Episode 21: Hamlet

Our apologies to Stephen Dedalus. Previously, we referred to him as King F*ckboy, but that’s grossly unfair to both Stephen and perhaps literature’s Kingest F*ckboy of them all -- Hamlet. This week, we discuss William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1599? 1602? no one is sure, but it’s something like that) in all its beautiful, bonkers glory. We have many pressing questions. Like, why is this so long? (Four hours, at least -- Billy S needed an editor.) How should we read its notoriously fraught sexual politics? Or its bizarre moral calculus? What’s up with the whole Fortinbras plotline? And what do novel jerks need to keep in mind when pretending to be theater jerks?

As we aren’t Early Modernists, we’re a little out of our depth with the scholarship here. But as leftist literary critics, we *highly* recommend anything Stephen Greenblatt, one of the OGs of New Historicism. Maybe start with Greenblatt’s magnificent and influential essay, “Invisible Bullets: Renaissance Authority and Its Subversion, Henry IV and Henry V.” Read any Hamlet you like, but if you want to be a total tool like Tristan, you can always get one of the 10-lbs. compiled Shakespeare editions. Remember, folks -- “gravitas.”

*Note to our listeners. Megan is on maternity leave. We’re also going on break for the holidays soon, and next week’s episode on A Christmas Carol will be our last episode of our 2019 season. Katie and Tristan will be back with you in mid-January, and Megan returns to the pod later this winter. Follow our social media pages for updates about the new season!

Find us on Twitter and Instagram @betterreadpod, and email us nice things at [email protected]. Find Tristan on Twitter @tjschweiger, Katie @katiekrywo, and Megan @tuslersaurus.