Wednesday, October 9, 2013

october 9

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Indecision" by Eagle Eye Cherry; "King Without a Crown" by Matisyahu]

Hamlet wrestles with difficult decisions and problems by talking them through. Based on what (precious little) we've read so far, how do you think Hamlet will be influenced by such elements as his family, where he lives, emotion, and the differences between Hamlet's inner world of thoughts/feelings and the outer world that surrounds him? Feel free to apply your own experiences on these topics.


AGENDA:
1. Vocabulary quiz (UPDATE: postponed until tomorrow/Thursday/10.10)
3. Intro to Hamlet & Act I Scene i
4. Journal

HW:
1. Research Hamlet online and answer the following questions (with citations for any website you consult and/or quote) in comments to this post: 1)What is the play about? 2)Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or  "means"?
2. Find at least three other learning communities that are studying Hamlet (in an AP class, a college/university course, or independently).  Introduce yourself and use the principles of "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online" to do exactly that!  Report the experience(s) on your blog. 3. Finish reading Act I Scene i (script here)

53 comments:

  1. 1. Hamlet is about a young man whose father was killed by his uncle and present king, (hamlets ghost father explains), and the story of how hamlet goes about seeking revenge against the king without being caught. Also a coming of age story of a Danish prince that gets caught up in the past and loses his life over it.
    a. P.S. I found this link from the Purdue Education web site, it’s a very helpful PowerPoint. Which I will post on my blog: http://shunterrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
    2. Interpreting this play in general is difficult just because of the language, once one masters the style and words then the play is a piece of cake. Secondly most disagree on the purpose of the play because with all the flowery language there is a lot left up to the reader to interpret and there lies the margin for discretion.

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  2. 1. Hamlet is about Prince Hamlet, who is seeking revenge on his uncle, King Claudius because King Claudius killed Prince Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. King Hamlet's ghost tells Prince Hamlet to seek revenge on Claudius. So Prince Hamlet figures out a way to get his revenge.

    2. Interpreting the play is hard to do because of the old style of language it's written in. Not only that, but different people can have different interpretations or get a different meaning than someone else would from the story.

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  3. 1) Hamlet is about a boy who feels he had a responsiblity to avenge his fathers murder by his uncle Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and is well protected. Hamlet deals with overwhelming situations. His actions cause the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, and the later death of his own mother.
    I found this information on www.wisegeek.org.

    2) Interpreting the play is a challenge because Shakespeare's diction is not the same as today's. He uses iambic pentameter structure which when translated can mean different things due to the complexity of his sentences. I think people translate it differently and see meaning in different areas of the plot and dialogue that others don't catch.

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  4. 1) Hamlet is about a prince named Hamlet who is out to avenge his father's death. His father's spirit speaks with Hamlet and informs him that Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, murdered him and stole both his throne and his wife.
    2) Interpreting this play is hard to do because it is written in a different style than what is regularly used today. When people try and interpret the meaning behind a certain line or phrase, it is common that they come up with different meanings. The reason for this is that people think in their own unique way.
    http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletintroduction.html

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  5. 1. The play is about Hamlet's mission to seek revenge for his father's death. Hamlet begins to find his uncle responsible for his father's death.
    2. Hamlet can be difficult to understand for a few reasons. The most obvious one being the language. The way it is worded is uncommon to our generation. As readers we can some what take a guess as to what a statement means. But once again we have the ability to interpret things in different ways

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  6. 1) Hamlet is about a man who learns from his father's ghost that his uncle murdered his father and tries to avenge his murder, but is so controlled by his emotions that he goes mad and eventually gets kicked out of his country by his uncle and step-father, Claudius. He returns and gets sucked into a fencing match with Laertes, who is convinced by Claudius that Hamlet was the reason Laertes' father and sister died. What Hamlet doesn't know is that Laertes' blade is poisoned by Claudius, who hopes to kill Hamlet with either the poisoned sword or the goblet of poison he has for Hamlet. Hamlet's mother instead drinks the goblet and dies. Hamlet and Laertes are both wounded by the poisonous blade and Laertes dies after telling Hamlet that Claudius put poison in the goblet. Hamlet stabs and kills Claudius, then dies form the poison on the blade.
    2) Interpreting the play is such a challenge because of the style of writing that it is written in, which is completely different from today and follows completely different rules of grammar. This leads to not everyone agreeing on what the play "says"; words can be interpreted in more than one way. There is a lot of allusions and metaphors that can be taken to mean different things depending on how you look at them.
    Thanks to Sparknotes http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/summary.html
    for a clear idea of the plot.

