Module 6: Hamlet

Section 1: Setting a Reader's Mental Stage

Lesson A: A Ghost Story: the Opening Scene

Ghosts: a range of belief
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/ideas/ghosts.html

Facts and Legends
Biographical details about Shakespeare.
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/life/lifefacts.html

Lesson B: Politics and Guard Duties

Hamlet Prose Adaptation
For a side by side presentation of the original text and a plain language adaptation.
http://www.lynchmultimedia.com/Hamlet/Adaptation1-1.html

Hamlet Summary
For a scene by scene summary of the plot.
http://www.littanam.ulg.ac.be/hamletenglish.html#summary

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
For Charles and May Lamb's classic "Tales from Shakespeare" adaptation of the storyline.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00078081/00001/276j

Bardolatry
The 2000 adaptation starring Ethan Hawke.
http://bardolatry.com/2010/01/hamlet-2000-starring-ethan-hawke-directed-by-michael-almereyda/

Hamlet (1990/I)
The 1990 version starring Mel Gibson.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099726/

Hamlet Title Search
A full list of Hamlet on film.
http://www.imdb.com/find?tt=on;nm=on;mx=20;q=hamlet

Lesson C: The New King in Command: Claudius

Shakespeare's Youth
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/life/youthsubj.html

Lesson D: Hamlet and the Ghost

The Humanist Philosophy
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/printing_sub.html

Section 2: Upsetting the Prince's Mental Stage—Act 2

Lesson B: The Art of Uncovering the Truth

To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare
By Ben Jonson.
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1117.html

Lesson C: Hamlet as Lover

Shakespeare in Love
This film speculates about how Shakespeare's personal life may have inspired his romantic stories.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981225/REVIEWS/812250306/1023

Lesson D: Wisdom of Age: Polonius as Advisor

Did Shakespeare write the 37 plays and dozens of sonnets that bear his name? There has been much debate about how it is that a seemingly poorly educated man of the middle classes could have the sophistication and wit and resources to produce the greatest works of English Literature. As a result, there has been much debate about who, in fact, Shakespeare really is. Is the name William Shakespeare just a nom de plume? Join the debate and explore the following links.

The Shakespeare Mystery
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shakespeare/

A Beginner's Guide to the Shakespeare Authorship Problem
http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/

The Shakespeare Fellowship
http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/

Section 3: Play Within a Mousetrap

Lesson A: To Understand or Not to Understand a Soliloquy

Sue Rodriquez and the Right-To-Die Debate
http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/rights_freedoms/topics/1135/

Lesson B: The Mousetrap and the King's Conscience

Hamlet as Actor
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/plays/actor.html

1592 Upstart Crow
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/timeline/crow.htm

Lesson C: Of Ladies Most Deject and Wretched

Huswifery
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/huswiferysubj.html

Lesson D: Hamlet, Gertrude, the Ghost, and Freud

Bedlam: Madness
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/bedlam.html

Canadian Community Health Survey
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/030903/dq030903a-eng.htm

Section 4: Hamlet the Mad Murderer

Lesson B: Hamlet in Exile

All Sorts of Hamlets
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/spectop004.html

Lesson C: The Poison of Deep Grief

Music in Shakespeare's Plays
http://www.britannica.com/shakespeare/article-9396030

Shakespeare's Music
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizdetails.cfm?quiz=174873

Lesson D: Laertes: Avenger or Hired Killer

Shakespeare vs Brittany Spears—What is Art?
http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/britney_spears.htm

Lesson E: Critical Perspectives

Reading Ophelia's Madness by Gabrielle Dane
This website includes a copy of Dane's essay.
http://www.whohill.net/ReadingOpheliasMadness.html

Section 5: Graveyard, Poisons, and Swordplay

Lesson C: ...A Divinity that Shapes our Ends

A Shakespeare Timeline
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/timeline/timeline.htm

Themes, Motifs & Symbols
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/themes.html

Lesson D: The Last Act of Fair Play

Hamlet Study Guide
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/quiz.html

The Hamlet Quizzes
http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/quiz/hamlet-intro.htm

Know Your Shakespeare Quotations?
http://shakespeare.about.com/library/quiz/bl_quote_quiz.htm

Quizzes:Literature:Hamlet
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/literature/shakespeare/hamlet.html

Shakespeare
http://shakespeare.about.com/

Section Assignment: Creative Project

Jung Typology Test
You must read the "blurb" first...
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jungtype.htm