Hamlet (Cliffs Notes) [Paperback]

Carla Lynn Stockton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764586033 | ISBN-13: 978-0764586033 | Publication Date: June 13, 2000

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but your grades will be sweet when you rely on CliffsNotes on Hamlet as you digest Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece. In this play, Hamlet explores the meaning of life, death, eternity, relationships, hypocrisy, truth, the existence of God, and almost anything else that concerns mankind.

Character studies shed new light on Prince Hamlet, his father King Hamlet, the malevolent Claudius, the troubled Ophelia — and the rest of the cast. You'll also explore the life and times of William Shakespeare, and unlock the play's themes and literary devices. Count on CliffsNotes on Hamlet for detailed summaries and commentaries on every scene to help you appreciate the complexity of the play.

Other features that help you study include

•  Character analyses of major players
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Critical essays
• A review section that tests your knowledge

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

39 New and Revised Titles. The Best Just Got Better! Plus Glossary from Webster's New World^™ Dictionary Anthem Atlas Shrugged Beowulf Brave New World The Canterbury Tales The Catcher in the Rye The Contender The Crucible The Fountainhead Frankenstein The Grapes of Wrath Great Expectations The Great Gatsby Hamlet Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer Huckleberry Finn The Iliad Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Inherit the Wind Jane Eyre Julius Caesar The Killer Angels King Lear The Lord of the Flies Macbeth 1984 The Odyssey The Oedipus Trilogy The Once and Future King Othello The Outsiders Pride and Prejudice The Red Badge of Courage Romeo and Juliet The Scarlet Letter A Separate Peace A Tale of Two Cities To Kill a Mockingbird Wuthering Heights See inside for the complete line-up of available CliffsNotes! Check Out the All-New CliffsNotes Guides To AOL^®, iMacs^™, eBay^®, Windows^® 98, Investing, Creating Web Pages, and more! More Than Notes! CliffsComplete^™ CliffsTestPrep^™ CliffsQuickReview^™ CliffsAP^™ Over 300 CliffsNotes Available @ cliffsnotes.com Downloadable 24 hours a day Free daily e-mail newsletters Free tips, tricks, and trivia Free online CliffsNotes catalog Free self-assessment tools Freeware and shareware downloads

About the Author

Carla Lynn Stockton, B.A., M.A., C.A.S., is a veteran teacher of English and Drama. In 1995, after a month of study through Roehampton University at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon, she cofounded and codirected Voices, a semi-professional theater company dedicated to theater education and education through theater. Today Ms. Stockton is the Education and Development Director for Bagelfish Productions, LLC, in Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Cliffs Notes (June 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764586033
• ISBN-13: 978-0764586033
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Books & Reading > Reference
  • #48 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Education > Book Notes

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped me get an `A' in Shakespeare!, January 26, 2006

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hamlet (Cliffs Notes) (Paperback)

I remember well using Cliffs Notes for Hamlet when I was in high school. I did not like Shakespeare at all. I couldn't understand it. I didn't just read the Cliffs Notes, but used it as I read the book to help me interpret what I was reading. The book explains the play passage by passage.

As useful as the Cliffs Notes are for understanding Shakespeare, I found the analyses at the end an excellent extra for diving deeper into the story. In fact, I used one of the analyses for a paper I had to complete in my class. I did my paper on the idea that there were two parts to Hamlet's personality. He was a morally-conscious seeker of truth as well as a man obsessed with bloody revenge and avenging truth. Cliffs Notes not only gave me this idea for the paper, but cited passages throughout the play as evidence. My paper discussed the two sides of Hamlet and how his changing emotions steered the course of the play. I covered Hamlet's encounters with Claudius, his mother Queen Gertrude, Polonius (showcasing Hamlet'wicked side), Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Ophelia (Cliffs notes reveals certain passage that might imply Hamlet stole her virginity) as proof of my thesis. I ended up getting 100% on the paper which was amazing considering how poor I was in understanding Shakespeare. The class was 14 years ago and I still have the paper. I owe it all to Cliffs Notes!

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful!, June 5, 2001

By 

"naomiii" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hamlet (Cliffs Notes) (Paperback)

I had to write an essay on "Hamlet" in English class this year, and the Cliffsnotes helped me tremendously (considering that I hadn't even read the book, I wrote a pretty good essay with its help). Each scene is given a thorough explanation, and it has an index of themes and a tree of all the characters. Not only does it simplify the book, it also analyzes further and clears up any confusion about the plot. It helped me a lot, I recommend it highly!