The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark You Decide Page
From Shakespeare Wiki
[edit] To The Top
These Links are also very useful:
Study Guide This link will take you to a list of Hamlet Wikia links in Study Guide format.
Overview This link will take you to a "less-than-four-hundred-word" summary of the play.
Linked Scenes and Plot Summary Page This link will take you to a page containing links to the "individable" scenes of the play.
Test Questions This link will take you to an interactive teaching program, test questions with links to the answering line.
Message Board - Hamlet This link will take you to a page where you can get help.
Hamlet Reference Here's a freebee, a very scholarly, searchable text online. Almost everything is commented upon
A quick link to the Romeo and Juliet You Decide Page
A Quick TOC for the Concordance and many other entries
[edit] The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark You Decide Page
Welcome to the You Decide page for The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
This page may be used by any and all who see the value of debating various possible viewpoints concerning the action and characters of the drama.
Each issue will be phrased in a subheading, and then links to all lines which may have bearing will be collected and posted under the subheading. Thereafter, the issue will be posted on the Sparks.com Hamlet Message Board, and invitations will be put out for viewpoints. Sounds fun? We hope so.
Note: What follows are not final formulations of the questions we will be debating. You are welcome to formulate your own issues.
[edit] Mental Illness in Hamlet: Is Hamlet Truly Insane?
Hamlet's own estimation of his condition -
Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath made me mad.
I am but mad north-north-west.
Make you to ravel all this matter out, That I essentially am not in madness, But mad in craft.
...a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood...
..., I here proclaim was madness
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Paranoia?
A little more than kin, and less than kind.- Hamlet with reference to his uncle, Claudius.
But I will delve one yard below their mines, And blow them at the moon:
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Suicidal Tendencies, especially Self-Doubt, Low Self-esteem and Self-Hatred?
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!, et seq.
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, et seq.
When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? et seq.
What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves,...
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Alcohol Addiction?
We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.- Hamlet
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Manic Depression?
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension, Into the madness wherein now he raves,
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Delusions?
Though some see the phantasm, others don't. His mother is blind to it.(Alas, how is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy?)
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Megalomania?
Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend Which is the mightier This line is first and foremost a poetic measure of Hamlet's illness as voiced by his mother, however given Shakespeare's penchant for double meanings, his motives as shown below, I believe it can be used as an indicator of an underlying megalomania.
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of lack or dimunition of Moral Judgement?
for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so:
'With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Neurotic Compulsion?
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Malaise and Depression?
I have of late-but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of a Distorted Sense of Reality?
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Alienation and Estrangement?
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of Misanthropy and Misogeny?
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Lines descriptive of a physical appearance which might be indicative of emotional disturbance
My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell...
That you do bend your eye on vacancy And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep; And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,...
His own (Hamlet's) opinion of his condition:
my uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived... I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased: but,
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time, And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
Make you to ravel all this matter out, That I essentially am not in madness,
For, though I am not splenitive and rash, Yet have I something in me dangerous, Which let thy wiseness fear: hold off thy hand.
..., I here proclaim was madness. Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet:
bring me to the test, And I the matter will re-word; which madness Would gambol from
How stand I then, That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood,
With reference to contemporary medical (scientific) standards, could these lines possibly be indicative of premeditation and rational planning?
Then I will come to my mother by and by. They fool me of my bent. I will come by and by.
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;
Other opinions:
Lord Polonius: That hath made him mad. I am sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not quoted him: I fear'd he did but trifle, And meant to wreck thee;
And I do think, or else this brain of mine Hunts not the trail of policy so sure As it hath used to do, that I have found The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.
your noble son is mad: Mad call I it; for, to define true madness, What is't but to be nothing else but mad?
That he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true 'tis pity; And pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure;
How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter: yet he knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love; very near this. I'll speak to him again. What do you read, my lord?
I believe The origin and commencement of his grief Sprung from neglected love.
How pregnant sometimes his replies are! a happiness that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of.
Gertrude:
At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him: Be you and I behind an arras then; Mark the encounter: if he love her not And be not from his reason fall'n thereon, Let me be no assistant for a state, But keep a farm and carters. - Lord Polonius to Gertrude (and Claudius)
But, look, where sadly the poor wretch comes reading.
Alas, how is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep; And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
This the very coinage of your brain: This bodiless creation ecstasy Is very cunning in.
Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,
To draw apart the body he hath kill'd: O'er whom his very madness, like some ore Among a mineral of metals base, Shows itself pure;
This is mere madness: And thus awhile the fit will work on him;
And, in this brainish apprehension, kills The unseen good old man
Claudius:
so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather, So much as from occasion you may glean, Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus, That, open'd, lies within our remedy. - With these lines, Claudius retains the services of Hamlet's friends to discover a thing of vital importance to the prince, namely whether he is mentally ill, or not. The investigation is similar to that undertaken by Polonius, but has nothing to do with vices, since these would be obvious at court or in its near environs. However, his determination is listed below, under the "cons."