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  7. 1. Hamlet is about a Prince named Hamlet Jr. and he is trying to avenge his father's death who is Hamlet Senior. Hamlet discovers that his Uncle Claudius is the one who betrayed his father and sets out to get even.
    2. Interpreting the story is challenging because of the way it is written. It is not modern English but is similar to this.

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  8. 1. Shakespeare's Hamlet sets in the kingdom of Denmark, a prince named Hamlet is informed by his dead father, King Hamlet, by his ghost form that his uncle, Claudius, had killed him. He takes over King Hamlet and marries his widow wife, Gertrude. Then, Hamlet tries to seek revenge for the death of his father.
    2. Interpreting the story is difficult for most people because we don't recognize old English as easily as we do with modern English. We don't see "thou" as "you" that easily. Also, the humorous jokes and allusion can make the play even more confusing and difficult to read. People don't agree with the meaning of the play because some think it's a simple play about revenge, but others believe that there was a certain purpose for Shakespeare to write Hamlet.

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  9. 1. Hamlet is about Hamlet Jr. trying to seek revenge for his father's death. Through his father's ghost, he learns that his uncle, Claudius, murdered his father, so he goes after him.
    2. Interpreting the story is difficult because of the language and how it is written. Since the writing is uncommon for us, as readers, it makes it easier for each individual to interpret the story in a different way.

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  10. 1)What is the play about?
    The play is about the ghost telling Hamlet to avenge his death. The ghost, King Hamlet, tells him that his brother, King Claudius, murdered him by pouring poison in his ears. Hamlet is unsure of the ghost, so he must find proof that Claudius killed the ghost. When he gets proof he seeks out revenge but encounters obstacles. In the end, Hamlet and everyone dies and Hamlet avenges his father’s death.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet#Synopsis

    2)Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or  "means"?
    -I think that interpreting the play is so hard because Shakespeare writes in a unique style and the meaning of what he is saying is left up to interpretation and the meaning of words mean something different to everybody.

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  11. 1) At this point there are quite a few summaries, but essentially Hamlet is about Prince Hamlet’s revenge on his uncle Claudius, and the emotions he goes through while doing so. Claudius has taken the throne by killing Hamlet’s father (his own brother), and then also took his wife (Hamlet’s mother). The play explores themes of madness, revenge, and most importantly; moral corruption. (Thanks Wikipedia)
    2) This play is hard to interpret for many because not only is the writing difficult to understand since it is in Old English, but it calls to question your own personal morals based on your reaction to what is said. The writing style makes it hard for a modern day audience to understand exactly what happened, or what was meant, so it is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the characters’ words and actions. For this reason it is hard for everyone to exactly agree on what the play says, and means. It all depends on the reaction of the reader; and because we are all different, there are boundless differences of opinion. Our own morals and previously held ideas help determine the meaning of Hamlet.

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  12. 1. Hamlet is about a young man that is trying to avenge his father’s death, while trying to be killed by others, tangled in a romance with an emotional crazy, and eventually ends up killing everyone including himself.

    2. Interpreting the play is a challenge because of the old English, and the fact that we cannot directly speak to the author or get any insight. This was written so long ago, that thousands of different takes have been bounced off it, because no one ever sees the same exact idea.

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    Replies
    1. My citation:
      SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Hamlet.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.

      Who doesn't love sparknotes??

      Delete
    2. LOL i was waiting for Dr.P so say that hahaha!

      Delete
  13. 1) Hamlet is about Hamlet (duh), the present king whom took the throne after his fathers death. The ghost, deceased King Hamlet, tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet then seeks out revenge on Claudius.

    2) Interpreting this play is hard because our minds don't read Old English like Shakespeare's time. Another obstacle for our best interpretation of the play would be because there are so many stories, like the plays written by Shakespeare, the ideas can cross in our minds causing confusion.

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  14. 1. Hamlet Jr. attempting to get a vengeance for his father's death of poisoning by Kind Claudius. He gets this information from the Hamlet Sr. ghost in the halls of the castle. Hamlet Jr. tries to understand if King Claudius actually killed his father by creating a play for Claudius to watch with some lines that his father's ghost said.
    Absoluteshakespeare.com
    2. I think that readers have a hard time interpreting the play because the syntax and diction is not commonly seen or used in our society. "To be or not to be: that is the question" I'm assuming the readers ought to try to understand or be confused the whole play. Everyone doesn't agree on what the play means or says because us humans have individual views on what the plot says in this play. In addition, the individuals wouldn't understand because they can't comprehend on what anything means to agree on something.

