Reviews - Hamlet | The StoryGraph

2.18k reviews for:

Hamlet

Paul Werstine, William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat

3.96 AVERAGE

mahayla77's review against another edition

3.25

challenging dark funny sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kyliegurewitz's review against another edition

2.0

snoozefest tbh

nhilmy's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dgf888's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kiaaxfly's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

benmk's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

orcinus_olive's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This play drags on forever. Hamlet's cowardice and indecision might be the point of the play, but so little happens after the first act. And it's not just Hamlet who keeps walking in circles, holding esoteric monolgues that ruin the flow of every scene/conversation without ever actually doing anything – pretty much every character behaves that way. When Polonius says "Brevity is the soul of wit.", even he is told to stop talking get to the point faster by the characters in the play itself.

The one who suffers most from this is Ophelia. So much time of the play is spent with characters talking about her, but Ophelia herself gets very little time to speak or act for herself. Even her death happens off-stage. All this is such a waste of potential, because she is definitely one of the more interesting characters in the play.

Early on, Hamlet's plan is somewhat sound: He first wants to make sure Claudius is actually a murderer before he kills him. But he also plans to assume an 'antic disposition', to pretend he lost his mind. This part doesn't make sense. It's never really clear what purpose this act is supposed to have and it feels more like Hamlet actually went mad and lost his wits rather than it being a ruse.

This becomes most apparent in the second half of the play. After Polonius' death, it feels like even Shakespeare mostly forgot that the goal of the play is to avenge Hamlet's father and kill Claudius. Act 4 and 5 are almost entirely diconnected from that premise and more concerned with how Claudius wants to get rid off Hamlet instead, bringing in Laertes as a so far mostly unused character. Especially the final combat between Laertes and Hamlet feels like Hamlet just completely lost the plot – and not in a way intended by the author. This finale also kills most characters in a fashion that feels more random than thematically relevant, poetic or conclusive.