It is clear from the lines following that the two are being paid, even handsomely rewarded for reporting what the King wants to hear.
For the supply and profit of our hope, Your visitation shall receive such thanks As fits a king's remembrance.
While this investigation is being undertaken, Polonius is on his way with his testimony concerning the probability that Hamlet has gone mad with love over his daughter, Ophelia.
Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go. -Whether or not Hamlet is mad, Claudius wants him watched.
And: I like him not, nor stands it safe with us To let his madness range.
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
Ophelia:
O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword; The expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mould of form, The observed of all observers, quite, quite down!
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy:
The Gravedigger:
it was the very day that young Hamlet was born; he that is mad,
Con:
Claudius: Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little, Was not like madness. There's something in his soul, O'er which his melancholy sits on brood;
[edit] Discussion
The question of whether Hamlet was ever truly insane is a popular one, especially among first-time readers of Shakespeare's most famous play.
If, as many of the young Prince's fans would like to believe, he is simply a very cunning and resourceful young man, doing what he can to avenge his father's murder while beset by traitors and enemies on all sides, we must eventually face the fact that, as a character, he is, quite self-admittedly, duplicitous, evasive, cruel, remorseless, vengeful, ambitious and self-admittedly mad.
If on the other hand, we take on face value both his statements, especially that made in the absence of others, and without any possible ulterior motive, "How stand I then, That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood, - IV,iv,56
we open the door to a very complex issue and history, namely the phenomenon of induced mental illness and its sometimes tragic results.
Ignoring this tact, some might find him justified by the avowed acts and intent of his uncle, Claudius, while others would see him as a victim of an aging and increasingly impotent monarchy, unable to defend itself against a youthful antagonist with warlike intentions rising in the west.
Repeated readers, including actors and actresses learning the parts, as well as the play's audiences will usually turn from this well-trod path, and listen more closely to the amazing language of the author, while learning the characters in all their tragic complexity and assimilating their particularities.
As the language is mastered, the reader/actor/spectator will learn how absorbing and moving the work is. Was this the author's intent, to throw the audience into an emotional and emotive quandary?
Considering that the audience of his day was urbane, but unlikely to be dominated by noble listeners, Shakespeare could have taken the old Viking story of Amleth he might gleaned from an old tome obtained from a book-seller's shop, and shaped it to resound against the failings of the upper-classes everywhere.
By casting the protagonists in the mold of the "newly" Christianized Vikings might have been a way of throwing doubt on the depth of Christian belief across the North of Europe, but especially in lowland England, a region which, from the first millenium owed, or could blame, its aristocracy on the invasions of three conquering races, the Romans, the Saxons, and the Normans.
Since the genre from which he took his source material, the Norse saga, was one rife with violence and treachery, his effort to Italianize (and popularize) the theme of treachery and revenge in the North through adding the favorite means of murder of the Italian upper-classes, namely poison, was simplified.
Whatever the broader historical circumstances surrounding the theme, no matter the axes that every author is entitled to grind, it must eventually become obvious to the reader that the events of Hamlet's life must drive him to the brink, if not into the abyss of mental illness sooner or later.
His mother's incestuous and controlling nature, his much beloved father's murder by his own brother, his own infatuation with the devious Lord Chamberlain's daughter - these are just a few of the factors that could have contributed to an outbreak of depression and accompanying psychoses.
Further discussion of Hamlet's incredible contest with his mother and uncle will follow.
Jagtig
[edit] Guilt and Conscience as shown by the characters of Hamlet
Gertrude: And there I see such black and grained spots As will not leave their tinct. Claudius:
Hamlet: The effect of what I wrote?
[edit] Why does Claudius not have Hamlet arrested, as King Norway arrested his nephew Fortinbras?
How dangerous is it that this man goes loose! Yet must not we put the strong law on him:
[edit] Ambition: Does Hamlet have another motive, besides revenge, for murdering Claudius?
Con: These lines and those preceding show how deeply affected Hamlet was by the death of his father.
Pro:
Ambition:
Excellent, i' faith; of the chameleon's dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot feed capons so. - These words may be taken to indicate that Hamlet is either dissembling, and drawing attention away from his true motives, or concerned with his own needs, whatever they are.
Ay, but sir, 'While the grass grows,'--the proverb is something musty. "While the grass grows, the steed starves," clearly an indication of ambition and impatience in attaining the crown of Denmark. Similar to that which follows:
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes,
Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks;
Why then, your ambition makes it one; 'tis too narrow for your mind. - These words spoken by Rozencrantz
I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at...
