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This is a well established portal for Shakespeare studies

Michelle Lee introduces the reader to recent critics of Hamlet and what historical influences those critics believe guided Shakespeare in his writing. Among many, she references critics who read Hamlet maintaing it is guided by the Renaissance idea of skepticism to critics who have more religious readings of the play.

An article that appears to catalougue and describe some of the textual sources Shakespeare used when writing Hamlet (and Romeo and Juliet.) The library wouldn't let me access it from an off-campus computer though!

A valuable starting point for general resources to Shakespeare from BYU's library

Key bibliography database for Shakespeare studies

A principal academic journal for the study of Shakespeare (subscription access only)

Section on criticism of Hamlet from the Mr. Shakespeare portal

This is a German review of a new biography, published by the renowened Insel publishing house in Frankfurt. The author of the review is a professor for english renaissance literature at Munich university. He critizises this book which in his opinion lacks any historical evidence. The biography tries to prove once more the hypothesis that William Shakespeare was in fact Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. The author of the review calls it a "history of literature written for the 'Dan Brown Generation'": In his view it presents a highly romantic, but basically wrong reconstruction of William Shakespeare's life and works. He believes that this book must be part of a marketing strategy. This strategy aims to attract a crowd of uninformed readers who willingly rely on 'conspiracy theories'. Cp. Werner von Koopenfels, Rev. of: Kurt Kreiler, Der Mann, der Shakespeare erfand. Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford.-Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009. For another Review of "this exciting new biography", also in German, see: http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-67768129.html

"The role of Hamlet has been called the hoop through which every actor must jump, a rite of passage that confers a special kudos on the thespian who can master this most complex and subtle of Shakespeare's characters. From John Gielgud's lifelong association with the play, both as star and director, via David Warner's student prince to Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Branagh's involvement with television and cinematic treatments, this collection examines the challenges and rewards that some of the giants of the theatre have faced when exploring the enigma of 'Hamlet'."

This bibliography briefly discusses each of Shakespeare's plays. In the section on Hamlet, the article questions his reasonability. They suggest that the play within a play used to prove Claudius sin and the ghost's honesty does not adequately answer prove either side. This is because, "enough evidence remains in the play to suggest that the Ghost may yet be a "devil" intent on "abusing" the melancholic Hamlet by exhorting him to the kind of vengeance that Elizabethan Christians believed to belong only to God or to his deputed magistrates". In regards to his rationality, they suggest that if he wanted to prove the ghost's character he would have done so upon greeting the ghost. Because he does not it is "one of many indications in the text that he fails to put to proper use what he elsewhere describes as "godlike reason." A close examination of many of Hamlet's reflective speeches, including his celebrated. Additionally, in his famous speech "to be or not to be" shows us his irrationality and emotional trauma. With such a mentality, his actions could-and do-bring about tragedy that could have been avoided. As the article notes, "there is no doubt that Hamlet uncovers and 'sets right' much that is 'rotten in the state of Denmark'. The only question is whether the play invites us to consider a set of 'might have beens' that would have permitted us to approve of the protagonist even more unreservedly than we do".

This article attempts to prove that passages from Euripedes and Aeshcylus influenced specific scenes in Hamlet.

Search engine for editions and adaptations of Shakespeare's works (access through subscription only)

An excellent way to search particular words and topics within Shakespeare's plays

Archaeologists are preparing to excavate the site of Shakespeare's final home to find out more about the history of the building. The New Place, in Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1483 and is thought to be where the playwright died in 1616.

"Vor drei Jahren bot ein Kinobesitzer dem Deutschen Filminstitut in Frankfurt am Main eine originale Kinokopie der verloren geglaubten deutschen Premierenfassung des 1920 von und mit Asta Nielsen gedrehten und auf Shakespeares Drama basierenden «Hamlet» an. (2008)"

See productions at the Globe theatre in London all over the globe