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  15. 1) What is the play about?
    From my understanding Hamlet is about a young man trying to get revenge for his father’s death. After the ghost appears Hamlet decides to make his revenge plan. He decides to act as if mad/insane. He is then isolated from others and able to plan his revenge sweetly. He becomes obsessed with getting revenge. There is a lot of killings in the play. Hamlet also has a lot of mental battling to do through out the play. He grows angry and questioning with his mother, his life and his position in the situation.

    *Powerpoint
    Some Hamlet
    web.ics.purdue.edu/~rosscs/courses/.../Some%20Hamlet.ppt‎
    *Yahoo answers:
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130403211009AA97bGx

    2)Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or "means"?
    Interpreting the play is a challenge, because Hamlet is in between his desire and his actual actions. What I mean by this is that he says one thing and does another or visa versa. He is constantly battling against himself. There are two completely different sides to Hamlet that make the play a bit confusing and leave it open to the viewer’s or reader’s interpretation. Some interpret the play to be feminist, heroic, gothic, etc. People do not agree on what the play says or means because there is so much to analyze in it and so many ways to analyze it from. You can look at it from a women’s, men’s, or psychoanalytic (Freud) perspective.




    *Yahoo Answers:
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090828235533AARNoGf

    *Wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_approaches_to_Hamlet

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  16. Hamlet tells the story of a Prince Hamlet being informed by his father, the late king's ghost that his father was murdered by his uncle, the current King Claudius. The play illustrates the internal conflict that Hamlet experiences as he contemplates taking revenge on Claudius for his father's murder.
    The play itself is difficult to interpret at first because each character has a deep and/or unique personality. In order to truly understand the play, one needs to understand each character, something often forgone in order to decipher Shakespeare's complicated wording.

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  17. 1. The play is about Hamlet Jr. trying to get revenge on Claudius (Hamlet's unlce) for killing his father (King Hamlet). Essentially the play is about the emotions Hamlet goes through as he prepares for the revenge upon his uncle and the events that happen on the way to Claudius's death.
    2. Readers can interpret the play in various ways because it is written in old english, and we are used to the more modern english. There are so many interpretations of hamlet because people can read a couple lines and get completly different meanings from the lines read. Also we get different ideas of themes from certain lines, that some people might not catch at first.

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    Replies
    1. I used sparknotes for my plot summary, and ideas on themes http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/summary.html

      Delete
  18. 1) Hamlet is about a prince named Hamlet who is out to avenge his father's death, Hamlet senior. Hamlet finds out that Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, murdered his father and stole both his throne and his wife.
    2) Interpreting this play is hard to do because it is written in a different style from what we are normally used to. When people try to interpret the meanings of Shakespeare's' writing, people will come up with different meanings. They do this, because not everyone reads things the same way. Everyone has their own interpretation of things.

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  19. 1) Hamlet is a play about a young man who can not live his own life, due to the corruption of the monarchial system. Everything, from the death of his father, his uncle's corruption and his death arise from problems with the system.
    2) Hamlet is difficult to understand, because it is written in a poetic format. Poetry has an infinite amount of meanings, based on how the reader views the text.

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  20. 1) The story centers around Hamlet's revenge against his uncle, Claudius, because Claudius murdered Hamlet's father. Hamlet learns of this truth from the ghost of his late father, of course.
    2) Obviously the style is very unique in a difficult, hard-to-understand way. And with the writing so poetic and uncommon, nobody will come to the same conclusion unless the writing was straight-forward.

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  21. 1. Hamlet is a play about the decision a man must make regarding avenging his father. He is faced with a moral conflict and must decide whether to avenge his father or avoid violence.
    2. The play has various interpretations because it makes different appeals to different readers.

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  22. 1). Hamlet is about the struggles of little Ham-little when he is plagued by the death of his father and wrought in the shackles of society which do not allow him free will. Furthermore the stress of what he has to control is crushing down on him making the stress of life unbearable.
    2). The indirect definition of the words used by Shakespeare allows multiple meanings to be taken out of a single sentence, not just in Hamlet, but in many of his other works as well. Hamlet also may have a multiple set of meanings as the main conflict was not clearly defined.

