Actually, my idea was inspired by the fact that a) I loved Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and b) I had a sophomore English teacher, Leonard DeSimone, who explained Hamlet in a way that always stuck with me.
When one of the kids commented on the perhaps less-than-realistic degree to which Hamlet was losing his shit (yes, even when you discounted his "playing at madness" deal), Mr. DeSimone said, "The mistake you're mistaking is the same that a lot of people make who present this play. You can't judge him by ADULT standards. Remember, life expectancies were a lot shorter in those days, so when it's said that Hamlet is going to 'university,' that's probably a lot closer to high school than college now. Hamlet was probably not that far off from your age. Imagine that YOU just came home from school, and your mom is married to your uncle, whom you're pretty sure killed your dad. How well would YOU handle it?"
Thus, my conception of Hamlet as an emo teen was born.
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Date: 2009-10-30 07:00 am (UTC)When one of the kids commented on the perhaps less-than-realistic degree to which Hamlet was losing his shit (yes, even when you discounted his "playing at madness" deal), Mr. DeSimone said, "The mistake you're mistaking is the same that a lot of people make who present this play. You can't judge him by ADULT standards. Remember, life expectancies were a lot shorter in those days, so when it's said that Hamlet is going to 'university,' that's probably a lot closer to high school than college now. Hamlet was probably not that far off from your age. Imagine that YOU just came home from school, and your mom is married to your uncle, whom you're pretty sure killed your dad. How well would YOU handle it?"
Thus, my conception of Hamlet as an emo teen was born.