Hamlet: Many Interpretations

Part I of Essay
Although many students of Shakespeare believe that Hamlet, among all the plays in the Shakespearean canon, best reflects the universality of the poet-dramatist's genius, it remains an enigmatical work, what has been called a “grand poetical puzzle.” no artist can control t ....

Part II of Essay
.... Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Laertes, and Hamlet himself may have survived. A reason must then be drawn from one's own interpretations of Hamlet. Following two renound interpretations of Hamlet, two major conclusions can be made. First, Shakespeare's tragedy is a work of surpassing interest and genius, and the tragic hero is universally attractive and fascinating. Second, only the naive will start with the assumption that there is one obvious interpretation of the play and that the critics, not Shakespeare, have intr ....