Hamlet, Reinterpreted

MAJOR ESSAY #3: Hamlet, Reinterpreted

BACKGROUND: In our first unit we met Enid, a gloomy and mouthy young character. Enid is disgusted and
disillusioned with her social world, and although some of us blamed Enid for various shortcomings, we could also
see that Enid is a strong critical thinker. In our second unit we met Charmaine, a character who tends to take a rosy
view of things. We found that Charmaine has been raised by her well-meaning grandmother to avoid thinking
about troubling or traumatic subjects, and we found that this habit makes her highly susceptible to manipulation
by the leaders of the Positron Project. With this third unit we are back to another gloomy and mouthy young
character. Like Enid, Hamlet is disgusted and disillusioned with his social world. But now, instead of just noting the
character’s tendency to think in a certain way, we’re going to pay attention to ways in which interpreters have
used this play in order to think critically about and comment on their own social worlds. In this unit we are learning
about the interpretation of literature by looking at a text—Hamlet—that has been interpreted, adapted, and
translated in many different contexts over the course of more than 400 years.
ESSAY PROMPT: How and why have members of your
chosen nation or community interpreted and/ or
adapted Hamlet?
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (for a passing grade):
• Write at least 2000 words
• Use MLA style (Remember that you can consult a librarian for help!) for parenthetical documentation and
Works Cited page.
• Quote from Hamlet, and discuss quoted passages.
• Quote from and respond to at least two secondary sources that you will discover through library
research. You may also use secondary sources we have read in class.
• Write readable, coherent, focused paragraphs and sentences.
• Double space your text and indent your paragraphs.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS (for a strong essay):
• Avoid too much summary. Don’t use a lot of space retelling the story.
• Consult with a librarian about your secondary sources.
• Take the time to revise your essay. Do an essay conference at the Writing Center.
• Proofread your whole essay carefully; proofread your thesis statement extra carefully.WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR:
• Orientation and direction. What’s YOUR angle on your topic, and where do you want to take your reader?
Show me a way of looking at this text, and make me understand why it’s worthwhile to look at the text in
this way.
• Thesis statement. Yes, the thesis statement is closely related to #1 (above), but some students do ok with
orientation and direction without really capturing their argument in a thesis statement. You will get a
better grade if you can make a supportable claim which you articulate in a statement of 1-2 sentences
relatively early in your essay.
• Discussion of formal/ stylistic features of the text and/ or production. Examples include (you don’t need
to discuss ALL of these!): rhythm/ meter, sentence structure, word choice, dramatic structure, set and
costume design, etc.
• Awareness/ anticipation of other voices/ positions. How well do you use your secondary sources? Do you
give your reader the sense that you are having something like a real conversation with the critics
(“listening” to what they have to say and responding in a thoughtful, relevant way)? Make sure to include
your primary AND secondary sources on your Works Cited page.
• Focused paragraphs with good transitions.
• Well-connected, well-constructed sentences.
• Evidence of Substantive Revision: You will submit a first draft and participate in peer review.
HOW TO DO IT: You will choose a nation or community for which Hamlet has been an interesting text. You may
define “nation” and “community” however you wish. Note that it’s probably not a good idea to choose the USA or
England as your nation because you simply will have too much material. You may focus on a group or sub-culture
*within* the US or UK (examples: feminists, skateboarders, hipsters…), or you may choose a very large group that
transcends national boundaries (examples: Arabic speakers, Catholics…).
The goal of the essay is to help you learn about why this play has been of interest to one group of people and
about how those people have responded creatively. You will have to do research on your own time, but the
professor will help you get started. A link to the MIT Global Shakespeares project is available through our course in
Canvas. If this resource does not help you identify a topic, please set up an appointment with your professor
As you start to examine specific versions of the play, you can use the following questions to help you generate
ideas relevant to the essay prompt. Note that you should aim to discuss at least two adaptations/ interpretations
of Hamlet:
Questions to Ask Re: Hamlet Adaptations/ Interpretations
• Which parts of the play does this version emphasize? How? Why?
• Which parts of the play does this version de-emphasize? How? Why?
• What is distinctive about the “look” of this version? (Costumes, set, etc.) What message does this “look” send?
• What is the language of this version? If it’s English, is it modernized? If it’s not English, is formal? Is it in verse? Prose?
Both? Can you think of other relevant questions about language? If so, what are they and why are they relevant?