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  23. 1.) Hamlet is a story that takes place in Demark, where King Hamlet is murdered by his brother Claudius, and then appears to his son as an apparition planting the urge for revenge. Hamlet then goes living his life planning out his revenge for the new king, his uncle.....bum bum buuuummmmm!!!
    2.) I think what makes Hamlet, and Shakespeare's work overall, hard to understand is because we cant really familiarize any of the words with how we speak today. Also since most his writing isn't straight forward, and have a variety of meanings behind each stanza, it's difficult to keep up and translate it to modern english.

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  24. 1) The play is about little Hamlet getting revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for killing his father (big Hamlet). It's got all that good stuff about moral conflict and justice.
    2) Interpreting the play is a challenge because Hamlet is such a complex character. His actions can be viewed in different lights by different people because he is so complex. There is no "one way" to read Hamlet and interpret his actions because everyone has their own opinions.
    Shmoop.com/hamlet

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  25. 1) Hamlet is a shakespearen tragedy that addresses grief along with the supernatural through the story of Hamlet Jr. dealing with not only the job of being prince of Denmark but with the ghost of his dead father who continually haunts the kingdom.
    2) Interpreting the play is so difficult because it is basically in a different language. Accompanied by the constant plot twists and weird scenes nobody is really sure what the main theme of the play was. For example one major idea that nobody is sure of whether the ghost is from heaven or from hell, hamlet is portrayed as a protestant but protestants do not believe in purgatory but Hamlet's Father shows direct ideas of purgatory, declaring he must receive revenge before he can descend into the after life.

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  26. 1. Hamlet is a play that centers on Prince Hamlet Jr. trying to revenge the death of his father King Hamlet Sr. Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, was the one who killed King Hamlet. Claudius killed Hamlet senior so he could obtain the throne and also take Hamlet’s wife Gertrude. This play is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragedy because it embodies dark themes such as murder, betrayal and revenge. A modern representation of the story of Hamlet is The Lion King.
    2. Interpreting the play and its meaning has proved to be so challenging for so many people for a combination of reasons. The first is the old English style of writing is very different than today’s language so often times it is difficult to discern what Shakespeare is trying to convey. Another reason the play has so many different interpretations is because it is written in a poetry format which allows the audience to draw its own conclusions throughout the text.

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    Replies
    1. My sources were:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
      http://www.enotes.com/topics/hamlet

      Delete
  27. 1. Hamlet is about Hamlet Jr. trying to avenge his father's death while trying to figure out if he should be the king of Denmark and avenge his father by murdering his uncle Claudius.

    2. Interpreting the play is a challenge because everyone thinks different and they each have valid points as to why they believe their interpretation is the best interpretation. Some people also may have a deeper understanding of Hamlet to help them interpret. Again not everyone agrees with one meaning because they all have different brains and they have the right to not change their views if they believe that their interpretation is the best one.

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  28. 1. Hamlet is a drama about young Hamlet taking revenge out on his uncle for murdering his father, the king. After his uncle kills his own brother, he succeeds in taking over the throne and also taking the kings wife. Hamlet portrays emotions like revenge, hate, and even rage when finding out all that his uncle had done.
    2. I think the reason that everyone has such a difficult time understanding the play because of the different type of language that is being used. Everyone has a different definition of a word and its the same with the different language that is used. When we dont know the word we try our best to understand what is being said so not everyone is going to agree on what has actually really been said.

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  29. 1) Hamlet is about hamlet who is out to revenge his father's death. Hamlet senior was killed by his brother Claudius.
    2) I think that it is hard to interpret because it was not written in modern English so we can not translate it into perfect English. Shakespeare also wrote in iambic pantameter which makes it hard to translate and understand.

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  30. 1. To make this answer as brief as possible, Hamlet wants revenge for his dad's death.
    2. The play itself is difficult to be translated because no one understands completely what Shakespeare is saying. We based our English language on Shakespeare's language in this play, he isn't here to explain what it was ultimately supposed to mean.

    I used wikipedia for all my answers, of course.