The envy of ambition (or the ambitious) is expressed in these lines
Here, Hamlet actually identifies himself to the assembly as the "King" (Hamlet, the Dane).
Self Defense:
Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew To mine own room again; making so bold, My fears forgetting manners, to unseal Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,-- O royal knavery!--an exact command,
[edit] Does Polonius love his son, or are he and Claudius in cahoots to get rid of the young males around them?
Fortinbras, Denmark's new enemy is characterized as "young." A meaningless coincidence? Perhaps.
Claudius appeals to Fortinbras' "impotent and bed-rid" uncle for assistance in curbing the young man's ambitions. Perhaps not so coincidental considering that Hamlet considers Claudius equally lame and unfit for warlike pursuits.
This line clearly shows that Polonius has acted in an advisory capacity to Claudius, unusual unless he was ignorant of the facts of the murder, since his fealty should have been with respect to Hamlet, Sr.
And we beseech you,... Claudius begs Hamlet to stay on at court, even as Laertes, Polonius' son is granted leave to return to France.
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame! - Polonius
If she find him not (sane), To England send him, or confine him where Your wisdom best shall think.
Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo. - Generosity, or a ruse to get the spy close to his son?
But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild; Addicted so and so:' and there put on him What forgeries you please; - This is a critical statement by Polonius, as he gives to Reynaldo who may be servant and is certainly a spy, and perhaps others, power over his son's reputation, even the power to destroy him. He is not acting defensively or in the interests of his boy, but rather is creating circumstances, which, if they should become known to Laertes, would wound him to the core of his being.
Marry, sir, here's my drift;... And I believe, it is a fetch of wit: You laying these slight sullies on my son, As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working,... - Polonius. This is said in explanation and defense of his scheme to catch out Laertes in some vice or other. Reynaldo reasonably doubts the instructions he is given.
Addicted so and so: and there put on him What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank As may dishonour him; take heed of that; But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty. - Polonius instructs Reynaldo to actually accuse his son of the vices he lists, including the pursuit of prostitutes.
And so paint him to be prey tothe taints of liberty, The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, A savageness in unreclaimed blood,...
Polonius' justification is: it is a fetch of wit: You laying these slight sullies on my son,...
And, Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth: And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With windlasses and with assays of bias, By indirections find directions out: So by my former lecture and advice, Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
Observe his inclination in yourself...And let him ply his music. - Again, Polonius gives his servant/spy the power of life and death with regard to his son's reputation.
Could he be planning to use Reynaldo's report in a way which would enable him to destroy his son regardless whatever it turned out to be? This might make sense if lines indicating that Laertes was a bastard have somehow fallen from the work over the centuries. They might have been in the form of an aside. In other words, this scene makes sense if Polonius told the audience in an aside after his speech of advice to his son that the boy was not his natural son. This presumed aside would also explain the conspicuous absence of a "Mrs. Polonius."
It is noteworthy, also, that this episode of "betrayal" comes immediately after the scene where Hamlet encounters his father's ghost, and in stark contrast to the alliance which endures death demonstrated by Hamlet and his father.
for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, But even his mother shall uncharge the practise And call it accident.
[edit] Magic in Hamlet
Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand Like wonder-wounded hearers?
Con: There; my blessing with thee! And these few precepts in thy memory... - Polonius
[edit] Does Hamlet love Ophelia?
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders Of his affection to me. - Ophelia
My lord, he hath importuned me with love In honourable fashion. - Ophelia
'Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. 'O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I have not art to reckon my groans: but that I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu. 'Thine evermore most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, HAMLET.'
And he, repulsed--a short tale to make-- Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension Into the madness wherein now he raves,
Alack, and fie for shame! Young men will do't, if they come to't; By cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. - Do these lines indicate that Hamlet and Ophelia had sexual intercourse at some point?
It is the false steward, that stole his master's daughter.
It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.
[edit] Why does Hamlet delay in taking revenge?
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. - Said by King Hamlet's ghost to Hamlet to effect the revenge murder of his brother, Claudius.
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. - Hamlet's response
The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears the crown. - King Hamlet's ghost
And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain,
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven; No!Up, sword; and know thou a more horrid hent:
[edit] How important is the character of Horatio in the play?
As a confidant:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?
[edit] Compare and contrast Hamlet's relationship with his father and Claudius to Laertes' relationship with his father.
[edit] Hamlet's sense of humor
[edit] How is Hamlet driven by reason and how by madness
[edit] Both Fortinbras and Hamlet express a desire to restore order in their respective kingdoms. Explain how their concepts of rulership are united at the end of the play.
