Study Guide: A Hamlet Commentary: Student Edition

The Commentary, scholarly in its focus yet informal in its tone, explores the text’s significant detail in order to bring out its full meaning (and meanings). It takes students and general readers through the play line by line and asks, along the way, a succession of penetrating questions as a means of clarifying what’s really being said by the characters, why they do what they do, and why Shakespeare has them speak, and act, in those ways. It provides specific support for students working towards examinations within a range of assessment structures, at both high school and college level…but it will be enjoyed by all lovers of Shakespeare. A major focus throughout is on what makes Hamlet successful not only as literature but as a piece of working theatre. The Commentary is designed to be used alongside any edition of the play, since it includes running line references in the margin, and is therefore easy to align with the play’s text. This is the Student Edition. The only difference between it and the Teaching Copy is that the suggested responses are located in an Answers Section at the end of the book. This allows students to work independently through the questions and study tasks in the main body of the resource, and to consult the suggested responses only if and when they are ready to do so. The Commentary can be duplicated for personal or class use as necessary. See Reviews and From the Author further below.