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  31. 1) This play is about a prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who wants to avenge his father's death by getting revenge on his uncle, Claudius. This was my source: http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-hamlet.htm
    2) Interpreting Hamlet is a challenge because it is written in Old English that is difficult for many people to understand. Due to differences opinions on the lines and verses in this play, people have a difficult time agreeing with an exact theme. However, this is not the case for just Hamlet but rather, all other types of literature. Everyone has their own ways of understanding different things and they all have different opinions and biases.

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  32. 1) What is the play about?
    • The play is about prince Hamlet and how he struggles between doing what’s right and getting revenge. His father the king is killed by his uncle (the king’s brother) who then marries his mom. The king returns as a ghost and tells Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing his uncle Claudius. This all goes askew as pretty much every one dies in the end.
    http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/

    2) Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or ”means"?
    • The play is challenging to interpret mainly because we are constantly told that it’s a challenge. People don’t agree on what the play means because there are many aspects that are open to interpretation. Similar to most works in literature, the overall impact of the story varies from person to person.

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  33. 1) The play is about Hamlet will seek revenge for his father's death. The ghost reveals that Hamlet's father, Hamlet, was killed by his own brother, named Claudius.
    2) Interpreting a play is such a challenge because there is so much things to analyze such as the style, the word choice, and the tone of the play. There are many aspects in plays that must be studied in order to attain the full purpose of the play. Everyone doesn't agree on what the play "says" or "means" because not everyone understands the play, especially when the play is done in Old English which sets all us readers apart from the text because we are not used to reading in Old English. Not familiar with reading to Old English does sets us all apart especially when we need to get the meaning and its entirety through unfamiliar writing style, syntax, and diction.

    http://www.gradesaver.com/hamlet/study-guide/short-summary/

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  34. 1) The play is about a Prince named Hamlet who wants to exact revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering his dad, and stealing the throne.
    2) This is a hard play to interpret, because not only is it in old English, but it also was written in a time when the formats that were used were very different.

    Sorry I didn't put more, but the more I put the more I think it seems like I'm stealing other people's ideas!
    I got my information from Wikipedia.

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  35. According to shmoop.com's cartooned description, "The play tells the story of Prince Hamlet. But Hamlet's no party-boy prince. When the action begins, we discover that his dad (the King of Denmark) has been murdered by his own brother and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. Ouch. Talk about sibling rivalry. And it gets worse: not too long after the murder, Claudius married Hamlet's mom, Gertrude. So, what's a prince to do?"

    Hamlet, like all Shakespearean plays are difficult for students to deal with because of the language it is written in.

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  36. 1.) Probably to the repetition of the comments above, Hamlet is a story of revenge. A prince feels the need to avenge the murder of his father due to the betrayal of his Uncle.

    2.) Just about all literature is difficult to interpret; that's why people study it. Shakespeare is no exception, and not everyone will agree on what the play is really "about" because we all must be mindful of other opinions (even though they are not entitled to it).

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  37. 1. Hamlet's Uncle kills Hamlet's father. Then Hamlet, wanting revenge on his uncle, kills him and ends up dying too.
    2. Interpreting this play is a challenge because our modern English is much different than the English in which this story was written.

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  38. 1. The play is about an heir to a throne named Hamlet and him regaining the throne/revenging his father for his uncle murdered his father. 2. Interpreting the play can be a challenge for the language was set in the 1600's. That one saying with a bunch of respected scholarship interpreted to mean one thing could in fact mean something entirely different.
    http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/

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  39. 1) The play is about seeking revenge in which the protagonist wishes to avenge the death of his father, who was murdered by his uncle.
    2) Just as other people have said in the comments above, this play is difficult to interpret because of the syntax that Shakespeare uses throughout his work. As a result of Shakespeare's unique choice of wording and words, people might come up with various interpretations.

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  40. 1) The main character Hamlet sees his father's ghost and is convinced that his uncle murdered his father to take the throne. He becomes paranoid and in the process, kills his girlfriend Ophelia's father, driving her away to kill herself. In the end, his mother dies from poison, and Hamlet dies in a duel from a poison-tipped sword.

    2) There are so many interpretations of the play because of the language and the content used. The plot seems complex, but it actually can be broken down into a few certain events, leaving the rest to be deciphered however the reader views it to be, with symbols, hidden meanings, etc. The non-contemporary language of the play contributes to the ambiguity with sentences that take some time for the reader to translate into the common vernacular of this time period. These translations can vary from person to person. Also, it's hard to agree on what the play "says" or "means" because of the mystery surrounding Hamlet's sanity. His grief could be driving him to imagine his father's ghost, talk to himself, and become paranoid that his uncle killed his father. Having this option as one interpretation of the play makes it hard to settle on one core meaning of Hamlet.