[edit] Does hamlet live and die by making free choices, or are his choices all controlled by forces larger than himself?
[edit] How are Claudius and Gertrude related incestuously?
[edit] The Most Important Lines that may be Attributed to the Ghost
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
[edit] Links to the lines where Claudius' guilt in the murder of his brother, Hamlet, is made certain
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother's murder.
[edit] All in all, is Hamlet (the play) pro-Monarch or anti-Monarchy
[edit] What is the case for incest?
Claudius, addressing Polonius, characterizes his new wife (imperial jointress) as his "sometime sister."
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest.
*16: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness. - Leviticus
The meaning of "uncover the nakedness" seems to be "to have sexual intercourse with." The idea that the brother's wife's nakedness was identical with the brother's, seems to indicate the idea that blood was conjoined by marriage, that is the partners became cosanguinous, or related genetically. We now know this to be false.
Therefore, it is safe to say that a typically educated and cultured person of 17nth c. England would have considered Claudius and Gertrude's relationship incestuous, as Hamlet loudly and vehemently protests.
It has been reported that the English Book of Prayer of 1553 echoes the Biblical injunction in some part.
[edit] Romantic Relationships
[edit] Hamlet's love for Ophelia
[edit] Gertrude and Claudius' relationship
[edit] Polonius and Laertes
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father.
[edit] Polonius and Ophelia
[edit] Hamlet and Horatio
The text of a letter from Hamlet to Horatio, in whom Hamlet confides
[edit] Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, To prick and sting her - Hamlet's father
The queen his mother Lives almost by his looks;
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
[edit] Prince Hamlet and his late father, King Hamlet
[edit] Others
Claudius and Hamlet
thou mayst not coldly set Our sovereign process; which imports at full, By letters congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England;For like the hectic in my blood he rages,
[edit] Contrast and Compare
[edit] The way in which Polonius treats his son, and the way he approaches Hamlet
[edit] The way in which Hamlet feels about his true father, and the way in which Laertes feels about his
[edit] The feelings Ophelia has for Hamlet and for the other men in her life (Polonius, her father, and Laertes, her brother.
[edit] The murder of King Hamlet by his brother, and the murder of Polonius and Claudius by Hamlet
[edit] List of Paraphrases
This section is devoted to links to the more important speeches which have been paraphrased. The links are paired, the first link pointing to the original text and the second to the paraphrase.
Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew To mine own room again; making so bold, My fears forgetting manners, to unseal Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,-- O royal knavery!--an exact command,
[edit] The "Four" Soliloquies
I've found six, but one is very short, that made after Horatio told him about seeing his father's ghost.
Take a look at them by clicking on the links below, and then get back to the board. It's pretty clear he's getting more desperate and enraged with each. Thanks for pointing these out to me. John
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_1.html#anchor273107 Hamlet after being lectured by Claudius and his mother.
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_2.html#anchor203186 Hamlet after consulting with Horatio
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_5.html#anchor227375 Hamlet after Polonius, Ophelia and Claudius have met to discuss Hamlet's apparent infatuation with her.
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_6.html#anchor287443 and next selection Hamlet planning to confront his mother
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_7.html#anchor200704 Hamlet following Claudius to his bed
http://www.tailsntales.com/eng/sha/ham/tex/sel_8.html#anchor216753 Hamlet vows bloody revenge while being dragged off to England by Rosencrantz
[edit] Quick Concordance TOC for Hamlet
[edit] The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Entries TOC
Study Guide This link will take you to a number of useful links organized in "Study Guide" format.
Line-linked Text This link will take you to the most advanced and useful etext of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark now available.
Searchable Text This link will take you a "searchable-on-one-page version of the text. Searching for keywords is a cinch using the find-on-this-page feature found under the Edit tab! To collect line URL's, simply click back from the concordance page, the destination of the SOOP page's line-links.
All Hamlet Indexes Page This link will take you a page containing links to all of the indexes so far created. Remember, some of these may not have been worked on, as of yet. Here's a link I use frequently: Sparks Notes Hamlet Message Board or, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Great Threads Page
You Decide Page The You Decide Page is a text sifter and index builder, taking for its titles and subtitles issues that crop up in the play. The "Is Hamlet truly insane" issue is probably the most popular.
Concordance Page This link will take you to the concordance. This is completed to the point where a first reading of the play, supported by paraphrases, definitions, etc, is possible.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Plot Overview This link will take you a "less-than-four-hundred-word" summary of the play.
Linked Scenes and Plot Summary Page (Completed!) This link will take you to a page containing links to the "individable" scenes of the play.
The Hamlet Enigma A fascinating discovery of an intended juxtaposition between Shakespeare's Hamlet and Plato's Phaedo.
Good source of Translations from Middle English
