indecision, suggesting it's more about executing a vision or the difficulty of the decisions Hamlet faces, touching on themes of justice, revenge, conscience, and uncomfortable feelings about mothers.
Shakespeare based Hamlet on a medieval Scandinavian tale by Saxo Grammaticus, specifically the story of Prince Amleth, who feigns madness to avenge his father's murder by his uncle. Shakespeare introduced ambiguity to this story, changing key elements like Hamlet's age and direct observation of the murder, highlighting his specialty in narrative complexity.
Hamlet is Shakespeare's most popular and consistently performed play, known for its length. There are three main versions: two quartos (1603 and 1604) and the Folio edition (1623). The 'bad quarto' of 1603 is believed to have been transcribed from memory by an actor with minor roles, leading to significant variations in the text, including the famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy.
The plot follows Hamlet, a grad student who returns home after his father's death and his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle, Claudius, who becomes king. His father's ghost reveals he was murdered by Claudius, prompting Hamlet to feign madness. He stages a play to confirm Claudius's guilt, accidentally kills Polonius, is sent away, and returns to a series of tragic events including Ophelia's suicide and a poisoned fencing match, resulting in the death of almost all main characters, including Hamlet and Claudius.
The play's setting, Elsinore, is depicted as a surveillance society where characters constantly watch each other. This reflects the political climate of Elizabethan England, known for its extensive spy networks and fear of anti-royal and anti-Catholic conspiracies. This theme suggests that 'Denmark's a prison' is less a criticism of Denmark and more a commentary on Shakespeare's contemporary environment.
Hamlet explores themes of doubling and mirroring, posing questions about personal identity and change. There are multiple 'Hamlets' in the play: the ghost of the old king, and the living Hamlet split between his desire for revenge and his academic inclinations. Ophelia can even be seen as a subversive double for Hamlet, representing what he might become if stripped of agency. The play-within-a-play also mirrors the events of Elsinore, albeit in a distorted way.
An 'Open Letter to Simba' hilariously draws parallels between The Lion King and Hamlet, identifying characters and plot points from the Disney film with those of Shakespeare's play, emphasizing the core narrative of a young prince avenging his father's death against an evil uncle.
The numerous 'mirrors' in Hamlet underscore the perpetual cycle of violence inherent in revenge tragedies, where each murder demands another until all are gone. The ghost of old Hamlet, unable to rest, embodies this unending violence. The ghost also raises questions about Hamlet's understanding of death and the nature of justice – whether it's an earthly or divine matter. Hamlet grapples with the morality of his actions, especially when considering killing Claudius while he's praying, believing it would send him to heaven.
The video concludes by stating that Hamlet's struggle to decide on a course of action is not due to youth, academia, or narcissism, but because he is human. The play's enduring appeal lies in its aphorisms, language, ambiguity, and its brilliant capture of the human condition of not knowing what to do.