    Source: http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/summary.html

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  41. 1.) Hamlet is about a son who is astounded by his father's death and mother's reaction to the event and continues on to avenge his father's death.

    2.) Interpreting Hamlet is such a challenge due to the way it was presented. Hamlet takes the form of a poem. As we all know, poems can be interpreted and understood in a myriad of ways, which leads to a difficult decision of coming to one universal understanding. Also, the fact that it is written in old english, makes interpretation all the much more challenging.

    Source :http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/hamlet/hamlet-at-a-glance

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  42. 1) Hamlet is a story of mystery and betrayal. Hamlet is a successor to a throne and is determined to avenge his Father's death. He eventually becomes convinced that his uncle Claudius is actually his father's murderer.
    2) This story is difficult to interpret and find one meaning because while one reader is focused in the external conflicts another could be focused on the more internal conflicts like family dynamics and betrayal. Also Shakespeare is always difficult for modern readers to understand given the rather creative sentence structure and word choice.

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  43. 1. Hamlet is the story of a young prince attempting to avenge the death of his father. He later comes in contact with his fathers ghost who informs him of his murder, Hamlets uncle.

    2. Interpreting Shakespeare is a mental challenge that everyone is forced to attempt to overcome in high school. Due to the fact that most people don't have a complete understanding on Shakespeare's work, it often gets misinterpreted and the message and theme isn't fully delivered. Everyone has different opinions and methods to understanding Shakespeare, as a result different thoughts and feelings on his works are formed.

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  44. 1)What is the play about? In short, Hamlet is about a young prince who plans revenge against his murdering uncle. (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/shakespeare-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html)

    2)Why is interpreting the play such a challenge? Why doesn't everyone agree on what the play "says" or "means"?
    Based on some disscusions that happended in the expository class, I think that interpreting this play is a challenge because the words that Shakespeare uses are unfamiliar to most people. I think that people disagree on what the play is saying because there are messsages inside messages through out the play. Also, since some things that Hamlet feels are universal feelings, each person gives it their own interpretation.

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  45. 1.)Hamlet is about a prince seeking revenge for his father's death after his father's spirit comes back to haunt the castle.
    2.)Interpreting the play might be seen as a challenge due to the outdated language and murder mystery going on throughout the play.

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  46. I decided to skip most of the first page of Google search results, so my answer might be different than everyone else's.
    1) Hamlet is a political drama, ghost story, and romance about a young man seeking to avenge his father's death; [1] its themes include conflicts of identity, loyalty, and morality. [2]

    2) One reason the play is especially hard to interpret because of the ambiguity surrounding the ghost; for example, when I was searching for a definition for "hic et ubique," I found a very detailed forum conversation [3] concerning Hamlet's blocking in the scene with the ghost. Shakespeare doesn't say whether Hamlet is moving towards the ghost or away, which has great implications on the meaning of the scene. For another example, I found another forum [4] discussing why Gertrude can't see the ghost: either
    (A) the ghost isn't there, because Hamlet is hallucinating (in which case, how do we tell the difference between when the ghost is really there and when it isn't?);
    (B) the ghost is there, but only "good" characters like Hamlet can see it;
    (C) the ghost is there, but Gertrude is just supernaturally challenged;
    (D) the ghost is there, but chooses to hide itself from Gertrude (if so, why did it show itself to the other characters?);
    (E) the ghost is there, but Shakespeare decided to have Gertrude not see it out of convenience for the actress or for the plot
    ...and so on. There are so many possibilities, each with conflicting implications for what the rest of the play means, that it's just a mess.
    (BTW I meant to make my links in superscript like Wikipedia but the sup tags aren't allowed here >.<)

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  47. 1.) The play is about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, seeking revenge on his uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father.
    2.) Modern readers often have a difficult time interpreting Hamlet because the language in which the play is written in is fairly challenging to comprehend. Readers don't seem to agree on what the play "says" or "means" because Hamlet could be interpreted in many different ways based on a reader's understanding and opinions on the events presented throughout the play.

    http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/

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  48. 1) The play is about how Hamlet wanted to get revenge for his father.

    2) In any adventure movie at least someone dies and there is someone else to get revenge for them and that is basically Hamlet.

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